Page 69 of Akur

The light flickered in and out as Akur continued to batter the wall. Behind them, the sound of falling rock grew louder, closer, a cascade of destruction racing to consume them.

“There!” Akur’s voice cut through the din. “A chamber. I can see the other side!”

She caught glimpses of it too. He really was a machine, using his body like a hammer to break through the wall before them. There, in the flickering light, was an opening into what looked like a vast cavern. But that little hole, that glimmer of hope amidst the rain of debris, seemed impossibly small.

“Akur,” she gasped as the map blinked on long enough for her to see the billowing dust heading their way.

They were going to die here. Both of them. The alien rebel with a death wish and the human he was stubborn enough to save.

“We’ll make it.” Akur’s arm tightened around her as he continued pummeling the rock. “By the gods of Tonvuhiri, we will.”

Something swelled in her heart that made her almost choke, made it hard to breathe. The light blinked out before coming on again as she watched the tunnel collapse.

Oh, God…this was really it.

His growl was all she heard before they were tumbling forward. They burst through the wall just as the tunnel behind them gave way completely. It was gravity against the chase of certain death. Akur tumbled forward, the force of the collapse sending them both sprawling. Twisting his frame, Akur took the brunt of the impact as they hit the ground. Dust and debris rained down around them as the last of the tunnel crumbled, sealing off the way they’d come.

For several long moments, they lay there in the darkness, gasping for breath. He’d done it. He’d really done it. And they were both still alive.

She could feel his heart thundering against her back, his skin burning as hot as ever.

“You,” she panted, out of breath. “You did it. You brilliant, brilliant—”

“Of course I did.” Akur’s chest rumbled with a laugh that she felt through every point of contact between them. “Did you doubt me, bright eyes?”

“Someone has to keep that ego of yours in check.” But she was smiling in the darkness, hyperaware of how his arm was still wrapped around her, how solid he felt beneath her.

“And you volunteered for the task?” His voice had dropped lower, rougher. “How…generous of you.”

“Someone has to.” She shifted, turning on his chest and using her hands to find her way. His chest was still heaving and wet—whether it was his blood or the creatures’, she didn’t know, but something told her it wasn’t only his enemies’ the moment her fingers brushed against his shoulder and he jerked at the contact.

“Akur,” she whispered, both hands trembling as they found his face. She grasped his jaw, staring down at him even though the darkness hid everything. “You can’t keep doing this. Even with your magic healing alien shit, you can’t—”

“I promised to get you out of here alive, human.”

She swallowed that lump that had risen in her throat again. “Stop calling me that.”

He didn’t respond. Under her hands, she felt his jaw clench.

“Call me by my name, Akur.”

His jaw clenched again. “Constance,” he finally said, the word coming from his lips so roughly, with so much restrained emotion, that she choked on what might be a sob.

She shook her head. “We can’t keep doing this. If we continue like this, you’ll…”

“Die?” he ground out.

She sniffled, looking away even though she wasn’t sure he was looking at her. And why did she care, anyway? He was an alien rebel, a killer… If he wanted to die, that was none of her business. So why did the thought make her chest ache?

The harsh laugh that made his chest rise and fall echoed in the darkness. “All these turns, and death has eluded me still, sweet one.” He paused. “I promised…”

“To who? Who did you promise to?”

He huffed a soft laugh through his nose. “To you, bright eyes.”

She sniffled. “Well, you take back your promise. It’s getting worse. They’re not letting me go easy so…so if it’s a matter of life or death…if it’s a matter of leaving me to save yourself,” she turned back to face him, putting a little pressure where her hands clasped his jaw, “you save yourself.”

For a moment, he was silent, and then it was as if the heat surged within him, spreading through her skin and into her being. He grunted and suddenly she was pressed against him again as both his arms came across her, one across her back, the other gripping her behind with a possession that almost snapped her out of her grief.

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