was right. Corsov was dangerous, and I was just a little less in love with the place. The city streets were dangerous, as well, but at least they were familiar.
At last, I managed to climb to my feet, and I stood swaying for a little while before I began tentatively walking. I kept my hands stretched out in front of my face for fear of slamming face first into a tree.
Because I was afraid of stumbling into a deep hole or a bog, or falling over the aforementioned cliff, I dropped to my knees and began to slowly crawl forward. Sporadically I would attempt a loud “help!” but my voice was hoarse and weak, and I couldn’t draw a deep enough breath to scream.
My mouth was dry, my heart beating weakly, and dread covered me like a dark shroud. I didn’t think I’d ever been quite so scared. I’d barely begun crawling before I did exactly what I’d been afraid of doing and slammed into something hard.
It wasn’t a tree, but a wall. I followed that wall in a circle, realizing finally that I was confined in a circular space like a well, maybe. Someone had dropped me into a deep, dark hole and then covered it back over.
I was in a bonetrap.
I lifted my face and yelled, “Dexx!” but no one came running. I would have given anything for a light. Just a single, small light. I told myself I wasn’t blind, it was simply too dark to see even a shadow wherever I was.
What a horrible place.
If I got out of this alive, I would be happy to go live at Eastmeadow with Dexx, and I’d tell him so immediately. Corsov was a son of a bitch.
I felt the walls for toeholds or maybe a ladder some poor soul had carved in before he’d expired, but there was nothing.
“Find me, Dexx,” I whispered.
And I sank to the ground, too exhausted and hurt to do anything but huddle on the ground and wait.
Chapter Twenty-One
DEXX
By the time Bo and I had gotten rid of our anger and the joy of the fight had dimmed as our energy flagged, half of Corsov had joined us—and most of them were fighting. The camp was a destroyed mess, but the fire was still blazing.
Bo draped his arm around my shoulders and grinned, causing his swollen lips to start bleeding again. “It’s dawn soon, boss. What say we hike into town and scare up a proper breakfast and the best rotgut they have?”
I clapped him on the back. “I have an angry female waiting for me, my friend. I will tend to her now that I’ve taken care of you.”
He hooted. “I would say we took care of each other, old man. I did not fall beneath your raging fists.”
I snorted. “Once or twice you fell, I believe.” Again, I clapped him on the back, then left him to his morning as I winded my way through the flagging battles that remained and headed for my cabin. I attempted not to flinch or move too slowly, but when Bo laughed as he watched me walk, I was certain I had failed.
I was eager to see my woman. She was likely snuggled deep in my bed, ready to slam her little fist against my nose the moment she saw me. She’d still be angry at me for the embrace she thought she saw, and likely for fighting with Bo, as well.
I’d make it up to her, and I would send Avanya back to the city if she weren’t already on her way there. Kreia would soon see that I had no wish for or need of another female.
Even before I touched the cabin door, my heart began to thump, and dread filled my mind. I knew before I stepped over the threshold that she was not inside. I didn’t feel her there. Still, when I spotted the lump under the covers, I thought—hoped—I was wrong. But the person in my bed was much larger than Kreia.
I yanked the covers off the bed, not at all surprised when a naked Avanya sat up with a startled cry. “Dexx!”
I shoved my hand through my hair, trying to control my irritation as I stepped back. “Where is she? Where is Kreia?”
She blinked her eyes and leaned back on her elbows, arching her back to shove her large, bare breasts into the air. “I have no idea where the Drimuti flew off to. I haven’t seen her since she