Page 73 of Unleashed

Aduun frowned before continuing. “Your suffering, Nina, will mean your death. There is no choice to make. We hunger, we thirst, but we will not die. If you hunger and thirst for too long, you will.”

Nina sighed and buried her face in her hand. She wished Kelsharn were near, so she could wring his neck for all he’d put her valos through, for what he’d put everyone that he’dplayedwiththrough — not that death by strangulation was as terrible an end as he deserved. She hated that her valos were enduring so much for her sake. They’d suffered enough.

Her hands brushed over the vegetation clinging to the rock face as she dropped them to settle her palms on the sand beneath her. The dirt was cool and comforting, and she dug her fingers deeper into the moist ground.

Moist.

She twisted to look behind her. The plants here were green, a healthy, livinggreen, unlike all the other plants she’d seen since they left the cave. Getting onto her knees, she tore up the plants, tossing them aside, and clawed at the dirt with her fingers.

“What are you doing?” Balir asked.

“There are living plants here, and the ground is moist,” she said, scooping away handfuls of wet soil.

Vortok dropped down onto his knees beside her and gently nudged her arms away, taking over what she’d begun. His huge hands dug out piles of increasingly damp dirt, which occasionally landed on the other two valos as he tossed it back. Though she detected a prickle of curiosity from Aduun and Balir, neither approached; she guessed they were keeping alert for more of the creatures.

Before long, a tiny pool of water had formed at the base of the hole. Nina reached down and dipped her finger in; the water was only as deep as her second knuckle, but it was a start.

“Dig it out some more,” she said. She hadn’t heard such excitement in her own voice in so long, especially over something as simple as water.

These are the struggles of my father’s people — of Aduun, Balir, and Vortok. Clean water, food, warmth… Orishok prepared me to provide for myself if necessary, but I’ve neverwantedfor any of these necessities until I fell down here.

Vortok shoveled out several more handfuls of mud, widening and deepening the hole before sitting back.

Nina looked up at him and grinned. “We did it!”

His smile shone in his dark eyes. “I didn’t think there’d be water underground in a place like this.Youdid it.”

She leaned closer and pressed a kiss to his muscled arm before dipping her hands into the water to splash her face. Its cold shocked her skin, sending a delightful shiver down her spine.

They sat back and waited as water slowly filled the hole. There was no telling how much they’d get, but they couldn’t allow any to go to waste.

Nina nudged Vortok. “Drink.”

He leaned down, cupped his palm, and lifted a handful of water. Tilting his head back, he poured it into his open mouth. Rivulets ran down his lips and into his mane. After a second handful, he pushed himself up and turned to Aduun and Balir. “One of you come have some. It’s good and cold.”

“Go ahead,” Aduun said.

Vortok took Balir’s place as the pale-scaled valo moved to kneel at the edge of the hole.

Balir’s long-fingered hands were ill-suited to scooping out water. He pressed the sides of his hands together to create a larger surface and drank several handfuls. When he was done, he turned his head toward Nina, his sightless eyes moving as though to seek her out. “Thank you, Nina.”

“No more suffering.” Nina cupped his cheek and drew him closer, pressing her mouth to his.

One of his hands settled on her leg as he returned the kiss. “We will always choose suffering for ourselves if it spares you.”

Her heart constricted as she stared into his pale eyes, and the sensation only intensified when she turned her gaze toward Aduun and Vortok. These were hermates. They’d put themselves through hell for her, and she’d do the same for them. If it came down to it, she’d give her life for them.

They were the blood pumping through her veins, the very beat of her heart, the undying flame she’d longed to possess. They werehers.

She loved Orishok and Quinn deeply. It was a child’s love for her parents, and it would go on until Sonhadra claimed her. But this love, this blazing, consuming love she felt for her mates, would continue long after, as intense as the sun and serene as the moons, with all the beauty and chaos of the boundless sky.

Nina kissed Balir again, harder, willing her love into him.

He brought a hand to the side of her face, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone. “I feel the same for you,” he whispered. Then he pulled away from her, moving to take Aduun’s place.

Aduun kept his gaze on Nina as he approached, quills slowly rising and flattening. Even after she’d become so familiar with them, his amber eyes captured her, their gaze no less powerful than it had been that first time. He dropped to his knees beside her, and rather than quench his thirst, he grasped her upper arms and pulled her closer.

“You are ours, Nina, and we will not let Sonhadra have you.” He dipped his head and caught her mouth with his, kissing her long and deep, claiming her, branding her with the heat of his lips.

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