Page 18

CHAPTER 18

E irik

I clutch my abdomen where the blaster shot burns, every step sending jolts of agony through my body as Sasha struggles to keep up with my long strides. I want to give her time to recover, to process what happened, but I can’t. I’m on borrowed time and I need to get her into that transport before blood loss cripples me entirely.

“We need to move faster.” I grit my teeth against another wave of pain. The tunnels are pitch black and I can feel Sasha’s hands on my back, trembling. Her human eyes can’t pick up the subtle shimmer of the rocks or the heat signature from our bodies, reflecting on the walls.

Still, she follows me without complaining.

“There’s a crystal torch waiting for us in a few hundred feet,” I tell her as she trips over her own feet and I steady her for the hundredth time since we entered the liquid blackness of the tunnels.

She doesn’t answer, but her fingers cling a tad less desperately at my arm as we keep going. We finally round the corner where I hid the torch and Sasha retrieves it from the sconce on the wall, then exhales with an almost tangible relief.

That relief is short lived as Sasha turns to me, her eyes immediately latching onto the wound at my side.

“I don’t know where we’re going or why, but I know this: this is too much blood. You need to let me help you if we’re going to have a chance to get out of this place.”

I want to tell her that I’m fine, that this is nothing, but I don’t. Her face is scrunched up in stubborn lines, a crease in the middle of her brows like she’s looking at a naughty child and not a warrior twice her size.

“No time.” I mentally calculate the distance to where I stashed the transport. One mile of tunnel left, maybe two. Under normal circumstances, an easy walk. Now? Each step feels like a battle. There’s no time to waste bickering.

“Well, make the time because there’s no way I can drag your huge ass out of here if you fall on your face and can’t get up!” She’s shouting by the end of her sentence, her cheeks flushed with red and her eyes ablaze. “You’re bleeding out.”

She’s not shouting then; her voice breaks, and I see the struggle on her face as she tries to control her emotions. She’s afraid, but not of me.

No, she’s afraid for me. I watch her with a mixture of incredulity and something else. Something I can’t quite pinpoint. No one has ever been afraid for me, not since I was a young child. I am the one others rely on, the one who faces danger and slim odds. I am the one who carries the burden.

And yet, this small, defenseless creature is afraid for me.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” I grumble, but there’s no bite in my words. “I’ve had worse.”

She scoffs, her dainty nose scrunching as she moves toward me. Her fingers feel like blocks of ice as she runs them around my midsection, from my front to my back.

“This is bad.” She shakes her head. “We need to get you to a doctor or you’ll bleed out before we can get out of this mess. Where are we even going?”

“We’re leaving Tartarus.” I watch her eyes widen and her lower lip quiver.

“Leaving? To go where?”

I inhale deeply and the wound pulses, hot and angry. My vision blurs at the edges, but I force myself to stay upright. Sasha’s clever eyes see this and she inches forward, slipping an arm around my waist to steady me.

She’s so small, she won’t be able to carry me. If I fall, I’m not getting up.

“I have to warn them of what’s coming.”

She swallows, her eyes wide with fear, but she doesn’t protest. She knows what our chances are if we stay behind.

“You’re going to your people.” She nods like she understands, but she doesn’t.

“No, little thief,” I correct her, reaching with my other hand despite the searing pain that now radiates from my foot all the way to my fingers. “We are going. I’m not leaving you behind. I’m never going to leave you behind.”

There’s a moment where we lock gazes, there in the dim light, my blood all over her, and time suspends. Then it’s over and she shakes her head.

“Okay then, big guy.” She twists to better help me. “Lead the way.”

Her small frame shouldn’t provide much support, but somehow it does.

We walk. The silence in the tunnels is like a lead blanket, broken only by our footsteps and Sasha’s quick breaths that create small clouds in the cold air. I can feel her struggling, her brows covered in a layer of sweat. She’s taking more of my weight than she can handle, but she’s not complaining.

My legs grow heavier with each step. I’m losing blood fast, and black spots dance at the edge of my vision. The wall feels rough under my hand as I brace against it, fighting to stay upright.

“Eirik!” Her small voice bounces on the stone wall, like she’s repeating herself through time and space.

I shut my eyes and take a few moments to gather my strength. My breath comes in shallower and faster than it should and it takes all my warrior training to straighten again. I’m not a fool enough to believe I can go on like this for long.

If I fall, I’m dooming Sasha with me. And that, I can never accept.

“Listen to me, little thief.” My voice sounds distant even to my own ears. “If I fall and can’t get up, you need to keep going. Follow the tunnel until you reach a T-junction, then take the right path. There is a transport hidden and waiting for you.”

“Shut up.” Her sharp tone cuts through the haze. “I’m not leaving you here to die.”

“You need to?—”

“No, you listen.” She shifts closer, her body heat seeping through my clothes. “I survived this long in Tartarus for one reason and one reason only: I don’t give up. So, save your breath and keep walking.”

A chuckle escapes me despite the pain. She may be a little mouse, but that little mouse has fangs.

“I might have to spank you for what you just said to me.”

“Yeah? Well, someone has to talk some sense into you since you’re being an idiot.” She adjusts her grip on my waist. “Now move those legs before I kick your ass. You can spank me to your liking later.”

We continue forward, but our pace is painfully slow. Too slow. Each step, the wetness at my side reminds me that I’m bleeding, that my strength is slowly leaking out of me, one drop at a time. One heartbeat at a time.

Still, we keep going. Even when I think I can’t go further, we keep going. Sasha remains silent at my side; the only signs of her exhaustion are the sweat covering her brows and her breaths, fast and shallow.

Finally, just when my knees are about to collapse under my weight despite Sasha’s ever increasing help, we’re there.

The transport’s outline emerges from the darkness like a beacon, its sleek skin reflecting the dim light from Sasha’s crystal torch. Relief floods through me, but my legs buckle, and I nearly drag us both down.

“Almost there.” Sasha’s voice wavers with the strain.

Each step feels like walking through quicksand, my boots scraping against the rough ground. The wound throbs, hot and angry, a constant reminder of how close I am to failure. The transport’s hatch opens with a soft hiss as we approach, responding to my presence without needing further prompting.

Sasha helps me inside, her small frame straining under my weight. I breathe a sigh of short-lived relief as I finally sit down, my strength almost completely depleted. I watch her wordlessly as she rounds the transport, her hand running on the smooth surface, her eyes full of perplexed amazement.

I know what she thinks. She’s right. She’s the first human to ever witness Huugwor technology.

My mouth feels dry, and darkness looms around the edges of my mind. I know I don’t have long. I need to program the transport to lead us to safety.

I press my palm against the dashboard’s small screen, the glutinous bio-reader encapsulating my fingers instantly. I reach for my necklace and press my thumb to the dull, round stone. The stone opens to reveal a gleaming gem, its pearlescent color as mystical as it is beautiful. My fingers tremble and my eyes have trouble focusing, but I manage to pull out the Soul Stone embedded in the middle of the necklace, then press it inside the console of the transport. I input the details of our destination and as it blinks three times, I pull my hand back and finally rest my head.

“Eirik?” Sasha’s voice sounds distant, like she’s speaking through water. I didn’t even notice her climbing in the driver’s seat.

The edges of my vision darken, and the control panel blurs. I fight to stay conscious, knowing what’s at stake. The darkness creeps in faster now, threatening to pull me under. My thoughts narrow to a single point. To my little thief. To Sasha.

She will be safe once we reach our destination. At least, that’s what I hope for.

She’s talking to me now, her lovely face above mine, her trembling fingers running along my face.

I try to speak, to tell her that she will be safe. That she should stay in the transport until my brethren rescue us. That even if I die, they will care for her.

That she’s my mate. The flowing river to my dry land, the stars to my endless darkness.

But my voice is swallowed in a gargle. The last thing I register is her small hand gripping mine when the transport moves.

Then all is darkness, all is silence.