Page 42 of The Breeding Cave

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

YEOSIN

“Luciano,” I whispered, trailing behind his quickened pace and seizing his elbow.

Brent was a few paces back in the woods, on the lookout for anything or anyone following us.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“You either come with me or I bring you to the mountain.”

My stomach twisted into knots, and I clamped my mouth closed. I didn’t want to go to the mountain with the others. I didn’t know them, and something deep inside me was yearning for Luciano, now more than ever.

“Do you trust them?” I asked.

Apparently, we were heading to meet with the Colossals because Luciano planned to break their pact. We had talked about it all morning—or more like he and Brent had talked about it while I tried to chime in.

Luciano grunted, “No, I never did.”

It had to just be my imagination playing tricks on me, making it seem like the Colossals were a threat because that girl wanted my man. Luciano had made a deal with them only because he thought he needed them to win the war.

Now he was planning on breaking that agreement because of these stupid dreams.

After all, that Colossal had saved me … after letting Alpha Alf approach me.

I glanced over my shoulder, noticing that the trees were becoming further away from each other and large footprints were imprinted into the thick mud underneath our feet. I swallowed hard and found Brent grimacing at them.

When he made eye contact with me, I turned away from him. “You and Brent should talk this out more. If you think that they are the only way that you—that we —can win the war, then we should turn back now and keep the pact.”

“We already agreed,” Luciano said. “We don’t need them.”

“Don’t you think we should have a plan before making any rash decisions?”

He clenched his jaw. “This isn’t a rash decision. The Colossals threatened you more than once in your dreams, and they knocked Brent out in the woods so they could get you alone in the cave. I don’t trust them.”

Almost instinctively, I placed a hand on my stomach. I didn’t have a bump yet, but I knew there was a baby growing inside me. I didn’t know what the right choice was anymore. Honestly, I never did. But I had to think more than just about myself now.

I made a vow to have his baby before I died, and I wasn’t going to break that.

Suddenly, bile rose in my throat, and I dropped Luciano’s elbow and stopped in the forest. Luciano paused and glanced back at me. I stumbled back a bit, finding the nearest tree to support myself, my head swaying.

After hurling up the breakfast we had made at the cave, I wiped my lips. Hell, this is going to be a long pregnancy. Would this happen every morning and into the early afternoons? Were beast babies the same as human babies with the pregnancy term and symptoms?

Mom had always avoided conversation about her pregnancy whenever I asked, so I wasn’t sure if the women in my family had a rough time or not. Already, after experiencing the first day, it definitely wasn’t going to be all sunshine, like I’d imagined.

“Are you okay?” Luciano asked.

“Yes,” I said, letting go of the tree to continue walking.

But as I moved ahead, the dizziness clouded my vision again. The trees wobbled in front of me, and I squeezed my eyes shut so the sudden sensation of hurling would pass quickly again. I really didn’t want to burn the back of my throat for the second time today.

“Yeosin,” Luciano said.

When I looked his way, all I saw was a blurry outline of his body. Behind him, deep in the forest, was a spark, a flame, moving toward us. As the object approached, the fire seemed to disappear, and a monster stood behind Luciano.

Though he wasn’t a threat like the Colossal had seemed yesterday.

Standing at the same height as Luciano, the monster had large wings and eyes as golden as the sun. Luciano and Brent hadn’t noticed him yet.

“Turn back now, Yeosin,” the monster said, his voice so familiar.

“Yeosin,” Brent shouted.

The monster moved closer. “You’re in danger with the beasts.”

“No, I’m not,” I said. “I’m in more danger alone.”

“Yeosin,” Luciano said, placing his hands on my shoulders and snapping me back to reality for a split second.

Then the dizziness came back, and the man with wings returned behind Luciano.

“Luciano doesn’t know your true power,” he said. “He can’t protect you from what’s to come.”

“What’s to come?” I asked. “My nightmares?”

“Some of them, yes.”

“Fire will rain down upon us,” I whispered, my chest tightening and nerves nipping at my stomach. I stared ahead at him, his outline becoming more visible, the longer he stayed in place. I knew this man from somewhere. “Do you work with the Dragon Clan?”

“No.”

“Then who are you?”

“I can’t tell you,” he said. “Not now. You’re not ready.”

I pulled myself out of Luciano’s hold and stepped closer to the monster. “I am ready.”

“No, Yeosin. You’re not ready until every part of you burns alive.”

When he started to walk away, his body still turned in my direction, I followed after him. Luciano grabbed my wrist to hold me back, and I stopped because I realized that I was running after a delusion.

This might not even be real.

“What can you tell me?” I asked.

“I can tell you that I’m your kind,” he said. Then his body turned into flames, and he disappeared into them.