He halts, putting his arms up like he’s offended. “I was just going to help.”
“Well, what a nice sentiment. But not a chance.”
“Here...” Meela steps forward, glaring at Raef as she passes him. “May I?”
Rhydra nods, then sits. Meela pulls her red curls back and attempts to line up the cut and dispose of the blackened, dead chunks.
“Anyways,” I say. “What happened with you two?” I glance toward Meela and Rhydra. Meela’s eyes are narrowed in concentration as she works on her.
“We didn’t see much on the walk down. A few skeletons long dead, most of them burned. Then there was a tangle of vines we ran into that blocked the entire passage. So I thought maybe I’d just… burn them away. Clearly, that didn’t work. And that’s pretty much it until we saw you and you saved our asses.”
“So you never saw what was beyond that?”
She shakes her head. “I have a feeling it was nothing of value. And if it was a beast like what Gaethri and Raef fought, it would have found us in the night once we unleashed it, I think.”
I whip my head toward them in alarm. “A beast?”
Raef waves a hand in dismissal. “It was nothing.”
Gaethri grumbles. “Nothing? How about a large, winged creature three times my size that can’t fly but has sharp spikes along his damned wings! Almost took my eye.”
Now that he mentions it, there is a red scratch from his hairline down to his cheek. I wince.
I feel a warm presence behind me all of a sudden, and my heart skips before I look back. Then I finally turn, meeting Daegan’s gaze. So much passes between us in the shared look, but for now I simply smile softly, and so does he. We made it out alive with the sword, and that’s all that matters.
“It turns out, those vines were only meant to be cleared by dragon fire,” Raef says as he watches Daegan stand by my side, just a hair behind me, with his arms crossed.
“Yours was blocked by it too?” I ask.
“No. We never tried to torch them because all we had waiting for us at the end was that fucking creature in a dark corner. Of course you two got the glory of finding the sword.” He rolls his eyes, eyeing the sword that’s now strapped to Daegan’s back.
Daegan clears his throat. “It’s morning. We shouldn’t waste any more time in this cursed cave.”
“Agree,” Meela concurs, finishing Rhydra’s hair. It now sits just above her shoulders and is even fuller than before.
“Cute,” I nod.
Rhydra flashes me a disgruntled glance.
I smirk.
I turn and realize that Daegan’s chest muscles are on full display, with only the straps of his holsters crossing his perfectly chiseled muscles. At least he’s wearing his pants.
I clear my throat, holding his shirt out to him. His shirt I’ve been clutching onto since I woke up. “Here.”
Everyone seems to pass us in an awkward silence, leaving us behind like they’re intentionally giving us a moment alone.
“Thank you,” he says as he grabs his shirt. He has to unstrap some things before he can put it on, so I stand awkwardly in front of him as I watch him do it.
“For returning your shirt?” I chuckle. “You’re welcome.”
“No,” he grunts as he pulls it over his head. Then he locks eyes with me again, his gaze steady. “You saved us all. You were… incredible.”
I shrug. “I had no choice.”
He looks at me with a hint of amusement as he shakes his head, taking me in. And then his face grows serious again as he reaches out a hand and grabs mine, pulling me closer. “I was so worried about you.” His voice is low and gravelly now.
“I’m fine.”
