Page 106 of The Princesses of Ruin
She, being the trusting fawn that she is, shoves her hand into my mouth. Even my gag reflex is subdued. She pushes the bead into my throat and massages it down.
“Come. It’s time to leave,” Vek’ihr says.
His people are already shuffling off. I can’t see where they’re going, but surely there’s another entrance somewhere nearby.
“Will you let it go?” she asks, nodding to the serpent.
Oh, my sweet, conscientious queen.
“It will manage,” Vek’ihr says. “And we don’t want to be here when it does.”
“Agreed.”
She grabs me around the waist and hauls me up under her arm like I’m a sack of grain. She tows me through the water, following the procession of animated ga’hanoi returning with their pilfered goods.
There’s another narrow intake tunnel, and Reina pushes me in first. I’m glad I can’t feel the bumps and scrapes right now, but I certainly will later. We emerge into the safety of the dome and it’s like my ears pop. Suddenly, I can feel my face again. I snap my mouth shut and groan.
“Jasper,” Reina rushes out and hugs me to her chest. She plants kisses along my brow, down my temple, across my cheek, and then smashes her lips to mine.
“They can see,” I slur around her kiss.
She laughs. “I don’t care. I’m so happy you’re okay.”
My arms come up around her and I hold on, waiting for the rest of my body to wake up. She nuzzles the top of my head and strokes my finned spine. I let myself forget where we are and just relish her touch.
“Is this part of your mating ritual?” Vek’ihr asks, and I feel the urge to rip him apart. There’s nothing left in me for shifting, else I’d consider it.
“No,” I murmur at the same time Reina says, “Sometimes.”
Vek’ihr’s colors shimmer. “I would like to see more.”
“Fuck off,” I say, batting at him with an arm made of rocks. I could never defend myself in this state. I hope the danger is well andtruly gone. If Vek’ihr had wanted to kill me, it would’ve been easy down there at the edge of the abyss. Slit my throat and let me drop. She never would’ve found me.
But he didn’t.
Perhaps he’s still plotting, and I’m a useful piece in his game.
“Another time, then,” Vek’ihr says.
“Never time. Not ever a time,” I say.
Reina giggles. “Mating is something we typically do in private.”
“There are exceptions, though?” he asks.
“Not for us,” I say.
My tail comes back with a sharp tingle, and I swish it a few times to test it out. I’m slow, but I have full motor functions back.
When I turn, I’m shocked by the overwhelming presence ofallthe ga’hanoi in the city. They’ve swarmed upon us. Waiting. What for, I’m not certain.
“We have been hopeful for this day a long time,” Vek’ihr says. “The last hatched, the unwanted, the broodless. All of us powerless to make the change you made.”
Vek’ihr shifts colors and moves around us. As he goes, the other ga’hanoi change with him.
“Long have we wanted allies of the surface. Long have we yearned to return to our ancestral land. But our leaders, passed down from first hatched onward, sequestered and fed dogma, they would never relinquish control of us.”
I have a feeling he’s giving this exact speech to his people as he moves. That he’s doing it out loud for our benefit.
