My feet itch to continue exploring this place, but my guilt and the visual reminder of the dragon I’d rather not worry has me heading back to the stairs. I came down here to check that this was a good place to retreat, not to go on an adventure.
I inhale and brace my hand against a stalagmite to catch my breath before starting the long climb back to my studio. My palm slips against the wet rock. I lose balance with a gasp, sliding and lurching forward toward a mound of loose rocks.
The fall feels like I’m in slow motion, but that doesn’t change the fact that gravity is betraying me. The uneven terrain under me makes it so I can’t rebalance. I twist and use my flailing arms against more rocks to slow my fall, pushing some of the rubble Kalos mentioned. My ass hits a bigger rock and pain ricochets through my body as every loose rock in the universe cascades over and around me, digging into my legs and burying them.
The rocks stop sliding as quickly as they started, and I take inventory. My twist kept me from falling on my stomach, and fortunately none of the bigger rocks got close to hitting it. My tailbone throbs, and I probably have rock-shaped bruises all over my thighs. I may have pulled a muscle in my arm with my flailing, but the worst part is the heavy rocks biting into my thighs. A good portion of my legs are buried. The press of the cold rubble against me is tight, but thankfully not painful. I try to move, but the pressure around my ankle gets worse, the twinge of discomfort has me hissing.
I’m trapped.
“Shit,” I whisper and start to blink away tears. It could have been so much worse, but it’s hard to remember that when my heart is racing and the chill of the stone starts to permeate the canvas of my jumpsuit.
I unzip the pocket where I stored my phone, glad I didn’t put it in my back pocket.
I curse silently before tapping the contact.
“Kalos is going to be pissed.” The words echo in the space as I prepare to confess my sins.
34
KALOS
“LEAVE,” I hiss.
Ben freezes in his attempt to move the rocks around Katarina. He doesn’t deserve my ire. He’d been quick to teleport us here when she’d called me and confessed where she was, but my emotions are surface-level today, and her tear-filled eyes aren’t helping with the raging violence brewing. The territorial possessiveness that comes with being around her in distress and in this space are two meeting winds of destruction.
“Are you sure?” Ben asks slowly, taking a step away from Katarina to appease the vicious side of me that growls at him.
The portal that is spelled to open down here to give my dragon freedom crackles across my skin, but I push past the distraction.
Katarina’s eyes are wide, and she’s shivering. She’s half buried in a mix of rocks and mud, and there are dried streaks of dirt on her face.
She could have been down here for hours if she hadn’t been able to call, trapped and possibly injured.
“Now,” I say, and Ben vanishes without another word.
“Traitor,” she says under her breath but snaps her mouth shut at my glare.
My hands are less human than they usually are. My control of this form falters in the face of the raging worries echoing in my ears. They make passably shovels as I gently dig her out of where she’s stuck, moving rocks that could have crushed her.
I grit my teeth and focus on the work. She keeps her silence until I move the last bit around her ankles.
I pull her to stand, analyzing her movements. “Are you injured?”
She shakes her head. “Kalos—”
“I told you not to come down here,” I say. The waves of terror that crash against my heart threaten to spill over. Something worse could have happened. I could be pulling her cold body from the rocks instead of watching her step away with a wince.
“I needed to case out the caverns to be able to use the portal charm,” she says, gesturing to her necklace. Her tone is perfectly logical.
“You could have stayed on the stairs,” I snap. It’s useless. Katarina has an adventurous spirit. Telling her to stay on the stairs is like telling her not to be herself, and that fact is what’s chipping away at my control.
I can taste the fire in my mouth. I need to get away from her. I need to finally let the dragon overcome my flesh so he isn’t scrabbling at my walls.
I pull her toward the stairs, wanting to pick her up and carry her, but knowing that would be too much for my current state. The skin touching hers already burns with demand. My jaw is tight. I push the anger, worries, and fierce presence of the creature trapped inside me down.
The effort is enormous.
We could have lost her.
Katarina’s gaze is full of worry. She should be worried. Everyone should worry that I’ll lose control. It shouldn’t have taken her painting images of dragon fire to forewarn how close I am to the edge.
“I should have stayed on the stairs,” she placates. “I just felt like I needed to come down here in case the worst happens.”
And the worst almost happened.
The phone she has gripped in her dusty hand lights up with a call. Both of our gazes drop to the name “Nemo.”
The walls that keep the darker of my emotions contained crack.
“Why is your mentor calling you?” It sounds like an accusation rather than a question.
Her eyes are wide in surprise. “You know who he is?”
I snarl. “I have a thick file detailing how the two of you worked together. Why is he calling?”
Katarina shakes her head, trying to come to grips with the fact that I’ve known who she associated with even as she’d tried to shield him from me.
“He probably wants me to do a job.” Her brow furrows, and she declines the call.
“You’re not doing it.”
I can taste her exasperation on the air.
“I wasn’t planning on it. If you didn’t notice, I’m the size of a house.” Her gesturing to her swollen belly rattles the lizard under my skin. We could have lost our mate, our young.
I narrow my eyes. “And you’d consider it if you weren’t?”
She blinks in surprise and hesitates. “N-no!”
The hesitation causes a chill to invade the churn of panic in my chest, not dousing the sensation but sparking an awareness that floods me with fear.
What about the next time Nemo gives her a sob story? What if she gives in because she needs a thrill after our daughter is born? He wouldn’t disclose the risks.
He’d put her in danger without a thought.
Just like he did when he sent her here.
“If I asked you to promise never to take a job from him again, would you? Even if he told you he’d die?” I try to keep my words neutral, but they come out with a deadly calm.
Katarina’s mouth opens and closes as she struggles with her answer. I shouldn’t be so incredulous. I shouldn’t have asked such a question while in my current state.
But my logic is burning a fiery death, and in its place is only instinct. The need to protect her.
To protect myself.
“He doesn’t care about you!” I snarl.
Katarina flinches, but the flash of regret in my soul that I’ve hurt her doesn’t make a dent in the rage burrowing in my skin.
“I-I know,” she says.
“Do you? You risked your life for him countless times. He pulled you into acts you’ve castigated yourself for years and he hasn’t lost a second of sleep.”