Page 62 of Elex

“Down there,” I said.

I felt a strange sense of loss as he broke eye contact and turned his head toward the tunnel entrance, then another wave of dizziness hit me. I barely registered that he stood and moved to the tunnel entrance, disappearing below. He returned after a minute, without the snake, but by that point my vision was beginning to swim.

“Can you help him?” I managed to gasp out. “Don’t… don’t let him… die.”

He placed one hand over Vlakas’ chest, the other over the wound on his arm.

“You don’t do things by halves, do you, little Mageia?” he said, sighing. His face remained shadowed.

“Please…” I begged. I had sworn I’d never beg for anything again in my life, but I was willing to beg for Vlakas. “I’ll—I’ll do anything… Just… save…him….”

I barely even felt myself tumble forward across Vlakas’ body as the pain finally overwhelmed me and everything went dark.

???

I woke to the sound of a crackling fire, the smell of wood smoke in the air. I was laying on something soft and warm, and I snuggled against the pillow.

The pillow…chuckled.

My eyes flew open, and I scrambled up and away from one of the most beautiful men I’d ever seen.

His hair was shoulder length, waves of every shade of gold that begged to be touched. His hair covered half his face, but his eyes peered out between the locks. His eyes were a brilliant gray, almost silver, and I remembered the reflection of the moon in them. They sparkled with repressed mirth now as he watched my panicked movements, which just pissed me off.

His lips were full and kissable. Part of me felt the unmistakable urge to taste them, just to see if they were as velvety soft as they looked, the other part wanted to find out what alien had taken up residence in my brain to make me think like that.

My captor was leaning against the wall of what looked to be an upscale living room/kitchen combo. His long legs were stretched out toward a fire pit that burned in the middle of the room.

“Where are we? Who the fuck are you?” I demanded. I automatically pulled on my Air powers to create a shield. My head twinged in protest. I’d had enough rest to create a shield, at least. I glanced around the room quickly, checking for other attackers, but we seemed to be alone. Alone. Fuck. V!

“Easy, little Mageia,” he said, as if he knew I was panicking.

“Who you callinglittle, asshole? Where’s Vlakas?” I demanded angrily.

He cautiously got to his feet. He stood. And stood. And stood.Fuck! Was he some kind of giant, or what?

“Your friend is through there,” he gestured to an entrance partially covered with a tapestry. His voice was raspy and hoarse, like sandpaper. I began circling cautiously to move my back toward the tunnel he had indicated. I knew better than to turn my back on an enemy.

As I got my bearings, I realized he wasn’t as tall as he’d seemed. He was maybe six-two. A little taller than Vlakas, then. He stood in the cave, a pair of black cargo pants hugging his huge thighs, a tight long-sleeved shirt hugging his muscles as he moved.

Part of me cataloged every gorgeous, tanned inch of visible skin on him. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His shirt was tucked into his pants, which were nice and tight and…Nope. Nope. Not gonna go there, I thought as I stubbornly forced my eyes back to his face.

“Don’t like what you see?” he asked, his voice rough with repressed anger.

Apparently, I hadn’t been subtle in my perusal of his body.

“Asshole,” I muttered, feeling myself flush.

“Oh, you like assholes? Good to know,” he replied, shrugging on a jacket that had been folded next to us.

“Laugh it up, fuzzball,” I growled sharply. “I want to see my friend.”

He looked at me, his eyes narrowing.

“Your ‘friend’, eh? Vlakas, I think you called him? Rude name,” he growled. “He’s sleeping off the effects of the neurotoxin.”

“He’s— he’s alive?” I demanded, half afraid of the answer.

He just nodded at me.