Page 91 of Claimed By Shadow and Blood
Knowing that he was Rhielle’s lover didn’t necessarily make me feel comfortable, but it did ease some of my distress. If I hadn’t been so miserable and in so much pain, I would have had dozens more questions for him.
He worked at a steady pace, making conversation and spouting endless praise for Rhielle. After he’d dug me out enough, he picked me up like I weighed nothing. “Watch your leg then. I’ll try not to jostle you. If it hurts, tell me.”
“Everything hurts.” I bit back a pained gasp as the pressure shifted in my leg and the arrow cut deeper. Blood trickled from the wound.
He grunted in sympathy. “True, true. If it hurts worse than before, then let me know.” He placed me on the cloak and wrapped it around me, taking care to leave my left leg out.
“What kind of shot did he get on you to hit you like that?” he asked, brow tight with concern. “Good thing it missed the arteries, or not even that pendant could delay your death.”
I dropped my head as I sucked in a deep breath, my fingers digging into his leather cloak. “I was carrying it when we got caught in the rockslide. I picked it up on the mountain so I could have a sample of the venom.”
“Scaffing void! If you just wanted to take one so you could have a sample for the doctor, you could’ve carried it in less painful ways, trouble.” He winked as he wrapped me up and continued, “Remind me to get you what we like to call a bag.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small glittering blue orb. He tapped it with his index finger and traced a sigil on it. Humming a few notes of a jaunty song, he stood, walked a few paces into the chamber, and then hurled it.
The golden light caught on the blue orb as it spun in the air. Then it vanished from sight. He clapped his hands together and turned back toward me. “All right then, trouble, we’ve got a few minutes before that explodes and makes it seem like you were never rescued.”
“You’re blowing the place up?” My eyes widened as he hefted me into his massive arms. That sense of wrongness intensified. He shouldn’t be the one holding me. My very being screamed and ached for Vad, and my wolf agreed.
“Sure am. In my line of work, knowing how to make that happen is delicate and delightful. Little bit of Shadow magic. Little bit of Ignis magic. Little bit of Terran magic. Little bit of Aureline too.” He hummed in satisfaction and took a step toward the opening in the broken wall. Then he stopped short. A slow grin spread over his face.
“What?” I frowned, not sure if him being so happy was good or bad.
His smile broadened even more. “Just one more thing before we get out of here.” He carried me up to the top of the embankment and kicked off some of the dirt and debris that covered the second sigil carved into the floor without any paint or chalk to mark its path. The emblem in this one was of two blades with a full goblet sitting between them. “You fought hard, and you finished. Might as well log it.”
“I don’t give a fuck that I finished,” I grumbled, hugging myself tighter and trying to avoid pressing against him.
“Yeah, well, Rhielle would want it known you finished. When you don’t come out, the baddies will think the collapse happened after you finished. Your door isn’t supposed to open for a long time anyway, and after I trigger another rockslide in here, no one will be asking questions.”
“You’re sure we have time for this?” I glanced around the chamber. How long did magical bombs take to explode? “And what about the unicorn?”
“Sure do. At least as long as you don’t make this difficult.” He lowered me until my feet touched the sigil without putting any weight on them. “We’ll be out of these tunnels by the time it goes, and Sugar will be going with us. Don’t worry.”
Energy surged through me, buzzing lightly. Gold light flared and lit up the whole sigil. The pulse made my blood thrum faster, and then my head throbbed even more.
Veralt laughed, his deep voice echoing off the stone walls. “You’re the first! You won, trouble. Oh, that’ll stick in the craws of those Fate-twisting bastards! I love it!”
Amid my throbbing head and the twisting nausea, I struggled to form a coherent thought. My fingers and toes tingled as if they were falling asleep, and a numbness crept from the very tips.
The foal trotted beside Veralt, who carried me as easily as if I were a child. The faint light from his silver pendant illuminated the rocky tunnel, revealing nothing but jagged gray rocks.
My vision hazed even more, and I struggled to breathe. “Hey, trouble,” he said with a concerned rumble. “Talk to me. Don’t go falling asleep now. You got a name for this unicorn?”
I fought to keep my eyes open. Sounds faded in and out, the darkness in the tunnel deepening. “N-no. Not yet.”
“Well, you’ll want to think of something special.” He kept talking, but his voice turned into a droning series of syllables that faded in and out.
The magic in the amulet that slowed the bleeding and the effects of the venom wasn’t going to be enough. I was going to die. The numbness in my fingers and toes had crept up to my wrists and ankles. My head sagged back.
The world shook and bounced. Vaguely, I realized Veralt was running. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear him anymore. Part of me longed for sleep, but it wasn’t safe. This wasn’t right. I couldn’t sleep now.
My wolf whined and nudged me. I was fading—slipping away. Cold fear spiked through me. Not like this. It couldn’t end like this.
A sexy, deep baritone voice sliced through the haze. “Give her to menow!”
I fought to open my eyelids as the tugging in my chest screamed for me to wake up.
Vad.
His name rose to the tip of my tongue, but my lips barely had the strength to part. Was he here, or was this a dream?
