Page 52 of Orc's Pretend Mate

Then someone shouts outside the hovel door.

31

PHOEBE

The shouts come again while I’m going through this weird sense of deja vu. Vapas steps ahead, pushing me back and behind him. The knife is in his hand while he looks around. Boots are approaching and there is more shouting.

Firelight dances between the cracks in the wall and door. Someone has torches outside the walls. The shouts are in Urr’ki, so I don’t know what they’re saying, but nonetheless my blood runs cold.

Vapas growls and pushes me back until we’re against the wall. His attention is on the front, so I assess the back. This hovel is barely standing. There must be another way out.

In the far corner, buried in shadow, I see something that gives me at least a bit of hope. I slip out from behind Vapas. He tries to grab and pull me back, but I duck under his grasp.

Several slats hang loosely bound together. I grab onto one of them and tug. It swings aside revealing a small opening. I could get through it but Vapas will never fit.

Vapas looms over as I pull the slat aside. His broad frame casts a shadow even in the flickering light of the candles.

“You won’t fit,” I say, my voice low and tight.

His jaw clenches, and for a moment, he looks at the opening, then back at me. The shouting is louder outside, closer. Boots pound down the alley. We only have moments before they’ll be pouring in. I don’t know what they are waiting for.

“I can widen it,” he growls.

He grips the edges of the gap and rips, his muscles flexing as he works. Splinters fly as he tears at the brittle material, each piece giving way with a sickening crunch.

“Faster,” I whisper, glancing over my shoulder.

My stomach drops as I audibly gasp. That’s not only torches. Flames are licking through the wall like it’s alive. Red-orange tongues exploring its way through the cracks as it seeks its way in. Smoke fills the room, thick and acrid, burning the back of my throat.

“There.”

Vapas steps back and gestures for me to go through. It only takes one glance to see it’s still not big enough for him to fit.

“What about you?” I demand, voice rising in panic.

“I’ll follow.”

It’s a lie. I see it in his eyes. He doesn’t believe there’s enough time for both of us, but he’s shielding me from the truth.

“No!” I hiss, grabbing his arm. “We both go, or neither of us does.”

His growl deepens, a primal sound that sends a shiver down my spine. He shifts his hands and grabs both of my arms in a death grip.

“Phoebe, do not argue. Go!”

The heat of the fire is heating up my skin. My lungs scream for fresh air. I glare at Vapas as he grabs me and jerks down. He pushes me towards the opening. I want to resist, but I also know he’s right. On my hands and knees I pause, looking over my shoulder.

“Promise me,” I demand.

“Phoebe, go. Now!”

He pushes on my ass, trying to force me into the opening but I hunker down and refuse, though he does shove my head through.

“Vapas, promise me. Get out of here. Don’t leave me.”

His eyes bore into mine as debate rages across his face. I’m asking him the impossible. He’s resigning himself to fight and die, but I don’t want to live without him.

He’s mine. I’m his.

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