Page 49 of Asmodel

“What’s going on?” Izzy coughed beneath him. “Do I smell smoke?”

Asmodel scanned her to make sure she was okay.

She rubbed her eyes, then looked up at him. Her eyes were dilated, and her rounded cheeks flushed a rosy pink. She licked her lips and focused on him.

He tightened his grip.

“Hey, Asmodel!” JR13’s voice raised. “We’ve got to get out of here before the entire mountain drops on our heads.” His wings buzzed faster, as if he was ready to take off.

“What?” Asmodel tore his gaze from Izzy and scooped her up in his arms. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the bot was right. Holding Izzy tight, he raced out of the alcove into the almost-deserted cave. “JR13, grab on to me, and I’ll get us out of here.”

“About time,” the bot grumbled.

Making sure his little AI friend was secure on his shoulder, Asmodel teleported them out of the cave. He put them a few feet away from the entrance, near a thick group of pardalions gathered at the base of the towering cliff.

“You okay?” Asmodel asked Izzy.

The ground rumbled.

He planted his feet apart so he wouldn’t drop his precious cargo.

Izzy shivered and clasped her arms around his neck. Her wide eyes darted around. “What’s happening? Last thing I knew, we were in my office…”

“That was the Dreamwalk I told you about.” Asmodel sent a quick probe into her mind, making sure she wasn’t upset at what happened between them. Instead of anger or regret, her soft, feminine aura wrapped around him with no hesitation. The burning tension in his stomach eased. She was more than comfortable with what they did in the psychic realm. And, judging by the emotions crossing her face, she didn’t like being interrupted, either.

“When the earthquake happened, JR13 woke me up so we could get out of the cave before it collapsed.” As Asmodel uttered the last word, another hard rumble erupted. He clutched Izzy tighter as the ground beneath them heaved like the chest of a waking giant.

Around them, the jungle trembled, and feathery leaves shivered off branches in flurries of greens, reds, and blues. As the tremors intensified, the massive cave before them groaned, its ancient mouth gnashing as if in pain. With a thunderous roar, the entrance crumbled, boulders tumbling like the bones of the earth, sealing away centuries of pardalion traditions.

Dust mushroomed into the air, painting the sky a grim gray.

The pardalions’ haunting cries echoed through the chaos, a sorrowful cry of loss and displacement.

Asmodel’s heart hammered against his ribs, each beat a reminder of the time he and his brothers escaped a similar situation on ancient Earth. How life teetered between the thin line of survival and obliteration.

“Oh no.” Izzy’s amber eyes filled with tears. “I hope everyone is okay.”

“JR13, analyze,” Asmodel told the companion on his shoulder.

“On it.”

While JR13 probed the surrounding area, Asmodel did the same with his psychic sense. He breathed a sigh of relief when he sensed all the pardalions were with him and Izzy in the clearing.

“All clear and accounted for,” JR13 reported.

“That’s good.” Izzy sighed. She looked up at him with a grin. “You know, you can put me down now.”

Asmodel couldn’t resist. “But I don’t want to.” He nuzzled her close, breathing in the delicate scent of her hair.

“Yo, organic man.”

What was with JR13 interrupting all the time? “Yes, JR13?” With a grimace, he let go of Izzy’s legs to let her stand, but kept his arm around her shoulders to keep her close.

“Echo tells me she and Raxx escaped Panterion Prime.”

Asmodel’s eyebrows rose. “Oh? Did she tell you where they are?”

“Right here, dude!” Raxx sauntered through the thick jungle with his arms wide open. “As if I’d sit around twiddling my thumbs waiting for your sorry ass to rescue me.”

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