Page 69 of Into the Abyss
“Why do you say that?”
“Because she’s the best leverage they haveover us.”
When I tilted my head back, I could only seethe pointed tip of Absenthees from where we stood amid the rockypathways. Another bolt hit the top, and a wash of life ran throughme.
I bowed my head against it and rubbed at myarms to try and clean my flesh, but it cleaved to me. Capturing myhands, Magnus halted them on my arms. It was the first time he’dtouched me since we left Nalki behind, and despite my annoyancewith him, electricity jolted me where we connected. I didn’t feelso gross ordirtywhen he touched me.
Unthinkingly, I stepped closer to feel moreof him. When he hugged me, the urge to cry hit me, and not justsmall tears, but great, heaping sobs for everything happeninghere.
Instead, I wrapped my arms around his backand clung to him. My fingers dug into his flesh until the urge toweep subsided. Unlike all the other times we touched, desire didn’tsurge to the forefront. Instead, just standing in his arms andholding him contented me.
Resting my cheek against the smooth flesh ofhis chest, I inhaled his scent as his powerful arms cradled mecloser and his head dropped to mine. His lips nuzzled my hair ashis hands ran over my back.
I didn’t know how much time passed, but whenhe reluctantly stepped away from me, I felt as cleansed by him as Ihad by the water.
“Are you okay to keep going?” he asked withhis hands resting on my arms.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Lifting my head, I met his gaze. Some fadingyellow bruises remained, but his face had mostly healed. “Iwillget through this,” I stated.
He released me and started to turn awaybefore spinning back and claiming my hand. “We’llgetthrough this.”
I blinked at his use of the wordwe,but I smiled at him before following him through the Abyss oncemore. Carefully, I stepped over the broken remains of a smallskeleton. There were numerous skeletons on top of the walls, but wehadn’t encountered many on the path. I didn’t know if whatevercreatures they belonged to hadn’t died down here, or if the yearsand many feet on the path had ground the other bones down here intodust.
“Wait,” I said and tugged on Magnus’s handto halt him.
Releasing him, I knelt beside the skeletonand gently grasped the edge of it. I lifted one of the bones, butit was attached to the rest of skeleton and brought forth morebones until it was unfurling before me.
“It’s a wing,” Magnus said as he kneltbeside me.
Keeping the wing in hand, I examined thebody and the small skull with a hooked beak. “It was a bird, Ithink.”
Lowering the wing, I was careful not todisturb the remains further.
“What was this place once like?” Ipondered.
“We’ll never know,” Magnus said.
Unfortunately, he was right. Wiping my handson the skirt of my now nearly brown dress, I stood and gazed at thewalls surrounding us. Afraid to attract the attention of the jinn,neither of us climbed to the top, but I was itching to scale thewalls and see what lay beyond.
“Come on,” Magnus said.
He was turning away from me when a womanwith hair the color of fire and red-hued skin rounded the cornerfifty feet away from us. She froze as her vivid green eyes burnedwith hatred.
“Bale,” Magnus breathed.
When she bared her teeth at us, she exposeda set of razor-sharp fangs before she charged at Magnus.“Youdid this!” she accused as she closed the distancebetween us far faster than I’d anticipated.
“Whoa!” Magnus cried and dodged the punchshe launched at him. “What the fuck, Bale?”
He threw up an arm and knocked aside Bale’swrist, deflecting the next downward arc of her punch. She spunaway, and her foot lashed out in a motion so fast it was nothingbut a blur. Magnus leapt back in time to avoid the kick to hischest, but then she twirled to the side and bashed her elbow intohis bruised cheek. His head snapped to the side as he grunted.
When she launched a punch at him again,Magnus jumped back and grasped her wrist. Pulling her arm back,Bale rammed her other fist straight into his face. His nose brokewith an audible crack.
“Bitch!” I cried, and before I could stopmyself, or consider my actions, I jumped forward and struck Bale inthe gut.
