Page 62 of Outcast Fae
I shrugged and crossed my arms, unwilling to help him anymore.
“C’mon, Tally. Don’t you want to win?” he asked.
“Do you really think they’re going to let us inside the dome? There’s no way they’ll just usher us in..”
“Who knows, Tally? But not winning isn’t going to get us anything. Don’t you want to help your friends?”
“That’s if they’re even in there,” I argued, though it was just to be contrary. Something deep in my heart told me the children were, indeed, inside the dome, and they needed me.
Vaughn huffed. “Maybe they are and maybe they aren’t. But are you willing to take a risk? If you are, I guess they don’t mean that much to you. You’d better make up your mind, the others will be here soon.”
He turned away from me and faced the pit, his eyes roving all around as he tried to figure out a way to the crate.
I simmered in anger. The children meant the world to me, and it seemed Vaughn had figured that out. I had no other choice but to help him.
I approached, swallowing my pride and fury. “I could fly to the crate, see what’s inside.”
Vaughn didn’t glance back, but he smiled in satisfaction. It seemed he loved to win. Typical male. “I doubt you’ll be able to, but it’s something to try.”
I jumped up and flew upward in a straight line. When I was parallel with the box, I leaned toward it but ran into a barrier as soon as I reached the edge of the pit. My skull reverberated off the invisible wall with a mightythunk. I returned to the ground, rubbing my sore head. There would be no flying over the pit. That would have been too easy.
“What now?” I asked.
Vaughn walked toward the corner of the pit where the thick rope was nailed firmly to the ground. He squatted and tried to pull on the rope. It didn’t budge. It was as immovable as a boulder.
“There is no slack,” Vaughn said, “which means we wouldn’t be able to lower the crate if we got the rope free.”
It was true. There was barely a foot of slack from the point where the stake pinned the rope.
“I guess that means we have to cut it,” I said. “But how? It’s so thick.”
“There is one way.” He rose to his feet and started unbuttoning his shirt. His bronze skin shone under the torchlight. He discarded the shirt to the ground, then proceeded to unbutton his pants.
What?! Was he going to shift? I averted my eyes while my heart pattered inside my chest. Images of his naked body flashed before my eyes. By now, I knew well how he looked without his clothes on, and I didn’t like the sensations that rose in me when I thought of his slick, well-proportioned muscles and hisotherattributes. The desire I had managed to tamp down rose back up, flaming my cheeks.
But I couldn’t afford the feelings that fluttered in my chest. Vaughn was dangerous, and those feelings were even worse.
There was a certain change in the air, and I knew he had shifted. When I faced him, I was reminded of his size, much more than a regular wolf. I met his intense green eyes. They were the same as always. I would recognize them anywhere. They seemed to talk to me, somehow, compelling me to trust him.
Suddenly, I got the strange urge to reach out and feel his fur, to rake my fingers into the thick, light brown coat at his neck and chest. A yearning to touch him shivered over my skin. I swallowed thickly and adjusted my shirt.
Turning away from me, Vaughn approached the rope and started gnawing on it with his huge sharp teeth. It took him under a minute to rip through the fibers and reach the center of the rope. When the crate hung by a thread, he glanced up at me as if requesting my approval. I nodded. Letting the crate drop into the pit was the only viable option. Sinasre and Chan were nearly here. I could see them finishing up the last bit of the log challenge. We had to hurry.
He bit at the rope one more time, snapping the last thread. The crate dropped, the thick rope lashing behind it. The box disintegrated as soon as it hit the electrical lattice, giving us a good example of what would happen if either of us fell into the pit, but revealing nothing else.
“Gòrak!” I cursed. “Nothing happened.” I glanced back over my shoulder at what turned out to be a naked Vaughn. I gasped and averted my eyes. “Hey, some warning, please.”
“No point in being shy anymore, I guess,” he said, his pants rustling as he quickly got them on. “You’ve seen it all.”
“That doesn’t mean I want to keep seeing it.”
“Your expression would suggest otherwise,” he said, amusement in his voice.
“Don’t flatter yourself,human.” He liked to use “fae” as an insult. I could do the same.
I met his gaze, lifting my chin and shaping my expression with as much contempt as I could muster. Something like disappointment materialized on his face as if he’d liked the idea ofmebeing attracted tohim. Surely, he didn’t care. It was only his male ego getting bruised.
“So that didn’t do anything,” I pointed out again, returning my attention to the pit. Sinasre and Chan only had one more platform to clear.
