Page 109 of Fractured
And Raja must have needed some time off, too, because she jumped to her feet first. “There’s food in my bag over there.” She pointed deeper into the cave, to the other side of the entrance where she’d been sitting, and where her cloak was folded on the floor. “I’m going to guard the entrance.”
Putting her unsheathed sword over her shoulder, she walked away with her chin raised, like she was defying us to stop her.
Vair stood up, too. “I think I need to take a walk. I trust you will think about it, Nilah. Will you?”
If only I could stop it… “I will,” I told him. “Don’t go far.”
I wasn’t entirely sure if it could be considered a smile, but his expression changed a bit. “I’ll be all right.”
thirty-one
My heart pounded.
Rune still held me by the hand, and we were a good five feet away from the edge, but I could still feel the water spraying me on the way down, even though we stood in front of the thinnest stream.
For a moment there, I thought I might be in one of those sci-fi movies, looking at outer space from the windows of a spaceship.
Except this was not a spaceship—this was a flat world full of magic, and there was no glass to shield me from the darkness, the stars twinkling in the distance, the water that poured from somewhere above our heads.
“Holy shit, Rune,” I breathed, bothterrifiedat what I was seeing here, and madly curious to see more. I stepped closer, only a little bit, and the water that sprayed me as it fell gave me courage. The rocks underneath our feet were dark and big and sturdy—they werenotgoing to let us go. We were not going to fall into the abyss below Verenthia.
“It’s quite something,” Rune said, slowly nudging me to move even closer, that half smile on his face that I’d missedso much. The stubblereallydid look good on him. Gave him a rougher look. Dirtier.Sexy as hell.
“How is this even possible? How far below the sea are we? How much farther does Verenthia even go?” Because I wasnotgoing to get close enough to be able to see below.No, thank you.I’d rather have my sanity intact for a bit longer.
“Not far, actually. These mining sites were made centuries ago. They dug into the biggest rocks underwater and used a lot of magic to create access to these caves. As far as I know there are close to a hundred, but only about twenty of them are able to be mined,” Rune explained.
“Why? It’s obvious they tried here—look at all those discarded tools.” I looked back at the abandoned carriage for a moment. “Why did they leave?”
“Because they’re too big,” Rune said, stomping his foot onto the ground—and we were indeed standing on a vein of black crystals going through the stone that shimmered like it had glitter underneath its surface. “Because it’s impossible to break them to smaller pieces without heavy machinery and serious magic—both of which could collapse the walls or cave the floor.”
“Fuck, Rune, fuck!” The idea that it was even possible to cave the floor of this place…
“Hey, look at me. It’s impossible to do withouta lotof heavy force and magic. We’re not going anywhere. This cave has been here for at least three centuries.”
Three centuries.That was three hundred years.
“Breathe, wilding. We’re not going anywhere,” Rune repeated, stepping in front of me, taking my face in his hands. His eyes were wide, clear, bluer and brighter than what was beyond the water pouring relentlessly behind him.
“Maybe we should try to break one ourselves, just a small piece, for when this is over and we make our way back to the Neutral Lands. We could pay Miriam the noxin a visit. This is what she asked for, right?”
“I’ve already sent Miriam a dark diamond,” Rune said.
I turned to look at him. “You have? When?”
“Just before we left the Seelie Court. My messenger confirmed that she received it,” he simply said.
My God, this man. “You’re amazing, you know that?” I was in awe of him.
“Mhmm,” he breathed against my hair.
I closed my eyes and leaned back against his chest. I really did adore him—and I was so glad that Miriam was going to be okay, too. She’s been so sweet, had helped us so much when we most needed it.
But just the thought of everything I’ve gone through to come here, and everything I still had to go through to get out…
“This is getting to be a lot,” I whispered, holding onto his wrists as I closed my eyes.
And he knew exactly what to do to make it a little less—he moved closer and pressed those soft lips everywhere on my face. Cheeks and eyes and forehead and lips—I didn’t even breathe while he warmed every inch of me with his kisses. They really were life.
