Page 62

He turned from her again, keeping the door to the elevator open. "I need you to go."

"So that's it, then?"

"Yes."

He both heard and felt her step closer to him, felt her close to his back. "Fine. But I'm coming back down."

"No, you aren't," he hissed.

"I will have Xilya take me down, then. I want to finish my work."

His hand tightened on the door. "You will not go down there without me."

"Well, according to you, I’m not safe with you, so how else am I supposed to finish my work?"

"By not coming down at all!" he snapped.

"So, I'm to be punished because you got mad thatyousupposedly hurt me? Even though I said I was fine?"

He tilted his head over his shoulder. "No, it's more than that."

"How so?"

Ryziel growled. "It doesn't matter."

"I don't believe you."

Ryziel looked away. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"Well, I have some clue based on what I just saw down below."

They were quiet for a long moment. He didn't move to force her into the car, but she didn't go willingly either.

"Ryziel, please." Her voice grew soft again. "I'm not afraid. I'm still here. I...I want to be with you."

His chest tightened. How those words should have brought him utter bliss. And on one half, they did. But on another, all he could think about was her marked skin and all the what-ifs.

No, she should stay away. And if she wouldn't do as he asked then...

Without warning, he felt her hand touch the middle of his lower back. His Drega lifted its head once more as fire licked his insides. With a sharp hiss, he swerved around, took hold of her, and backed her against the side of the elevator shaft.

"You think I want to be with you?" he said, his voice almost shaking. "You aren't even my own kind." He placed his hands to the side of her head and leaned in close. "You are beneath me." He watched her carefully, tilting his head slightly, his eyes drifting over her upturned, pale face. "I don't want you near me, human, do you get it? Whatever happened down there was a mistake. It meant nothing." His eyes met hers as his head tipped downward. "You mean nothing."

Before she could even respond, Ryziel straightened and turned away. He forced himself not to look back as he stalked away into the dark, leaving her.

Chapter Twenty-one

Aly cursed as the generator threw sparks at her, blinding her for one headache-inducing second. She blinked and wiped at her eyes then shot up and placed her back against the cave wall. The generator smoked and sputtered, but she didn't return to fixing it. She watched it instead then slowly slid to the ground, bringing her knees to her chest.

Eight days, a little more than a week, since she’d heard anything from down below. She had hoped Ryziel would come up on the second or third day to take her back, maybe even to apologize, but by the fifth day, as she waited for him on the twentieth floor and he did not show, that hope started to die. By the sixth day, she stopped going to the twentieth floor all together.

She told herself that she wasn't upset by his words. That he didn't mean them, not really. But no matter how much she tried to make herself believe it, her heart told her otherwise. The ache never disappeared, and the tightness and nausea never lessened. Her mind wandered through dark thoughts, lost.

She didn't hate him—she didn't think she ever could. But when she was at her lowest, she wished she had never met him on that bridge. Wished she had just stayed away and kept with her team; with her own kind, who were the only ones she had left. She should have listened when they told her to stay away from the others.

But then she told herself if she hadn't met Ryziel, she never would have seen the ship, and that was their one chance home. And that's what mattered.

He might not come for her or let her help now, but she didn't think Ryziel would be so heartless as to go back on his word. They would still have their spot because he wouldn't leave them here after everything. She had to believe that.