Page 14 of The Delver (The Vrix #2)

Excitement bubbled within Callie as she followed Ahgratar into the wide cave mouth, her pack bouncing against her back.

The atmosphere change was instantaneous.

The sounds from the jungle dulled, and the sunlight faded with each step, allowing darkness to close in all around.

Only the glowing crystals on the walls and the one in the orange thornskull’s raised hand lit the way.

Every few yards, crude lumber supports braced the walls and ceiling, reminiscent of the ribs of some huge beast.

She clutched the handle of the basket she was carrying. Anxiousness fluttered alongside excitement in her belly.

The moment she’d overheard Ahgratar announce he was bringing food to the delvers, Callie had pounced on the opportunity, offering to help carry the food.

Urkot was down here.

It wasn’t simply a chance to explore a cave, but to see him, to spend time with him. To witness Urkot in his element.

Callie tucked her hair behind her ear as she peered around the thornskull and looked down the eerily dark tunnel ahead.

She didn’t understand her nervousness at the prospect of seeing Urkot.

Only three days ago, she’d bathed naked next to him, had even spanked her own ass in front of him.

And during the festival yesterday, she’d danced with him, grinding not so subtly against his body.

His desire for her had been evident in the hard bulge behind his slit against her backside. And Callie had taken pleasure in it.

She had kissed him, had told him she liked him. She’d been anything but shy.

So why this timidity now?

Maybe it was because she was looking at Urkot in a different light. He wasn’t just her friend. He was…more. And more was new, thrilling, unknown. Even a little frightening.

What she was experiencing was the kind of giddiness someone felt around a crush. And God, she hadn’t felt anything like this since high school. But this felt like… more .

The ground sloped downward, and Callie touched the rocky wall for support, thankful for the treads of her boots despite how worn they’d become. While the floor was mostly flat and clear of hazards, she didn’t want to risk a slip.

The jungle sounds were long gone, replaced by the scrapes and taps of her escort’s legs on the cave floor and the gentle crunch of tiny stones under her feet.

Gone were the scents of vegetation and flowers and hot humid air, overtaken by the earthy smell of stone.

The air was cooler in here, the sensation pronounced by her blue crop top and skirt, which barely covered her ass.

Even when she wasn’t touching them, she could feel the walls around her. It felt like they were pressing steadily inward, shrinking the space between them. Some primal part of her brain recognized this place as a trap—she was stuck down here with nowhere to run, no room to move, to breathe, to?—

Take it easy, Callie. You’re fine.

Callie drew in a deep, calming breath. Urkot was down here somewhere. He did this every day, and he’d lived underground in Takarahl for most of his life. Everything was all right.

When the ground finally leveled out, another sound, faint but distinct, echoed through the tunnel from somewhere ahead. The steady clacking of tools against stone.

“Almost, hoo-man,” Ahgratar said in English.

Oh, thank God.

“Great!” Callie replied with a smile.

As exhilarating as it was to finally be inside a real cave, it was also terrifying. She’d spent most of her life in the city, which had often felt claustrophobic, but at least she’d been able to look up and see that sliver of sky whenever she’d wanted. She couldn’t do that here.

And that wasn’t even taking into account the dangers beyond slips and falls, like cave-ins, deadly gas buildups, getting stuck in tight passages, flash floods…

And I wanted to do this for a living?

She probably wouldn’t have survived her first day.

Right now, it was Urkot that drove her onward.

Ahead, she glimpsed a spot where the blue glow was more concentrated. It seemed like a trick of her eyes at first, but as they neared it, she realized it was an opening into a chamber off the main tunnel. That was where Ahgratar turned.

He entered the chamber first, and Callie followed close behind. The thornskull called a greeting to the vrix within and declared that he’d come with food. But Callie barely heard their enthusiastic responses. Eyes wide, she could only focus on the chamber itself.

She understood then how thoroughly the vrix had shaped the tunnel they’d followed to get here. These walls were crude, uneven, natural. And they were covered in countless crystals growing in clusters and formations, bathing the space in brilliant blue luminescence.

This was like standing inside one of those geode lamps. Her brain insisted it couldn’t be real; places like this only existed in fantasy stories. And yet here she was.

The delvers had been gathered near the far end of the chamber, though most had ceased their work to come meet Callie and Ahgratar. She smiled and greeted them in their tongue as she and her companion pulled back the cloths over their baskets and offered food.

But even as the eager thornskulls took seasoned meat from her basket, her eyes drifted back to the pair who were still working—a large, yellow male thornskull and Urkot, whose blue markings had taken on a new radiance in this light.

The two were hammering a rough-hewn log into place as a support, securing the above crossbeam against the ceiling in the process.

She found herself admiring the way Urkot’s muscles flexed and stretched as he worked.

It wasn’t merely the power in them, it was the control.

Amongst the shadowstalkers in their tribe, Urkot had always seemed the least agile, the least graceful, but she realized now how precise and deliberate his movements were, like each was carefully calculated.

“Zotahl, Three-Arm, come before the food is gone,” Ahgratar said, his booming voice carrying over the others’ chatter.

Zotahl gestured sharply with one hand in acknowledgement. Neither he nor Urkot looked away from their work until they’d adjusted the log a little more. Seemingly satisfied with its positioning, they turned toward Ahgratar.

Urkot’s eyes flicked to Callie and opened so wide it was almost comical.

Grinning, she raised her hand and wiggled her fingers in a wave. “Hi.”

His eyes narrowed to furious slits, and he stormed across the chamber. Before Callie could back away, he caught her arms with all three of his hands, his grip tight. The basket slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor.

“Why are you here?” he growled,

Callie gasped as she stared at him in shock. “Ahgratar was coming, so I?—”

Urkot’s head snapped toward Ahgratar, and in vrix almost too fast and angry for Callie to understand, demanded, “You brought her here? Damn your eyes, why?”

All the thornskulls were staring at him now, their eyes flared. One had paused his hand partway to his mouth with a piece of meat dangling from his fingers.

Ahgratar held up a palm to Urkot. “She gave aid, Three-Arm. There is no harm.”

“She should not be down here! It is not safe.” Urkot swung his gaze back to Callie and shifted back to English. “I said do not come.”

Callie quirked a brow. “No, you said no . You never told me not to come, specifically…”

“It is not safe. No is simple, yes?” He released her arm with one hand and dragged his palm down his face with a frustrated groan, leaving a steak of white on his hide. “You knew my words. Knew my meaning.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to obey.”

“In this you obey!” Urkot snarled.

Callie flinched, stunned at the ferocity in his voice and his tightening grip on her arms, which she was sure would leave bruises. Fire sparked in her chest, quickly burning away her startlement. She glared at him. “Don’t yell at me, Urkot.”

He opened his mouth, paused, then snapped it shut with an audible clack .

His hand returned to her arm, and he guided her away from the others, toward the back of the chamber.

Once there, with his large body blocking her view of the thornskulls, he tilted his head forward and closed his eyes.

His shoulders rose and his chest expanded as he took in a deep inhalation.

“I did not yell,” he said finally, calmly.

“You got all snarly with me. That’s the same thing.”

And it had surprised her. Urkot had never raised his voice to her before, especially not in anger. This…this wasn’t like him.

She frowned as she studied him in the crystals’ glow. He was tense, and she felt faint tremors coursing through his arms.

This wasn’t rage. This was…fear.

For her.

There was something he was hiding, something that pained him deeply, and her presence here had triggered it.

Her indignation disappeared as swiftly as it had come.

“I’m okay, Urkot. Everything is okay,” Callie said in a soft voice. Leaning forward, she touched her forehead to his headcrest. “I…just wanted to see you.”

He released a heavy breath through his nostrils. “You can see me in Kaldarak.”

Callie chuckled softly. “I wanted to see you now and bring you food.”

“Ah, Callie… Hard-headed female,” he said gently.

She smiled and pressed her head a little more firmly to his, nudging it as she settled her hands on his chest. “Takes one hard head to know one.”