Page 9 of Shifter King
"No," AaQar said from below, his voice echoing up. "It looks rather dry down there as well. Just foul scented. You'll get a bad headache and likely need to vomit if you stay down there long enough, but that takes a couple hours to build."
She could deal with foul scented. After pushing herself up from the ground, she dusted herself off and made her way toward the bunker opening. The areas around the hinges and the log were twisted and jagged even with rust. Anyone moving too fast could get a nasty cut. Or worse. Far worse actually.
Naatos eyed her. "You're strong enough to climb down?"
"One way to find out." She set her arms on her waist and met his gaze.
He gave a shrug and then stepped to the side.
With her best attempt at a flounce, she turned and stepped onto the ladder. Unlike the door, it wasn't rusted. There wasn't mold in here either so perhaps the door had been partially over this and Naatos had moved it. He had cleared out the worm corpses.
Up above something stirred. Then something dropped down behind her. She spun around, startled, her grip on the smooth metal tightening.
Naatos stood at the bottom of the ladder now. He held his hand out to her, his expression more smug and self-assured than it had been in what felt like a long time.
She scowled at him and resumed her slow descent. Already her palms sweat, and her left arm trembled a little. "Did you just jump down behind me?"
"No." His smirk broadened to a full smile. He then placed his hand on her ankle as she came within reach. "I was always here."
Her skin prickled pleasantly at his touch, his strong hand warm against her skin. She continued to climb down a little slower. "Liar."
He slid his hand higher up her calf, his thumb stroking along one of the longer scars. "You're shaking."
"I was just surprised to see you get down so quickly." She moved down two more rungs, then drew in another deep breath. Her heart wasn't just racing because he'd slid his hand to the back of her thigh and under her dress.
"Now who's lying?" He tugged on her waistband.
Pressing her forehead to one of the metal rungs, she drew in a long breath. If only he wasn't so observant.
Another tug on her waistband followed, more insistent this time.
Taking care, she turned and leaned down. Her hand had scarcely brushed Naatos's shoulder before he lifted her off the ladder. Instead of setting her down though, he held her close. "Naatos?"
He pressed her head to his shoulder, tucking his chin along her neck as his one hand clasped the back of her head.
She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled closer. It was a little awkward with her feet dangling. Why was he doing this?
"Sometimes I just need to hold you. I just need to know you are alive. I need you to know I love you."
She heard his thought as clearly as if he had spoken it. Hugging him tighter, she buried her face in his neck. "I hope you know I love you too."
It didn't matter that this place reeked or that what lay ahead or that they were all broken, shattered, and barely holding together. Her body still didn't feel right, and it certainly wasn't large enough to hold all of these feelings. Not even the good ones. But if she would burst because of any feeling, this was an especially good one.
SCAVENGED
It was hard to let her go. And he needed to. But sometimes it struck Naatos like a blade through the back of his skull how close she had come to dying. Or worse. Even now, with the stench of the grim worms in his nostrils, he felt as if he was practically holding a corpse.
That young prophet, the Machat youth, had warned him that he would curse the day he destroyed the Salvation of the Third Nalenth. And he did.
Naatos closed his eyes.
The youth had said that he would wish he had just one of them for Amelia. His stomach tightened. He couldn't quite see the young Machat's face, but the words echoed in his mind as if the youth spoke them right there. He and his brothers would mourn the day they destroyed the Salvation of the Third Nalenth. And she would die if they followed what was said.
He would have given almost anything for those healing orbs to get her out of Dry Deep or now. But she had survived that. She had survived everything that Ecekom had thrown at her. That young prophet hadn't mentioned those events. That meant there was worse to come. Unless they stopped it.
She wriggled a little, pressing her hands to his shoulders. "Naatos?" she asked again. Her feet brushed his shins. "Do you need to talk or something?"
Her words brought a smile to his face. Sighing, he kissed her neck. "No."
