Page 49 of The Delver (The Vrix #2)

Though he knew they were nearing Kaldarak, Urkot didn’t allow himself any solace.

Not until the winding steps that led around the massive trunk of a tree and up into the city were in view.

The sight was enough to coax a relieved sigh from Callie and quicken Urkot’s stride despite his overwhelming weariness.

His sleep had been fitful at best; to his mind, every one of the jungle’s sounds might’ve been a spiritstrider out for vengeance.

But Urkot and Callie were safe now.

Callie, who sat astride his hindquarters with her arms around his midsection, pressed her forehead to his back. “We’re home.”

He caressed her right leg with his lower hand, giving her knee a squeeze. The heat radiating from her skin was much greater than normal.

She had called it a fever, the result of her body fighting off a sickness that had settled into her wounds.

He’d felt the beginnings of that heat in the middle of the night, had felt her shifting against him weakly, restlessly, had felt the cold sweat dampening her skin, and he had heard her soft, pained moans.

Her sleep had been as broken as his own.

Callie had assured him that the injections she’d received on Earth would let her overcome the sickness. That didn’t alleviate his worry. He did not like seeing his mate ill, and he seethed at his helplessness. He understood exactly what Ketahn had gone through when sweetfang root had sickened Ivy.

Fear.

What if the injections weren’t enough? What if her body couldn’t overcome this, what if he lost her? The only one who could help, the only one he trusted to help, was Diego, and Urkot needed to get Callie to him fast.

The pair of male thornskulls guarding the stairway spotted Urkot as he strode into the open. Even from a distance, their surprise was apparent, with the yellow one crossing his forearms in the symbol of the Eight.

The other male, green of hide, shouted up to the thornskulls standing guard high above. “Three-Arm has returned!”

It wasn’t long before more voices rang out, spreading the message across Kaldarak.

“They sound happy to see you,” Callie said.

“Perhaps they have prepared a feast for us?” The emptiness in his gut expanded at his words, begging to be filled.

She patted his stomach. “Think of all the fresh meat you’ll get to eat.”

Urkot chittered, grateful Callie was well enough to jest with him. But he’d heard the weariness in her voice.

The guards strode toward Urkot and Callie, meeting them several segments away from the lowest step. Urkot knew them both well; he’d hunted with them before.

“By their Eightfold eyes,” said Elharat, the yellow thornskull. “We thought your shar’thai burned out.”

The green thornskull, Okkor, shifted his spear aside as his eyes fell upon Callie. He touched a knuckle to his headcrest and bowed his head. “The hyu-nan lives also.”

“And the others?” Urkot asked, looking from Elharat to Okkor.

A low, mournful buzz emanated from Okkor. “Ours and yours tried to move the fallen rocks. With all their shar’thai , they tried.”

“It is true beneath sun and sky,” Elharat added solemnly.

“But more rock fell before they found anyone. You are first to return.”

“We’re it?” Callie asked in English, her voice small and weak.

Turning his head to look at her over his shoulder, Urkot offered a shallow nod.

She frowned, brows pinched. “I knew it wasn’t likely, but I’d hoped…hoped at least someone else got out.”

“Me too,” he rumbled, placing a hand over hers atop his middle.

She was still shivering, and she didn’t sound any better than when they’d set out with the first hints of morning light.

Urkot returned his gaze to the thornskulls and said in vrix, “I must take her to Diego for healing.”

Each thornskull stepped aside, touching a knuckle to his headcrest, and waved Urkot on. As he strode to the steps, there was a commotion far overhead. He ascended quickly, ignoring the burning in his legs, the haggardness of his breath.

Soon enough, they could rest. Just a little longer, a little further.

Bright rays of sunlight, nearly blinding in their intensity, struck him as he climbed. And after the time he’d spent understone, being here with sunshine streaming through breaks in the canopy seemed unreal. All this light, all this life, all this air…

It made his chest constrict, and he shuddered, overwhelmed by a tangle of powerful emotion.

He and Callie had come so close to death, so close to joining the thornskull delvers in that final, endless slumber. But they were alive.

They were home.

And Callie was his .

When he reached the platform at the top, thornskulls had already begun gathering on the nearby platforms, and a small crowd was racing across the rope bridge with Rekosh, Telok, and Ketahn in the lead.

An odd sense of lightness swept over Urkot.

He stepped forward, feeling as though his legs would float off the wooden planks at any moment and carry him into the sky.

Urkot could see the humans behind his shadowstalker brothers, and Nalaki and Garahk, the leaders of Kaldarak, behind them.

After making his bond with Callie, he’d thought his hearts couldn’t possibly feel fuller.

He’d been wrong.

But the weight of his own body crashed down upon him, eightfold as heavy, as soon as his friends reached the platform. His forelegs gave out under that burden, and he stumbled.

He threw his lower arm back to ensure Callie didn’t fall as Rekosh and Ketahn darted forward, catching Urkot’s upper arms and steadying him.

With his friends supporting him, he could rest. Could finally rest…

“You have looked better, stoneskull,” Rekosh said the merest quaver in his voice.

Urkot chittered weakly. “Still look better than you, needlelegs.”

Telok stood before Urkot with eyes narrowed, his mandibles twitching. Tension pulsed from him in withering waves.

“We thought you both dead,” Ketahn said, a shiver coursing through him as he squeezed Urkot’s arm.

The humans stepped onto the platform—Ivy holding Akalahn, followed by Lacey, Ahmya, Diego, Will, and Cole. Several of them had red, watery eyes, as though they’d been crying.

As though they’d been mourning.

“Callie, Urkot! Oh, my God.” Ivy stopped beside Ketahn, holding her broodling with one arm while placing her other hand gently on Urkot’s shoulder.

“I knew you guys were alive,” Cole said, the words oddly thick.

Ahmya covered her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I’m gonna start kicking some asses for scaring the living shit out of us,” Lacey said, her glistening, glaring eyes flicking between Urkot and Callie. “You guys can’t keep doing this to me.”

Behind Urkot, Callie sniffled. “So glad to see all of you.”

The sound tugged at Urkot’s heartsthread.

“Callie needs aid,” Urkot rasped, looking at Diego. “She is?—”

“Shit.” Diego hurried forward, brow furrowed, with Will close behind. He leaned close to inspect Callie’s bound leg.

“Looks worse than it is,” Callie said.

Urkot could almost feel the soft, reassuring smile she must’ve forced onto her lips to counter just how thin her voice sounded.

“Sure, it does,” Diego said, sounding not at all convinced. “Will, help me get her down.”

“I will carry her to your den.” Urkot strode forward.

Or at least he’d meant to. Ketahn and Rekosh’s easy hold proved more than he could overcome, and he didn’t move a thread’s width.

Ketahn flattened a hand on Urkot’s chest and patted gently. “You can barely carry yourself, Urkot.”

Without a word, Telok strode to Urkot’s side. Will and Diego moved out of his way, and he lifted Callie off Urkot’s hindquarters, cradling her against his chest. She looked small, sickly, vulnerable.

A flare of possessiveness stiffened Urkot’s muscles, and instinctual rage flooded them with heat. Callie was his mate, his , and no other male could touch her, could tend to her. Especially not when she seemed so fragile.

But the growl died in his chest, and his body eased. Telok was part of his tribe, his friend, his brother, and Urkot trusted him completely. He also trusted Diego and Will. They were healers—the only ones who could help his mate now.

“Make way,” Nalaki shouted as Telok carried Callie to the bridge, followed closely by the two male humans. The thornskull onlookers quickly cleared the bridge and the platform it led to, allowing Telok and the others to pass.

All the humans trailed after them.

“Come, we will follow,” Rekosh said before he and Ketahn led Urkot toward the bridge.

Urkot’s legs moved now, but he knew he remained upright only because of his friends’ continued support…and even with their help, the journey was not easy. Many thornskulls cheered and greeted him as he came into view.

But his attention remained split between keeping his legs moving and searching ahead to see his mate.

Telok was moving much faster than Urkot, allowing only glimpses of Callie’s legs or an errant lock of hair.

“You are lighter,” Rekosh said with an uncertain buzz.

“I do not feel lighter,” Urkot replied, taking another trudging step. “But…I do feel hungry.”

Ketahn chittered gently. “We will bring you food.”

“Any you desire.” Rekosh bumped a foreleg against Urkot’s. “As much as you desire.”

Urkot shook his head. “Later. When I know she is well.”

By the time he reached the platform that held the human dwellings, Diego and Will were already inside their large den with Callie and Telok.

The other humans, along with Garahk, Nalaki, and a few thornskulls, had gathered outside.

The mood in the air was strange, seemingly at odds with itself—a confusing blend of relief and worry, of happiness and fear.

Not without some effort, Urkot urged Ketahn and Rekosh aside and stood on his own.

He longed to go inside with Callie, to hold her hand through whatever she’d have to endure, to smooth back her hair and wipe the sweat from her brow.

But he knew he’d only be in the way, especially in his current state.