Page 60 of Of Serpents and Ruins
My eyebrow cocked. "No."
"Of course you don't." He turned to glance back at me. Our eyes met. His gaze softened. Then he gave a wry chuckle. "You got any weapons?"
"I was on my way to bed before I fell through the well!"
"And you don't sleep with a dagger anymore?"
"No! Am I supposed to?" My heart hammered against my ribs as the kapis slunk from the shadows. Their scales glinted in the dim fungal light, glistening yellow eyes fixed on us.
"Heh. You used to be such a badass," he said with a grunt that sounded almost amused.
"Bastard." Was he seriously teasing me now? I shot him a glare. The adrenaline was driving back that desire.
"Oooh, did I hit a sore spot?" He smirked as he continued to press me back.
More hisses and rumbles followed from the passage ahead. Maybe there were four now. Even five. Were kapis pack hunters?
"Why does it feel like this is the first time you've relaxed since I came back?" I demanded.
"Because it is." He glanced back at me, mischief sparkling in his eyes.
"So imminent doom and bodily dismemberment gets you laughing, while flirtatious banter makes you tense. You're a piece of work, Brandt."
"We've both got our own brand of crazy, love."
"Well, don't call me 'love' unless you want me scaling you like my favorite rock wall." I grabbed at his belt.
"Stella!" he started.
I pulled one of his daggers free and brandished it with a smile. "Just grabbing a weapon. What did you think I was doing?"
He narrowed his eyes at me. "If you distract me too much, we will both die horrifically." His smile twitched in amusement.
"I actually just grabbed and then realized I knew where your spare dagger was," I said with a smile, feeling some of my own tension easing away.
His brow quirked. "Yeah, but you still don't remember how to fight kapis. Good news is it sounds like they're more bored and curious than hungry and angry. The earthquake probably woke them."
His strong arm swept out and guided me farther into the passage. We moved beneath a broad marble arch. The light expanded as water trickled and chuckled behind us.
"Yeah, well, bad news is kapis sound like creatures that like to bite things when they're curious," I said.
Brandt rewarded me with another of his deep laughs, sending a confusing mixture of delight and caution up my spine. His arm remained firm against my back as he steered us into a larger cavern. The light from the luminescent fungi and crystals danced across the glistening walls and the shining waters.
We now had plenty of room to maneuver.
The slick stones here were more blue and black than deep purple. There were fewer chunks of crystal compared to the one I'd found him in, and the river rushed through far faster, the currents powerful, slicing around the broad rocks that jutted out of the white-capped waters.
Brandt still hadn't grabbed either of the other daggers strapped to his waist. Then I saw the kapis.
"I guess now I know why you didn't draw your dagger," I murmured.
These kapis resembled the ancient kaprosuchus from Earth, long-legged crocodilian creatures. Each one was at least twelve feet long. The largest had one opaque eye and a long, jagged scar that ran down its grey-white hide. It opened its jaws and uttered a hissing gurgle.
Brandt glanced back at me, his smile curling crooked. "You noticed how useless it’d be, hmm?"
"Are you going to rub it in my face?"
"I could."
