Chapter 9 Kai
Kai
My palm slammed into the crystal wall hard enough to sting.
My skin dragged over the slick surface as I caught myself and pulled back enough to make the turn I’d nearly overshot.
Breath tore from my lungs in burning gasps that scraped my throat raw.
The torch in my grip guttered, its flame snapping sideways as I pushed forward again, the light fracturing into amethyst and indigo shards that skated over the walls and made the cavern feel alive around me.
Something in my chest pulled tighter, no longer a distant tug but a demand.
“Hannah.” My voice broke, and the sound splintered as it struck the crystal and came back wrong.
This way. She has to be this way.
I shoved off the wall and ran, my boots squeaking and scraping for traction.
My shoulder clipped the curve of the passage and slammed into stone, sending a jolt of pain ripping down my arm, but I used the impact to drive myself faster.
The damp, heavy air pressed close around me, carrying the faint metallic bite of blood, wet stone, magnolia and apricot, and something that didn’t belong.
Ink.
The scent hit again, stronger than everything else. Why the fuck would I be smelling ink?
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to her.
I tried to listen for her, but every step echoed back warped and doubled, like something was following me just beyond sight, matching my pace.
Then a scream tore through the cavern.
My head snapped toward the sound, and my pulse kicked hard. The scream ricocheted through the crystal and scattered in every direction at once. It should have disoriented me and made it impossible to tell where she was, but that pull in my chest dragged me left with ruthless certainty.
I didn’t hesitate. I pushed forward with everything I had.
A deep, wet roar answered her.
My jaw clenched as heat surged through my veins. That barbelo wasn’t getting to her. Not tonight. Not ever.
I drove myself faster, lungs burning, heart slamming against my ribs as I chased the sound. There had been anger in that scream, not fear, and something fierce and reckless sparked inside me in response.
The side of my mouth inched upward. Of course she was fighting.
The passage narrowed, and indigo crystal scraped my sleeves and bit into the fabric as it snagged against leather ridges and embellishments.
“Hold on,” I bit out with a harsh breath, pushing my legs harder.
The tunnel curved suddenly, and my shoulder slammed into the wall again. Pain flared, but I forced the turn and then came to a stop so abruptly my vision blurred.
The barbelo filled the passage ahead, its massive body jammed into a tight crevice, scales grinding against crystal with a wet, scraping sound that set my teeth on edge. Dark, slick hide glistened in the fractured light, streaked with blood as it snarled and shoved in deeper after its prey.
No. Not prey. Hannah.
In the gap above the barbelo, I saw her wedged in the space, her shoulders pressed tight into the crystal and a torch raised high. Her arm drove forward again and again, flame slamming into the creature’s face with more fury than strategy. “Get away, you overgrown catfish!”
The insult cracked through the cavern as she punctuated each word with another strike. The barbelo recoiled, looking more offended than injured, its snarling confusion almost enough to be laughable if it weren’t trying to eat her.
A breath punched out of me, and something fierce and unyielding locked tight in my chest.
She was still fighting. Of course she was. My fierce, impossible mate, making a stand with nothing but stubbornness and a burning stick. Relief hit hard and fast, tangled with something dangerously close to laughter, but it vanished the moment the creature surged forward again with a guttural roar.
A snarl tore free from my throat. I didn’t think, I attacked.
Three strides closed the distance. I shifted the torch to my left hand and caught the creature’s tail as it whipped back and slammed my arm against a wall hard enough to jar my shoulder.
I gripped it anyway. My boots pressed against the slick crystal as I hauled back with everything I had and ripped the barbelo free of the crevice.
It let out a startled, choking sound, its claws splaying wide and its body twisted. That was all the opening I needed. The back of its neck was exposed, and I drove my elbow into the weak point at the base of its skull with brutal precision.
A crack split the air.
The creature went slack.
I dragged the dead weight back and shoved it aside. It slid down the crystal passage, leaving a dark, wet smear in its wake. The scent of blood thickened in the damp air.
My breath came fast and rough as my chest tightened, the echo of the strike still ringing through my bones.
None of that mattered. All that mattered was her, so I turned in her direction.
She was still pressed into the crevice, torch raised, her breath coming too fast. Damp strands of hair clung to her face, and her grip on the wood was tight enough to turn her knuckles pale.
Her eyes locked on me.
Then they narrowed.
Her chin lifted like she hadn’t just been seconds away from being dragged into a monster’s jaws. “So that was you making all that noise? Your men too? You couldn’t have announced yourselves? Couldn’t have shouted, Hey, Hannah, it’s us, we’re here to help?”
Relief had barely settled in before irritation sparked in its place. Something in my chest pulled tighter anyway, winding together in a way I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“You would have come if I’d called to you?” The question came out quieter than I intended, edged with something rough beneath it.
Because if she would have… if she would have turned toward me instead of away…
The thought hit deeper than it should have. Warm. Dangerous. The exact reason I’d left her behind as I went off on the trip to collect information.
She huffed and shifted her body, trying to get free.
Once again, she was proving my point by doing the exact opposite of anything resembling being careful.
Her cloak snagged on jagged crystal, catching and pulling as she twisted.
The scent of ink hit me again, stronger now, cutting through blood and stone.
She shifted her weight and winced. “I wouldn’t have run into a gigantic—”
My attention snapped to a dark streak trailing down her trousers. “You’re bleeding.” The words came out flat and hard. My hand closed around her wrist before she could argue, and I pulled her the rest of the way out as I looked for the source.
Once again, the buzz of our fated mate connection flared where our skin touched, and for a moment, I embraced it, until I noticed she was wearing another male’s clothes.
My nostrils flared, and something possessive tightened in my chest before I shoved it aside. Not the time.
Blood.
That was what mattered.
“What? I’m fine.” She rolled her eyes and shoved my hand away. “I just got pinched by the rocks. Let go.”
The loss of her touch hollowed my chest. Dammit, the lorn leaf was wearing off.
Still scowling, she scoffed and brushed a bulge beneath the side of her tunic. “Oh. I stole something from the Night General. An inkpot. I think it broke.” She hissed as her fingers brushed her thigh.
I stared at her. “During your escape, you stole an inkpot.” Of all the things she could have taken, like weapons, she’d chosen that?
“Yes.” She arched a brow, daring me to challenge her, as if not taking it would’ve been unreasonable.
A growl built in my chest as I caught the edge of her tunic and lifted it before she could twist away. The cloth-wrapped bundle was soaked through, dark liquid seeping out around jagged shards of glass.
“Why an inkpot?” I demanded, unwrapping it enough to see the damage. “Why not something that would actually keep you alive?”
Even as I said it, I knew logic had never been part of her decision-making process. This was the same wretched woman who had stolen my underwear purely to irritate me.
She twisted again, trying to pull free. “Hey. Watch it with the grabby hands. I didn’t give you permission! And I took other things.”
I ignored her and refolded the cloth around the broken glass, containing it before it could cut her further.
Ink bled through the fabric, staining my gloves as I shoved it into an inner pocket of my cloak.
“You can have your little souvenir back when we’re safe, assuming it hasn’t tried to kill you again by then. ”
Her mouth opened like she had several responses ready, and I had no doubt that none of them would be polite.
Echoes of distant whistles cut through the cavern. The sound bounced off the crystal, warped and fractured until it came from everywhere at once. My warriors were closing in.
I pulled my own whistle free and answered with a series of blasts, signaling them that I had found Hannah and to regroup and pull back.
Hannah flinched, and her nose wrinkled. “Those were all you?”
“There are no Night Court soldiers down here.” I lowered the whistle. “At least, none that we’ve seen. They are likely still occupied with the solumbra eagle.” For now. “But that will change soon. We need to leave before they search the pass.”
I tucked the whistle away and looked back at her, making sure she was steady on her feet. “Olen told us they took you.”
“Olen?” She frowned, and her forehead creased as if she didn’t understand, then she shook her head. “How did he know? I… I can’t remember what happened. Was he there? Is he all right?”
Her hand dragged over her bloodied leg again, searching, as if expecting to find something still buried there.
Something cold slid into place in my chest. She couldn’t remember.
“He saw them take you.” I kept my voice steady despite the tight coil forming in my chest. “We can deal with the rest later.” The echo of whistles carried through the cavern again, clearer this time, the pattern sharp and deliberate. Regroup. Pull back.
Good.