Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

T he Noble must have ventured into our cave after darkness fell. All I knew was that when Shava, D, and I curled up into our little nest of blankets that night, he hadn't been inside with us.

But the moans and cries that woke me halfway through the night definitely came from inside the cave.

The moon shone brightly, giving at least enough illumination to see by as it filtered in through the opening in the cave, and several larger cracks in the walls itself.

"Ssh! Shut it! You'll wake the boy!" Shava whispered fiercely, towards the sound, but D was already up, clutching onto Shava's arm like it was a lifetime.

"What is wrong with you?"

I got up and crossed the cave. The noble was curled up into a ball, which didn't surprise me. The full body tremoring however, did. I prodded the man hard, rolling him over to his back.

"Wake up. It is only a nightmare."

I pushed him onto his back, and what I saw gave me flashbacks to over a year ago.

It was a nightmare, but not the kind I had imagined.

Blazing yellow eyes rolled back into his head, with gray skin that had flaked off into ashes on the surrounding ground.

His skin had been gray yesterday.

Had that been a sign the change was imminent? Was that the true reason he'd been sent to the dragon, and not money, as he claimed? The implications were monumental: did the queen know her Nobles were cursed and was just killing them off as they showed signs of turning?

This was big. This could be the morsel to be held over her head in order to gain protection for myself, and power!

Assuming I survived, as the snarling demon-creature lunged straight for my face.

Shava screamed and raced toward the cave opening.

Not that I blamed her; I'd have done the same if the demon's weight wasn't pinning me to the ground as I strong-armed its face as hard as I could to keep its teeth away from my neck.

The mud boy didn't cry or even look surprised to see a monster in his cave. He picked up one of the small stones lying around and threw it with perfect accuracy, nailing the demon in the eye.

It dropped me and whirled around, looking for its new target. I rolled and got my feet under me, sure to put distance between me and the creature. Not that it mattered, since it had sensed less feisty prey in D, cornering him and advancing as saliva dripped down its nasty fangs.

Indecision froze me. Did I use the creature's distraction with D to make an escape like Shava had, or did I fight it off? Then again, what could I do against a monster? I certainly had done nothing last time; the Fireguards had killed it! I was stronger and more resilient now because of my rituals, but was under no delusion I could win a one-on-one fight with a demon. And yet …

A large rock sat on the ground next to me. I picked it up and took a half-step forward. I could easily bash the creature over the head, but what if I killed it?

Thankfully, the choice was taken from me.

Shava burst back into the cave. With a scream like a banshee, she punched the demon in the face, grabbing D and hauling him out of the cave before it could react. I threw the rock at its face, nailing it in the temple.

"Come on!" she yelled at me, not that I needed any more convincing. We burst out of the cave and Shava pushed D and me down to the side, out of the way.

"Now! Do it now!"

Zariah stuck his head in the cave's opening and let loose a torrent of flames.

Disappointment welled in my gut. You couldn't exactly study a pile of ashes, after all.

SMACK.

I clutched my face, shocked.

"What the fuck was that?" Shava screeched. One arm hugged D to her side, which he seemed quite content with. The angry little face that glared up at me was deserved. I had been debating whether he'd be demon food or not.

Ignoring her question (because I didn't have an answer that wasn't embarrassing) I instead turned to Zariah, who shifted back into his human form. If he thought that would keep us from arguing, he had another thing coming.

"What was that ?" I repeated, but directed at him, waving my arm towards the blackened interior of our cave. "Everything was in there! Blankets, food, and the experiment! "

Zariah scowled and bared his teeth in an animalistic expression. It didn't look quite right on a little boy's face.

"So I should have let him eat you?" he growled back.

I grabbed my hair in frustration. "No, not that. I just … sorry." It slipped out before I could stop it, so I might as well roll with it. "We learned something after all, so it wasn't all for nothing."

Zariah frowned, and Shava hugged D closer to her.

"What did we learn, other than that you're a coward?" she bit out. "That little boy is more of a man than you . You panicked and froze."

I hadn't frozen. I had simply been weighing my options. Ignore it. She's upset.

"Two things: we learned that the change happens quickly, and with little warning. I noticed his skin was gray yesterday, did you? That is an early warning sign."

Shava frowned.

"And the other thing?" Zariah asked, curious.

I gave him a serious look. "The queen knows about it, and is sending you Nobles about to turn to clean up the evidence."

Shava's jaw dropped, then her face hardened. "That frigid bitch. I knew it."

She whirled around to Zariah. "And you're just … doing what she says and killing them?"

Zariah glared and bared his teeth, but it wasn't nearly as impressive with him out of his dragon form.

"I have to obey her. It's … hard to explain. It's a compulsion."

Interesting. Was it magickal, perhaps?

Shava frowned, not buying it. I had an inkling of what he meant, though. Similar to my need to continue to do rituals, it wasn't something that was entirely voluntary. Growing the latent magick inside my veins was an addiction—something I had no choice over now that I was aware of it. Perhaps it was similar to that.

Shava didn't look impressed.

"It's been a long night. Why don't we get D settled?" I suggested, shifting her attention back to D.

Zariah jumped up. "I will scavenge for more blankets and materials, and we need more water. I'll be just a moment."

He shifted into his dragon form and took off into the air, his wings lifting the hairs on our heads as they beat furiously.

"I don't need anything. I just want to sleep."

D's quiet voice was barely audible despite the heavy silence that fell over us. He cuddled into Shava's side, shaking a bit.

"Might as well get comfy here, and wait until morning to survey the damage," she sighed.

I nodded, seeing nothing wrong with that. It was a clear night, and the rocks were still warm from the day's sunlight.

Shava sat against the cave wall, legs bent. Her arm went around D, who already snuggled into her side and resting his head on her breasts.

A kernel of irritation welled in me at that.

"I'm going to inspect the cave."

Shava waved me away dismissively.

My lip curled, but instead of responding, I let the charred remains of the cave swallow me.

Black. It was just all … black. The moon only shone so far into the cave.

Well, at least I know there's nothing alive inside.

That was the thought I carried with me as I stepped inside.

Ashes kicked up against my feet, giving me the sensation of something crawling against my ankles. I ignored it and pushed forward, going until I hit the back wall of the cave and spreading my palms against the rough texture of the stone. Closing my eyes, I ran my hands along the back wall, using it as a guide to explore the cave.

And nearly toppled head over ass when the rock disappeared under my hands into a giant crevice tucked into the back wall.

Where did it go?

I hesitated to explore a dark crack in an already inky abyss of a cave, alone and with no weapons or fire.

"What did we learn, other than that you're a coward?"

Shava's words rang in my ears, and a hot blush burned my ears and down the side of my face. I wasn't a coward. I'd explore this crack.

Into the abyss I went.

For as monumental of a decision as it felt, it was anticlimactic. The crack was small and narrow, forcing me to bend and contort to fit through. But once I did, I emerged in another chamber of the cave that felt much larger than the first, if the cooler air was anything to go by.

Drip. Drip.

Water?

Be careful. Don't want to die from water in a desert.

I didn't know how to swim, exactly, but I'd been in the bathing chambers enough with their deep pools enough to know how not to drown.

The further in I went, the lighter it became. Small holes and cracks in the cave ceiling and walls filtered in slashes of moonlight; not a lot, but enough to see the two large hot springs sitting in the darkness, small pockets of air bubbling up from the bottom.

I'd read about hot springs, but never thought I'd see one in person. It seemed too good to be true.

Crouching to the side, I cautiously dipped my fingers into the water.

Warm.

Was it safe to drink?

I couldn't think of a reason it wouldn't be. My books told me that stagnant water was dangerous, but this water wasn't entirely still. I heard running water coming from somewhere, so I had to assume it either came from within the mountain itself, or bubbled up from the earth. I couldn't see the harm in either of those things.

Coward.

I wasn't a coward. I'd show her.

Before I could think about what I was doing, I bent down and scooped up a generous amount of the warm water in my hands, and brought it to my face to drink.

Drinking hot water was a new experience, but it tasted good; not dissimilar to hot water at the palace before the tea was added.

I drew back, wondering if I'd just killed myself. Wouldn't that be a hoot? Where the queen, a dragon, and blood magick failed, Zephyr the bastard prince was taken out by water.

The bastard prince.

I rather liked the sound of that.

Waiting a few minutes, it became clear I wasn't dying or about to die.

I felt accomplished; we had two pools to use for bathing and water. Things were looking up quite a bit.

Ducking out back through the crevice and blackened interior of the first chamber, I poked my head outside of the entrance.

"Shava. Shava!"

She jerked, arms tightening around D and checking he was all right. Sensing nothing but his sleeping form, her eyes snapped open and focused on me.

What ? she mouthed silently.

"I found something. Come see."

Her eyes narrowed, but her curiosity won out over her annoyance like I knew it would.

"Fucking dark."

I reached for her hand to help guide her through the dark and counted it as a minor victory when she didn't pull away. We walked through the cave, ignoring the ashy remains of the Noble demon. "Through here. I found something through a crevice in the back."

She grumbled something under her breath, but allowed me to guide her.

"It's small, but you'll be able to fit better than me." I squeezed through first and she followed quickly, barely needing to turn sideways to fit through.

"What's that? I smell water?"

The moonlight illuminated her chin, lifting and sniffing the air.

"You can smell water?" I asked, a little dubious.

"When something is short in supply, you get really sensitive to it," she replied, striding forward with confidence and an excited, heady rush to her voice.

"Shava, what—"

I swallowed my words as she whipped her tunic over her head and plunged straight into the water with a flash of plump tits and a rounded ass.

Standing still like a moron, I shook my head, coughing as her head broke the surface of the water.

"Are you insane? You don't know what's in there! What if it's poisonous? What if there are man-eating creatures?" I lectured.

I highly doubted there was any such thing in the water, but you could never be precisely sure, could you?

Shava spit out a stream of water at me. It landed short, but the point was taken.

"You are foolish and take perilous risks," I huffed, but I walked toward the edge of the water towards her, like a moth drawn to flames.

She laughed throatily. "I went my whole life without a bath until I was reaped. A stone girl taught me how to float and not panic, saving my life in the bathing house. Now I am obsessed with baths. You cannot tell me there is a warm bath somewhere and not expect me to get the dust out of my hair."

Her head disappeared under the water again, this time for much longer.

And still she didn't surface.

Uneasiness churned in my gut. I knew the basics of treading water, but had never done it in practice; I'd always gotten bathed in my mother's small tub as a child, and when I was reaped I was tall enough to touch the bottom of the pools in the bathing houses.

Would I be able to touch in this pool? What if I couldn't?

The ripples on the surface of the pool went still.

"Shava? SHAVA!"

Damn it all.

I splashed into the water fully clothed, thrashing around a bit and trying to keep my feet under me. Forcing myself out towards the middle, I tried to keep my head clear as my toes lifted from the bottom and I was forced to use my hands and feet to keep myself afloat. I reached out blindly for Shava, not having a clue what I was doing.

My head bobbed under the surface, warm water flooding my mouth.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and pushed me up. Glorious air met my skin, and I coughed. Shava shoved me back toward the edge until my feet touched again. Shaking and unnerved, I clutched onto a rock ledge that jutted out from the side of the pool, attempting to collect myself.

"Don't you Nobles grow up in the bathing pools?" Shava sidled up next to me, reaching up with one hand to hang off the rocky ledge with me. The angle exposed the curve of her breasts poking out just above the water. I would have given my left hand for a little more light in the cave.

"Scribes are allowed in there once a week and only with limited time. I was always tall enough to touch," I bit out, still embarrassed by my shortcomings.

"So you dove into a pool blindly in some kind of attempt to … what?" she asked.

"Make sure you weren't drowning," I mumbled into my chest.

Shava hummed to herself.

"What?" I shot back, self-conscious and out of sorts in my sodden clothing.

"I can't figure you out," she continued, eyeing me warily. "You damn a child to death, then risk your life for me. It's confusing."

I gripped the rock hard, the pads of my fingers scraping against the rough surface.

"I'm not confused at all about you," I blurted out.

One dark eyebrow arched at me. "Oh?"

I couldn't tear my eyes away from her breasts. And she knew it.

Her hands slid to my chest, making quick work of the few buttons on my tunic. The wet fabric slid off my shoulders and made a heavy TWACK as she threw it up onto solid ground.

Her hand on my bare chest was warmer than the water.

"I still don't like you."

Her hand went further and further south. My mouth went dry.

"But you're not a total asshole."

"Fair enough," I croaked out. I'd agree I was the scum of the earth or a dragon turd if it meant she just kept doing what she was doing. Clover had been fun, but never had she taken charge like this before. It was intoxicating and intriguing.

Her hand wrapped around my cock and squeezed.

I groaned.

"Listen here," she continued. "I know you're not the Noble born boy you claim to be. How can you be with the dark hair? And all the other girls say you look a lot like the king and the little prince. I'm not stupid ."

She squeezed again. But it was hard for me to focus on the threat when it felt so fucking good.

"You're not stupid" was the only thing I could push out.

She smiled more ferociously than Zariah had in his dragon form.

"I want to protect my own. Your own. We work together with the prince to protect and save those who we can. We find somewhere for them to go, whether that's here or elsewhere."

Sure, fine, whatever she wanted. As long as she kept touching me just like that …

I shook my head. "I can't leave the palace," I argued. "I have my research, and my studies. I—"

Her hand stroked up and down my length, making any further thoughts impossible, let alone speech.

"You're selfish. And I still want you. What does that make me?" she whispered fiercely, then crashed her lips to mine.

It was night and day compared to Clover.

Clover was a cool breeze across your face, soothing a hot brow and whispering sweet nothings into your ear.

Shava was a burning fire, scalding herself into your flesh as you thanked her for the honor.

And for her, I'd happily burn.