Page 71 of Sinful Curses
While pulling the candle from her pack, that thing scraped above them again, and an awful, skittering noise followed. The hair on her nape rose like something was watching her, but if she looked up, nothing would be there.
Sahira steadied her hand as she handed him the candle before removing the flint from her pack. Orin held the candle while she used the flint to light it.
His crow-colored eyes met hers in the glow of the small, dancing flame. Inside, she was a bundle of nerves, but something about his cool, steady gaze calmed her.
His fingers briefly found hers and squeezed before he released her and stepped away. Her eyebrows rose over this display of comfort fromOrin.
What astounded her more was that after their fight in the bathroom, she welcomed it. He was an asshole, but he washerasshole… sort of.
When he turned away, she almost grabbed his arm to hold him back. She didn’t want to lose sight of him again, but like with the geysers, their only choice was to continue.
A new scratching sound came from above while another one came from ahead. Sweat broke out on her brow as she realized something had joined whatever was following them this whole time.
She glanced back at Elsa’s pale face. There had been a moment when it looked like Elsa might crack and lose it, but she’d recovered since then. However, she looked as unnerved by this as Sahira felt.
Elsa would keep it together out here; she just hoped they both survived as she rounded a corner and her friend disappeared.
CHAPTERSIXTY-ONE
Orin’s teethgrated together as the scraping from above grew louder. For a while, he thought the thing might be trying to keep its presence hidden from them and failing, but now that it had a friend, it didn’t bother.
The two creatures were either trying to unnerve them, stupid, or convinced they’d win this. He didn’t once entertain the notion they might not be seeking to kill them; everything in this realm was lethal.
And these things would soon learnhewas far more lethal than them. He was tired of all the shit in this forsaken realm, and if that hourglass was any indication, the next town was their last.
Nothingwould stop him from getting there.
The shadows dancing across the walls beckoned to him. He could easily slip into them, cloak himself, and continue without the others.
Whatever hunted them wouldn’t know he was there. It was an intriguing concept, and he might have entertained it more if it wasn’t for one thing… he wouldn’t leave Sahira behind.
He could cocoon her in shadows too; he’d done it before, but with everyone spaced apart by the twisting turns of this forsaken passageway, he couldn’t cloak them all. Plus, the candle didn’t create enough shadows for that.
Besides, Sahira would never leave them behind, even if it meant saving her ass. And Pip, whose fingers dug into his skin as she rode on his shoulder and tensed at every sound, probably wouldn’t be happy about leaving Loth behind. He could take Fath with them as he was settled on Sahira’s shoulder.
If push came to shove, he’d cloak himself and Sahira and leave the others behind. Fuck them and her opinion on it.
The candle’s glow barely illuminated more than a couple of feet in front of him. Normally, he preferred the dark; it was where his kind thrived.
He didn’t like it now. There was too much it could hide in this twisty passage.
Something crunched beneath his foot. When Orin stopped to discover what it was, Sahira rounded the corner and walked into him.
Her body bumped his forward a step, and something else crunched beneath his boot. The others hadn’t realized he’d stopped either and jostled him twice more before they settled into place.
“What’s going on?” Zeth demanded.
“There’s something here,” Orin answered.
Bending, Pip shifted on him as he lowered the candle. Orin frowned at the dried-out remains beneath his foot.
The thing was an emaciated, dried-out husk with purplish-gray skin. It was in such bad shape he couldn’t tell what it was, but with its snout and paws, it looked like some animal.
Leaning down to peer over his shoulder, Sahira made a sound of disgust. “Let’s go.”
Orin waited until she moved back before rising and starting forward again. He heard her saying to the others, “There’s something dead up here; watch where you’re walking.”
Despite her warning, another crunch filled the air when someone else stepped on the remains. Orin traveled another fifty feet before something else snapped beneath his foot.
