think this is the part where we run," I reminded him and he groaned like a kid who had just been told he couldn't have candy for breakfast.
"Alright then. Let's get the fuck out of here."
W e hurried along the tunnel, climbing higher and higher toward the surface, but it narrowed again at this end until we were forced to crawl. Plunger hadn't had time to make this part of the passage tall enough for anything else, but Claud managed to move along at my side as we followed right behind Plunger, trying to avoid looking directly at his naked ass in our faces. It was pitch black in here, but Plunger's weird mole nose glowed red like fucking Rudolph’s so I could see enough.
"This way, follow my hiney," Plunger called. "Almost there."
I turned, looking back at Gustard who was hot on my heels, his eyes glittering with excitement as we drew closer to freedom. Brett, Sonny and Esme were following his crew with Pudding bringing up the rear. There was no sign of Rosalie yet and my gut clenched tighter the further we got. She should have caught up to us by now with Sin and Ethan. Where the fuck were they?
I feared what would happen if we got to the surface before they reached us. I wasn't going anywhere without Rosalie and neither was anyone else.
"She'd better hurry," Gustard said under his breath.
"We'll have to wait before we go up top," I growled for the hundredth time and Gustard answered me with silence as usual.
But Dante wasn't going to fry the fence until he had eyes on his cousin, and I wasn't going to let Gustard make any stupid decisions and ruin this entire operation. If it came to it, I'd be making sure he and his psycho friends never saw the moonlight waiting for us above ground. We had no intention of letting them actually escape anyway. The shank Rosalie had given me felt heavy in my pocket and the weight of it made me feel a whole lot better about having that piece of shit at my back.
"Ah here we are," Plunger announced, but I didn't stop in time and my cheek collided with the sagging skin of his ass as he stopped moving.
"For fuck's sake," I growled, backing up a bit, but Gustard was so close behind me that there was nowhere to go.
"She’ll catch up,” Claud murmured, clearly reading my mood and I nodded to him.
He smiled warmly, but there was a flicker of concern in his eyes. I didn't think any of us would be able to relax until we were far beyond the fences and stardusting to another part of Solaria. I sure as shit wouldn't anyway. I wanted Rosalie in my arms and I intended on never leaving her side again. Being parted from her now at this most crucial moment was agony.
"What's the hold up?" Gustard snapped.
"We've reached the end of my tunnel, pet," Plunger answered. "Gotta get digging into the moist dirt again." His ass wiggled back and forth in front of me and I recoiled in disgust.
Plunger started digging with his curved claws, swallowing the dirt as he went and the tunnel opened up surprisingly quickly in front of us. We moved along at a steady pace, climbing higher as Plunger used his whole body to pat down the walls, the thick skin on his shifted form perfect for slapping against the mud to keep it in place. Totally fucking gross, but seriously effective.
"Mmm I can taste the surface soil," Plunger announced. "We're almost there."
I crept after him, continually looking back over my shoulder or straining my ears for the sound of Rosalie's voice, but it never came. Where are you, baby? Hurry up.
"Oh my, there's a bit of a tingle in the rock up here," Plunger called.
"What do you mean?" I asked, but I felt it too as I passed through a ring of dark rock and a tingle trickled through my skin. "What is that?"
"We might be close to an electrical source," Plunger said, but he didn't sound convinced.
I frowned as we continued on, deeper and deeper into the dark. I didn't like the feeling of being so confined down here, especially as the tunnel was narrowing and my shoulders were getting almost too wide for the space. Claud had to fall back behind me and I growled at Plunger irritably.
“Make it wider,” I demanded.
"Some of us are much bigger than a little Mole Rat," Pudding's