Chapter Twenty-Four
Elaina
After an awkward night alone in a bed that smelled like him with even less sleep than the previous, my temper was a bit shorter, but Drazien had been right about one thing.
Planning distracted me.
The ache that had settled between us after our argument hadn't disappeared, but it no longer consumed every thought.
Instead, it lingered quietly beneath everything else, surfacing whenever our hands brushed while walking or when his tail tried to wrap around me whenever his focus was on something else.
He had breakfast ready by the time I joined him in the main room. The stone table was covered in dishes, his data pad, and enough leather straps to make me raise a brow even as my core gave an interested clench.
He looked up when the bedroom door opened and gestured to the new bench. I hadn’t said anything about the crashes I’d heard the first night or the lack of seating when I’d come out the prior morning, but I was glad to see I wouldn’t have to stand considering how sore I still was from training.
“Did you sleep?”
With his dark skin it was hard to tell whether he had circles under his eyes, but I had a feeling he’d gotten even less sleep than I had for the past two nights.
It was odd how fast I’d adjusted to having someone beside me after years of sleeping alone, and how wrong it felt now to have the whole mattress to myself.
“A little.”
His gaze lingered on my face before dropping to skim over my outfit.
Unsure what the plan was for the day, I’d dressed in another set of clothing from Earth, but I was down to nothing but the shorts and tank tops I’d worn for PT.
That would have been fine considering the heat and that I doubted he would give me a day to rest, no matter how sore I was, but it left more skin exposed.
I didn’t want a day off despite the aches. I knew how serious the threat was, and the more training I could manage before we attempted to spring the trap, the better.
“Are we working on the plan again?”
He pulled his focus back to the table in front of him, straightening from where he’d been leaning on it.
“I’d hoped we would before we do a bit of training.”
I couldn’t swallow my groan and for a moment I caught a flash of the grin I knew before he hid it once more. I knew we needed to have a real talk, and soon, but I wasn’t sure either of us was ready to discuss feelings just yet.
Drazien waited until I'd placed a sample of each dish he’d provided on the plate he handed me before moving closer, going slow enough that I could have scooted away if I'd wanted.
I wasn't sure how he knew what to do to make it seem like he’d actually listened to me, or if it was all an act, but my guilt was growing heavier while he made it harder to stay angry at him.
“If they're watching me, we don’t want them to try ambushing me anywhere but the Archives. We need it to be the one constant in our routine.”
He nodded at the suggestion.
“If they know it’s the one place they can count on you going every day, they’ll choose it for their attack, we just have to be ready before they are.”
“Right. So, after you torture me, we should go to the River Caverns. We can grab something from the Market for lunch on the way back up, but eat it somewhere else before heading into the Archives for a few hours.”
“Shyrn.”
I paused at the correcting before huffing and giving him a small smile. It was hard not to think in the terms I was most familiar with, but I needed to at least speak the correct Morraki terms.
“Yes, for a few shyrn. Then we can go to some of the festival again for dinner, but maybe not the surface?”
He was quiet for a moment, but I knew he was thinking. It wasn’t long before he changed the view on the datapad to what had to be the Veyr’vokkar arena.
“They serve meals here in the viewing rooms. We would be seen, but unexpected, so it would be safe to linger for a short time.”
I didn’t necessarily want to watch Morraki beating each other while I was eating dinner, but it was a good option, so I agreed.
“How long do you think it will be before they try again?”
Studying me for a moment, he lifted one shoulder.
“Eventually they'll convince themselves you've relaxed again, but...”
He paused, as if reluctant to continue the thought, and once he did I understood why.
“There’s not much time left before your heat. Drazh. A talren at most. For you to make it back to Earth before—”
“That’s not important right now.”
He gave me an odd look as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. It was too hard to think of the future and plans I’d made while I was upset. I didn’t want to make that mistake again.
“I don’t need to be back on Earth when it comes, and this is more important.
With Serenya gone, the other woman in hiding, and Taryn bonded to the person currently in charge of Morrakan, I’m the only option to catch the rebels.
The longer they’re free, the more time they have to convince others to their side. ”
He stared at me in silence for so long I wasn’t sure what was wrong, and when he finally spoke, he acted as if neither of us had said anything about my inevitable heat.
“I requested a list of the servants who tend the Archives. There’s one I trust, and I can make sure she’s the one working once we think everything is ready.”
At the mention of a female my stomach tightened and a growl threatened to spill from my throat, but I held it back, forcing the automatic jealousy aside.
“What about backup?”
He reached across me, careful not to touch, and switched to a view of the Archives again. He tapped the two entrances, then pointed to the nearby room he’d mentioned before.
“I will have warriors there watching both doorways, with more in nearby tunnels. I will be in the ventilation shaft.”
“The… What?”
The question escaped before I could think it through.
Logically I knew there had to be ventilation shafts in the tunnels and homes farther from the ravine and in the deeper levels, but I’d never noticed any.
Eyeing the breadth of his shoulders, I wasn’t sure it was possible for him to fit in anything going by that description.
“There is a shaft here.”
He pointed to the back corner of the room which would be blocked from view by the rows of shelves.
“When I leave, I will circle around and enter the shaft through another opening, then hide there. That way if they enter from the far door and check the room first, they won’t see me.”
I narrowed my eyes, but I had no choice except to trust him if he thought he could squeeze through. I’d never seen the shaft, and I hoped for his sake that it was a large one.
“What about your scent?”
Even in the depths of the River Caverns, he always smelled like rain on hot stone, with a smokey, charcoal tint. It was distinct, and if I noticed it, any Morraki was bound to smell him too, but he shrugged as if it wasn’t a concern.
“They’ll think it lingers on you.”
Arching a brow, I leaned my nose closer to my shoulder, trying to tell if I truly smelled like him. His lips twitched before he let out a sigh.
“Fine. I can leave my korrvek on the chair beside you to explain my scent remaining in the room.”
My brows remained arched but I nodded, agreeing that was a good enough precaution. We had no way of knowing if the rebels were attentive enough to notice details like that, but it was better to prepare for any we could.
Once I was done eating he put me through a few rounds of practice, but when my breath caught the second time I tried to lunge, he made me stop.
“A soak will help.”
The River Caverns were busier than usual since there were a few Khavren related activities going on there as well.
The main entrance was decorated, cubbies filled with braziers, and even metal bowls floating on the water with small flames dancing in the middle of them.
It brightened the space more than I’d become accustomed to, and I found I didn’t like the change.
The dimness and mist made the cavern feel smaller, more intimate, but the extra light showed how large the space really was.
Or maybe it made me realize how small I was.
Drazien led me in a different direction than the hot springs we’d previously used.
The paths between the pools grew narrow, with the river flowing swiftly along the wall.
I couldn’t tell if the cavern narrowed or if it was another of the stone formations that acted as walls, but for once, it didn’t feel as if there was a vast emptiness surrounding us.
Curtains of moss hung from rock ledges that stuck out above our heads, and after we’d been walking long enough for me to be coated in a layer of sweat from the humidity, Drazien finally pushed one aside to reveal a small, quiet pool.
“It is deep here, not like the ones we used before. There is a current that flows beneath the stone that’s dangerous if it catches you. Place one of the ropes around your wrist before you enter.”
I followed his finger to what I had thought were vines coiled between the water and the stone wall. I wasn’t the best swimmer, and his warning made my stomach squirm, but I pushed past the discomfort and moved closer to the cubby carved into the wall.
I glanced over my shoulder after I’d removed my shoes and socks and realized Drazien still stood by the curtain, looking back the way we had come.
“Is something wrong?”
If someone had followed us, the secluded pool would have been a great place for an attack since I hadn’t seen any other Morraki for several minutes.
Drazien shot a quick glance at me before shaking his head and looking away again.
“I am not comfortable leaving you alone here, but I am trying to give you privacy.”
The words were tight, controlled, and somehow… wrong.
When we had first come here and I’d told him not to look, he hadn’t listened. It had irritated me then, and now, when it should have made me feel better that he was following my wishes, it made me upset that he was pretending I wasn’t there.
Why did this have to be so complicated?
“Drazien.”
He looked at me once more, carefully keeping his chin up even though I was still dressed.
“Get in the damn pool.”
His brow rose and for a second I thought I saw a grin before I turned to face the wall.
“But don’t get any ideas. You’re not forgiven, it’s just faster if we both bathe at once.”
I didn’t miss his quiet huff, but by the time I’d undressed and turned towards the water once more, he was already in the spring.
“The rope,” he reminded me as I took a step closer.
Leaning down, I found the small loop on one end, the other tied around a metal ring anchored in the floor.
“Is it really that dangerous?”
When I glanced at him, I spotted a rope attached to his wrist, and his expression was serious as he nodded.
“Warriors have been pulled under, never to be seen again.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I slipped my hand through the loop. It took a moment for me to figure out how to tighten it around my wrist, but once I did, I descended the short stairway that led into the water.
Drazien was at my side in a blink, carefully not touching except to test the rope and make sure it wasn’t going to slip off.
“There is a ledge around the edge to sit, and this will make sure you can’t be pulled under.”
I couldn’t sense any tugging on my feet that would suggest he was right about a current running beneath the deceptively still pool, but I was also much shorter than him.
Once he’d pointed it out, I found the narrow ledge just deep enough for me to keep my head out of the water while sitting.
It wasn’t as comfortable as the first hot spring we’d used, but the others crowding near that area were only a distant murmur here, and I appreciated not being exposed to all of them.
“Thank you.”
I spoke the words to the water, unable to look at him. There were many things I should have thanked him for, but no matter the situation, he’d always seen to my safety.
I knew he had meant what he’d said, that he’d planned to protect me from the rebels, but it had still been wrong to keep what he was doing from me.
Just as I’d been wrong to accept the serum and come to Morrakan, allowing him to believe I was accepting him, when I’d planned to leave him at the altar.
“And… I’m sorry. For deceiving you. I was forced to attend the gala, so I had tried to make the best of it by eavesdropping on Kael and the other Morraki there, to try to hear your language since we didn’t have much information about it, but I had made sure to avoid you.
I was shocked when I received the news that I’d been selected, and since it came in the middle of a meeting, my superior immediately revoked my clearance and kicked me out.
I lost my career, medical, home… Everything. ”
The silence around me was deep enough that I could have believed that Drazien had slipped away while I wasn’t looking, but I knew he was there. Probably staring at me with that intense gaze of his, even if his signature smirk was missing.
“I had thought that maybe if I came here and learned something useful, they’d let me back in when I returned.”
I finally lifted my gaze to see him watching me, his expression inscrutable. There was a lump in my throat that made it hard to talk, but the guilt was too much, and I had to get it out.
“It was nothing against you. I’d had everything ripped away, my entire future, for a stranger who wasn’t even Human. So I made a plan to save myself.”
Oddly enough, his lips twitched into a smile.
“It was a good one.”
It wasn’t the response I’d expected, and I couldn’t do anything but stare.
“Serenya tried to put protections in place for women who didn’t want to become omegas.
She hadn’t exactly been willing when she received the serum, and she’ll be disappointed to learn others are going through the same circumstances despite her efforts.
I’ve made arrangements with one of our scouts to return you to Earth the moment you’re ready to go, and there will be a kethral onboard to help manage the discomfort of going through a heat alone if it happens onboard. ”
My throat tightened. He’d done everything he could have to correct what he’d done, but going back to Earth wasn’t what I wanted.
Not anymore.
I looked down into the water once more, the little corner he’d brought me to darker than the rest of the River Caverns had been, making it look like we floated in a black hole.
“Thank you.”
I wasn’t sure I meant it that time, but there was nothing else I could say.