Page 41 of Of Nightmares & Fire (Elusive Umbra #1)

Chapter thirty-two

Astraea

My heart feels as though it is going to escape from its cage in my chest and run away from me.

Its pounding is probably heard by both Kyros at my back and Kellan, where he rides in front of us.

As we breach the entrance to the passage, my eyes round.

The opening is much larger than I anticipated.

Kellan was right when he said a carriage would fit through.

It’s big enough for a whole platoon. The ground and walls consist of the same firm soil, though loose sand still piles along the edges.

I can't help but lick my lips nervously as I look down the long tunnel, which appears to be leading to nothing. What I can see, though, is every few feet there’s a wooden arch acting as a support to the heavy earth, and the further we get from the entrance, the darker it’s becoming.

The feeling of being eaten whole by the darkness only reminds me of my nightmares and does nothing to help calm my nerves.

We ride in silence for what seems like forever, but no matter how much time has passed, I have yet to get myself to calm.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to get myself to sink back into Kyros.

As hard as I try to relax my muscles, it’s been futile thus far.

My mind continues to spin with everything that has happened.

Everything that has yet to happen. My thoughts snag on a detail I had not yet thought of.

With a gasp, I shoot upright, giving everyone, including the horses, a startle.

“Cole! No, no, no. Kyros, we have to go back. We can’t leave her!

” I nearly jump from the horse’s back as I shout the words.

He pulls back on the reins, and the horse slows as he curses and holds onto me.

The horse Kellan is on whines as it too is pulled to a halt, and sand dust fills the air around us, making it even harder to breathe.

“Shhh, she’s ok.” Kyros says quietly and continues to pull me back against him.

“Is everything ok? I can’t see anything.” Kellan calls out.

“Everything is fine. Trust Eidola to guide you through the tunnel.” Kyros responds. It's silent for a moment, only my pounding heart taking up cadence in my ears .

“Princess Astraea?” Kellan says my name in question, snapping me back into the present and not taking Kyros’ word for truth on my safety.

“I’m ok, Kellan. Just worried about Colette.”

“You’re sure?” He asks, and a small smile forms at my mouth, even if the concern I feel is ever etched into my forehead. I’m glad to have him as a friend.

“I’m sure.” I say, and Kyros untangles his hand from mine, only to splay his fingers wide on my stomach, sliding up and pinning me even closer to him.

The caress sends warmth from where he touches and through every nerve ending in my body.

When the horses begin walking again, Kyros leans down, brushing my loose hair across my back and over one shoulder.

“You trust me so easily?” His breath tickles the shell of my ear, sending chills all over my skin, even if the air around us is stifling. His fingers dance along the thin fabric at my ribs, and it causes my chest to rise as my back arches, pressing into his touch without thought.

“Should I not?” I ask with a low, shaky voice.

“Mm,” Kyros responds before his lips touch the skin just in front of my ear, and he whispers, “I think I like that you do.” His grip on me tightens again, this time his hand rising a bit further.

His hold is like the tightening coil of a snake around my body, but not constricting in a bad way.

More like a brace keeping me steady, an external support for my dwindling inner resilience.

If anything, I want more. His thumb scores a line at the underside of my breast, and I lean back into him, resting my head on his shoulder.

Even as I want more, my mind still can’t seem to ease the worry I carry.

“Promise me. She’s ok.” I say, turning my head just enough, I know if there were light, I would be able to see his face.

“Mavros has her. He will be meeting us. I assure you there could be no safer place for her.” His fingers move lightly back and forth on my ribs, and as relief courses through me with his words, I feel myself also breathing a little heavier.

My eyes roll to the back of my head while my forehead rests on the crook of Kyros’ neck.

“I can’t lose her. I don’t have anyone else.

” I say sleepily, the adrenaline high from the Thunderbird attack and getting away with Kellan, then Kyros, and my worry have my eyes growing heavy as I finally accept where I am and that Cole is safe.

Kyros’ hand leaves my ribs and instead wraps around my throat, delicately trailing up to the side of my face, pressing my head further into him.

On the brink of sleep, he whispers into my hair so quietly I almost believe it to be the start of a dream.

“You have more than you realize. Sleep, Shula.”

Stretching my arms out above my head, I arch my back and groan with the tightness of my body.

Each muscle riddled with tension, like I slept on a rock.

Opening my eyes, everything that has happened comes rushing back, but that’s also when I realize I’m no longer resting in Kyros’ embrace.

Instead, I find myself now sprawled out on the hard floor of what appears to be some sort of desert catacomb.

Survival instinct kicking in, I jolt upright.

My gaze is met with a calm set of deep onyx eyes. They rake over my body, and when they trail back to meet mine, my lips part. Something about that look in Kyros’ stare. The pained downward pull of his dark arched brows and the subtle purse to his full lips.

“We stopped.” I say, obviously.

“We did.” He responds with a just as obvious answer.

No change in his face. My nervousness augments as he keeps the unrelenting intensity in his eyes.

I swallow and try to ignore the heat that gaze sends to my core and try to focus on my surroundings.

The deep amber sandstone caves with rippling waves across the surface were formed from hundreds of years, if not more, of windstorms through the area.

The dark, man-made tunnel, rigid and purposeful, lacks any beauty.

It is within sight, though, to my right.

The wooden arch leads to the passage we took from the palace.

Like a wound to the splendor of this divinely made cave.

Tipping my head up to look through one of the holes of erosion in the sandstone roof of the cave, I notice the golden glow of the sun. The heat blanketing me and the sheen of sweat coating my skin tells me that it's the end of the day. Nearly sunset.

“How long have we been stopped?” I finally ask.

“It's been only minutes.” He responds, and my eyes snap to his. Only minutes?

“We have been riding…” Brows furrowing, I look back up to the sun leaking into the cave. “All day? That would make the passage… ”

“We are nearly to the Dead Sea already. The horses needed a rest, and we needed to stretch. We will be leaving again as soon as your guard returns.” His head tips back, looking to the same spot I was, and I take the moment to watch him.

His deep caramel skin and his swirling tattoos seem to be crawling up his neck at this angle.

The sand peppers his forearms, presumably from when he laid me down.

A bead of sweat rolls down from his forehead into the dusting of hair along his jaw, and I swallow.

That same heat growing inside me is making it hard to sit still.

“Shula? You’re panting.” He says without looking back at me. My jaw drops further, and I gawk at him.

“I am doing no such thing.” I stand, brushing sand from my skirt and then from my arms. The grit almost painfully sloughs off the top layer of my skin with each brush.

It’s enough pain to distract me from the more dirty thoughts I was conjuring up at the sight of him.

“Where is Kellan anyway?” I ask aggressively, pulling at the fabric at my midsection and trying to avoid looking at Kyros at all.

Pft. Panting? I most definitely was not panting.

“I must admit, you are cute when you're flustered.” Kyros says, now standing directly behind me.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I whirl around to smack him.

He catches my wrist, and taking two steps forward, he pushes me to walk.

I stumble backward until his body is towering over mine.

He pins my hand above my head. My breath catches when his other hand snakes behind me, slowly arching my back so our bodies are flush.

I stare into his black eyes, the pain that was once there replaced—if only momentarily—by heated lust. For me.

My chest rises and falls rapidly, and I stop breathing altogether when he bends down.

Dragging his nose along the column of my neck, he breathes me in, only releasing the breath when his mouth hovers over my ear, causing the heat from his lips to cascade over me like liquid fire igniting my blood.

“Are you thirsty, Shula?” He rumbles, his mouth still lingering so his lips brush my earlobe and cause gooseflesh to rise along my skin.

I can say nothing. All the moisture in my mouth dried up with the heat of his words.

His slight touches have left scorching burns across every nerve in my body.

“Breathe.” He demands, and I let the air from my lungs out shakily.

“Kellan?” I question moving to look past Kyros, and he removes his hand from my back. Using his large hand to cup my chin, he presses his fingertips into my neck firmly and brings my gaze back to his.