“Yes,” I hiss through my teeth. “It is mine. Give it to me now.” I don’t know where my courage is coming from, but my voice is laced with vitriol, bolstering my confidence as it echoes through the cave.
“As you wish,” he says and takes two massive steps toward me, as if water resistance doesn’t exist. Even his steps are powerful.
I freeze, locked in pure fear as the muscled Underling male strides closer. I close my eyes and feel him pass by me, the water rippling in small waves at my clavicle from his wake. He smells of smoke and leather but also slightly sweet, like a fresh breeze over salt water.
I peek my eyes open as he walks away, shoulders wide and swaying like a prowling lion. Tattoos swirl across his back as he leans over the edge of the spring. With arms as large as my waist, he reaches to set the dagger down on the stone near my things with a quiet clink.
My things… where my clothes are piled. Which I do not have on my body. Oh Hels! I bend my knees, sinking into the springs until the water lapses around my collarbone.
How did I not notice him before?
What was I thinking?
He turns around and smirks, revealing a whisper of a dimple, then swishes past me again so close I can smell him. Smoke and seabreeze and leather and eucalyptus. Nothing about this creature makes sense.
“There. Happy?” He leans back against the far end of the spring and stares at me with those silver eyes and… smirks? A sharp canine almost pierces his full lower lip as he observes my panic. An apex predictor playing with his prey before devouring it whole.
Fuck that. I’m not sticking around to find out if there is a killer lurking behind those rows of white teeth. If he is anything like the Underlings that attacked Goldenpine, I have my answer already. I slowly step backward, eyes locked on his molten gaze. If I can just get to my things and run...
The Underling grabs something from the edge of the pool and puts it in his mouth, lighting it moments later with a green flame from his fingertip.
“Cigroot,” he says simply, answering my questioning stare. Smoke curls from the tip of the rolled parchment. “I see you found my Source springs.”
Source springs? Were these springs part of the Source magic that courses through our atmosphere? Is that why it feels so amazing? Why is he smirking at me like that again? If I wasn’t so terrified, I would be furious that an Underling somehow found their way into the Watch! “What are you doing here?”
“And where is here, exactly?”
“The Watch,” I say. His eyes widen only a fraction, and I realize my mistake instantly. Fuck, I probably shouldn’t have given up our location so easily. I would make a terrible spy! All of my wisdom is apparently back in my room along with the throwing stars. If I had those, then maybe I could chuck one into the massive chest of this monster before me. Honestly, what type of workout regime would he have to have to gain that much muscle.
What am I doing thinking about this monster’s muscles?
He chuckles. The sound is a low rumble that echoes across the cave walls. I will not go down easily. I sneak another step backward toward my dagger.
“I was invited here,” he says. So I was right; he is an Underworld warrior.
“You are with one of the Underworld Courts?” I ask.
“Yes,” he grumbles, rolling his neck and taking another puff of cigroot. “You could say that.”
A cluster of glowing water lilies floats closely to him, brushing his arm. His eyes flick down to the flower. He reaches toward it, slowly dragging his finger along the closed bloom with precision, dexterity, and grace. The water lily responds immediately, crowning open at his touch to reveal layers of sharp petals that glow brightly.
His eyes snap back to mine. A devilish grin spreads across his face, the cigroot still in his mouth. He looks like he is going to eat me.
Why weren’t there more Tellings about the Underworld?
Do they eat humans?
Why on earth did I return to a place I knew could be dangerous?
“My friends know where I am. They will check in on me soon and know to come here,” I lie through my teeth, taking two more steps backward, an arm’s reach from my dagger.
“Human, I wasn’t thinking you were the ask-for-assistance type, with how you commanded me earlier. Or is that not how your cruel lips usually work?”
I grab the dagger and throw it. Practicing with my throwing stars has grown my wrist strength and accuracy, but even with my speed, I’m no match for him. He catches my dagger again, but this time between his palms in some sort of saccharine prayer despite a blade nearly piercing his heart.
His silver eyes brighten and connect with mine. I know I should run, but I just… freeze.
Within seconds, the warrior is towering in front of me, water dripping down his chest to his tapered waist. From this close, the droplets reflect in hues of blues and purples on his light skin, tracing paths through his maze of tattoos. The blacks of his eyes seem larger now, overcoming the silver. This is no man. This is a beast. His head tilts slightly as he scans my rigid body, unable to move under his intense scrutiny.
