Page 79 of Gods' Battleground

“I’ll go first,” he said.

“No, I’ll go.” I sighed because I really didn’t want to. “I should go first because I have seniority.”

Nero snorted. “Since when?”

“Uh, since I became a member of the gods’ and demons’ councils.”

“You might sit on the councils, Pandora, but I have been a soldier for a very long time, much longer than you have been alive. I was doing things like this centuries before you were born.”

“Doing things like what?” I asked. “Scaling smooth rock faces with your bare hands and no magic parachute to catch you?”

“Yes,” Nero said, totally unwavering in his confidence. “Among other things.”

“All right then.” I gave him a playful nudge with my hip. “I’ll let you go first, old man.”

Nero nodded. “A wise decision.”

He gave me a quick kiss, then squeezed through the aperture. For a moment, I thought his wide shoulders were going to get stuck in the narrow opening, but he managed to shimmythrough with some vigorous wiggling that I found absolutely adorable.

Once he was clear, I carefully lowered myself closer to the aperture. I could hear the soft, subdued creak of his leather armor as he scaled down the wall—and then a quiet tap as he set down on the ground.

“All right, Pandora!” Nero called up to me. “Come on down. But take it slow and easy.”

I slid through the opening. I was much smaller than Nero, so I didn’t have to wiggle.

And then I was inside a high, rocky chamber. And boy was this underground cave high! Actually, it wasn’t so much a cave as it was a chute.

It felt especially high since I didn’t have my wings to catch me if I fell. I drew in a few deep, calming breaths, then started down the wall. Very, very slowly.

“Are you ok?” Nero called up to me when I was nearly halfway down the wall.

“Sure, fine,” I said. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you’ve been stuck to that same spot for nearly five minutes.”

I took another deep breath. “Just getting my bearings.”

“I can come back up there,” he offered.

“It’s no problem, General. I can totally handle it.”

I reached out my arm for the next crevice in the rock. But my hands were really sweaty. I’d been holding to the wall for too long. I slipped.

I felt the sudden, unwelcome sensation of falling. I tried to right myself to land feet first, concentrating the impact there. But my feet never touched down. Nero caught me first.

“I’ve got you, Pandora,” he said, his hold secure. I could feel his heart racing in his chest. “I’ve got you.”

“You always do.” I finally let out the breath I’d forgotten to take during the long way down.

“Always,” Nero agreed.

“Well, I guess you can put me down now.”

“Are you sure?” He held on to me, his face worried.

I could tell he really didn’t want to let me go. Like he thought I would drop through the floor or something.

“Yeah, it’s ok,” I assured him. “I’ll be all right.”

---