Kalos isn’t the only one in charge of my safety. I need to take the steps needed to keep myself safe, to keep our daughter safe.
I can’t just sit around and wait for Kalos to show me the caverns. He’s in the city today, and he’s been hesitant to bring me down there while his dragon is riding him so hard. And that was before his worries about what me dreaming about dragon fire means.
“It’s just you and me, impossibility,” I say, giving my stomach a final pat before making my decision.
I grab the flashlight I’ve started keeping in a drawer in case of an evacuation to the caverns, and for the few times I’ve listened at Kalos’s office door, and head toward the passage. I’m dressed sensibly to go exploring, with the thin boots I used for thieving and a canvas maternity jumpsuit Ben found for painting. It’s as if a part of me knew I was going to do this.
As long as I go slow and have my phone with me, everything will be fine. Nemo altered my phone a few years ago to make it so I’ll get reception magically no matter the physical limitations.
The bookshelf swings open when I trigger the mechanism, and the cold air from the hidden stairs chills my hot cheeks. The spiral staircase is well maintained and doesn’t make a sound as I descend. I pass Kalos’s office. I’d be hard-pressed to admit how many times since he’s started avoiding me that I’ve hung out on this landing, listening to the dragon I want through the wall while he conducts business.
An ache at his avoidance always wells at the sound of his voice. I’ve attempted to pull him to bed a few times, but he always gives some perfectly acceptable excuse, giving me a push of heat energy with the barest touch of his hand to fulfill the needs of our daughter.
Each time he kisses my forehead and sends me off to bed alone, the flame of hope in my heart sputters, but I feel the same as I did when I first came here.
I’m willing to fight for my place here, but I won’t beg for someone to love me.
My heart rate starts to pick up with adrenaline as I continue deeper, following the staircase lower into the earth.
The adrenaline soon morphs into exertion as seconds turn into minutes, until I’ve been slowly descending for more than a quarter hour. The stairs go on and on with no end in sight. My thighs start to burn, and I sit on the cool step to take a breather. My basketball-shaped belly and careful movements are taking more energy than I realized.
Or the baby is zapping my energy because it’s colder down here. Cheerful thought.
I continue my journey. The stone wall I brace myself against is icy against my hand, but it’s better than the metal railing. Right when I’m wondering if I should go back up and try another day when Kalos can carry me, the stairway opens into a cave.
The light from my flashlight travels through the dark and catches on stalactites but doesn’t reach the floor.
There’s a light switch in the center of the stair spiral, and I flip it on. The lights come on slowly, and I grip the metal railing that separates me from the edge of the steps with awe.
I was expecting a room-size situation. That isn’t what’s below the place I’ve been calling home.
Caves as far as I can see span in every direction.
Plenty of room for a dragon to live. I slowly descend the rest of the way until my thin boots crunch on wet stone.
I wander while angling the flashlight up to take in the many rock formations on the ceiling. There are some places where the rock has been broken. I squint my eyes at a wall, and my mouth drops open when I make out the deep gashes.
Claw marks.
Kalos’s dragon form may be a little bigger than a Komodo dragon after all…
My feet itch to continue exploring this place, but my guilt and the visual reminder of the dragon I’d rather not worry has me heading back to the stairs. I came down here to check that this was a good place to retreat, not to go on an adventure.
I inhale and brace my hand against a stalagmite to catch my breath before starting the long climb back to my studio. My palm slips against the wet rock. I lose balance with a gasp, sliding and lurching forward toward a mound of loose rocks.
The fall feels like I’m in slow motion, but that doesn’t change the fact that gravity is betraying me. The uneven terrain under me makes it so I can’t rebalance. I twist and use my flailing arms against more rocks to slow my fall, pushing some of the rubble Kalos mentioned. My ass hits a bigger rock and pain ricochets through my body as every loose rock in the universe cascades over and around me, digging into my legs and burying them.
The rocks stop sliding as quickly as they started, and I take inventory. My twist kept me from falling on my stomach, and fortunately none of the bigger rocks got close to hitting it. My tailbone throbs, and I probably have rock-shaped bruises all over my thighs. I may have pulled a muscle in my arm with my flailing, but the worst part is the heavy rocks biting into my thighs. A good portion of my legs are buried. The press of the cold rubble against me is tight, but thankfully not painful. I try to move, but the pressure around my ankle gets worse, the twinge of discomfort has me hissing.
I’m trapped.
“Shit,” I whisper and start to blink away tears. It could have been so much worse, but it’s hard to remember that when my heart is racing and the chill of the stone starts to permeate the canvas of my jumpsuit.
I unzip the pocket where I stored my phone, glad I didn’t put it in my back pocket.
I curse silently before tapping the contact.
“Kalos is going to be pissed.” The words echo in the space as I prepare to confess my sins.
34
KALOS
“LEAVE,” I hiss.
Ben freezes in his attempt to move the rocks around Katarina. He doesn’t deserve my ire. He’d been quick to teleport us here when she’d called me and confessed where she was, but my emotions are surface-level today, and her tear-filled eyes aren’t helping with the raging violence brewing. The territorial possessiveness that comes with being around her in distress and in this space are two meeting winds of destruction.
“Are you sure?” Ben asks slowly, taking a step away from Katarina to appease the vicious side of me that growls at him.
The portal that is spelled to open down here to give my dragon freedom crackles across my skin, but I push past the distraction.
Katarina’s eyes are wide, and she’s shivering. She’s half buried in a mix of rocks and mud, and there are dried streaks of dirt on her face.
She could have been down here for hours if she hadn’t been able to call, trapped and possibly injured.
“Now,” I say, and Ben vanishes without another word.
“Traitor,” she says under her breath but snaps her mouth shut at my glare.
My hands are less human than they usually are. My control of this form falters in the face of the raging worries echoing in my ears. They make passably shovels as I gently dig her out of where she’s stuck, moving rocks that could have crushed her.