35. Phoebe
35
PHOEBE
S houting a wordless sound, I drive the blade in. It hits hard enough that it sends a jarring force up through my hands and into my wrists, but doesn’t penetrate, instead sliding to the left.
The Maulavi whirls around, eyes widening, a low growl. His massive hand reaches, filling my vision. I move back, stumbling over something, throwing my arms wide to keep my balance.
The Maulavi’s eyes widen, he gurgles, and a trickle of blood emerges from his mouth. I’m not processing what I see fast enough. Vapas is fighting the other three so it wasn’t him.
*thwack* *thwack*
Another of the Maulavi drops. Feathered black shafts are protruding from his back. Another explosion echoes down the stairs as dirt rains down on us from the ceiling and then a third Maulavi drops.
Vapas swings his bound fists and the cracking sound as they hit the last standing Maulavi is sickening. The Urr’ki drops as if he’s boneless. Vapas looks around, eyes wide and wild, breathing heavily. When he sees the bodies with the arrows he runs right at me.
Before I can open my mouth, he somehow pushes me away from the stairs and up against a wall. His massive body covers mine completely, pressing so tight it’s impossible to get a full breath.
Boots are coming down the stairs. Loud, clomping, and getting closer. Vapas growls, shifts his position, which manages to further crush me, though there’s something mildly erotic about the way his body is mashing against me.
He does this weird spin move that pushes me behind him while positioning himself next to the doorway. He slowly raises his bound hands, but even so, the chains clank, alerting anyone listening to his presence.
The next few seconds are a blur. I can’t see exactly what happens beyond Vapas’ hulking form, but he slams his arms down. There’s a smack. I think they were blocked?
Vapas growls and pushes forward. He slams the one who came down into the far wall. Two more Urr’ki step out of the stairway, watching but appearing unconcerned that Vapas is attacking the other one.
“Who…” I trail off when I recognize the one that Vapas has against the wall.
“Bah!” Vapas barks, pushing away from Virodah. “You used us.”
“Yes, I did,” Virodah says, not bothering to deny it.
The tension in the room is crackling in the air between us. Vapas turns toward Virodah, his growl low and threatening. His shoulders are heaving, his hands still bound but bloodied, and his eyes gleaming in the torchlight.
“You put us in their hands,” Vapas snarls, his voice thick with rage. “You knew what they would do!”
Virodah straightens, brushing dust from his tunic with infuriating calm.
“It was necessary.”
“Necessary?” I snap, stepping out from behind Vapas. My voice is shaking, but I force the words out. “We could’ve died! You didn’t think to warn us?”
Virodah’s gaze flicks to me, his expression unreadable.
“Would you have gone along if I had?”
“No!” I spit. “Of course not!”
“Exactly,” Virodah says, his tone matter-of-fact. “We needed them distracted. You provided that distraction. And now their numbers are thinned, their forces weakened. You’ve done more for the resistance than you realize.”
My hands ball into fists, the sting of raw skin making me wince.
“We came to you for help, not to be your pawns.”
Vapas takes a step forward, his chains clinking ominously.
“If you ever use her like that again, I will rip out your throat.”
Virodah doesn’t flinch, though the guards behind him shift uneasily.
“Calm yourself. You’re both alive aren’t you? That’s more than many can say.”
“You owe us more than excuses, Virodah,” Vapas bristles.
“I owe you nothing,” Virodah snaps, his composure cracking for the first time. “You owe us for taking you in. Risking our own lives to keep you from the Shaman. And now, I owe it to my people to ensure the Maulavi don’t tear this city apart looking for you. You’re too dangerous to stay here.”
The words hit like a blow. My stomach sinks, and I glance at Vapas, who looks equally stunned.
“You’re sending us away,” I say softly.
“Yes.” Virodah crosses his arms, his expression hardening. “There’s no other choice. The Maulavi will stop at nothing to find you. If you stay, it can only mean death for all of us.”
“And where do you think we can go? Wander the tunnels alone until one of the beasts makes a meal of us?” Vapas growls.
“To the Zmaj,” Virodah says.
“You want us to go to the Zmaj compound?” I ask, feeling numb.
Vapas and he stare at one another. The tension is somehow even higher than it was.
“The lizards?” Vapas growls.
“Yes,” Virodah says every bit as aggressive as Vapas.
“What? You think we’re going to just waltz into their compound and be welcomed with open arms? They hate us,” Vapas says.
“Perhaps not,” Virodah says, looking at me.
My stomach flips and a shiver races down my spine. Vapas shifts his glare from Virodah to me.
“Dragoste?” he asks.
Chills race over my arms. I shake my head, unsure what to say. I think, I don’t know, but it feels like Virodah knows I was sent here. It’s the way he looks at me, but it’s something more than that too.
“I…”
I what? I’ve had this great big secret that I haven’t told you. You see there wasn’t time and I was… was what? Figuring out how I feel about you?
Vapas looks from me to Virodah and back.
“What is this? What do you know?” he asks, focusing on Virodah.
“The humans,” Virodah says, “they wer?—”
“I was sent here!”
It bursts out of me. Partly I don’t want him to say it for me, partly I don’t know, but it’s an explosion. Vapas turns his head, frowning deeply.
“Sent?” Vapas asks and I nod, biting my lower lip. “To me?”
“No, not to you, not… exactly, no.”
“Phoebe, what do you mean? What is this?” Vapas asks.
There is yet another explosion outside. Dust comes down in a curtain between Vapas and I, briefly shielding me from the hurt in his eyes.
“There is no time,” Virodah interrupts. “We need to get you two out of the city before they can gather their forces.”
“No,” Vapas says. “I do not understand.”
Virodah grabs him by his shoulders, turning him so they’re eye to eye.
“Listen to me,” he says, his voice deep and growly. “You must go to the Zmaj. Some of our people are there already. The humans, your female among them, are working to bury the hatreds. If we do not stand up to the Shaman now, it will never happen.”
“But—”
“No!” Virodah cuts him off. “No. Vapas take your dragoste and go. You’re in the resistance now, like it or not. This is your mission. Get the Zmaj agreement to help us overthrow the Shaman.”
“How? How am I supposed to do that? They’ll kill me,” he says, shaking his head.
“No,” I say, stepping to his side. “They won’t if you’re with me.”
He gives me a look as if he doesn’t really know who I am, not any longer, and that hurts so much. I reach up to touch his face but he pulls away. I drop my hand, heart aching, tears swelling in my eyes.
Vapas growls and breaks free of Virodah’s grip, turning his back on me. The cold pain that closes over my chest is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. As much as it hurt when Todd abused me, that was nothing compared to this chill of being shut out by Vapas.
“Fine,” Vapas rumbles. “I’m in.”
He holds up his hands. The chains clink and clank as he moves. One of the Urr’ki unlocks the bindings and they clatter to the floor. The sound of their clinking contrasts with him being free. Is he free of me now too?
“Good,” Virodah says to Vapas’ back, looking from him to me.
I can’t meet Virodah’s gaze. The pain I’m feeling is too much to look at anyone. The weight on my chest makes it hard to breathe.
“Supplies?” Vapas asks looking around at the Urr’ki.
His eyes pass over, pausing for only a moment, and my heart lurches hoping he’s going to come to me. Say something. Anything. He doesn’t. Some of the Urr’ki hand him bags that he slings over his shoulder. One of them gives him a sword that he slips into his belt then he turns to Virodah.
“Tell them we are ready,” Virodah says. “But we cannot do it alone.”
“Ready?” Vapas asks, arching an eyebrow.
“We need them if we are going to overthrow the Shaman,” Virodah says.
“And you think the lizards are going to help?” Vapas asks.
“I do,” Virodah says. “We do. We know it.”
Vapas glances at me then back to Virodah.
“Seems there is a lot more going on then I knew,” he says, grunting at the end and shaking his head. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”
Virodah motions to one of the other Urr’ki. He steps forward and unslings two packs from over his shoulder and hands them to Vapas. Vapas slips the straps over his head to rest on opposite shoulders.
The Urr’ki nods and heads up the stairs. Vapas silently follows but his shoulders are hunched and his head down. I start after him but Virodah stops me with a hand on my arm.
“Give him time,” he whispers. “He will understand.”
I have to blink away the tears. I can’t speak around the lump in my throat so I nod and then head up the stairs.