Corson
Wren and I didn’t speak as we traveled deeper into the labyrinth. I didn’t know if we were going in a new direction, heading back the way we’d come, or wandering in endless circles. Without light, there was no way to mark where we’d been or to detect any significant difference from one tunnel tothenext.
When the rockier walls became mostly dirt once more, I thought we were making our way back up and possibly out, but the soil had given way to rock again after a hundred or so feet. The air felt and smelled the same no matter where we went, stale and earthy. Some tunnels had a breeze in them, and those were the ones I turned into with the hope an exit had created the breeze, but they never offered awayout.
Now we were in what I assumed was a small cave system due to the solid stone walls and the trickle of water drawing me onward. I ran my hand over the walls until my fingertips dipped into cool water. Wren’s arm brushed mine as her fingers fumbled over thewalltoo.
“Here,” I said and took her hand to guide it into the water. “Drinksome.”
“I don’t dare,” she whispered. “Not when we don’t know the source, and I can’tboilit.”
“You have to bethirsty.”
“And I can remain thirsty for another day or two. That water could kill me before then. I’ve gone longer without water before, believe me, and at least it’s cool in here, so I’m not sweating. I do want to wash some snake gunk off methough.”
I listened to water splashing as she tried to clean herself in the thin stream while I struggled to control my impulse to grab her and hug her against me. She was so frail, so mortal. This water was something so simple, something I had no concern for at all, yet it was life to her, and there was nothing I could do to give her what sheneeded.
“You next,” she whispered and I heard her step away fromthewall.
I cupped my hands and let the water fill them before splashing it over my face and hair. I washed myself the best I could before moving away. “I’ll get you out of here,” Ipromisedher.
“Not if we keep standing here,” she retorted, but her tone held none of her usual defensiveness against me, and I heard the exhaustion in hervoice.
I touched her arm, drawing her after me as I turned to wind my way through the maze once more. I wanted to return to the ouro and tear it apart some more for trapping us in this place, but I’d never be able to find my way backtoit.
Wren stumbled behind me, and her hand hit me in the back. I turned and caught her before she fell to the ground. Drawing her closer, I closed my eyes as I recalled my lips brushing over hers. She’d been about to let me kiss her, something I’d never thought she would allow, but she hadn’tpulledaway.
I’d been so close to tasting more of her when I’d sensed the ouro slithering toward us. If my instincts hadn’t alerted me in time, we’d both be dead right now. She was a giant distraction in this place, but I found myself wondering if she would let me taste heragainnow.
Then, her legs wobbled with exhaustion. Protective instincts I hadn’t known I possessed rushed to the forefront. She’d never admit it, but she neededtorest.
“We’ll stop here for a bit,”Isaid.
“We have to…” I heard her gulp. “We have to get outofhere.”
“We’re not going to escape if youcan’twalk.”
“I can walk!” Though I couldn’t see it, I knew her chin hadshotup.
“You are an obstinatecreature.”
“I’m not a creature; I’m a human being. You’re acreature.”
I would have laughed if her stubbornness hadn’t been so infuriating. “I’m an adhene demon. Not acreature.”
I was waiting for her wise-ass reply when she pulled herself out of my arms. “What is an adhenedemon?”
“To the human world, the closest equivalent might be your elves. Adhenes aren’t magical or anything like that, but your elf legends are probably based on us. Adhenes are fast, powerful, and known to bemischievous.”
I almost jumped away from her when her fingers brushed over the tip of my right ear. At first, I half-expected her to cut it off until she caressed it. Unable to stop it from happening, I hardened instantly against my zipper. If she had any idea how sensitive my ears were to stimulation and what she was doing to me, she wouldpullaway.
Unable to resist, I stepped closer until her chest pressed against mine, but I was careful to keep my waist away from her. Her breasts were the perfect size to fill my hands. I should know, I’d often fantasized about touching and tasting them sincemeetingher.
“Adhene demons are rare,” I murmured as I tilted my head into her stroking fingers and closed my eyes. “I’ve been the last purebred adhene in existence since my parents died, but the few demons who also possessed adhene blood were killed during the final battle withLucifer.”
“I see,” she said, and her hand fell away from my ear. “It must be lonelyforyou.”
I restrained myself from seizing her hand and returning it to me. For the first time, I was grateful for the dark so she couldn’t see when I adjusted my erection. “I’ve become used to it,” I told her, though I didn’t like to dwell on the knowledge I was the last of my kind and thatnoother purebred adhenes would existafterme.
