Page 22 of Treasure of the Abyss

“Let the water flow through the cloth. It’ll help keep it clean,” she said in response to his questioningexpression.

He nodded. “Do you need anything else for the fire, or is the wood enough?” he asked as he crossed theisland.

Macy watched, fascinated by the way he moved. Though his body remained upright, he didn’t so much walk as drag himself along with his tentacles. It created an undulating rhythm to his movement; dipping, sliding, rising, tentacles in constantmotion.

She tore her gaze away and got to her feet, ducking out from beneath her shelter. No more gawking at her captor. She had a fish tocook.

“Macy?”

“Oh, um…” She cleared her throat; what had he asked? “Oh! Kindling. Something that’ll easily catchfire.”

Brushing debris from her legs, Macy stepped around her tent and surveyed the crates. Some were metal with slits along their sides; she picked up the emptiest of them and dumped its contents into anotherbin.

Jax sauntered up alongside her. He handed her the cup; she passed him thecrate.

“Bring that to the vines by the waterfall,” she said, sipping the water, “and keep it dry, if youcan.”

He nodded. In the water, he moved with an otherworldly grace, arms raised over his head to hold the crate well above the surface. He was across the pool inseconds.

Setting her cup down, Macy entered the water and swam to the other side. It was cold, raising goosebumps on her arms and legs. She turned away from the waterfall as it misted her face; during the heat of the day, it would be refreshing, but it was too chillynow.

Jax leaned an elbow on the narrow ledge that ran along the length of the rock face, the crate perched beside him. Macy climbed onto the ledge nearby. She shiveredimmediately.

Shaking her hands dry, she forced her attention to the vegetation on the cliffside. The mass of vines clinging to the stone began at the top of the cliff — about fifteen meters up — and hung nearly to the water. Tufts of scrubby grass had sprouted from some of the cracks, with more growing along the base of thecliff.

Macy gathered all the grass within reach, piling the green handfuls to one side and the brown to the other. Once that was done, she went to work on the vines, shifting the glossy leaves aside to reveal the webs of branches and rootsbeneath.

The dead growth eventually gave way when she grasped it with both hands and leaned back, but the living vines were far more stubborn, clinging to the cliff face with silent desperation. She settled for tearing off some of the larger leaves, piling all of it into thecrate.

After plucking the final leaf, she tilted her head back, trailing her gaze up thecliffside.

The vines arestrong…

“Macy?”

Jax’s voice cut through her thoughts, and she turned back to thecrate.

“There’s not much else I can get, right now.” She frowned down at her harvest. “Would you bring it back to the island, please? And again, try not to get any of itwet.”

He lifted the crate over his head and swam back to theisland.

Knowing what to expect didn’t dull the chill of the water when Macy slipped back into the pool. She hurried after Jax, though there was no way she’d ever be able to keep up with him. He carried the crate to her tent, set it on the ground, and turned toward her as she pulled herself out of thewater.

She shivered again, and when she looked at Jax, he made no attempt to hide the way his eyes roamed over her body — from head to foot and back again, lingering on herchest.

Suddenly self-conscious, Macy glanced down. Her soaked dress was plastered to her breasts and hardened nipples. Mortified, she crossed her arms over her chest, shielding herself from hisgaze.

Jax shifted closer and tilted his head, brow creased. “Why do you coveryourself?”

Was it possible that her nipples tightened further under hisscrutiny?

“W-we need to build the fire,” shesaid.

“What does the fire have to do withit?”

“Itdoesn’t.”

He held her gaze for several seconds, but didn’t press any further. Instead, he moved aside and hunkered down beside her when she knelt before the crate. She felt him watching her, and couldn’t ignore how tightly the dress clung to herbody.

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