Page 73 of Obsidian Dream
“Talik.Don’t lie to me.We are likely about to die down here.At the very least, you can be honest with me,” Khalida slowly said.“What was your fault?”
“We aren’t going to drown,” he automatically answered, trying to buy himself some time.Her words hit him like a punch in the sternum.The memories of Ninhursag in his mind slammed into him.If he hadn’t been on the ground, he would’ve stumbled.He leaned against the rock face, welcoming the feel of the jagged edges.It was a reminder that he was alive.
Talik swallowed.He had thought about how this conversation would go far more times than he would ever acknowledge.Each time it ended in heartache and a hangover.But when he opened his mouth, his throat was thick.He was too much of a coward to tell the truth.The memory of Sidra too raw.“It’s my fault.I threw the grenade.I am the reason why we are trapped here.”
Khalida moved closer to him, straddling him as she pinned his shoulders to the wall.This time her rage was tinged with her growing desire.Her silver-blonde hair fell down her face, the curls wild and untamed in their natural state.“Talik.Don’t lie to me.”
There was nowhere he could go, even if he wanted to.
“Khalida.”Her name was a whisper on his lips.A dream he had stopped wishing for centuries before.His heart raced at her closeness.The water dripping from him did nothing to keep him cool when desire and the poison continued to run rampant through him.As a human, he had never assumed he would live past eighty years of age, had counted every extra minute after his hundredth year as a bonus, a gift from a god who had abandoned him.Now, faced with his potential mortality, it was a different story.Talik gripped her hips, needing the contact, wanting to memorize her shape and scent.He was already the reason why their daughter had died.He would not be the reason why Khalida perished.
“I’m waiting.”
She leaned forward until their foreheads were touching, their breaths intermingled.He opened his mouth to respond, but he didn’t know what to tell her.Guilt had made him ashamed, and he had known that if he wasn’t around, she could have returned to her old life.The one she had been born into.It was so much harder to put that into words.There was still a chance they would get out of there.And when they did, he would tell her whatever she wanted.
The rock above them splintered, the loud echo barely penetrated his mind.All he could think about was how Khalida’s body melded to his perfectly and how she always tasted like coffee with a hint of sweetness.
Crack.
A line in the ceiling widened, the crack growing exponentially larger as it speared toward the center of the cavern.Chunks of rocks and dirt started free-falling into the water.The splash jolted him back to his surroundings.
He grabbed Khalida, rolling her over so she was underneath him, as the rocks hurtled down around them.
Chapter Thirty-Three
TALIK
“Should I come back?”
Talik had never been so happy to see Kade in his life.The hunter’s voice was loud and echoed over and over again within the cavern.
Relief surged through him, but he didn’t release Khalida from his grip—not wanting her to move, not wanting to lose what they just had, even if it had been triggered by a near-death experience.
“Kade.”
Khalida pushed at him, and he rolled away from her, giving her space.She moved to the side, picking up her swords, her attention never leaving Kade where he peered down at them from the hole in the ceiling.
