Page 68 of Akur

The sound grew closer, and she tensed, fingers working desperately across the device’s surface, trying to activate it again. But it wouldn’t. There were no buttons to press. No display screen or anything.

“Shit.”

It fell, so maybe it was broken. Or maybe it was just one of those things that you had to smash to make it work. She didn’t frickin’ want to do that.

Fuck.

FUCK!

But it wasn’t turning on.

Lifting the device, she bit her lip hard as she heard the thing coming closer.

“If you break that map, bright eyes, we’re both dead.”

Relief hit her so hard her knees almost buckled. “Akur!”

He emerged from the darkness like a warrior god at the same moment that she must have activated something and the map flickered to life.

Akur’s chest heaved as he stood a few feet away, covered in blood that looked luminescent in the dim light but very much alive. And he was smiling. Grinning more like.

Constance’s shoulders slumped. He really did like the bloodshed and killing, didn’t he. And she wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it suited him. All barbaric and filled with bloodlust. It only made her remember…

Her cheeks heated just a moment before Akur fell to his knees.

She rushed forward. “You’re hurt.”

“Not in the way you think, bright eyes.” He was scorching hot as she tried to help him up. His heat. He was in trouble again.

“Those creatures…”

“Won’t be following.” His grin was all teeth again. “But we need to move. That last explosion wasn’t random—the Hedgeruds are targeting the structural supports.”

As if to emphasize his point, another boom shook the tunnel. This one was accompanied by the distinct sound of stone cracking.

The tunnel rocked again, debris raining down enough that the dust choked the air. She stumbled, catching herself against the wall as Akur struggled to rise.

“Are they trying to bring the whole tunnel system down?” she breathed, watching in horror as more fissures appeared in the rock. “They’d rather bury us than let us escape?”

“Not you.” Akur’s voice was strained. “They wish to end me, not you.”

“Yea, well I’m with you. I won’t be much use to them dead, will I.”

Akur grunted. “You put much faith in these scum.” He got to his feet, but it looked like it took a lot of effort. “They only need you barely alive, female. You would serve their purpose, anyway.”

His words made a lump form in her throat, even as their bodies swayed with the shifting ground beneath them.

“The map,” Akur grunted. “What does it show ahead?”

With shaking hands, she held up the device, squinting at the holographic display. The symbols were still incomprehensible. “There’s…there’s a wall here.” She traced the glowing lines with her finger. “I can’t tell if it’s another hidden passage or—”

Another explosion cut her off, this one close enough to send them both stumbling. The crack that followed was deafening—the sound of tons of rock giving way.

“No time.” Akur grabbed her arm, practically dragging her into him as he stumbled forward, just as the walls began collapsing around them. When he grunted, more debris falling down as he thrust his shoulder into the dead end before them, she realized exactly what he was doing.

Rearing back, he hunched himself over her before he threw his shoulder forward again. The impact would have rendered any normal man unconscious, but Akur merely grunted again. Dust and debris choked the air, but he didn’t relent. Again and again, he pulled back before slamming his shoulder into the wall, each impact reverberating through her like a shockwave that made her teeth rattle in her skull.

He was like a machine, not caring about how he was breaking apart because he had no feelings. At least, that’s what it seemed he’d like her to think. But back then in that room, and right now, she could see it. The male who was practically giving his life just so she could survive this. Because he was right. The Tasqals only needed her breathing. No matter if she was broken, near death, hardly alive, once she was still breathing, they’d still get their way.

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