Page 5 of Conflicted Fate
The impact of water drove the air from my lungs. Thecrack-crack-crackof rocks hitting the surface nonstop was deafening. I sank below, the current dragging me along while I paddled hard, struggling to reach air. I burst clear just long enough to inhale once before a rock hit the water close enough to drive me under.
I spun and bounced as more chunks of stone battered my body, until the current finally swept me out of the huge hole that was rapidly filling with mountain and into the underground hollow it had long ago bored out of the solid rock. The underground river carried me along while I paddled to stay afloat, ignoring the stream of physical complaints my body was sending my way.
There was no point trying to look around, to figure out where I was or what was going on. That far underground, I couldn’t see a thing. My wolf’s vision was excellent, but there was quite literallynolight at all to see with. Pure blackness. Touch, scent, and whatever sound my battered eardrums could pick up were all I had to go on.
Gravel scraped under paw. Frantically, I dug in, pushing myself upward and out of the water, step by step, until I could collapse on the shore as the river carried on past.
The rumble of the dying mountain continued behind me. Or was it above? I had no way of telling where it was coming from, but so far, it seemed I was safe. There was no sense that the ceiling was about to give way and crush me flat. And if it were, there wasn’t much I could do about it anyway.
I shifted back into my human form and crawled a bit farther up onto the small shoreline.
“Kiel!” I called worriedly. I hadn’t heard or seen him since we’d gone over the edge. In the rain of stone that had followed, he’d become lost. I didn’t know if he was alive or buried under a rock somewhere, dead or dying and not knowing the same about me.
There was no response. I maneuvered myself into a sitting position.
“Kiel!” I hollered at the top of my lungs. “Kiel, where are you?”
There was a splash, followed by what sounded like doggy paddling as something living came closer. I tensed, waiting. Eventually, gravel crunched and shifted as it was disturbed.
Was it him, or was it something else, some underground predator that had located its next meal and come to devour me before I even knew I was under attack?
“Kiel?” I called nervously.
“I’m here,” a familiar voice groaned, rife with pain. “Whereverhereis.”
Chapter Four
Gravel crunched as I moved toward Kiel, feeling my way unsteadily on hands and knees in the utter darkness. Only his breathing and the slight splashing of water gave me direction.
I recoiled at the first touch of warm flesh, the difference in temperature a mild shock. It didn’t last long, though. The touch of another person, ofKiel, was a sudden craving that wouldn’t be satisfied unless I flung myself at him. So, I did, wrapping my arms and legs around his body, holding on for dear life, afraid that if I let go, I would be forever alone in the pitch-black cavern.
“Hey,” he said gently, holding himself upright on his knees and wrapping both arms around me as I clung to him like some sort of spider-monkey. “It’s okay, Jada. It’s okay.”
“I know,” I said, clutching him tighter.
He stroked the back of my head, fingers smoothing out my wet hair, whispering sweet nothings into my ear. Slowly, I relaxed, the burst of terror slowly fading as my heart returned to a normal rhythm.
“Better,” he murmured into one ear before catching my chin and tilting my head upward to kiss me. He took his time, slow and thorough, parting my lips with his tongue, both of us exploring the other.Thatwas something we knew, something we could touch and feel, that we had experienced before. It was safe in a way, keeping us grounded in the moment.
“All right,” I said, uncurling my legs from around his waist as he stood, reaching carefully overhead to ensure there was clearance. “I’m a little less panicked now.”
“Good,” he said, then paused for a moment. “Though, I don’t understand how you aren’t madder at me for hiding who I am. You should be furious with me.”
I licked my lips. “I am mad,” I admitted. “But not because of who you were born as, Kiel. But because you lied. You hid yourself. I also knowwhyyou did it. The anger is there, at the trickery, but I’m not letting it control my thoughts or how I act. Sometimes, logic and emotion, they butt heads.”
He snorted. “True enough.”
“We’ll work through this,” I assured him.
“First, we should probably try to solve our current predicament,” he said, the gruffness of his tone hiding his emotion.
Always the tough guy, that was Kiel. I pressed my forehead to his pec for a brief moment, then pulled away. After all, he had a point.
“Might not be such a bad idea,” I agreed.
“Just need to find a way out of here,” he said, turning, looking back at the water, I presumed, since I couldn’t see.
“Isherewhere I think it is?” I asked, shifting uncomfortably.
