Page 12

Chapter

Twelve

A bby didn’t know why it felt so natural to just trust him but in retrospect hadn’t she always trusted Samir on some level? Although she hadn’t had much choice on the matter in terms of sleeping arrangements, she had slept deeply and easily at his side every night and managed to live with him without being in a constant state of anxiety. It was for that reason she didn’t hesitate to slide her hand into his and she nearly smiled at the sensation of the pads on his palm and fingers against her hand. Like the toe beans of a cat but even better because it was bigger and all Samir.

Sure, for a moment she’d been afraid but even before he spoke, she knew that her worries were foundless. Not even when she had tried to flee, had she once truly been afraid when he caught her. Instead, it was kind of… fun, in a twisted sort of way, as much as it was maddening. It was Samir. Samir with his biting wit, playful humor. and gentle words. Samir who took delight in infuriating her but never pushed it too far. She couldn’t even hold onto her anger against him because she knew deep down that her decisions were all on her. It should have occurred to her that he would have known but she’d made a terrible miscalculation by assuming. She’d orchestrated her own mess. Samir was her jailer perhaps, but he was also… heartbroken and lonely. That realization hit her heavily.

Of course he did not want her to leave. He at very least found her amusing and a barrier against his own shadows, even if he had loudly scoffed at the idea of love. It forced her to look more clearly at the male standing in front of her. This was Samir with all his hidden pain of betrayal that she couldn’t even begin to imagine. She’d caught a glimpse of the real male hidden beneath the veneer he kept over himself—a romantic male whose dreams were crushed—and she wanted to see more of that.

So of course, she would go with him and see whatever he wanted her to see. Abby didn’t even hesitate to take his hand.

Samir smiled, happiness softening his blurred leonine features as his fingers curled around her hand. With a gentle tug he drew her with him and led her toward the entrance of his den. Abby’s eyes widened at the realization that they were leaving.

“Samir?” she murmured uncertainly.

His eyes gleamed with warmth as he glanced over at her. “Do not worry, Abby. You will like this surprise. And the sun is just setting so you will be comfortable, and your delicate skin will not burn. Ah, but here, perhaps this might make you more comfortable.” He pressed something cool into her hand and Abby glanced down at it curiously.

Her scarab!

She nodded and with a whispered spell to the small metal beetle, it lit up and left her hand with a hum of metal wings flying in the air ahead of them. With the scarab providing its soft light, she wordlessly accompanied him through the winding passages of the cavern. Passages that she hadn’t stepped foot in since she had entered with her lance, determined to slay the beast at her side. She was seeing the cave with new eyes this time, noting the beauty of the natural column formations among the stalagmites and stalactites in the galleries. When they came at last to the path of little islands of stalagmites that led across the pool that she had previously made her way precariously across, Samir gathered her up into his arms. He crossed them with such sure-footed speed that it almost seemed that he glided across them before gently depositing her on the cavern floor at the other side.

They stood facing each other for a moment, Abby’s heart thumping, and it seemed like something was shifting between. She could feel it like a static in the air and a twist deep within her belly as she stared up into his luminous eyes. His hands were still lightly touching her hips and his gaze slowly dropped to them. A look of surprise crossed his face as if he hadn’t realized that he was still holding her and quickly released her while taking a step back in an obvious attempt to be polite and not crowd her. Her lips twitched with amusement. Despite being rough around the edges—of which he seemed to have many more than anyone else—it struck her how considerate he was.

Taking the initiative, Abby reached and took his hand before he could offer. He blinked down at their hands and his expression softened with unmistakable pleasure. Her great beast wasn’t so terrible.

“You had a surprise for me,” she reminded him with an impish smile.

Samir cleared his throat and quickly nodded. “Yes. It is close. Just this way,” he replied as he led through the remaining passages until they were at last stepping out onto the desert sand.

Abby squinted as the light of the setting sun hit her eyes. It stung a little after spending so many days below ground, but she blinked away the tears and smiled as she breathed in deeply the evening air. The sweet fresh air and the view were well worth it. The sky was ribboned with color in vibrant oranges, pinks, and gold in contrast to the desert sand which rapidly grew darker except for a faint glimmer of where it caught the light. She didn’t recall everything being so beautiful when she traveled across the desert following Zayman.

“This is incredible,” she said in awe as she summoned the scarab back to her hand, its light putting and the magic leaving it once more, but Samir chuckled at her side.

“This is not the surprise. It gets better,” he replied.

Her gaze shot to him in surprise. “Better?” she echoed, intrigued.

“Better,” he confirmed with another nod. “This way.”

Her brows rose but she followed as he led her further from the cave. Her feet made soft impressions on the sand, but she noticed that it was not as loose and soft as it had been the last time she walked across it.

“The wet season has arrived since you joined me,” Samir said conversationally, answering her unspoken question. “It is a blessed time of the year as it causes certain changes to the desert.”

“Oh? What’s that? Please don’t tell me that everything molds,” Abby said as they walked over a hill of sand. “I once went with my family to Guwari, a small tropical province and we just happened to be there working when their rainy season hit. My gods, I swore everything sprouted mold, moss, or some kind of fungus.”

“No, nothing like that,” Samir chuckled as they crested the hill. “Just look. The desert—she blooms,” he rasped as he gestured to the sand stretched out ahead of them.

Blooms? Abby’s gaze followed in the direction of his hand, and a tiny gasp escaped her as flowers dotted the sand. The flowers were small and would have seemed insignificant against the flowers that grew in her mother’s garden. But spread out across the sand with the moon slowly climbing in the sky under the waning light of the sun, it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

“Oh, Samir,” she whispered. “It’s like a page out of a novel, when the wearied hero, battered and bloodied from his missions, rises from the battle grounds and looks out across the distance to see the promise of new life that makes everything he suffered worth it.”

“And you believe that you lack the ability to write,” Samir scoffed, bringing a blush of pleasure to her cheeks. His glowing green eyes focused on her, however, their luminosity brightening with the fading light in the sky. “Would you say that this is worth everything you suffered?”

There was a vulnerability in his voice as he asked but she knew that he spoke more of the hardships she had endured. She was certain that he wanted to be reassured that he was worth it and that vulnerability touched her heart in an unexpected way.

“Hmmm, well, it’s certainly not bad. It’s a good start at the very least,” she said with a cheeky grin that drew a smile from him in return.

“Come,” he murmured. “You haven’t even enjoyed the best part.”

Abby couldn’t imagine how exactly it could get better but allowed herself to be led down the slope until they were amid the flowers, the leaves and steams brushing her boots. Very gently, Samir drew her down to a relatively bare patch of sand amid the flowers and they lay down together, stretched outside by side so that there was nothing in their world but the two of them and the flowers encircled around them on all sides, their sweet, delicate perfume filling Abby with every breath. The perfume grew deeper, muskier, and she looked at the flowers with wonder as they began to fully bloom with the arrival of the night. Creamy, pale petals opened to reveal glowing golden stamen dusted with luminous pollen. These were not of the human world before the collision that had brought the worlds of the fae, spirits, and humans together as one. The flowers were as magical as the manticore lying beside her.

The darker it got, the brighter the flowers became as they bloomed as if to salute the moon until not a trace of sunlight lit up the desert. Samir smiled over at her as she studied a flower between them, and he nodded toward the sky.

“Look up, kitten.”

Her eyes lifted and beyond the glow of the flowers the moon hung in a sky filled with stars more brilliant than she’d ever seen them, with bright dusty arms roping across the heavens. It was like existing in a sea of pure magic with the glow of the flowers around them and the stars up above. For the first time she felt like she was seeing all the potential of magic and beauty within the world which her mother had so often spoken of that existed beyond blood and dirt of the hunt. Seeing it all now for the first time, brought tears to Abby’s eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and Samir’s responding purr seemed to make everything dance and glow even more brightly around her.