Page 67 of Queen of Ever

‘You had someone else with you?’Cassian asked sharply, pausing.

‘A satyr.He’s harmless,’ I said.

‘We’ll bring him in.’He gestured at two of his companions, who peeled away from the group to head back the way we’d come.

‘You look very comfortable issuing orders.Been climbing the ranks, have we?’Ethan folded his arms, eyeing his brother.

‘Well, it’s not like you were around to fill the void,’ Cassian snapped tersely, and the two continued to bicker back and forth, making snarky references to disappointed family members and accusing each other of all kinds of betrayal as the tunnel spiralled steeply down, winding around and in on itself.The deeper into the earth we trekked, the more doors and openings to other tunnels fed off the one we travelled down.There were increasing signs of life, with lanterns strung along the walls, potted plants and mats placed by heavy wooden doors carved with names and numbers, a rag doll left strewn across the path where a child had dropped it.That, I didn’t like seeing.It seemed there were more than just a handful of resistance fighters hiding down here.

The tunnel widened, and the few of Cassian’s companions following behind us drew further back, seeming to relax the longer I didn’t demonstrate any sign that I was going to turn on them, and their talk became more casual and animated as one shared some story about a drunk game of cards she’d played the night before.

I spied a fork in the tunnel ahead.I waited until we were almost past it, dropping back a little further, before I caught Imogen’s hand and pulled her after me, slipping out of one corridor and into another by a shift small enough not to be noticed.At least, not noticed before we could get away.Imogen didn’t protest, only glancing once over her shoulder before running after me, our footsteps light and quick.Another crossroads brought a duo of trolls lumbering along, arguing about where to find the fattest grubs, and I pulled her against a wall until they passed, finger to my lips when she looked up at me with a question in her eyes.

‘Are you really alright?’I asked when we were alone again.I held her shoulders and searched her face, seeking any sign, any hint, that she was keeping something hidden for the sake of her new friends, some injury or cruelty I couldn’t see.

‘I really am.Truly, I’m okay.Just glad you’re here.’She ran her hands up my neck, cupped my face.Pulled me down to her, kissing me with less calm than she was trying to sell me on.Looping an arm around her waist, I pulled her close, relishing in the way touching her seemed to calm the turbulence of my emotions, finally dissolving the dregs of madness that had been staining my thoughts since the fury attack.

‘I could have razed the whole fucking world to the ground when I was watching them carry you away.’I leaned my forehead against hers, eyes closed, still a little drunk on the fact that she was with me again.‘I’m so tired of losing you.’

She ran her thumbs along my skin, back and forth, each breath she took softening her.‘I knew you’d come this time.My first thought when I woke up was about how stupid they must have been to take me.’

These words ushered in a wave of regret.Maybe I’d been trying to do the right thing by refraining from going after her when she was in the Summer Palace.Maybe everything had turned out better for it.Or maybe I should have just followed her over the Sunder the moment she’d disappeared.‘There will be no more waiting around trying to toe the line,’ I swore.‘I go where you go.’

She took a steadying breath, hands slipping down, looping around my neck.‘So, if where I go is to see the queen of the rebel court...’

I chuckled, fingers tracing up her back.‘You aren’t going anywhere.’I kissed her again, savouring the way she bent to me, the familiarity of it, the sense of right that consumed me, the way her breath hitched and her hands curled through my hair.

‘They’ll be wondering where we are,’ she gasped as my hands found her thighs, lifting her from her feet, pressing her against the wall.

‘I don’t care.’

‘You will when they come looking for us and catch us in an awkward position.’

‘Dirty girl.’I drew my mouth to her neck, traced my lips against her pulse.‘What kind of position do you think they’re going to catch us in?’

‘Well, this one for starters.’She drew her fingers from my hair, pushed half-heartedly against my chest.

‘Oh yeah?For starters?What other positions do you plan to be in?’

‘Stop it.’But she arched her neck, contradicting the words, breath quickening as I kissed the hollow beneath her ear and my hands tightened around her thighs.‘You know, you’re covered in muck.’

‘I had a disagreement with a plant on the way in.’

‘It’s sticky and gross.You should wash it off.’

‘Are you trying to get me out of my clothes?’

‘Perhaps.There’s a bath in the room they’ve given me.’

‘A bath.That’s an idea I like.I could check over every inch of you to make sure you’re in the same condition I left you in.They better not have hurt you, Imogen, because I’m going to be very thorough.’

‘Then put me down and come with me.’

I pressed my face into the crook of her neck, breathing her in, pressing our bodies closer together, before setting her back on the ground.She took a deep, shuddering breath and found my hand with hers as she slid free of my grip.

‘Come on,’ she said, twining our fingers together and tugging me forwards.I readily followed her deeper into the earth, down a dark, curling tunnel in a hideout for a group of rebels who thought of me as the enemy.Followed her without hesitation.

I’d follow her anywhere.

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