Page 53 of Orc's Pretend Mate

After all the trauma, the resistance, the not going to do it, it all clicks into place. Maybe it’s the danger, heightening all my senses, maybe I’m high on adrenaline and fear but it doesn’t feel like that at all. As I realize this fundamental truth a sense of calm comes with it. A certainty that this is the one I need to be with. The one whom I’m meant for.

“Yes, dragoste,” he says at last, nodding.

He drops to his knees and grabs onto the sides of the opening, setting back to work to widen it. Having gained his agreement I wriggle through the narrow gap, the edges scraping my arms and sides.

Outside, the night air is cool after the heat of the flames. I crawl a little ways across the ground of uneven, broken stone and debris. There isn’t a lot of room. The hovel butts up against the outer wall of the cavern that homes the Urr’ki city. I rise up and press my back against that wall.

I turn in time to see Vapas shove himself through the hole. The wood groans under the pressure, and for a terrifying moment, I think it will collapse entirely. But he forces his massive shoulders through, twisting and contorting in ways I didn’t think were possible for someone his size. He gets to his feet and rushes right to my side.

“You are okay?” he asks, his eyes inspecting as he speak.

“Fi—”

“Gru-har-uh,” a voice shouts in Urr’ki before I finish.

Vapas grabs my hand, and we run.

Behind us, the hovel erupts into flames. Smoke and heat billow out, filling the narrow escape path and obscuring us from sight for the moment, but it won’t last.

“This way,” Vapas growls, tugging me toward the shadows of a jagged rock formation nearby.

We dart into the darkness, the sound of pursuing boots pounding right behind us.

32

PHOEBE

My heart is in my throat. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, dampened by the cold sweat covering me. There is no time to waste, but fear is a weighted blanket pressing onto me.

“Faster,” Vapas murmurs, putting his hand on the small of my back. “They are close.”

I’m too out of breath to answer and even if I wasn’t, there’s nothing to say. I can feel them getting closer. It sounds like they’re pacing us on the other side of the buildings while we dart down this tight space between the outer cave wall and the ramshackle hovels.

It’s almost too dark to see. The light of the torches that illuminate the city barely reach back here. I stub my toe more than once. Vapas has to turn sideways and scrapes loudly when the passage constricts.

Then my foot hooks on something and I’m falling. The only thing that stops me from faceplanting is Vapas grabbing the back ofmy shirt in time. He jerks me upright. My arm scrapes against the rough stone of the hovel next to us.

My arm stings, but there's no time to check the damage. The thundering sound of boots on the street opposite close in while shouts are echoing off the cavern walls. They're coordinating, trying to cut us off.

“There!” Vapas hisses, pulling me toward what looks like a wider opening ahead.

I stumble towards the open intersection, hoping we can slip away before the Maulavi trap us, maybe?—

A torch blazes to life directly in front of us. The sudden brightness is blinding after the darkness of the passage. I stumble backwards, falling against Vapas' chest, as shapes emerge from the shadows. Three Maulavi are blocking our path, their flowing robes making them look like pieces of night taken form.

We spin around but more torchlight flares behind us. More Maulavi fill the narrow space we just came through, their weapons glinting. The flickering flames cast grotesque shadows on the rough stone walls, making it seem like we're surrounded by dancing demons. Which we might as well be.

“No escape,” one of them says in thickly accented Zmaj.

Vapas pushes me to the side and behind, pressing me against the wall. His massive frame nearly fills the width of the passage.

“Stay behind me,” he growls, the sound rumbling through his chest and into me from my hands pressing against his back.

The first Maulavi lunges forward, blade glinting in the torchlight. Vapas blocks his thrust with savage efficiency,catching the attacker's wrist and twisting. Something snaps, loud and painful. The blade clatters to the ground and the Maulavi howls in pain.

There are too many. They are surging in, coming from both directions, and filling the narrow space with chaos. Vapas fights like a caged beast, each movement precise and brutal. One attacker flies backward into his companions. Another crumples with a crushed windpipe, but they keep coming.

I step aside when Vapas punches one and the body flies at where I am. Then, suddenly, cold metal is pressing on my throat. I didn’t see him get behind us. Didn’t realize there was enough space between Vapas and the wall for someone to slip through. The blade bites into my skin, drawing a warm trickle of blood trailing down my cool skin.

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