Page 121 of The Vampire's Thirst
“In that case, I’ll race you to the top, gumdrop.”
“Did you make a joke, vampire? Cause if it was, you need to work on your sense of humor. For a first attempt, though, it’s damn good.”
Dax jumped and gained a handhold on the cliff. Digging in his foot, he started the climb. He glanced back to see Matty keeping pace. The guy owned balls the size of boulders and wasn’t a waste of good oxygen. First, Chiara. Now the colonel.
What’s wrong with me? I never liked Earthers before.
When he heard rocks tumble, Dax looked below. Matty was further behind but still climbing. He was tiring but saved himself from a slip. “Keep coming. I’ll wait. You can do it.”
“You sound like my ex.” Matty paused before he resumed the struggle up the steep face.
When he pulled alongside Dax, the vampire tilted his head. “There’s the ledge. Hug the cliff wall. One jump and then we’re in the cave.”
Dax made the entrance first. As Matty faced the mountain and tightened his body against it, he shuffled along the edge. His foot slipped. Dax let out a growl. Shoving out a hand toward the human, he met nothing but air. He couldn’t latch onto Matty.
The colonel caught himself, though, and kept toeing the ledge. When he finally grasped the vampire’s arm, he swung inside on wobbly legs, collapsing to the dirt floor.
“Crawl further into the cavern. I’ll get drinks,” said Dax.
“No blood for me,amigo. Water will do fine.” Matty squeezed his hands together, working the muscles in his arms and fingers.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t waste the good stuff on you.” Dax disappeared into the darkness at the back of the cave. He returned, drinking from one bottle and handing the other off to Matty.
“I contacted the stronghold while in there. We need to wait.”
Matty gulped the water. “Didn’t you say something in the cell about not being able to shadowflash because of wards? After we escaped prison, could you have used the power to get home?”
“Kind of, but vampires can’t flash to another realm. For that, I need my D-chip.” He wiggled his wrist at Matty. “All gone.”
“But you could have gotten here faster?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“And leave your cheerful ass behind? I would have missed your bad jokes.”
“I owe you. Twice now you’ve watched out for me. I don’t forget good deeds.” Matty stretched out on the ground, his eyes shut.
“You owe me nothing.”
“Not to worry. I didn’t say I would pay you back. Only that I owed you.”
Dax was about to respond, but Matty had fallen asleep.
After nodding off several times, Dax heard noise over the roar of the waterfall. Ram, Sabine, and Nico dropped through the cave entrance.
The satyr Firebrand smiled. “Damn, vampire, you look like shit.”
Matty shot to his feet, wide awake.
Ram’s grin vanished when he locked onto the human. “What the fuck is he doing here?” He pulled his Scottish dirk from its sheath and rushed the colonel.
As Matty moved into a defensive stance, his legs spread wide, Dax threw himself between the two males, stiff-arming it to hold them apart. “You know each other?”
The human snorted. “You could say we’re old friends.”
****
