Something sharp ran up her arm, the familiar sting of a blade threatening to break skin. A claw, she noted as it traveled up higher, taunting, but not enough to make her bleed—yet. Adara whirled, sword slashing for the creature, connecting with nothing once again. She felt a whoosh of air to her right.
Come now, little flame,its raspy voice whispered in her ear.Time to be doused.
All the heat beneath her skin, the familiar warmth of her flames, turned to ice. Chills ran across her bones, like a blanket of snow had been dumped over her as the creature circled her, whispering threats in her ear.
She wildly swung her sword and dagger, trying to find its body in the darkness and slice it to ribbons. That was, if the Whisperer even had skin and could bleed. It felt like nothing but a figment of her imagination. A demon in her mind she could do nothing against.
A singular claw scraped down her spine. Adara froze, took a deep breath, letting it think she’d been paralyzed with fear. Then she spun on her heel, plunging her sword deep into the darkness.
There was no familiar resistance of her blade breaking through skin, slicing through innards, but the air stilled. Warmth floodedback to her as the Whisperer’s presence disappeared. She let out a shaky breath and stood up straighter, rolling her shoulders back.
Though her weapons struck nothing, Adara wondered if she’d somehow killed it. But she still needed the eye, and if it was dead, there was only one way to find out. Sword dangling from one hand, her other sheathed her dagger then reached to pull the blindfold off.
“Look out!” a shout reverberated across the cavern. A warning from Dominic—panicked and breathless.
Before Adara could lift her sword to defend herself, something slammed into her.
Chapter 14
PainshotthroughDominic’sknuckles as they scraped against the stone floor, blood in their wake. Better his hand cracking against the solid ground rather than Adara’s skull, his palm protectively cradling the back of her head as they went down. Rivulets of blood slid down his torso from the sharp sting of the Whisperer’s knife-like fingers slashing into his skin.
It was only a matter of seconds that Dominic had Adara pinned to the ground—narrowly avoiding a fatal slash the Whisperer had aimed at her—before she twisted out of his grip and was on top of him. Her knee dug harshly into his chest,keeping him down. A groan slipped past his lips from his aching wounds. She angled her sword at his throat. Even blindfolded, she knew exactly what she was doing.
“I told you, love, under different circumstances, I wouldn’t mind this,” he said casually, not making an effort to shove her off. The bite of the metal was cool against his throat. “But now is not the time.”
Ignoring his lewd remark, Adara shoved herself off him and turned. Dominic quickly rose to his feet, disregarding his blood leaving wet trails of warmth behind.
“You’re hurt,” Adara said. She must have felt the slickness of his blood beneath them when they tumbled to the ground.
“I’m fine,” Dominic hissed back. A few cuts were nothing he couldn’t handle. He hardly noticed the pain. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he frantically searched the dark cavern for the Whisperer.
A shadowy figure emerged from the depths of the cave. He stepped in front of Adara, one hand outstretched behind him, inches away from her own in case he needed to grab her and run. The other held a long dagger out in front of him.
“Come on, demon,” he muttered. The world around them was so silent that his whispered words reverberated loudly. His eyes scanned every inch of the dark cave as the air shifted around him.
Behind him, Adara yelped. A stifled cry of pain that made him face her, pinning her back to the stone wall and pressing his body against hers, shielding her from every angle. “I’m all right,” she breathed quietly. “Startled more than hurt. Just a nick on my arm.”
He didn’t care. He held her there for a long, silent moment, their bodies practically melded together. The heavy rise and fall of her chest moved against his, their shaking breaths mixing in the foul air. For a while, they didn’t move, hoping theblind creature wouldn’t sense them. If it weren’t for the terror coursing through him, Dominic would have taken the time to memorize the feeling of her body pressed to his, outline the curve of her hips with his hands, and trace the column of her throat with his tongue. All a ploy to buy her love with physical affection.
Through the dark, he could see nothing. A void that swallowed any trace of light. The Whisperer’s movements were too quick for him to pick up on. A whoosh of air to his left, a scuttle of feet to the right, a breeze from above, a cackle from across the room. It moved swiftly, like moving through tears in the fabric of the world.
Pain lanced through the back of Dominic’s right leg. His knees buckled, blood pooling beneath him. Hissing in agony, he forced himself to straighten, to turn, to fight this ancient creature that could kill him with one glance, one word. The Whisperer hissed from somewhere deep in the cave, its haunting voice echoing in his ears.
How do you expect to protect her when you can’t even protect yourself?
Dominic’s blood dripped to the floor, the sound of its spatter mocking him.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the faint outline of Adara with her back still pressed against the wall, sword readied in front of her. The Whisperer was nowhere to be seen.
“When I tell you,” he said to her, eyes still searching the dark. There had been a sconce on the wall when he’d left her alone to search the cave, perhaps they outlined the entire cavern. “I need you to light the sconces on the walls. They’re about eye-level,” he informed.
“I can’t,” she replied, voice wavering. Her hands shook, grip tightening on the hilt. “My magic is suppressed.”
A gust of wind almost knocked him off his feet. He whirled in its direction. Still, the creature was shrouded by shadows. It was taunting them, playing with them like a feline with a rodent before its meal.
“The cave doesn’t suppress magic. Only the Whisperer is immune. I’ll get it far enough away from you, and when I tell you to, light the candles,” he explained. He would have done it himself, but she’d be safer with her magic while he distracted it and it suppressed his own.
“What if I miss and burn you?” she asked as if he were crazy. Blindfolded, she had no clear aim.
