Page 111 of Trial of Thorns
I take a step back from the wall, and the words fade away just in time to hear very clear footsteps resounding behind me. I jump out of the center of the open cavern and press Caelynn against the wall, hands at her lips.
She sucks in a breath, but I’m distracted by the swirling dark smoke at our feet. I hear only silence, but Caelynn nods as if she got some kind of message. She shifts to the right, closer to the flat wall of riddles—bad idea. But I follow anyway, trusting.
“Do you think they’re here?” Brielle’s whisper echoes through the cavern as if she were only feet from us, and I wince, reminding myself not to make any noise because it carries in this place.
“I don’t know, don’t care. I want to get the challenge finished so we can focus on the hunt once it’s done.”
Caelynn’s back is pressed to the wall, shifting little by little, and I follow, palms burning against her hips.Don’t think about that now. Don’t think about that now.
I don’t see the crevice until Caelynn steps back into a nook between two slabs of stone. The gap is maybe two feet in width but angled away from the riddle wall.
The shadow sprites chatter, and I wince. Can Brielle and Drake hear it? Shadows twist around my feet and up over my shoulder, pushing. I hadn’t actually felt their strength before, more like the wisp of the wind, but they have a surprising force when they shove at my back, pushing me into the tight crevice with Caelynn. She grabs my shoulders, steadying as I slide in to face her, my back pressed tightly against the uneven stone, our chests just barely touching.
“Hi,” she whispers.
I shiver at the sound of her voice, her breath tingling over my neck. I close my eyes, my chest lifting and falling dramatically. I tilt my head toward the cavern, and she somehow reads my thoughts.
“The sprites can cover noise too.”
“Oh,” I whisper, still too paranoid to speak any louder. Caelynn swirls her finger over the black mist by her ear, and it clears, a dim light exposed and with it, dull sound.
“Welcome, Drake of the Whirling Court. You are the third to approach me.”The Sphynx’s voice carries through the cavern.
Well, thanks for that,I think to the Sphynx. Now, Drake and Brielle know we’ve been here and are very likely nearby.I shake my head.
“We may have to stay here overnight,” Caelynn says.
“Here?” I say, a smile on my lips, eyes dipping to our nearly touching bodies.
She rolls her eyes. “The caves. If they’re looking for us, we can just wait it out in a nook somewhere and let the sprites aid us.”
“Somewhere preferably more spacious.”
A blush creeps across her cheeks, and suddenly, I feel every place our bodies touch with sharp clarity. I gaze down at her. She takes her bottom lip between her teeth, her head falls back against the wall, eyes closed, her body tense beneath mine.
She wants me.
That thought has my brain spinning. My vision blurring. My body shifting.
She gasps and squirms, but with so little space, it only pushes her hips harder against me.
“Shit,” she says, gripping my forearms tightly in her fists.
Hands on either side of her head I weigh my options quickly. I could take her now—why not? She wants it. I want it. No one would ever know. No one would really care, not once she’s dead.Okay, that’s a bit of a morbid thought.
My point is, it’s not like it means anything. What’s wrong with indulging myself just once?
Besides, I really like the tortured expression on her face. She knows she shouldn’t want me, but she does. She knows it’ll only end badly, but she can’t help it.
I lick my lips, playing it out in my head, unconsciously pressing my body closer to hers. Damn she feels good. Our enemies are feet away. How long will the sprites stay here to shield us? It would be some seriously kinky—and dangerous—shit if we were to act on this attraction now. I shake my head.
Dammit, I want it. I want her. So badly it’s hard to think.
But I’ve already admitted to myself that the more time I spend with her, the harder it will be to do what I must. I’ve promised up and down that I’d end her.
If I kiss her, could I still hate her? Could I still stab her through the heart?
If I give in to this feeling, what’s to say I won’t give in to that stupid urge to protect her? My stomach aches, a heavy feeling that spreads all the way to my chest.
