They both start running away from my hiding spot. The sound of their roars and the readying of their weapons is like music to my ears.
I race forward as soon as they run into the trees and grasp onto the wooden door. I push it up, causing more of the miasma to blast me in the face. Immediately, I jump inside, crashing into the bottom of the pit as the lid slams shut behind me.
The crash makes me wince, and I wait a few moments after, trying to locate them by feeling through the vibrations of their footfalls, but they remain dispersed in the forest.
My eyesight is better than that of a human, and it's easy to see my mate laid out across the slimy ground. Fear slices through me. I fall to my knees at her side, feeling for her pulse.
It flutters against my finger, though her skin is clammy.
Melisa?
I speak quietly into her mind. I fit my hands under her and slowly try to draw her up.
"Melisa," I say, shaking her gently.
The smell of blood gets stronger.
Is it from her ribs? They should be mostly healed.
Perhaps her arm? But it has scabbed over nicely too.
Her chapped lips part, and she makes the smallest sound I've ever heard. Wrapping my hand behind her head, I slide her onto my lap and brace her neck protectively.
She's weak.
My thumb strokes the side of her head, and I look around for something—anything—that would help revive her. She's been down here for two days with nothing to eat, likely unconscious. I pull her as close as possible and try to remain still as I try to devise a plan.
At last, around midnight, I move. Shifting away from her.
My team wanted me to go drinking with them, but there’s no way I’m leaving this pit.Not tonight.
My instincts war between desiring to be at her side and finding some way to improve her condition. As I stand, I reach deep into the layer of rock beneath us and start to rearrange the stones. I cannot move the depths of the earth as King Teo can, but I can clear away a scum-free area for her to lay on. She's cold but not as chilled as she would've been above ground.
This stinking, disgusting pit cannot account for much, but it can protect her from most of the elements while keeping her near the warm layers of stone. And for that, I am thankful.
Once she is arranged in the clean spot, I take one of my glamour stones and cover her with my sad excuse for a coat.
When I look over at the exit and the short ladder that is too far up for a regular human to reach, I crouch down and sense along the stone for the exact location of the men. I'm surprised to find them still gone.
That means I can stay with her longer. I am filled with something akin to ease.
Drawing her back into my lap, I let out a deep breath. Anyone could find someone like Melisa beautiful. But what we have is something much sweeter. To care for her in sickness is an honor.
The lingering scent of blood begins to fill the room seconds before she moves in my arms. She lets out a soft groan, and I freeze. As still as I can be, I look down at her, blinking twice as her sleeping form animates. For a moment, I worry.
Will she fear me?
Best to move slowly.
She moves again, and those lovely, deep brown eyes blink open. Even though confusion knits her brow, her gold-flecked irises dilate.
Her soul knows me before her mind, and that touches something deep in my being.
"Ra'Sa," she says, voice gravelly from disuse. "You're here."
Those three words are sweet.
"Of course, I'm here. I told you I would always be near.”