22. Midas

CHAPTER 22

MIDAS

F inally! I'll be back in Under and I can look at this horrible adventure as something I'll never have to do again. Perhaps I can convince Tempest to have a drink with me before she's swept away. Perhaps I can convince her to bed me, though with the way she's avoiding my gaze now, I'd think I was stricken with the plague right about now.

I'd only been honest. She's my ticket home. It makes sense that I save her. But for some reason, that answer seems to have offended her. Perhaps, I should not have been so honest.

The merge opens up beneath us and I fall through the air before dropping to my feet. Tempest falls out after me and I catch her before she can slam into the ground. She scrambles out of my arms quickly, brushing herself off. I look around, excited, and immediately frown.

"This isn't Under," I say, disappointment coating my words.

"Pity," she replies as she dusts herself off. "I'd have liked this little adventure we're having to end."

I study her, looking closely at the way her skin sparkles beneath the sunshine. This world is bright and green, lush even. She looks at home here, as if she was always meant to be somewhere tropical.

"I've offended you," I say.

"I can't be offended if I don't care," she says, not looking at me. "Don't worry. I'm under no illusions about what this is. I'm your ticket back home, remember?"

I reach for her, and she steps away, avoiding my touch. "I didn't mean it to sound cruel," I say. "It's only fact."

"Well then, if it's fact. . ." she says, rolling her eyes, as if I've given the wrong answer again. "We need to find out where we are."

"It is fact," I growl. "What isn't fact is that you can't control the merges! That was too perfect of timing to be an accident."

"Oh, so now I'm lying?" she snarls.

"More like unaware," I correct.

"So I'm ignorant now? Dios mío , you're not making this any better, Your Majesty ," she growls. "Why don't you go find your own way back to Under and leave me in peace?"

"You can control it! I know you can!"

"I can't!" she shouts back at me. "It's not me opening them! And if it were, why would I willingly spend another waking moment with you?"

I scowl. "I'm a delight."

"To yourself," she spits, glaring at me. "I'm certainly not enjoying myself."

"Then it's connected to your emotions," I declare.

"Yeah? So tell me if you're so wise, is it connected to my desire to punch you in the face or to my annoyance about you thinking I'm secretly messing with you?"

"Probably both," I shrug. When she storms closer, I poke her in the collarbone, and she bares her teeth at me like an animal. "Are you angrier now?"

"Don't fucking touch me," she growls.

I do it again. "Or what? You'll open a merge?"

"I'm going to gut you with that crown on your head if you don't knock it off," she threatens, standing toe to toe with me.

I hum. "No merge."

"No shit," she snarls. " Pinche pendejo. Vete a la mierda !"

Before she can turn away, I grab her hip and jerk her against me. "Then perhaps another emotion?"

Her eyes widen as I lean down, as my lips hover over hers. I reach up with my other hand and tangle it in her hair. Desire slams into me so hard, I sway with it. Her fire dances in her eyes, ready to consume me at a moment's notice. We stand there, staring at each other, the tension so thick it nearly chokes me. When I can't take it anymore and when she doesn't immediately push me away, I drag her the last little distance between us and claim her lips for my own.

She tastes like the fire that burns brightly inside her, like life, like desperate, terrible life. At first, she doesn't respond, and then her fingers clench tightly in my leather jacket, aggressively, as she tries to take control of the kiss. Suddenly, we can't get close enough, both of us trying to win over the other.

When someone clears their throat, I don't stop what I'm doing, but Tempest jerks back, her eyes wide as she looks up at me with glazed eyes before turning toward the voice. An older woman stands there, wearing modest clothing, a soft smile on her face.

"I don't mean to interrupt your moment, but you're in the way of Trixie. She can't go around you," the woman says, pointing behind us.

I turn to look and stare with wide eyes at the massive horned creature waiting impatiently behind us.

"What is—" I start.

"A triceratops!" Tempest gasps.

Whatever that means. As I watch, more of the creatures appear and we move to the side to allow them to pass. Then different ones appear.

"Compies!" Tempest cries, excitement in her eyes for the first time since I've seen her. Like a child seeing something wonderful for the first time.

Or like she's seeing something she'd always dreamed of as a child.

"You know your dinosaurs," the woman says with a smile. "Would you like to come meet others?"

These dinosaurs carry baskets filled to the brim with vegetables. When the woman gestures toward us, we follow, cresting over the hill, both of us curious. As we get a good look at it, my eyes widen impossibly further. A massive tree stands in the distance, and at the base of it, a city spreads out. Flying creatures soar on wings up to the top, and larger creatures travel around the edges.

"Wow," Tempest says, staring at it. "I would love to see?—"

The whooshing sounds again behind us and her face crashes down into utter disappointment. My chest aches for her as we're yanked backward together, our visit to this world so brief, it's a shame. She wanted to stay. She wanted to see.

She can't control the merges. I know that now. I can feel it.

I carry her disappointment with me into the next world.