Page 97 of Return of the Nine

She scowled and stretched her legs as much as she could. The band around her hips tightened and then relaxed as her muscles did. “I don’t want to cut this excursion short. I will be fine for two weeks.”

He looked at the expression on her face and shook his head. “No, you won’t. If the system is failing and your damage is as complete as you say, it will leave you unable to move within forty-eight hours.”

She groaned and pressed her forehead to her knees. Niika dreaded being immobile more than she did having to return the funds to the Nine.

“If you want to continue the excursion, it can be part of your rehab after the surgery.”

Niika looked into his dark eyes and blinked. “We can just come back?”

“The surgery will take a day, recovery two, and then, we can return to this area and start with a guide that can move. I amsure the others will agree.”

Morro spoke from the outer room. “We agree, so we will remain here tonight, and tomorrow, we return to the surface and call for a medical pickup.”

Cavos grinned, reached between her feet to drain the water and filled the tub up once again. “Can you remove the rest of your clothing?”

To her surprise, she was sitting in her half suit. It supported her breasts and covered her entire front but wrapped low on her hips to leave her entire back exposed. “Fine. Turn around.”

He turned and leaned against the tub as she sloshed and twisted to get the soggy clothing off. When it was off and the water had risen above her hips, she draped the half suit over the edge of the tub and watched as Cavos removed it to wash it out in the sink.

He twisted the suit to wring out the water and draped it over a towel rack.

Morro came in with her pack in hand and the most extraordinary thing happened, Cavos got to his feet and turned to stone in front of her fascinated gaze. Morro froze in his tracks, left the pack and walked out.

“Uh, what was that?”

Cavos changed back from icy marble to his normal grey, and he turned to smile. “What was what?”

“You turned to stone, and Morro just walked away without a word. It doesn’t seem like him.”

He smiled and turned to her with her pack. “Ancient custom.”

He stroked her hair and pressed a kiss to her lips. His mouth was cool and firm, but her reaction was a wave of heat and a peculiar shimmy in her belly that was most distracting.

She was staring into his eyes as he leaned back, and considering her state of undress, his eye contact was as extraordinary as anything else. Niika licked her lips. “Was thatan ancient custom?”

He grinned and stroked her cheek. “No, it was much more recent.”

“Was it because I touched you when we were looking over the maps?” She had been told not to touch the Nine, but she forgot when it came to hunting a target.

“No. It started then, but it would not have bloomed if the ground hadn’t been right. Speaking of ground, how is there so much light in the city? I haven’t been able to find the source.” He winked.

She sighed. “You know very well that there are strategic crystals angled to catch the sun and direct it down here in various tubes. It is the only way that the Zaphlings could have survived as long as they did.”

“How did they get in here?”

Niika smiled. “There were great upheavals in the land before we got here. I am guessing that they made their way through a previously non-existent crack. They are very resourceful and quite small. This must have seen like heaven to them.”

“And then, we came in and ruined it.”

She chuckled. “Reducing their numbers is a boon. The normal size of a herd is around thirty, so this many will soon break into another herd, and then, the territory disputes will occur and they will kill each other. There is a finite amount of grazing available here.”

Cavos smiled. “Do you have any questions about my people?”

“You can walk through stone, but what else can you do?”

“Well, it varies from person to person. Trusk is a carver. He can use his hands to turn ordinary blocks of stone into the most detailed statuary you could imagine. He is here to research some of his family’s works.”

The braces on her legs gave her a few more inches of play, and she leaned back in the hot water. “What about you specifically?You already know my secrets.”

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