Chapter 12 #2
Some of the tension leeches out with my breath. “That’s good,” I mumble to myself. The twinkle in Caius’ eye suggests he hears my words all the same. He leans close, bracing an arm against the door frame behind me. “Are you going to miss me, Oliviana?”
I snort. “Quite the opposite. It will be nice to have some privacy.” I duck under his arm, turn and slide the door shut behind me. Caius’ soft chuckle travels through the thin paper, and I listen as he takes the ladder up to his room and slides his own door shut.
I fall into bed and let out a long breath.
There is too much to unpack from the day: everything that has happened, how was it only this morning that we were walking through the woods, a day like every other in our travels and now we’re here, back in The Below, in a city with secrets, and soldiers duty bound to stop our quest. And yet now it is more important than ever, because it’s not just Bǎodela that is dying, it is all of The Below…
and that was the easy part of this whole day.
Then there was Caius. The man is a twisted knot of contradictions that I have no desire to untangle.
So why can’t I get the feel of his hands wrapped around mine out of my mind?
I press my eyes closed, willing the darkness to take me. Please, let me escape into a dreamless sleep.
Every nerve ending burns as I press my hands into the sculpted metal door.
My flesh singes against the ridges, melting away to expose the bone beneath, bright white bone carved with channels of starlight that shimmer in the dark tunnel.
My screams strip the flesh from my throat until I am silent, and my body breaks into a thousand sky stone beads that scatter across the floor.
I shoot straight up, my clothing sticking to my sweat-soaked skin. My eyes rove wildly over the dark surroundings, then strong hands grasp my face, forcing me to focus.
“Shhh, Izarrīa, you’re okay.” I would know that voice anywhere.
Caius pushes back the strands of hair that cling to my face.
I grasp his strong forearms for stability, my fingertips digging into the soft spun cloth, taking comfort in the feel of him, and grateful not to find myself clutching to hard leather gauntlets.
A whimper escapes from my throat. I mash my lips together to try to stifle the embarrassing sound.
Caius runs his calloused fingers gently along the curve of my face. “It was just a nightmare.” Caius’ voice is so soft the words caress my skin, eliciting a wave of goosebumps that I attribute to the chill that now settles over my scorched skin.
“It was so real,” I whisper, still struggling to separate the sensations of the dream from my current reality.
“I know.” Caius lets one of his hands trail tentatively down the curve of my neck, brushing my collarbone—he recoils, pulling his hand into a tight fist, as if he had just remembered himself. He pulls my blankets up around my shoulders awkwardly and nods before moving to the door.
My pulse quickens. The roaring in my ears builds and makes it hard to think. Oliviana, that ancient voice rumbles through my skull. “Stay,” I plead.
Caius freezes with his back to me. He hangs his head, running his fingers through his disheveled hair, the muscles under his long-sleeved tunic coiling with tension.
He pushes out one long breath before returning to settle at my side.
Sliding an arm around my shoulders, he pulls me to him.
That familiar tug in my heart draws me closer until I rest against his chest. The rhythm of his heart is steady, a strong drumbeat that settles my own until they pulse in sync.
I feel the tension leach from him, his state reflecting my own. He drags lazy fingertips over my shoulder, up and down my arm. I am weak. I close my eyes and let myself have this moment in the dark. We can forget this ever happened in the light of day. But right now…
Caius’ fingers travel down my arm, gently turning my wrist to trace the golden tattoo that shimmers softly there.
My eyes snap open; my body goes tense. I move to snatch my arm away, but Caius’ grip holds me in place.
He traces the symbol there, feather-light, reverent.
I pry my eyes away from the mark, finally daring to look upon his reaction, afraid of what I will see.
But Caius surprises me. His gaze is soft, thoughtful. The expression is foreign on his face.
Once he has memorized the pattern of the dragon inked into my skin, he turns my wrist, pressing it against his sternum, splaying my hand across his chest, his resting over mine, then turns his head, resting his lips against my forehead, not quite a kiss.
He inhales deeply, settling into this moment with me.
We sit like that, in silence, propped against the wall for a long while. It feels familiar, like when I take night watch with him, and eventually my mind settles into a numb quiet that gives way to sleep.
When I open my eyes again, I’m tangled in my bedding, and relieved to find that I’m alone.
Maybe it had all been a nightmare. I quickly braid my hair and change my clothes then I slowly slide my door open a crack and peer outside to find Caius leaning against the thick support pillar, one leg propped up behind him, his arms folded over his chest, his chin dipped low like he may have been napping.
But then his head snaps to the side and he greets me with one of his crooked grins.
“You look better,” he says.
Not a dream then. My skin heats with embarrassment. The nightmares had been a constant before we left Bǎodela, and I hadn’t needed Caius then; I don’t need him now.
“Where is everyone?” I ask.
Caius pushes off from the beam behind him and comes to his full height before gesturing to the room next to mine. He slides the door open, and I find Dom and Cressida sitting cross-legged on the cot, an oversized basket between them.
“Finally!” Cressida barely bothers to look at me before opening the basket and promptly taking a bite of a fluffy pastry. “Caius said we had to wait for you,” she says through a mouthful of bread while glaring at her brother.
Caius ushers me into the room and closes the door behind me.
It’s cramped with four of us, leaving barely enough space for us all to sit.
Caius dips his hand into the basket and hands me a pastry.
I grit my teeth as I take the wild berry scone, my favorite.
The way he always knows what I want would be endearing if it were anyone but Caius.
Once everyone is eating, Caius tells Dom and Cressida what we heard last night.
“Do you think they will let us go?” Dom asks.
Caius considers. “We aren’t prisoners. They are simply curious at this point. Be careful what you say. We may need to backtrack west before we carry on.”
“And how much time is that going to waste?” Dom says, his palm splayed over the floorboards, seeking strength from the earth.
“Four days, maybe more. It depends on how long they intend to track us,” Caius says.
Worry flashes in Dom’s eyes. “We don’t know how much farther the hatching grounds are. We don’t know how long Bǎodela will survive.”
“And if we are detained, we will never reach the hatching grounds.” Caius pushes his words through clenched teeth.
“There is also the issue of Civra.” Cressida’s entire focus appears to be on using one of her daggers to peel an apple in one continuous length. “If they won’t let us leave until she does, we could be stuck here for a full phase.”
“And there is that,” Caius concedes.
“What do we do?” Dom picks nervously at the weave of the basket.
“Let Liv get close to Rui,” Cressida says without even looking up from her apple. She slices off a piece of flesh and brings the blade to her lips.
“Absolutely not.” Caius’ voice takes on the dark tenor of a rockslide, and my eyes snap to his. For a second, all I see is black, but then he blinks, and the illusion is gone.
Cressida chuckles. “Think with your head for a minute, brother.” Her gaze moves from below his belt to meet his eyes, then she taps the tip of the dagger playfully against her temple.
“Rui is important. He’s the one who will be watching us.
She’ll have an excuse to get close to him, and he fancies her. ”
“No, he doesn’t,” I object, though it’s hard to hear over Caius’ muttering.
Dom clears his throat and everyone falls silent. “Perhaps we should start by joining our hosts for breakfast rather than staying cooped up in this room like we are planning something.”
Cressida cocks her head to the side and flashes a smile at Dom. “Handsome and brilliant.” She jumps to her feet and ruffles Dom’s hair before sliding out of the room. “Are you coming?”