Page 48 of The First Trial
‘Yes,’ he said, and I sagged in relief. The last thing I wanted was for this connection between us to break. ‘I can understand you, my soul flame. What is going on?’
I explained to him how I’d spoken with Evander before, but now something had changed. He hummed thoughtfully but relaxed a little more when Evander returned to his people on the other side of the tunnel. There wasn’t much space separating us, but the clear divide eased some of my worries.
And then it hit me.
‘Oh, shit. Phenex, I think that’s it!’ I exclaimed, gripping onto him excitedly and bouncing on my toes.
He smiled down at me with a bemused expression, allowing my excess of energy with a fondness that made me blush. ‘What did you just figure out, my soul flame?’
‘TheUnityTrials, Phenex. I totally have a theory!’
He grabbed my hand that was lighting up the tunnel to keep it steady, and I stilled, though my body vibrated with the need to move at the connection I’d just made, and I used my other hand to gesture to the space between us and the Fae. It wasn’t just a physical distance, but a metaphorical one, too.
‘Think about it. When did we start to understand one another?’
His eyes darkened with a fierce possessiveness. ‘After we kissed.’
It took me a moment to realise he thought I’d kissed Evander, and I shook my head rapidly. ‘No, not kissed. I didn’t kiss him, I promise.’
He relaxed at the reassurance, but then squinted his eyes as the cogs started turning in his mind. When he gasped, I knewhe’d made the same connection I had. ‘When we accepted each other. We didn’t care about our race, just each other.’
I smacked his arm repeatedly, my excitement getting the better of me again. ‘Exactly! Which is why Evander and I can’t understand each other anymore. He chose to turn his back on us and walked away, which must have broken the connection we’d just made.’
‘I can understand you,’ a light, feminine voice called out, and the woman from yesterday who had made a deal with Phenex stepped forward. She flinched away from the scathing looks her people sent her, but she scampered to us in spite of them, even if her head remained lowered in submission. She was either incredibly shy and hated the attention, or she was afraid of them. Or perhaps it was a combination of both, if the timid way she stood before us was any indication.
She took a shaky breath in and forced herself to make eye contact with me, revealing a steady fire burning deep. ‘I can understand you both.’
‘You’re the one that helped us,’ Phenex stated, scrutinising her and the Fae’s reaction to her stepping out of their formation.
‘Yes,’ she confirmed. ‘I am Elvina.’ Her voice was steadier now that she knew we wouldn’t condemn her for daring to speak and approach us. If that was how the Fae treated their women, I was going to ignore my theory and leave them here to rot.
My glare found Evander’s, and he glared back even harder. After saving their lives, I would have thought they’d have been friendlier than this, but you couldn’t win everyone over, apparently.
‘You are figuring it out where others are failing, and you are strong,’ she told me. ‘I would like to come with you.’
A series of shocked gasps resounded throughout the tunnel, including my own. Surely her people wouldn’t take kindly to her deserting them for someone they clearly didn’t see as an equal?Although, it was clear that they didn’t see her as one either, so I supposed that wasn’t the biggest issue here.
‘Oh, uh… sure?’ I tentatively agreed, looking to Phenex for his opinion. He merely shrugged and moved Elvina to join me behind his protective stance, claiming her as ours in front of them all.
Outraged mutterings sounded from the Fae, and I knew Elvina’s choice was going to send ripples of doubt throughout their numbers, among a variety of other emotions.
We waited to see what action they would take, but Evander barked out something that sounded like orders, and they strode off down the tunnel back the way they’d come as they were being chased by those… whatever they were. I still hadn’t seen them yet, or what was left of them, but they were likely the predators that I had deduced lived within this maze of tunnels.
Their mass exodus halted, however, when they came upon the slain beasts that were still blocking the way. A disgusting squelching noise echoed back to us, followed by a groan, and I wrinkled my nose. Someone must have stepped in the gore.
I felt Elvina shudder beside me and sent her an apologetic smile. She caught onto my silent meaning and groaned. ‘We have to go that way, too.’
‘Yup,’ I said, inserting some chipperness into my tone to try to lighten the mood. I didn’t really work, but neither of my companions complained.
On a positive note, we didn’t have to do any of the work clearing the tunnel to get through. We stood back and waited for the Fae to push the dead things to the sides, then followed at a distance when they moved on. It was dark enough that I couldn’t see all the details of the dead creatures, but I did catch sight of a stray claw or two, an upturned piece of thick, leathery skin, and a severed leg with a bone protruding from multiple places. I did my best not to look at the rest by keeping my gaze fixed on theFae’s backs, but those parts I did see were going to haunt me for quite some time. They were so mangled, I couldn’t even tell what the beasts were supposed to have been.
A few of the Fae that took up the rear kept sending nasty glares at us over their shoulders that caused Elvina to wince and duck her head, so I took her hand in mine and squeezed reassuringly. She didn’t respond, but she didn’t shake me off either, so I took that as a win.
‘Where to?’ Phenex asked me in his deep, rumbly voice. Shivers skittered down my spine, his effect on me instantaneous and involuntary but very,verywelcome.
Stop it, I berated my vagina.
‘Junie?’Oz’s voice popped into my head, faint but audible, and I tripped over nothing.
