Chapter Ten
T wo days later, the first runner found Rowena right after her shift ended.
The collision looked natural and the girl whispered so softly that even Slay, who stayed within arm’s reach, couldn’t overhear with his Animari senses.
At least, Ro guessed that was why he looked mildly irritated.
She nodded at the messenger and anyone observing the exchange would think she was acknowledging a muttered apology, not receiving intel.
Though Slay was visibly curious, he didn’t press.
Wise since she couldn’t discuss certain matters in the crowd exiting the workshop.
Emerging behind them, the girl Slay had saved watched him covertly, and Rowena decided she must have a crush.
Abruptly the girl caught Rowena looking and she decided to roll with it.
“What’s your name?” Ro asked.
“Kani. Why do you want to know?” From the pugnacious tilt of her chin, this place hadn’t ground her down completely yet, even if she did react to Slay with fear at first.
“I was just curious,” she said. “I’m Rowena and this is Slay.”
“Is it true you can change into an animal?” Kani asked.
“A jaguar, and yes. What about you?”
“I haven’t had my quickening yet. My brother says it should be soon. But maybe not. I’m not supposed to get my hopes up.”
It sounded like Kani’s brother discouraged her from looking forward to anything, even something that small.
That broke Rowena’s heart and reinforced her determination to liberate Golgerra, a tall fucking order.
Kani hurried away with a hunted air, as if she wouldn’t feel safe until she reached her brother’s side.
“This way,” Ro said to Slay.
Time for another surreptitious skulk around the city, but this time, they wouldn’t be checking drop sites. The first step of the plan had been unveiled.
“Where are we headed?” Slay asked.
“You’ll see.”
Rowena could tell it irked him to follow her without knowing why, but he checked his temper.
Satellite tunnels and natural caverns rayed out from the undercity, but none of them had an outlet.
Prisoners had died of starvation trying to find a hidden way out because sometimes tremors opened a new avenue, so someone would go exploring.
But it was impossible to stockpile the necessary supplies, so their resources usually ran out and later, guard patrols would collect the bodies to be processed in the great furnace.
Rowena had always been afraid to stray, but today, she had a mission. Keeping an eye on their tail, she led the way to a mushroom farm past the comfort house, then she kept going, heading down a little-used side tunnel. From the smell, she could tell she was on the right track.
This extra farm wasn’t sanctioned by the authorities, tended by prisoners for economic and recreational purposes.
The screaming purplecap was wildly hallucinogenic, the drug of choice for those who wanted to forget their situation for a while.
Often it was used as currency, indisputably valuable down below.
The shroom took its name from the color, but also the way people reacted to licking one for the first time, either terrifying shrieks or maniacal laughter.
If eaten, however, this fungus inevitably resulted in death within twenty-four hours due to necrotic liver damage. It would be an excruciating way to go.
“What are we doing here?” Slay asked.
“Harvesting mushrooms. Hurry up, we don’t have much time. They’ve distracted the watchman, but those who claim this patch won’t be diverted for long.”
She found the sack hidden where the runner had said it would be. As she quickly snatched shrooms, she explained the value of the screaming purplecap.
“We’ll deliver these to someone who will distill them into poison,” he predicted, when she finished. “Who’s our target?”
Rowena delivered the answer with relish. “Every guard in the undercity.”
She wondered if he would say that was a coward’s tactic and she watched his face as he plucked the fungi, filling the sack even faster than she did.
Slay only nodded, seeming thoughtful. “This wouldn’t work on the Animari. We’d just be sick and pissed off. But it’s a sound strategy since you don’t have weapons or training. The only advantage you have is numbers.”
Her heart raced as she worked to the end of the container row.
The conditions were perfect for growing mushrooms down here and they ate them in many forms, just not these.
She had a mental picture of how the resistance would go—it should unspool in stages—but it wasn’t the time to go over her plans with Slay.
If they got caught by the prisoners who ran this shroom farm, it would come to violence, and she didn’t want to hurt people who were trying to get by.
Maybe they would’ve been willing to help but the resistance couldn’t take the chance.
Trusting too many too soon had gotten most of her friends killed before.
“Did we meet quota?” Slay asked.
“Why?”
“Because I’m hearing footfalls. The watchman is probably on his way back. Don’t think we can get out the way we came without being seen.”
Thank the stars for his jaguar ears.
“This way!” Reflexively, Rowena grabbed his wrist and towed him toward the far side of the shroom farm.
Another narrow crevice led outward, but she had no idea where it went.
They might wind up trapped. It was dark back here, terribly close quarters, and eventually the crack just…
stopped. As she’d feared, it went nowhere.
Worse, she felt the creep of delicate fibers on her skin, cobwebs dusting across her face and sticking to her lips.
Maybe the spiders are gone. It could be an old web. Stay calm.
Then something dropped onto her shoulder. Too dark for her to see it but she felt multiple scurrying, lightly furry legs when it scuttled onto her neck.
I’m not scared. I’m not. I’m—
Despite herself, she squeaked.
“Ro?” Slay pivoted carefully, trying not to crowd her. “I see the problem. Hold still. That’s a fucking cave widow.”
Awesome. In the undercity, the only thing deadlier than the screaming purplecap was a lurking cave widow. If I get bitten on the neck, I’m done. Their bites weren’t always fatal; it depended on placement, but this situation was as bad as it could be.
Then Slay pounced with lightning reflexes, whipping the spider off her shoulder before it could strike. It pinged off the wall and he stomped it just as swiftly. Belatedly she realized he could see in the dark and she whispered a tremulous thank-you.
“It’s okay now,” he said.
“Are there more?”
He searched the gloom in all directions. “Probably, but I don’t see them right now.”
Reaction set in and Ro shivered, rubbing her hands up her arms. “I hate spiders.”
“I got you. I’m not scared of anything that flies, creeps, or crawls.”
She smiled. “My hero.”
“Wish I could hug you,” he whispered.
“Maybe give it a try?” If he went slow and careful—
Slay touched her like she was made of spun glass, barely grazing her shoulder with his arm.
Rowena settled against his chest, feeling the rapid kick of his heart.
Nothing about this scared her, boosting her confidence further.
Maybe because Slay was Animari, he didn’t remind her of the torment she’d suffered at the tyrant’s hands.
Slay felt different, smelled different, and his touch gave only good feelings.
Slowly she wrapped her arms around his waist and his sharp intake of breath gusted against her hair.
“You’re holding me,” he said in a wondering tone.
“True. Is that okay?”
“It’s been an ongoing fantasy,” he admitted.
“Not sex stuff?”
“That would be a progression of the fantasy. But we had to pass through here to get there and I wasn’t sure we ever would.”
Somehow the threat receded. They were still trapped, still surrounded by darkness and spiders, but with Slay’s arms around her, she didn’t mind as much. She breathed him in. He kept himself clean as best he could, so this was just his natural scent, warm skin and a touch of sweat.
Daringly, she stretched up and kissed him, missing the middle of his mouth. Her lips grazed the corner, and he made a soft sound. Since they stood so close, she also felt the responsive flex of his cock.
And she gloried in it.
Slay had grown up surrounded by cats, so maybe that was why Rowena reminded him of a kitten in this moment.
She was like a kit who’d just learned to shift, testing her claws, getting a sense of her own power.
And he was delighted to be at ground zero, benefitting from her explorations.
Her hands slipped over his waist, crept upward, pressing into his back.
He didn’t move, afraid of startling her, but her touch felt good, better when she got to his neck and shoulders.
Because she worked the machines too, she knew how stiff and sore he was.
Animari healing would take care of it, but the less he ate, the longer that took.
In the meantime, her hands felt fucking awesome.
“I like touching you,” she said.
“Count me as a fan too.”
If she kept petting him, his response might scare her, though. And he didn’t want to do that. This started as after-spider consolation, so let’s end it that way. Slay squeezed her gently and stepped back as much as the narrow crevice permitted.
“Slay?”
“Don’t distract me, woman. We’re on a mission, aren’t we?”
In the dark, Rowena was still beautiful. Her eyes shone in his night vision and her smile did something to his insides.
I could spend a lifetime sparking that expression.
“That’s true. I’ll focus.”
He went on in as businesslike a tone as he could manage while still sporting a semi. “If necessary, we can wait until their guard is down. I specialize in stalking, even in this form, and I can choke him out quietly. No permanent harm done.”
Rowena seemed to think it over, judging from the way she tilted her head. “That’s our best bet. It’s not ideal but go for it when you think it’s been long enough.”