Page 130 of Thief of Hearts

I didn’t understand it. I was much stronger than him. How could he keep me here? “Zain, if you don’t get out of my way, I am going to—”

His lips moved to mine, kissing me aggressively, passionately. It was the first time since we had left Epirius. When his tongue slid into my mouth, swirling with mine, I made a moaning sound in my throat and wrapped my arms around him.

It would have been impossible to tell how long we stood there, kissing one another, the passion and heat of it enough to put the desert to shame.

He broke it off and said, “What do you see now?”

I looked over his shoulder and realized the oasis was gone. Instead I saw what looked like dancing flames, gliding across the sand. “Flames without smoke.”

“Marjun,” he confirmed. “I kissed you to bring you back to yourself, and now you can see their true form. We should keep moving before they come over to introduce themselves.”

We headed off in the opposite direction and Zain had a firm grip on my hand. He was worried that I was going to wander off. His kiss had the effect he’d hoped for. He had woken me up from whatever spell those creatures had put me under. Whenever I looked over my shoulder, I only saw the marjun.

Twilight settled in around us, making it difficult to see. While we had cloth and the ability to make flame, we didn’t have anything to make a torch with. We kept walking in that near darkness and Zain made a sound when he practically smacked face-first into the opening of a cave.

“Where did that come from?” I asked.

“This is it! We’ve found it! The cave where the caduceus of Eramis is supposed to be.” The excitement in his voice was evident, and I understood it. My exhaustion fled, replaced by a desire to go inside.

He started toward the entrance and I tugged on his hand. “Wait.”

We had no idea what we were walking into. We would both go regardless, but I felt like we should prepare.

All I could think about was Lia and her sisterhood having to pass tests by goddesses in order to retrieve Dea’s god-weapon. It would stand to reason that since we also sought a god-weapon, there might be more than just the dragon obstacle.

I told Zain quickly about what Lia and her adelphia had gone through. When I finished, I added, “There could be one room in there, or there could be twenty. Each with its own trial or test.”

“I’m not worried,” he said. “Between the two of us, we’ll be able to solve them all.”

Although I felt a reluctance because of what I knew, I again experienced a strong urge to enter. “It’s like the cave is beckoning me inside.”

He nodded. “I feel the same thing.”

That couldn’t be good, either.

“We have to go in,” he said. “What other choice do we have?”

He was right and I nodded, pulling out my sword. His grip tightened around mine and we walked into the mouth of the cave.

There was still enough light outside that we could see the area around us. There was a pile of something on the ground, and as we got closer, I realized that they were bones, but they had been hardened. They weren’t human bones, either.

Zain grabbed one and we made it into a torch. He carried it and led while I brought up the rear. Something was going to attack us; I was certain of that.

But I was ready.

He walked into a narrow hallway where we could only fit one at a time. Water dripped down the walls, making a repetitive plinking sound when it dropped to the ground. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Something was about to happen.

Zain walked into a cavern the size of a large room. We saw an opening on the other side. It seemed that all we had to do was walk across the empty floor. He crouched down, his fingers running along a seam in the rocks.

“There are traps here,” he said. “Dozens. Hundreds. I’m not certain.”

“What kind of traps?”

“The kind thieves set, and the kind we can disarm.” He handed me the torch and I held it in my left hand, my sword still in my right. I couldn’t even see what he was talking about.

Zain took out one of his daggers and used it to hold up a trip wire that I hadn’t seen. “Step back,” he said.