I reach for her, my hand sliding to the back of her neck, pulling her toward me before I can second guess it. The kiss isn’t gentle. It isn’t careful. It’s everything I didn’t say, everything Idon’t know how to say, poured into something physical because it’s the only language I’ve ever been good at.
She makes a soft sound against my mouth, surprised for half a second before she responds, her hands coming up to grip my shirt, pulling me closer instead of away.
That’s all it takes.
I deepen the kiss immediately, angling my head, extinguishing my flame and then slide my other hand to her waist, tightening there as I press her back against the stone. The cold wall behind her makes the heat between us sharper, more real.
She opens for me, and I take it, my tongue sliding against hers, rough and unpracticed in anything soft, but certain in what I want. Her fingers curl into me like she’s afraid I’ll pull away.
I don’t.
I can’t.
Not now. Not when she’s here. Not when she’s alive. Not when I’ve almost lost her over and over again.
I break the kiss, breathing hard, my forehead pressing against hers.
“You don’t go anywhere alone,” I mutter, my voice low, rough. “Not again. Not where I can’t reach you.”
It’s not pretty or gentle. But it’s the closest thing to a promise I know how to give. And then I kiss her again.
Her hands come up to grip my shoulders, and it feels like the rest of the world has fallen away. It’s just us, here in this dark cave, and nothing else matters.
When we finally pull apart, we’re both breathing heavily. I ignite my flame once more so I can look at her. Her eyes are wide, and her lips are slightly parted, as if she’s about to say something but can’t find the words. I brush a strand of hair out of her face, my thumb lingering on her cheek. The faint glow from my hand reflects in her eyes, turning them into starlight.
“Oberon,” she whispers, her voice trembling slightly. “I…”
Before she can finish, the sound of movement breaks the spell. One of the guys stirs in their sleep, and we quickly pull apart. My heart is pounding, and I can see the faint blush on her cheeks even in the dim light. She looks away, and I can’t help but smile.She’s beautiful.
“Is it time?” Ashton’s voice cuts through the quiet, and I glance over to see him rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His gaze flicks between us, and I can tell he’s noticed something, but he doesn’t comment.
“It is,” I say, my voice firm. “It’s time for us to escape.”
“Finally,” Ashton mutters, stretching. “I was starting to think we’d die of boredom before we got out of here.”
“You’ll wish for boredom when we’re facing whatever’s out there,” Sylvian says, his voice groggy but laced with a hint of amusement. He sits up, running a hand through his long black hair. “What’s the plan, Oberon?”
“Survive,” Cassius remarks, eyes cracking open.
The tension in the air shifts, and I can feel the gravity of our situation weighing down on us. My mind races through the possibilities, the dangers that await us just beyond the cave.Will we face the cyclopes again? Or perhaps something worse?I shake my head, forcing myself to focus.
“We stick together,” I say, my voice low but unyielding as I look at each of them in turn. “No matter what happens, we don’t split up. We move as one.”
Cassius inclines his head, looking pale but unshaken. “Agreed.”
No one argues. Not this time.
The plan forms quickly between us, delicate as glass, but enough to hold onto. It has to be. We all sit quietly, listening, measuring the silence, preparing. The memory of that chamber presses in whether I want it to or not. Stone. Chains. The slow,grinding turn of the mechanism. Blades cutting into flesh, inch by inch, while we could do nothing but endure it.
My jaw tightens. I can still feel it. The helplessness. The fury. The moment I realized we might not walk out of that place alive.
And worse than that, the realization that if things had gone differently, if they had found her first, Alette would have been there too. Strapped down. Bleeding. Breaking under something she was never meant to survive.
A slow death we could be facing yet again, if the cyclops find us. If they catch us with Alette.
I drag in a slow breath, forcing the thoughts down, forcing my fear into something useful.We get out of this cave without being seen. We make it back into the labyrinth. We keep moving until there’s nothing left chasing us. Until the cyclopes are behind us and the maze is the only thing trying to kill us again.
It used to be about the end. About what waited for us beyond all of this. My people. My court. The power I was supposed to reclaim. The burden I’ve carried for years, the failure that has followed me like a shadow I could never outrun.
