He was alone.
Unexpected panic welled up in Cael's chest and threatened to overwhelm him. His ears pounded with the throb of blood pulsing through his veins while ragged breaths filled his lungs.
Calm yourself. She's here somewhere, and you're in no shape care for her like this.
Cael closed his eyes, although the amount of light didn't change. With the tunnel entrance blocked, he couldn't see a single thing. But the act of shutting his eyes helped him feel more grounded. Taking deep breaths, he steadied his shallow breathing and allowed his pulse to slow. If he couldn't hear Midori and the pig dog beast, there must be room up ahead. He needed to continue on. He'd find them.
The sides of the mountain tunnel were smooth and cool to his touch as he crawled forward through the small cave. Luckily, the size of the tunnel remained constant and his body could fit through. Cael hoped it remained so and then realized the rotund body of the pig dog beast was easily as large as him. He hadn't run into the creature's furry hind end stuck in the tunnel so far, so that was a good sign.
He called Midori's name, and it reverberated over the cold stone as his voice echoed through the cave. Cael stopped and listened for a response. The panic threatened to return when all that greeted his ears was silence, but he forced himself to move forward.
"Cael!"
He nearly collapsed with relief when Midori's call reached his ears, even though it was faint and seemed to come from far away.
"I'm coming!" A renewed burst of energy surged through him, and Cael picked up his pace, crawling even faster through the tunnel.
"Midori, I'm on my way!"
"Be careful of the?—"
He was sliding through the darkness, tumbling head over heels down a slope. Frantically, he reached for purchase against the walls but couldn't grab hold of the smooth stone. He slid through the dizzying darkness. It felt like he might never stop. The ground vanished, leaving him plummeting through empty air. A dim blue light from below lit the smooth walls for the few seconds he was in mid-air before he landed with a splash.
A gush of liquid filled his lungs as he breathed in with surprise. He was in a mountain pool. With powerful thrusts, he pushed his body up. Sputtering, he broke the surface of an underground mountain lake.
"Cael, over here!"
Midori sat on the edge of the pool next to the pig dog, both of them soaking wet. With quick strokes, he swam over and pulled himself over the edge. A renewed round of gasping coughs shook his body as he spewed out the remaining liquid. Thankfully, it was only water. He laid on the side of the pool and rested as the burning in his lungs subsided.
"You're safe!" Midori said, crawling next to him and laying her head on his chest. "I was so worried the vyrmm had taken you when you weren't right behind us."
Cael wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her tight against his heaving chest. "It wasn't too happy when I slipped away, and it closed the tunnel behind me. I guess it doesn't matter now that we're down here. I don't think we'd beable to climb back up anyway." Cael nodded at the hole he'd just dropped from above the mountain lake. There was no way for them to return the way they came. "I guess we're stuck here for now."
Midori sniffed. "Wherever here is."
Cael heard the fear in her voice and pulled her closer. He did not know where they were and how they'd get home, but he was going to do everything necessary to keep Midori safe.
No matter the cost.
EIGHT
Midori leaned into Cael's embrace. He made her feel safe, even though neither of them knew where they were or how to get home. But from the moment she met him, Cael had been trying to protect her. She knew he would not stop watching out for her until they were home. Unless something happened to him. Something unlucky.
She didn't want to think that way. She didn't use to believe in luck, but even she couldn't deny her life had been marred by one unlucky situation after another. First, her father passed when she was a child, then her mother when she was a teenager. And then again a few years ago, when her fiancé left her the week before their wedding.
Her sister, April, had taken her in during that dark time and gave her a place to stay when all Midori wanted to do was curl into a ball and disappear. It had taken a lot of hard work for Midori to emerge from that darkness. And just as she was rebuilding her life, her bad luck had turned up once again.
It had been her idea to become a surrogate mother for the Rivian aliens and their human mates who were having trouble conceiving. The money she'd earn in the program would makeit possible for her to go back to college and start a real career. She was tired of working entry-level jobs. It was time to change her life. She'd even convinced April to take a leave of absence from her job as an astronomer to join the program too. If it hadn't been for her, April would still be safe on Earth. But her bad luck reared its ugly head once again, and she and her sister were abducted by Cael's people—mobsters working for some notorious crime lord. And Cael was one of them.
She studied his chiseled blue-skinned face as he laid there with his eyes closed. Cael differed from the other four-armed guards who had stolen her from the Rivian ship. And he differed completely from the terrifying, devilish-looking aliens who seemed to be the ones in charge of the entire operation. She trusted Cael. And she believed him when he said he'd get her home.
Unless her bad luck showed up again, and they were stuck in this mountain forever.
"I should look around," Cael's voice rumbled in her ear and pulled Midori from her dismal thoughts.
"I'll come with you," she said, pushing herself to her feet and looking around the cavern. "I'd rather not be separated, if that's okay."
Cael looked like he was thinking of arguing, but he nodded instead.
