Page 44 of Sy

“No, you didn’t think.” She crossed her arms, fixing them with her best glare. “You could have been hurt. Or worse.”

They might be nearly grown, might have survived years without parents, but right now they were just kids who knew they’d screwed up.

“It won’t happen again,” Kal promised, Tor nodding vigorously beside him.

She took a deep breath. They were safe. Stupid and reckless, but safe. She’d found them in time, and now she could make sure they stayed that way. Even if they didn’t remember having a mother’s love, they had it now—whether they wanted it or not.

A rumbling sound overhead froze her in place. Dust and small rocks showered down on them from above. Before anyone could move, a section of the tunnel roof collapsed with a deafening crash, blocking the path they’d come from.

“Back!” Sy yanked her away from the falling debris, pushing the kids clear as well, his body curved protectively over hers as rocks clattered around them. The air filled with choking dust, making her eyes water and her throat burn.

When the dust began to settle, Sy straightened. “The whole region must be unstable since the earthquake. We need to find another way out.”

Movement in the tunnel ahead made Ashley’s heart jump. More spiders emerged from the shadows. The creatures moved with deliberate purpose, positioning themselves behind their group and cutting off their remaining escape route.

“This way.” Tor gestured down one of the branching tunnels. “They want us to follow them.”

Her entire body ached with exhaustion as they picked their way through the winding passages. The spiders stayed close, herding them deeper into the maze of tunnels. After what felt like hours, Tor called for a halt.

“We need to rest,” he said, indicating a wider tunnel section where they could all sit without being too close to the krevasta.

Ashley sank down against the cool stone wall, trying to catch her breath, and then something caught her eye. She turned her light toward the wall, revealing intricate patterns carved into the rock face.

“Look at these.” She ran her fingers over the ancient markings, feeling the deliberate grooves beneath her touch. Complex geometric patterns flowed into what might have been stylized figures, though like nothing she’d ever seen before.

Lila leaned in closer. “They look like some of those ancient rock paintings on Earth. You know, the ones they found in caves.” She traced one of the patterns with her finger. “Different style, obviously. But same thing? Trying to tell a story?”

Ashley turned to Sy. “Are they from early Izaean settlers?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve spent most of my life on Parac’Norr, but I don’t know anything about the planet. Izaean aren’t native to Parac’Norr, though. We’re mutated Lathar, exiled here. The Lathar see us as nothing more than cannon fodder.”

“What do you mean cannon fodder?” She stared at him, something cold settling in her stomach.

“Exactly what it sounds like.” Bitterness edged into his voice. “Because of our genetic mutation, Izaean are seen as valuable only as cannon fodder, nothing else. We’re not allowed to train as anything else. As soon as our mutation is discovered, we’re kicked out of our homes, our clans, our guild halls, and sent straight here.”

“But surely… I mean you have children here.” She’d seen them, being chaperoned by some of the younger teens in the dining hall. “Aren’t you given an education? Training?”

He laughed, a harsh sound that echoed off the tunnel walls. “The only education we have is what a few of us remember. Most of us are sent here as kids. Only a few of us, whose Blood Rage manifested in adulthood, have any training beyond combat. Prince Isan was a healer, and a brilliant one. But the moment his Blood Rage manifested, they threw him out of the healer’s hall. Revoked his membership. Everything he’d worked for, gone in an instant.”

“That’s barbaric!” The words burst from her throat, hot with fury. “You’re people, not weapons. They treated you like garbage over something you couldn’t control!”

Her hands clenched into fists as she looked at him. “You didn’t ask to be born with this mutation. You didn’t ask for any of it. It would be like…” She spun back to face him, gesturing wildly. “Like saying all humans with red hair were dangerous and should be locked up. It’s prejudiced and cruel and… and completely wrong.”

He moved closer, his attention flicking briefly toward where the teens examined the carvings with Lila further down the tunnel. When he focused back on her, the look in his eyes made her breath catch. His fingers found a strand of her hair, winding it slowly around one finger.

“I thinkyou’redangerous.” His voice dropped low, intimate. “You’re certainly dangerous to me.”

The anger drained from her body as he drew her closer with a gentle tug on her hair. Her heart hammered against her ribs as he reached up with his free hand, his thumb brushing over her throat. The callused pad of his finger found her pulse point, and his lips curved into a slow, sexy smile. Heat bloomed beneath her skin, spreading down her neck and across her chest.

He was so close that she had to tip her head back to keep looking at him. His massive frame curved around her, not quite touching but near enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. The tunnel air felt too thick to breathe, charged with electricity that made every nerve ending tingle with awareness.

His hand slid from her throat to cup the back of her neck, strong fingers threading through her hair. The gentle pressure urged her closer, and she went willingly, her hands coming up to rest against his chest. She felt the steady thud of his heartbeat, faster than normal, under her palm.

His head dipped toward hers, and her eyes fluttered closed, the anticipation of his kiss making her fingers curl into his shirt. Just a little closer?—

A grinding sound pierced the moment. Sy’s body tensed, and Ashley’s eyes flew open as chunks of rock showered down around them. He shoved her away from him just as the wall he’d been leaning against gave way with a thunderous crack. But not soon enough, and they both fell into the darkness beyond…

15

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