Page 68 of The Demons in the Deep: Extended Edition
A tiny scrape of leather on stone, and Mai's instincts shrieked at her. She sprang aside before she could even think.
Boots crashed to the ground where she’d been a second ago. She didn’t stop moving, didn’t glance back—just slid into the tight crevice, her escape route. Scooted along it until she was out of arm’s reach, and only then did she pause and look back.
Feral’s enormous body filled the entrance to the crack, only a slice of him visible. Mai nearly sobbed her relief, because he was far too large to squeeze in after her.
“Little scientist.” His deep voice rolled through the crevice. “Clever, clever woman. I do believe you’ve murdered a few of my people.”
“They didn’t watch their step,” she retorted, breathless.
“If you come out here now, I vow we’ll be gentle with you,” he said. “But if you insist on being troublesome, I can’t promise I won’t lose my temper.”
Mai’s palms pressed against the damp rock. Sweat trickled along the back of her neck.
Feral smiled, the scarred part of his mouth twisting wickedly.
He stretched a long, sinewy arm through the crack, and even though she was out of reach, she scooted farther from him.
“I can flush you out, little bird,” he growled. “You won’t like it. Come to me, now.”
“You’re not my captain. I don’t take orders from you.”
“Yet you accept information. You take my gift and use it to access the educational wealth of our city.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to obey you. I’d like to see you get me out of here.” Secure between her walls of rock, she smirked at him.
“Oh, I will, love,” he said. “Sooner than you think.”
His tall form disappeared from the opening.
Mai waited, wondering if she should retreat to the cave-like recess where the pods grew. But what if she took a hasty step and broke one open? She’d discarded her damp face-wrap earlier, and she didn’t have the waterskin with her. She could not fashion another protective covering.
More scraping of boots on rocks, terrifyingly close, rising higher and higher.
Feral was climbing the rocks. He was going to peer down at her from above. She couldn’t see how that would help him dislodge her, though.
Another face appeared in the entrance to her crevice—one of the other hunters. The man tried to wedge himself in, but quickly backed out. “Too tight,” he muttered to someone else, who peeked in briefly at Mai before calling, “What’s your orders, Captain?”
“I’ll have her out in a moment,” replied Feral from somewhere above. “Get ready to grab her.”
Mai glanced up just as a circle of rope descended into the crack, whip-fast and deadly.
The noose hissed through the air, catching her around the throat and tightening instantly. Mai had time for half a breath before her windpipe was constricted.
“Move along, there’s a good girl,” said Feral coolly, and he tugged on the noose.
Mai gagged, her jaws popping open automatically as her body strained for air.
She didn’t have a choice. She had to move along the crack, toward the waiting arms of Feral’s men, led by the neck like a dog.
As she craned her head backward, desperate for a little relief, she saw Feral high above, walking astride the crevice. He’d outwitted her, and that made her savagely, murderously angry.
The moment she was out of the crack, the hunters’ hands closed on her arms. One of them loosened the noose a little so she could breathe again.
“By thunder, they’re still alive!” gasped one of the hunters. “Look!”
He pointed to the two men who’d stepped on the poison pods first. They were moaning, struggling to rise.
Mai felt the rope go slack, even as the sailors’ grip on her arms eased slightly. Feral and the others were distracted.
