Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“Really?” she asked quietly, not knowing how loud they could be. “You couldn’t use the part I just ripped off?”
Smirking, he tossed the knife into the air and took his before she startled and juggled it out of the sky. Unlike a normal blade, when this one fell against her hand, it was as dull as a stone.
“Cute,” she whispered, keeping it in her hand.
“Shall we?” He indicated for her to go first, which would’ve been chivalrous had it not been more dangerous. His voice was at its normal volume. “That went much smoother than I could’ve anticipated.”
She still whispered, “You say something like that after every skirmish.”
“Yes. You continually surprise and impress me.” He paused, looking down at her with annoyingly pretty, sparkling eyes. “You’re not going to gush with that compliment?”
“Oh shut up,” she muttered.
He laughed. “No, but really, I am surprised and impressed. You handled that creature like you’d battled it a million times.”
“I handle every creature like I’ve battled it a million times. Confidence makes the arrow fly true.” She tilted her head. Was that a saying or had she made it up?
“And you’ve earned it.” He held out his hand when they reached the other side of the space. The walls condensed into a tunnel not unlike the one they’d come from. He put his finger to his lips, then to his temple.
We’re miming instead of talking now? she asked.
We worked very well together against the Celestials. I wondered if that was a fluke. It seems it was not. I think we can expand our communication to nonverbal cues.
She twitched up her shoulder, something Zorn would’ve known was “yeah, sure, whatever,” but that Tarian gleaned from the thoughts tumbling through her head.
Yes, you do have a dizzying mind at times, he murmured, his focus snapping back to the issue at hand. The bioluminescent moss was back, covering much more of the ceiling than at the beginning of the tunnels. It cast the two of them in an eerie glow. And yes, I’ll be able to cheat until we teach you how to shield your mind.
She looked over at him with a quirked eyebrow. His gaze roamed her face, paused on her eyes, and stuck to her lips. I don’t know what that means, but I’m happy to be looking at your beautiful face.
She rolled her eyes.
I do know what that means, he murmured.
You’ve never mentioned there was a way to shield my mind.
No, because I didn’t want you to figure it out on your own and hide your thoughts from me. It’s safer this way.
She didn’t bother asking for whom. Obviously, it was for him.
Obviously, he thought.
The tunnel wound around and down, then split into offshoots that went in various directions. A maze, it seemed. Tarian took the lead on this, always seeming to know where he was going. Only twice did he take a wrong turn and berate himself for it. When asked how he knew the way, he described the stonework and the various tells the Celestials always used as markers for the dummy tunnels. He’d paid attention to the other mazes he’d had to travel, each set of throughways apparently having one.
As she’d expected, they had periods during which to catch their breath before hitting the next challenge. And the next. Each battle went like the first, the two of them working together seamlessly to cut down the creatures the Celestials had thought would pose a problem. For Tarian individually, and certainly for her, they would’ve. At one point, two three-headed, bearlike things with spikes for fur had chased them around a large sandpit. He’d had to use magic for that one, not trusting them to bring the creatures down without it.
She’d, of course, mentally yelled at him for not using magic up until that point, intentionally wasting their energy. To which he’d responded that magic took energy and she was a horribly selfish little nymph. It was starting to feel like he couldn’t be serious for longer than it took to fell their enemy. That wasn’t training. She didn’t care what he said. He would’ve gotten along great with Jack and Donovan and the rest of the gang, joining in at poking fun at her. It would be a shame when she had to kill him.
It wasn’t until what Tarian suspected was the final obstacle, when they were dead tired and splattered with the dried blood of dead creatures, that they encountered the worst one yet. Not for him, though. For her. For a human. The Celestials knew what he was smuggling into their lands, and they were making sure he wouldn’t be able to get it through to the other side.
19
The tunnel was the same size and shape, with shadows draping across the open space, but it was no longer clear. Huge, briar-like plants dominated the walkway, squeezing out the walking area until there was barely enough room for Tarian to squeeze through.