He turned sideways, so the pack faced her. “Give me the T-shirt.”
When she put it into his hand, he used his claws to silently tear it into strips that she stuffed in an easily reachable pocket of the pack, working by touch.
He wanted to kiss her again. He hated being down here and he could see in the dark. It had to be a hundred times worse for her, but she kept going. “Ready?”
“Let’s go.”
Hands linked, they carried on. There were more traps, including one that he had to spring in order for them to pass. A hundred crossbow bolts embedded into the opposite wall with deadly force a heartbeat after he triggered the mechanism and spun out of the way. Only after they were all expended did Naasir crawl underneath, making a worried Andromeda wait on the other side and pushing the pack ahead of him in case there were pressure switches embedded in the tunnel floor.
They took a short break afterward, drinking water from the bottle in the pack and eating more of the dried food. Thankfully, they’d stored food in both packs.
“No more jerky,” Andromeda muttered, giving that to him. “I’m eating the nuts and fruits.”
He decided that was okay, since she’d had jerky while they were above. Eating the leathery meat gave him no pleasure but it was fuel and it would keep him going without blood for a while.
Washing it down with water, he rose and tugged up his mate. “It won’t be far now.”
“I’m okay. Excited.” A smile that lit up the darkest shadows. “We might be about to wake an Ancient. Right now, I don’t even care that he might wake angry.”
Nuzzling at her, he grinned. “Wild and fearless and a little bad. Perfect.”
Eyes sparkling in the darkness, she bit down on her full lower lip as if stifling a laugh.
He wanted to growl.
Vows of celibacy should be outlawed as far as he was concerned. However, since Andromeda had taken one, he’d honor it because her honor was important and he wouldn’t steal it from her. He would, however, happily end that vow by finding that stupid red book. “Let’s finish this.” So he could go hunt the Grimoire.
They continued to walk side by side until he scented a living being aside from him and Andromeda and the occasional large insect. He hadn’t mentioned the latter to his mate—she was tough but he’d seen full-grown warriors, male and female, shudder at the thought of insects. He’d test Andromeda’s tolerance later, when they weren’t trapped underground and she couldn’t see.
Releasing her hand, he touched her face to reassure her, then put the pack on the ground and moved forward on his own. The wing brother was standing at the entrance to a small cave, his eyes constantly scanning the tunnel and his crossbow held at the ready. No green youth this one.
By the time Naasir returned to Andromeda, her breathing was choppier than it had been, but she’d stayed in position. Hugging her, he cupped her nape and spoke directly into her ear. “There are two. One inside the cave, one at the entrance. I can take down the one outside relatively silently. You gag him and tie him up.”
She nodded.
“If the one inside hears, I’ll have to knock the first one unconscious and hope Alexander understands—our only advantage is surprise.”
Andromeda touched her hand to his jaw, ran her fingers up to his eyes.
“Yes,” he said. “They can see in the dark. Night vision goggles.” He rubbed his face against the side of hers. “We’ll steal you a pair. They’ll get rescued soon enough.”
She patted his chest in thanks and they separated to head toward the wing brothers after Andromeda pulled out some of the torn pieces of cloth.
*