Amma wiped hair out of her face to assess the darkened cave they’d fallen into. The spring continued on for a yard or so before becoming shallow very quickly, a ledge climbing out of the water and leveling off against the back of the cavern. The hollow behind the rock wall was small but enclosed, a shaft of silvery light filtering in from a crack above, and it was quiet until a terrible scratching had them clambering backward.
Out of the water and up onto the rocky bank, they pushed their backs against the wall. Much too small for any of theharpies to fit through, the remaining divot could only be pecked and clawed at. Amma held her breath, waiting, but they were unable to break away the rock. She sighed, tipping her head back and closing her eyes, safe for the moment. “I hope Vanders is all right. And Katz too.”
The small cavern went quiet as if Damien already knew the worst had happened.
Amma bit her lip and opened her eyes. “Damien!”
His gaze snapped up from her chest.
“We’re under duress for goodness’s sake.” She threw an arm over her breasts but was secretly at least a little pleased.
“No, we’re not—the harpies are out there, and we are in here. Alone.”
There was another intense scuffing at the stone.
“For now,” he groaned and held up a pointed rock between the two. “Stab me.”
Amma screwed up her face and struck out, knocking the stone from Damien’s hand. There was a plop as it sank into the water. “No, I’m not really upset with you.”
Damien rolled his eyes. “So I can do bloodcraft.”
“Oh.” She looked after where the makeshift weapon had gone. “But you always cut yourself.”
“With a blade meant for slicing. I thought you might be able to help with a little added pressure. Do you think you can scratch me instead?”
Amma held her chewed and chipped nails close to his face so he could properly see their sad state in the dark. He frowned, but then both turned toward the entrance of the cavern. It had gone quiet.
“Should we—”
Damien raised a finger to his lips, and then muttered against it in Chthonic. After a moment, he shook his head, voice low. “They’re still there.”
Amma settled back awkwardly, thighs squeezed together and knees up. Damien’s wet shoulder shifted against hers as he looked about in the dark for another rock. Amma pretended to assist, leaning over to check the far side of him but let her gaze linger down to his lap when his leg fell askew. There were a lot of shadows, but if he just shifted slightly to the left where the shaft of moonlight was streaming down—
“I know you think demons have tails, butthatisn’t one.”
Amma thrust herself back against the wall, unable to hide the grin that plastered itself on her face.
“Nor is it a willing source of blood, whether we are under duress or not.” He handed her a slightly blunter stone than the last. “Perhaps you can dig this into my thigh. There is a vein just along here that—”
“Oh, ew, we’re not doing that.” She tossed the stone into the spring right after the other, and Damien’s mouth fell open.
Amma squinted into the darkness of the cave for an alternative, then glanced upward. More vines hung down, and she pulled some free from the cavern’s ceiling. “I’ve an idea.” Amma wrapped the vine around his forearm a few times, tugging lightly on both ends to be sure it didn’t snap. “Are you ready? This is probably going to hurt.”
He cocked his head and gave her a smile that was running thick with condescension.
“Okay.” Amma pulsed arcana in the young briar vine and pulled it tight around his arm. The plant matured instantly, hardening and sprouting thorns that sunk into his skin all at once.
Damien sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth, eyes going wide with disbelief. “Amma, you—” He held up his arm, blood oozing up from multiple places.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, slapping her hand over her mouth.
“You’re brilliant,” he breathed, a huge grin on his face, and then he pressed a quick kiss to her fingers where her mouth would have been had she not been covering it up. “Now stay here.”
She watched him, too stunned to move as he pushed off the ledge and back into the water, wading to the small break in the wall and submerging completely.
Amma did wait, but only until she shook off the surprise of both the thorns and the kiss that she assumed would be acceptable to the oracle since it wasn’t really a kiss at all. But when she heard a scuffle and a chorus of squawks, she splashed through the water and ducked under to escape the cave.
When Amma emerged, a harpy was falling out of the air, hitting the edge of the rock with a thunk, and then it tumbled down the far cliffside. Damien stood in the middle of the spring, half submerged, arm covered in rivulets of blood, the thorns still twisted about him as he cast.
