Page 34 of Sy

“How did you get into exploring caves?” he asked, the question safer than what he really wanted to ask.

She paused to check her bearings on her handheld scanner, the beam of her headlamp cutting through the darkness. “When I was a teenager, my uncle used to take me caving duringsummer breaks.” She gestured toward a narrow crevice. “This way should lead us to the lower levels.”

“Lila’s father…” he started but then stopped, uncertain how to continue. Perhaps he shouldn’t have said anything.

Coward, his Rage mocked.

Her movements stilled, but she didn’t turn around. The silence stretched between them, broken only by the steady drip of water somewhere in the darkness.

“What about him?” Her voice was carefully neutral.

“Are you… is he still…”

“He’s dead,” she said quietly, finally turning to face him. The harsh beam of her headlamp made him squint. She quickly angled it away. “But we’d separated long before that. Lila was barely walking when he left.”

“Thank gods,” he blurted out and then horror replaced relief as the words hung in the damp air between them.

“I… that was…” He stumbled over his words. Then sighed. “I apologize. That was incredibly insensitive.”

She watched him for a long moment, her face hidden in shadow. She studied him with an expression he couldn’t quite read with her light half-blinding him. “Why did you say it then? You don’t seem the type to mince your words.”

“I was relieved that I don’t have to kill anyone to claim you.”

A startled laugh burst from her throat, bouncing off the cave walls. “You can’t be serious.” She lowered her hand, revealing a bemused smile. “You’d actually kill someone just because they’d been with me before?”

He drew himself up, pride stinging. “I am more than capable as a warrior. My combat skills?—”

“That’s not what I meant.” Another laugh escaped her, softer this time. “Humans don’t kill people just because they used to date someone we’re interested in.”

“Date?” The unfamiliar word stuck in his mouth.

“Court?” she suggested. “Have a relationship with?” She leaned against the cave wall. “Is that really what Izaeans do? Murder any previous partners?”

“If they pose a challenge to our claim, yes.” He frowned. “How else would we prove our worth as mates?”

Her laughter echoed again, but this time it was warm, almost affectionate. “Oh, Sy. There are so many other ways to prove your worth than killing people. Okay, I think this is a good place to rest for a while, eat and rehydrate. We need our strength.”

The chamber she indicated was more of an alcove, but it was dry and defensible. She sank down against the wall, pulling supplies from her pack. Her movements were slower now, heavy with the exhaustion she wouldn’t admit to.

“Here.” She offered him some kind of bar wrapped in silver foil. “Not exactly gourmet, but it’ll keep us going.”

“Sleep,” he said softly. “I’ll keep watch.”

She curled onto her side, using her pack as a pillow. Within moments, her breathing had deepened and evened out.

Is this real?The question gnawed at him as he watched Ashley sleep. Everything felt genuine… the way his heart raced when she was near, how her scent made him dizzy with want, the consuming need to protect her despite her obvious competence. Or was it… could it be down to his Rage?

The symbiont’s laughter rippled through his mind.You think I want her? Let me show you what I find attractive.

The image slammed into his consciousness… a massive creature, its form towering and alien. Four arms extended from a body that seemed carved from living crystal, each limb ending in wickedly sharp points. The face was dominated by a maw filled with translucent, razor-edged teeth.

Nowthat’sa female,the symbiont purred, its satisfaction tainted with an ancient longing.

“So that’s what you look like,” Sy whispered into the darkness.

Sleep,the symbiont commanded.There are two of us. I don’t need rest.

He tried to resist, to argue, but consciousness was already slipping away. His last coherent thought was the realization that the symbiont could take control at any moment, had always been able to?—

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