That wasn’t exactly a comforting thought. But that darkness inside her leaped again just the same.
They floated downstream in silence. If he was cold, he didn’t show it, didn’t even shiver, but every time she did, he dragged her even closer, as if trying to warm her. Below their feet, the ore on the bottom of the river glowed bright, illuminating the small tunnel around them like daylight awash in a blinding green. There was more ore here, she noted, as if the kobaloi hadn’t mined this area.
The rock ceiling was only a foot above their heads. And for the first time Maelea wondered how the hell the tunnel back at the colony had given way in the first place, landing them here. But before she could ponder too much, a crashing sound echoed from ahead, dragging her from her musings.
Gripping Gryphon’s shoulders, she shifted in his arms to look. The river seemed to pick up speed, and the ceiling was gradually climbing.
“Skata,” Gryphon muttered.
“What?” It wasn’t his curse that brought every muscle in her body to attention, it was the way he tightened his arms around her that told her something was coming.
“Don’t let go of me.”
“Why would I…?”
Her voice trailed off when she saw the rapids. A flurry of undulating whitecaps broken only by the occasional green glow from the riverbed. The current grew faster, the sound of rushing water louder. Maelea tightened her arms around Gryphon’s neck and held on as they passed through the first rapids, grunting when her body smashed into a rock and pain shot up her spine.
“Hold on!” Gryphon yelled above the roar of the water, gripping her around the waist with one arm, pushing away from the rocks with the other.
They bounced downstream, slamming into rocks with their backs, their sides, fighting to keep their heads above water. Gryphon grunted, loosed his hold on her waist. And then he slipped beneath the water with a gasp.
“Gryphon!”
Maelea floundered in the water as he let go, sputtered and kicked as hard as she could so she wouldn’t go down too. Just when she was sure he’d drown, his head popped up three feet in front of her.
He twisted back her way, held out his arm. “Grab on!”
She didn’t miss the blood trickling down his forehead, but she didn’t have time to think much of it. A roar grew louder in the distance. The green glow that had illuminated their way so far faded to nothing. Darkness closed in as she kicked and finally reached his hand. His solid body slammed against hers then he pulled her tight.
“What is that?” she asked, heart pounding, body shaking from both adrenaline and the bitter cold.
He listened for a second, gritted his teeth, and pushed away from boulders with his feet to keep them from smacking into them again. “Skata, it’s another waterfall.”
Dread filled Maelea’s chest. They’d been lucky to survive what they’d already come through. With the amount of rocks here and the rapids, they’d never make it through another sharp drop.
She frantically scanned the new cave they’d moved into. It was nearly pitch-black—only a few glowing stones were spaced unevenly on the bottom of the river. She squinted, tried to make out their surroundings. The ceiling was higher. A small shelf ran along the edge of the water. Not much, but enough that maybe, if they could reach it, they could get out of this water before they went over that waterfall. “Look. Over there.”
His head swiveled in the direction she pointed, and she watched his eyes grow wide like hers.
Daylight. Coming from the ceiling far off to the right.
“Come on!” He was already dragging her in that direction. “Swim hard!”
She thought her legs might fall off from the effort it took to swim against the current. Her arms ached, and her chest was so cold it was hard to draw air, but when she reached the ledge, when she realized daylight was only ten feet above, up a jagged hill they could easily climb, hope and a resurgence of energy spurred her on.
Gryphon hauled himself out of the water, dropped the sword at his feet, and turned to reach for her. Her hand slid into his. She braced her boots against the rocks along the edge and tightened every muscle, helping him as best she could. “Come on,” he said. “We’re almost there.”
She could barely believe it. In a few minutes they’d be out of this cave. And even though they’d shared that crazy, never-should-have-happened kiss, she was thankful she’d be free from him as well. Because that darkness inside him, those handsome good looks, and the way he felt so deliciously perfect against her skin? They were all a temptation she didn’t need. Not if she was going to get to Olympus. Not if she wanted to stay alive.
She levered herself up. Grunted at the effort. Halfway out of the river, with her torso perched on the rocks and her legs still dangling in the frigid liquid, a hiss echoed in the darkness.
Chapter Seven
Crouched by the side of the river, with water dripping from his body and both hands wrapped around Maelea’s arms to haul her out, Gryphon froze. He didn’t have to turn, because he knew what was behind him. The only question was where. And how many.
Maelea must have read his mind, because her gaze strayed over his right shoulder, and her eyes grew even wider.
Okay, that meant more than one. Their luck was not improving. He squeezed her hand to get her attention. When her fear-filled eyes darted back to his, he glanced down at the rocks, silently telling her not to make any quick moves when he let go.
The tiniest nod of her head was all the confirmation he needed. At his back, another hiss echoed, followed by the clicking of dozens of nails against stone.
He let go of her, grasped the sword, and swiveled, arcing out before the first kobalos could attack. A shriek sounded as he caught one across the chest, followed by another series of hisses and growls as they charged.
He swung out with the blade, kicked and knocked one creature into another. A grunt sounded as they went down. It was darker in here, with very little light coming through from above, and he wasn’t sure how many he took down, but when Maelea screamed at his back, he knew the longer they lingered, the more would arrive.
“Grab on to me!”
She’d climbed all the way out of the water already. Her fingers grasped the back of his shirt. She grunted as he continued to fight and move forward, drawing them closer to the light. Her grip tightened on his shirt, and she nearly lost her balance before righting herself. Bones cracking against rock echoed in the darkness along with more grunts and hisses, and the feel of Maelea slipping. She was fighting too, he realized. Kicking, punching, doing whatever she could to get them through as well.
They reached the incline. He turned, pushed her between him and the rocks. Yelled, “Climb!”
A roar rocked the cavern, the vibration nearly knocking Gryphon off his feet. Maelea gripped his back to steady herself. The kobaloi stopped their attack, their heads swiveling in the direction of the sound. With the sword gripped in two hands, Gryphon looked to the right too, toward a darkened tunnel coming alive with a fiery red glow that seemed to be growing in intensity.
Vibrations shook the floor. Another roar echoed through the cave. The kobaloi shrieked as if in fear, hissed, and jumped back.
“Wh-what is that?” Maelea asked at his back, her fingers shaking against his spine.
“I don’t know.” But whatever it was, it was big. And coming right for them.
They didn’t have time to dick around. And Gryphon wasn’t waiting around to see what the fuck it was. “Go!” he hollered, pushing her up the incline.
Rocks clattered together as she dug her feet into the loose pile and scrambled up the side, heading for the sliver of light only five feet away now. He followed, tried not to twist his ankle on the rocks and slide back down the hill. Three kobaloi close by realized they were about to get away, shrieked, and charged, even as the rest of the creatures scrambled away from the oncoming threat. Gryphon twisted, arced out with the blade, caught one across the throat. The creature went down. Another hissed and charged.