Page 33

Dex

T he Gerataux. Fuck. How could I have forgotten?

The creature stretched the entire height of the cave and was knocking his scaled head against the ceiling, bringing down large boulders that had managed to miss us so far.

Its silver-scaled wide body and eight clawed limbs blocked the path back to the tunnel, and there was only one way out.

It towered over us, snarling and snapping its large jaw.

This monster could swallow us whole if it wanted to.

Often it would choose to ingest its victims and then regurgitate them later just so they could eat it all over again, only in a softer more digestible form.

I shuddered not wanting that to be our fate.

Odessa gripped my forearm as she swayed. That nectar had gone right to her head, making her wobbly and a little out of it. Just great. She must have drunk more while in the pool.

I knew the legends just as well as the next person, but in my haste and nectar-filled stupor, I’d forgotten just what lurked beneath the surface of that still water.

Plus, all the blood from my head had headed south the moment Odessa started taking off her clothes.

Gods, her body was better than I’d even imagined.

I couldn’t help but sneak a peek, even though I tried to remain gentlemanly, she’d waltzed out of that pool stark naked and dripping wet, blowing every fantasy I’d had about her sky high.

Odessa stumbled into me trying to catch her bearings, her hands still firmly wrapped around my forearm. She was shivering now, and her eyes were blown wide with fear.

It was one thing to be facing fellow contestants, but facing a whole ass monster was something else entirely.

The Gerataux let out another deafening roar and more rocks began to fall. As it did, the way back became blocked right as we were about to escape. Shit.

“What are we supposed to do?” Odessa cried, her brown eyes were so unfocussed they seemed to be spinning. She drank way too much of the nectar and it had gone straight to her head.

“Over there,” I pointed to behind the waterfall. If we could make it back there, maybe we’d be able to hide.

Instinct took over, and I called upon my magick, finding the right thread of power to blind him. A bolt of light erupted from me and shot directly into the creature’s eyes. The monster let out an unholy screech, but it did the trick, making it cower just enough to let Odessa, and I pass.

We ran, dodging its large limbs as it blindly snapped at the air before swooping its large neck down to where we were.

“This way,” I yelled, pulling at Odessa just in time to the side, avoiding the Gerataux’s attempt to eat us. It crashed into the hard stone, making everything around us, including the floor we stood on, shake.

The rocks to the waterfall were slippery and narrow. One wrong step and we would fall off the edge. Knowing that it was deep enough to house the Gerataux, I didn’t want to chance either of us falling. Odessa kept a death-grip on my forearm as we carefully made our way along the rocks.

“I think there’s a passage back here!” I yelled so Odessa could hear me over the water.

It was loud and I didn’t know how much time we had before the monster would regain its vision. We were almost there. Only a few more rocks and then we could get the hell out of this godsforsaken cave.

Odessa’s foot slipped on the last rock, and I caught her before she tumbled off into the icy depths below.

“I need you to swing your legs over, okay?”

Odessa nodded her head, struggling against the pull of the nectar and the force of gravity to do what I’d asked.

“I’ve got you. I promise,” I said.

“I’ve heard that before,” she quipped with a grunt as she managed to barely swing herself back up to the ledge.

And just in time too. The Gerataux was looking straight at us as its monstrous body came plunging into the water, as it headed right towards us. The water rippled angrily as it swam.

“Go, go, go!” I yelled, gripping Odessa’s hand and running into the passageway tucked behind the waterfall.

There were large iron sconces lining the walls here. Each filled with enough fire to light the way.

The roar of the Gerataux could be heard, but it was muffled now. Though I was sure he couldn’t catch us, I still kept us at a fast pace, wanting to be as far away from the danger as possible. Even though that wasn’t a reality in Nocturne.

“Stop, please,” Odessa begged. “I need to catch my breath just for a second.”

My eyes swept both ahead of us, then behind us, before I agreed. She collapsed against the wall and took several steadying breaths. Her eyes seemed clearer than they were back in the cave. The nectar must have been wearing off.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Her hand was pressed firmly against her chest. Her eyes were no longer spinning. They looked deadly focused.

“I knew. I knew this would be hard, you know? But knowing and experiencing it are two different things. I mean—” she started to laugh.

“That was a fucking Gerataux, Dex! I used to have nightmares as a child about them. And then my maman told me they were just a fairytale, and I fucking believed her. Oh gods, I hope I make it back to tell her she was wrong.”

Her shoulders sagged then.

“What is it?” I asked, stepping closer. I knew letting my emotions and my protective feelings for this girl was a bad fucking idea, but I still kept coming back to her.

Still kept treating her like she was mine to protect.

Because if anything were to fucking happen to her, I wouldn’t know how to live with myself.

“I don’t even know if I’ll make it out of here.”

“You’ve made it this far.”

“And if I make it out? I’m afraid of the things that wait for me back home.

If my maman will still even be alive. She’s been sick.

And all I want is for her to be well again.

I’d heal her with the money or new powers I got from this place if I win.

” She was quiet then, and her breathing steadied.

“I loved my life. I love my family. I love— I love—” my chest twisted waiting for her fiancé’s name to drop from her lips.

“I loved knowing what was going to happen.” I let out a breath and closed my eyes, grateful she hadn’t said whatever his name is.

“And then, I come here. And nothing is certain. And you? Gods, you annoy the hell out of me. You’re so sure of yourself, and you won’t let me know you!

And I shouldn’t want to, Dex! I have a life.

A good one. But down here? I’m different.

I’m not someone’s well-behaved daughter, or perfect student, or wife in training.

I’m just me. And I like that too. It might be a crazy thing to even say, but I do. ”

I tucked a stray hair behind her ear, wishing I could do more.

Gods, I wanted to. I wanted to shove her up against this wall and take her like I’d dreamed of.

Now that I knew what she looked like under those clothes, I didn’t know how much longer I could last without acting on that impulse.

She drove me wild with her raw honesty and passion.

She was transparent in all her emotions.

Never hiding them from the world. That took fucking courage, to bare yourself in a way that others could see exactly how you were feeling.

I’d always been taught to shove those parts of me down.

That it would only make me weak. But staring at me in this dimly lit tunnel, I began to question what I thought I knew.

Maybe there was a strength to be found in vulnerability.

“Wait a minute. Back there, in the cave. Did you?” She shook her head. “Did you use the power of light?” Odessa asked.

I pushed my hands into my pockets and took a half-step back.

“You did! Didn’t you? That was light I saw coming from you.” Her brown eyes were wide as she tried to piece everything together. “How long have you had that power?” Her voice was calm. Too calm.

In an instant, that dagger she had tucked away was at my throat.

“Who the fuck are you? And how did you get that power?”