Page 193 of Bound By Her

She hadn’t expected him to be so delicate.

“Callen never lets me go,” he said simply.

There was something in his tone. A hint of bitterness. A small fracture in his usual carefree mask.

She slid her sunglasses back on, laying back down.

“No, you aren’t coming.”

She tried not to care that she knew it would hurt him.

Why should she feel guilty?

But when he didn’t say more, when he just continued painting, the silence ate at her.

“It wasn’t my decision. The Triune feels that Bryson should stay home this year. When Mar’s opposition hits, you three will be at your new home. Considering the circumstances…” she trailed off.

His hands were warm on her feet.

“What is it like?”

“We all get naked and dance in the collected blood of our enemies,” she said.

He pinched her calf.

“Ow,” she said, slapping him away. “Do I need to put you over my knee?”

“As fun as that sounds, unless you want half your toes painted, that’ll need to wait,” he said, his voice husky.

She opened her eyes and stared up into the sun-filtered tree.

“It starts at an office,” she said, having no idea why she felt like sharing.

“The building looks new, but in the back of the underground parking garage, behind a rusty door, is an elevator. An old one,” Adria said, remembering her first time.

“One of those elevators from the movies, with the pull gate and everything.”

She was seven. Her father had put in a special key, and the box groaned and creaked all the way down to the caverns below.

“Legend has it that the caverns used to house an ancient race called the Nine.” Adria laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “So, when you think about it, our ancestors stole the idea from thousand-year-old legends.”

Kaydon chuckled, “Sounds about right.”

“The stone cavern winds down, and there are a lot of twists and turns that lead to dead ends and traps. Eventually, if you know where you are going, it opens up, and there is a giant archway filled with ancient carvings.”

Adria remembered her first time. She had stood in stunned silence, just taking it in, until her father forced her to continue.

Adria frowned.

“What is it?” Kaydon asked.

“It’s just crazy how different we see things when we are children.”

“How do you see it now?”

Adria stared at the clouds, watching them move with ease in the sky.

“The sounds of running water, the musty smell of being underground. Everything about it fascinated me. When we finally made it to the main cavern, the first thing I saw was the pool.”

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