Page 16 of The Manticore's Fire

“Not. I have no intention or desire to harm you. That was not because of you,” he assured her. “I was thinking of what could have happened to you if you had been successful escaping and the flare had failed or simply been ignored.”

That was apparently not something that she had thought of in her haste to get away from him because her face went deathly pale and he edged closer so that he would be in position to catch her if she fainted.

She shook her head. “I… I’m okay. The flare… it was to signal him to return once my mission was completed so that he could bring back a trophy or your entire corpse if the king desired. I had decided to use it to trick him into returning for me but none of this had occurred to me. Gods, even if I had succeeded, he might have just left me here for dead!”

He nodded grimly, his heart going out to her. He did not like seeing her so distressed now that she was confronted with the reality of her situation. He needed to do something… something to ease her heart a little. The idea came to him then that made his stinger curl against his back and vibrate with delight.

“Come with me,” he murmured. “There is something I would very much like to show you.”

Chapter

Twelve

Abby didn’t know why it felt so natural to just trust him but in retrospect hadn’t she always trusted Samir on some level? Although she hadn’t had much choice on the matter in terms of sleeping arrangements, she had slept deeply and easily at his side every night and managed to live with him without being in a constant state of anxiety. It was for that reason she didn’t hesitate to slide her hand into his and she nearly smiled at the sensation of the pads on his palm and fingers against her hand. Like the toe beans of a cat but even better because it was bigger and all Samir.

Sure, for a moment she’d been afraid but even before he spoke, she knew that her worries were foundless. Not even when she had tried to flee, had she once truly been afraid when he caught her. Instead, it was kind of… fun, in a twisted sort of way, as much as it was maddening. It was Samir. Samir with his biting wit, playful humor. and gentle words. Samir who took delight in infuriating her but never pushed it too far. She couldn’t even hold onto her anger against him because she knew deep down that her decisions were all on her. It should have occurred to her that he would have known but she’d made a terrible miscalculation by assuming. She’d orchestrated her own mess.Samir was her jailer perhaps, but he was also… heartbroken and lonely. That realization hit her heavily.

Of course he did not want her to leave. He at very least found her amusing and a barrier against his own shadows, even if he had loudly scoffed at the idea of love. It forced her to look more clearly at the male standing in front of her. This was Samir with all his hidden pain of betrayal that she couldn’t even begin to imagine. She’d caught a glimpse of the real male hidden beneath the veneer he kept over himself—a romantic male whose dreams were crushed—and she wanted to see more of that.

So of course, she would go with him and see whatever he wanted her to see. Abby didn’t even hesitate to take his hand.

Samir smiled, happiness softening his blurred leonine features as his fingers curled around her hand. With a gentle tug he drew her with him and led her toward the entrance of his den. Abby’s eyes widened at the realization that they were leaving.

“Samir?” she murmured uncertainly.

His eyes gleamed with warmth as he glanced over at her. “Do not worry, Abby. You will like this surprise. And the sun is just setting so you will be comfortable, and your delicate skin will not burn. Ah, but here, perhaps this might make you more comfortable.” He pressed something cool into her hand and Abby glanced down at it curiously.

Her scarab!

She nodded and with a whispered spell to the small metal beetle, it lit up and left her hand with a hum of metal wings flying in the air ahead of them. With the scarab providing its soft light, she wordlessly accompanied him through the winding passages of the cavern. Passages that she hadn’t stepped foot in since she had entered with her lance, determined to slay the beast at her side. She was seeing the cave with new eyes this time, noting the beauty of the natural column formations among the stalagmites and stalactites in the galleries. When they came at last to thepath of little islands of stalagmites that led across the pool that she had previously made her way precariously across, Samir gathered her up into his arms. He crossed them with such sure-footed speed that it almost seemed that he glided across them before gently depositing her on the cavern floor at the other side.

They stood facing each other for a moment, Abby’s heart thumping, and it seemed like something was shifting between. She could feel it like a static in the air and a twist deep within her belly as she stared up into his luminous eyes. His hands were still lightly touching her hips and his gaze slowly dropped to them. A look of surprise crossed his face as if he hadn’t realized that he was still holding her and quickly released her while taking a step back in an obvious attempt to be polite and not crowd her. Her lips twitched with amusement. Despite being rough around the edges—of which he seemed to have many more than anyone else—it struck her how considerate he was.

Taking the initiative, Abby reached and took his hand before he could offer. He blinked down at their hands and his expression softened with unmistakable pleasure. Her great beast wasn’t so terrible.

“You had a surprise for me,” she reminded him with an impish smile.

Samir cleared his throat and quickly nodded. “Yes. It is close. Just this way,” he replied as he led through the remaining passages until they were at last stepping out onto the desert sand.

Abby squinted as the light of the setting sun hit her eyes. It stung a little after spending so many days below ground, but she blinked away the tears and smiled as she breathed in deeply the evening air. The sweet fresh air and the view were well worth it. The sky was ribboned with color in vibrant oranges, pinks, and gold in contrast to the desert sand which rapidly grew darker except for a faint glimmer of where it caught the light. She didn’trecall everything being so beautiful when she traveled across the desert following Zayman.

“This is incredible,” she said in awe as she summoned the scarab back to her hand, its light putting and the magic leaving it once more, but Samir chuckled at her side.

“This is not the surprise. It gets better,” he replied.

Her gaze shot to him in surprise. “Better?” she echoed, intrigued.

“Better,” he confirmed with another nod. “This way.”

Her brows rose but she followed as he led her further from the cave. Her feet made soft impressions on the sand, but she noticed that it was not as loose and soft as it had been the last time she walked across it.

“The wet season has arrived since you joined me,” Samir said conversationally, answering her unspoken question. “It is a blessed time of the year as it causes certain changes to the desert.”

“Oh? What’s that? Please don’t tell me that everything molds,” Abby said as they walked over a hill of sand. “I once went with my family to Guwari, a small tropical province and we just happened to be there working when their rainy season hit. My gods, I swore everything sprouted mold, moss, or some kind of fungus.”

“No, nothing like that,” Samir chuckled as they crested the hill. “Just look. The desert—she blooms,” he rasped as he gestured to the sand stretched out ahead of them.

Blooms? Abby’s gaze followed in the direction of his hand, and a tiny gasp escaped her as flowers dotted the sand. The flowers were small and would have seemed insignificant against the flowers that grew in her mother’s garden. But spread out across the sand with the moon slowly climbing in the sky under the waning light of the sun, it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

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