Page 56 of Freedom Mine
Chapter Thirteen
KAYO
What had he done to deserve such devotion? Nothing. Except buy her, but that wasn’t the type of devotion he wanted from her. Maybe she worried about what would happen to her if he died. She didn’t know how property, including slaves, transferred upon death on Varkos. She had reason to worry. Varkos didn’t acknowledge an owner’s wishes or use anything as archaic as wills.
The authorities evenly divided land amongst neighboring properties. That meant Fala and Yinnard would get the section bordering their property. That area included Freedom mine, and Fala and Yinnard were good people, so he’d be fine with that. But Sanctuary and the rest of his property would go to Garitt. That alone gave him incentive enough to live.
As for the slaves, animals, equipment, and the contents of all buildings, the creditors got first pick. Whatever was left over went to the neighbors, and if they couldn’t agree on a split, then everything went to auction. He couldn’t let the men, and his Alli, be taken by the creditors, or worse, end up with Garitt. Hells, even if he sold everything before he died, as Mac had done, he’d have to go to town to get a retina scan confirming his identity to finalize the transactions. He had to get out of the mine.
“You’re leaving without me,” Kayo said, struggling to maintain his composure, even though the walls felt as if they were closing in. They already had. “It’s bad enough Jace let you come down here. Believe me, I’d wring his neck right now if I could.”
“Maybe you need to get out of here so you can do just that,” she said as she inspected the boulder that had his leg pinned.
The light touch of her fingers prodding his knee reminded him he wasn’t dead yet. This was the last place he should be enjoying having her touch him. She was only assessing the situation, but it still felt heavenly, until she probed too close to his injury.
“Ojiu va krike!”
She yanked her hand away. A moment later, her hand returned to his face, caressing him, trying to help him through the pain. For a moment, breathing became easier and his thoughts returned to how he needed to get her out of this death trap.
He still couldn’t believe she had risked her life searching for him. He’d thought he’d die here, and he had almost resigned himself to that fate. Then she had appeared. There was no way he could give up now, not while she was here, not while her future was at risk.
The way she settled back on her thighs, though, with her arms crossed over her chest and her brow furrowed, he knew he’d have a tough time convincing her to go.
Even if she had enough strength to move the boulder, she couldn’t stand in the small space to gain the proper leverage. The ceiling, if it could be called that, was less than four feet above the ground, barely giving her enough space to kneel by him.
“Alli, please go while you still can.”
“I don’t want to leave you, Kayo.”
“I know.” Were the walls moving? He felt dizzy and hot.
“Kayo?” Cool flesh caressed his cheek.
He had to keep it together, long enough to convince her to go. He couldn’t let her die in here with him. He took a deep breath.
“It’s getting hard to speak. Please, don’t fight me on this. Just listen.”
Eyes wide with fear, she nodded. Hells, he hated scaring her.
“Go back the way you came. . .” He paused long enough to draw a deep breath. “Let Jace know where I am. They can brace the ceiling.”
“You’re not saying that so I’ll leave you, are you?”
“Believe me, I’d like nothing more than to sit back while you continue fondling my leg.”
“I wasn’t fondling. I was examining.”
She sounded irked, but only slightly. Good, at least she didn’t look as scared. “Are you sure? It felt like fondling,” he teased.
“Then you don’t know what fondling is.”
“I guess you’ll need to give me a demonstration so I’ll know for the future.”
She grinned.
“But not here,” he added quickly. “How about at the house, when I’m no longer covered in dirt and sweat.” And blood. He left that thought out intentionally.
Her lips tightened. “Kayo?”
