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Time slowed as I prayed for someone to wake and walk by. But chances were everyone would be in the command center wishing JayJay well. Exactly where I should have been.
I needed to tell JayJay not to be a hero. That if the beasts woke, he needed to get the fuck out. That there would be other opportunities. That he needed to come back to me.
Just when I thought the hair might rip free from my scalp, Devile dragged me inside a narrow slot. We’d traveled to the far reaches of the cave, but I’d never noticed this hiding spot before.
The pock-marked volcanic walls resembled a black glass sponge. Shards splintered free when Devile shoved the heel of his hand between my shoulder blades, throwing me into the wall and forcing me to kneel. He tore the tape from my mouth in one searing jerk.
“Take it easy, would yah?” I rubbed my mouth against my shoulder, then leveled a glare at him that bounced straight back off his hard eyes.
I’d been working on a set of clothes that matched the armor I’d made JayJay, and I’d chosen to wear them today in a show of solidarity. The thick leather protected my knees from the jagged ground below.
“Inmate 141 has always thought too highly of himself.”
Saliva dotted my chin where his disgusted words landed. I nudged the taint away, wiping my chin on my arm, and a full-body shudder rolled through me.
He softened his voice and smoothed the front of his buttoned tunic as he paced in circles. An unusual design angled from highon his collar down past his hips. In the dim light, his matte gray skin was lusterless. Even before JayJay’s skin shimmered, it had never had the dull cast Devile’s did.
“On Yagras, I’m well respected. My dwelling is located atop the Black Rocks of Nara and looks over the Great Water.” He puffed up like a rooster. “With my true mate’s bond, you’ll be the envy of Rock Dwellers far and wide. Anything you desire…”
Well respected? Or power hungry and resented? It takes more than a house, you asshole!
“What I desire,” I hissed, hoping to nail him in the chin with spit, “is JayJay, you delusional idiot. I already have a mate bond.”
With clenched fists, he snarled, “What do you think happens when two males face five hellsna…” His short neck arched, and he laughed and kept laughing until I prayed the cavern would collapse on top of him.
My pulse raced, and my breaths grew shallow. Believing JayJay had been set up and having it confirmed were two very different things. JayJay needed help.
“What do you want from me? I can’t be your mate if I’m already JayJay’s.” If I could keep this clown barking like a hyena, surely I could figure my way out of this mess. Sisip needed to know this backstabbing piece of shit had set JayJay up.
“JayJay didn’t tell you?”
“Hetoldme you set him up for a crime he didn’t commit.”
His grin slipped. The next moment, he lurched forward, and his three fingers gripped my throat until his bald head blurred into two and then three.
“Careful with your words, fragile little mate.”
He released me. The sudden movement wrenched my shoulders and shot a spike of pain through my bound wrists. I gulped down a greedy breath, and my vision cleared. “I’m not your mate.”
“But you will be.” His lecherous smile soured my stomach. “When JayJay dies, you’ll go mad unless another Rock Dweller claims you. You’ll crave the mate bond. I’d even settle for a life companion’s connection. I’m your best option.” He paced back and forth in the narrow space, no longer talking to me.
Hours later, when I’d shifted to sitting after my knees had gone numb, he was still droning on.
“I’ll make history.” An ear-to-ear grin spread across his dry, cracked lips while his voice rose. “Forevermore, with your linnea arm bands, I’ll be known as the Rock Dweller who restored the true mate bond to the people of Yagras, lost for centuries. I’ll show them the way. My legacy awaits me…”
I had no idea if what he said was true. Surely JayJay would’ve mentioned something like that. Unless…he didn’t know.
While Devile envisioned his twisted future, something nudged my butt cheek. I shifted to the side and squinted. Nothing… But nothing turned into the slight weight of…two distinct paws? A flash of fiber-optic color burst from the spot. Devile, too distracted by the commemorative speech he was outlining, took no notice of our clever guest. Nebula. She dropped her camouflage, and my eyes tracked the direction her silky chin pointed.
Bright little thing.
Nebula eyed the domed ceiling. Above us, a gap connected to the next chamber. The same one JayJay had investigated when we’d hit a dead end while exploring our first day together.
My heart jumped, and I forced the wide smile on my lips back into a flat line. JayJay and another large Rock Dweller scaled the gap. Tuga.
Through blurry eyes, I watched them descend in silence for a second, careful footfall by careful footfall.
He’s alive!
