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TRINITY STEPPED BETWEEN THE rocks and into the passageway, water slipping into the holes in her shoes. It was narrow and dark. It’d be much darker soon. Hugh had better follow her because if she had to go back she’d strangle him.
“Where are we going? Where’s Cack going?” he asked, still by the opening to the cave.
“He’s going back to camp. We’re going...somewhere else.” She wasn’t sure that he’d be willing to go into the city and she didn’t want to have to force him.
“Enough with the secrets. Tell me where we’re going.”
He was angry and she couldn’t blame him. She hated secrets. “I told you. Dad will explain everything.” The water was past her ankles now. It was going to get deeper the farther they went.
“Are we meeting Tim and Jackson?”
“Yes.” That wasn’t a lie.
“Why didn’t you want to tell me that.” He jogged until he was right behind her, splashing water up the back of her legs.
She spun around. “Hey! Watch it.”
“Sorry.” He shrugged slightly. “Where are we meeting them?”
“Hold on a minute.” She continued down the path, biding her time.
He followed in silence for quite a while and then said, “Answer my question.”
“I already did.” He was getting angrier but she didn’t care. Her ploy had worked. They’d come too far for him to go back by himself in the dark. She stopped at a fork in the path, sniffing for the fresh air. “Hold on to my shirt. It’s going to be pitch-black in here soon.”
“Not until you tell me where we’re headed.”
“Suit yourself.” She started walking again. “I hope you can find your way either forward or back because this passage will fill with water by noon.”
“I’ll wait for Cack.” He didn’t sound too sure.
“He’s not leaving today.” It was a lie but a necessary one. She smirked at the sound of splashing water.
He grasped her shirt. “Once we get out of here, you will tell me where we’re going.”
She almost said or what, but this was not the time nor the place to argue. Gaar would be proud of her for biting her tongue.
The passage slanted downward and the deeper they went, the darker it got. Soon, the air was moist and stagnant. They were underground, underwater.
“I can’t see a thing.” His grip tightened on her shirt.
There was a hint of panic in his voice and her stupid heart softened. She could never turn away from a scared or injured creature no matter how irritating it’d be when it was once again strong.
“You’ll be fine. Keep a hold of me.” She reached back to pat his arm and he latched onto her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.
“In prison they shut off all the lights at night. It was like this.” His hand squeezed hers.
The first night after she and the Producers had left the Finishing Camp many of them had panicked in the dark. Some had taken off in a blind run. Others had cried and a few had become violent, striking out at anyone who’d approached. She couldn’t afford for anything like that to happen down here. They didn’t have time. Annoying him seemed to take his mind off his fears. “That must have been unpleasant with your crappy, Almighty eyesight.”
“I spent most of my time in prison wishing I was anything but an Almighty.” An edge of fear lingered in his tone. “Our abilities, the little that we have, aren’t very useful in there. The noises,”—his grip tightened even more—“the scurrying and scraping. I never knew what was in the cell with me.” He laughed. It was a harsh sound. “Rats and mice, I’m sure but when you can’t see...it sounds like something else, something bigger.”
Insulting him wasn’t working this time, so she’d try another approach. “I can see perfectly in here.” That was mostly true. Her night vision was better than it used to be. “And there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Okay. Good.” His grip didn’t loosen but his voice was calmer.
They walked in silence for several minutes.
“Could you loosen your hold a little?” She glanced back at him. His eyes were wide in the dark. “Don’t let go, just don’t squeeze so tight. My hand is getting numb.”
“Sorry.” He relaxed his hold a bit and she wiggled her fingers. “Sometimes in prison I dreamt that the noises were Conguise’s experiments coming for me.”
“There’s nothing down here but us and a few fish.” She’d forgotten about those creatures. Her dad’s stories were the stuff of nightmares. There was a slight splash up ahead. She stilled.
“What is it?” He moved closer until his front brushed against her back and his other hand clasped onto her waist.
“Nothing.” She started moving again. Great, now her imagination was running wild. She’d been through these passages many times over the years and there was never anything down here. She wanted to snap at him for setting her on edge, but this wasn’t the time. The scent of his fear filled the air but even if she hadn’t been able to smell it, she’d have known by his unsteady breathing and his grip on her waist and hand. She understood this all-encompassing fear. She’d lived it too many times to count.
They trudged along, the water getting deeper with every step. Soon, it was lapping at her knees. She squeezed his hand, finding comfort in the connection. She hated going through these tunnels. It was almost like being caged again but in some ways worse. If the river rose off schedule or they got stuck, they’d drown and although she’d never encountered a River-Man in any of these passages, they could get inside. She took a deep breath, clearing her head. Gaar had told her that the River-Men didn’t enter the tunnels because they were too narrow and too much like a trap. That she understood. Too bad she and Hugh couldn’t have waited another few hours. These passageways weren’t as bad closer to dawn. The water would be almost gone. It’d slowly rise with the sun, but they had to arrive at the city when it was dark.
“We’re heading upward.” Hugh let out a large sigh as if he’d been holding his breath. “Please tell me we’re almost out of here.”
She nodded and then realized that he couldn’t see her. “Yes.” Her voice was hoarse. She was more nervous than she’d admit. “We’re a little over halfway. All uphill from here.”
He was close behind her, his chest brushing against her back and his unsteady breath ruffling her hair.
“It’s getting lighter.” His words tickled her ear.
She nodded and swallowed hard. She could smell him in the darkness, and beneath the fear was clean, warm male. It was almost like they were the only two in the world, alone in the dark and linked together by touch. She must be going mad down here. This was Hugh. She dropped his hand. “It’s light enough now.”
“Wait, I can’t see.” His fingers brushed against her back and then shoulder, grasping.
“I always forget how useless an Almighty’s senses are.” She pushed his hand off her shoulder, but entwined her fingers with his. She couldn’t deny that his touch comforted her, but it was only because she hated being in this dark, wet tunnel.
“I never forget how limited I am compared to you and the others. Not anymore.”
His humility surprised her and she squeezed his hand. “Let me know as soon as you can see.” She shouldn’t have been so harsh. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t see in the dark.
“Thank you.”
They traveled in silence. The only sound their footsteps and soft breathing, his and hers. With his every exhale a strand of her hair waved against her neck, tickling. He was too close. She lengthened her stride, letting her arm stretch out between them, but he picked up his pace to match hers. His scent surrounded her and his warmth penetrated her clothes. She had to force herself not to expose her claws and flee from him.
“I can see now.” He let go of her, dropping behind a little and putting space between them.
She clenched her hand. It seemed cold and empty now. What was wrong with her? She didn’t want to be wandering around in the dark clinging to Hugh. He ran his hands through his over long hair. She was amazed at the sound it made, heavy and thick like a slow crawl through warm blankets. Where had that come from? Maybe Mom was right and she did need to pair with someone, but she wasn’t ready to have young. Not until the world was safer for her kind. She sighed. That was probably never going to happen which meant that she’d never mate because it was the only way to ensure that she didn’t get pregnant.
“What’s the matter,” he asked.
“Nothing.” There was no way she was going to explain those thoughts to him.