“I need help.”
“The prince is a moron,” Scarlett snapped.“What is the point of weakening you so much that you can’t stand on your own?At least it should give my brothers a chance to get here.”
“The prince knows about your brothers.”
“At least he’ll have trouble feeding on them.I hope Casey finds a way to keep him out of her head.She’s the vulnerable one.”Scarlett slipped an arm around his waist.
As soon as she took his weight, he pounced.He dropped her over his arm while still holding her weight.Before her shriek of surprise echoed through their valley, he smothered it with his mouth and kissed her with everything he had.
“Ha!Not quite as weak as I thought,” she said.
After an instant of struggle, she relaxed, letting him hold her and master her mouth.Her scent roared through him.He savored her spicy flavor, gloried in her touch.The contact centered him, leaving his panic behind.
With Scarlett in his arms, he felt whole—as if nothing could ever harm them.
Invincible.
Aware of the passing time, he pulled back and held Scarlett until she had her balance.
A smaller quake shook the ground.
“Did I rock your world?”Ransom asked with a sly wink at Talon.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
“Hilarious,” Scarlett said, pulling a face.“I thought you needed my help.We have a plan—a partial one, at least.Why don’t we get moving before the big, scary prince has another tantrum?”
Scarlett was right.
Ransom limped to their fire and doused it with water they’d collected from the nearby stream.With well-practiced speed, they packed away the last of their gear and trekked along the edge of the lava stream.They walked single-file, their pace slower than usual.Only determination got his body around the base of a hill and into the next valley.The view of the volcano and the prince’s burial mound was better from here.
Scarlett halted beside him.“Frying fungus,” she muttered.“That’s bad.”
At some stage during the blacklight, a quake had rippled through the area, resettling the heads in different positions.The line of enormous stone blocks they’d seen the previous cycle was no longer visible.The region looked like a playground for giants who hadn’t tidied their toys once they’d finished.Added to that, a second stream of lava flowed from the volcano, and unless something else diverted it, the lava would flow through or around the mound of rock and strewn statue heads.
“We need a new plan,” Ransom said.
“We could wait until the lava gets him.”
“Another quake could easily make the flow change course.”
“Yeah.”Scarlett frowned at the rocky mound and the many heads lying at different angles.
As Ransom watched her, she lifted her hand to her arm and rubbed it.Talon spotted the infraction and snarled at her.He scampered toward Scarlett and used his sharp claws to clamber up her legs.An instant later, he perched on her shoulder, his nails digging into her arm, judging by the way Scarlett slapped at him.
“Quit digging in your claws, you wee monster,” Scarlett snapped, confirming Ransom’s supposition.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
“Have I ever told you I used to play rugby?When we still lived on Earth.”She started walking again as she spoke.
Ransom followed, wondering where this story might lead.
“I was an excellent rugby player.Fast and strong.The coach praised my passing skills, but it was my accuracy kicking the ball that impressed him.”She stilled and angled her head to glance at the Trolleris.“You’re about double the size of a rugby ball.How far could I kick you?”
Ransom choked back a chuckle as Scarlett and Talon squared off with glares.
“You claw me again, and I swear I’ll kick you over that burial mound.A threat and a promise.Are we clear, wee monster?”
