Page 106 of Red Ruin

Vhex pulses with despair.

My shadow-garters make it hard to move, but I climb until I’m hugging his shoulders.

“Too late for what?” I ask, trying to soothe his pain.

His silks droop and slide away.

Is thatshame?

FromVhex?

His jaw grinds shut.

I’ll pry the truth out of him, eventually.

It’s not like I have anywhere else to be.

Or working feet.

I rub his jaw with my thumbs. “Can you take me to my room?”

Vhex carries me down the stairwell. I’m so busy untwisting his silks, trying to figure out what has him so tense, I don’t pay attention to where he’s walking.

We end in a dank basement, in front of a door crusted in shimmering arrays. The patterns shine eerily similar to the ones in the imprisoning seal.

“This isn’t my room.”

“It’s mine.” Vhex channels into a magic circle placed where the door handle would be. The bolt rattles open, then he hauls me inside like a jaguar stashing its kill.

Pink light glows from the spells engraved in the craggy walls.

The narrow chamber barely fits the blanket mountain of his bed. There’s no other furniture. A single shelf that looks like he hollowed it out of the rock bare-handed holds—is that amouseskeleton?

I shudder and look away.

The only decorations are array lines and the thick layer of soot on the rock ceiling.

Lovely.More caves.

“Guide.” Vhex lowers me onto a rumpled pile of silver blankets.

When he crawls on top of me, I’m pressed so deep that I’m almost buried.

There’s no mattress underneath.

His bed is a firebug nest made of layers and layers of flame-proof fabric that crinkle with every breath.

The space is dark and uncomfy.

He was stuck in this hole and left to suffer.

“It’s okay,” I reassure him, fighting for a position that lets air into my lungs. Eventually, I’m sitting half-reclined. I pat Vhex’s shoulder. “Rest your head on my lap.”

Vhex rolls until his head is sandwiched between my thighs. His fire armor is long gone, leaving him bare and at my mercy.

My veins…itch.

I stroke his velvety horn, hoping he can’t sense my inner quake.

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