He pulled back, his breath ragged. Eyes bright with emotions I was too dazed to read. “Leela…”
I stared at him, my breath coming fast and shallow, lips throbbing from his kisses. The effects of the gas must have faded for him too now.
I summoned a smile. “It’s okay. I don’t need to say goodbye. I’m okay.”
He looked away and nodded. “Yes. Of course. We should get moving.” He picked up the crystal and then held out his hand to me.
I took it, and we continued on, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted between us.
I’d missed something, and I didn’t know exactly what.
We continued in silence,a strange heavy feeling sitting on my chest. The kiss played on my mind. It had obviously made things awkward. I needed to clear the air between us.
A soft squeal drifted down the tunnel.
Ravi tensed, then pulled me against him as something ran out of the darkness and into the light. Small, furry, and two feettall, the creature ground to a halt at the sight of us and let out another squeal. It had large bat-like ears, a piggish snout, and huge brown eyes that were wide with what I read to be fear.
“A marsupin,” Ravi said. “It must have wandered into the mountain and gotten lost.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“No. It’s a plant eater. Docile unless its young are threatened; in fact, I’m pretty certain this one is a baby.”
It approached my boot and sniffed. “We can’t leave it here.”
“You want to take it as an offering to Vasuki?”
I shot him a glare and then crouched to scoop up the creature. “It’s okay. No one will hurt you. Ravi and I will protect you.” I glanced at Ravi for confirmation to find him watching me with a hazy gaze that made my stomach flutter strangely. “What?”
“Nothing.” He held out his hands. “Let me hold it.”
I passed him the creature, and he tucked it under his arm. “Come on. We’re almost there.”
We continued down the tunnel, light shining a path across hard-packed earth and rock walls.
“There’s only one more intersection left, then it’s an uninterrupted route to Vasuki’s chamber.”
“Great. We’re close to the serpent’s lair.” My tone was light, but I couldn’t hide the nerves that made it tremble a little.
“If he is there, he will not attack us,” Ravi said. “That much I am certain of. Final tunnel coming up.”
The creature let out a soft squeal.
“Stay still,” Ravi said.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s trying to escape.”
It let out a shriek, wriggling to be free.
“Maybe it doesn’t like you. Let me…” I reached for the marsupin just as a soft skittering sound filled the chamber.
Ravi’s head whipped to the left toward the final intersection, a slender aperture that was barely large enough for a person to get through, but…a marsupin might be able to.
The creature let out another squeal, its eyes rolling in its head. Ice crystalized in my belly. The creature was terrified, and I would have bet the object of his fear was in that aperture and headed right toward us.
Ravi and I exchanged glances, my assessment echoed on his face.
