Reign of Shadows (Reign of Shadows, #1)(69)

The ground right below our tree frothed and rustled. Clawed fingers slapped mud and silt. A dweller pulled itself free near the base of the trunk with a great sucking sound.

More of them came. They were pulling free everywhere, the mud sucking and sluicing down their stout bodies as though the swamp wanted to keep them buried forever. I assessed the landscape, counting over twenty. Maybe the ground was easier to penetrate here. There were so many, groaning as they came to life, their heavy bodies roiling, squelching the sodden earth.

Fowler’s hand closed over mine. I squeezed back. We held ourselves as still as stone. I didn’t dare make a sound. I held my breath, my fingers flexing against his warm flesh.

A cracking sound split the air and suddenly the tree gave out. It tilted to the side, jostling us in the branches. I lost my balance and fell forward. My legs swung free, but I locked my arms around a branch. A sharp cry escaped before I could smother it.

Fowler’s arm wrapped around my waist and hauled me back up, plastering me against him. I panted into his neck, clinging to him.

“I got you. I got you.”

I nodded fiercely, a hot tear spilling down my cheek. I buried my face in his chest, listening as the dwellers rumbled and surged against the tree, aware of us now. The tree shuddered against the force of their actions.

They started battering the base with their bodies. I clung tightly to Fowler. He held on to the tree for both of us.

“It can’t support us,” Fowler whispered.

I nodded, pressing my lips against his skin directly above his collar. This was it.

The pack of dwellers was frothing under us, clawing and tearing at the trunk, those horrible wet breaths sawing from their lips. The tree made another crunching sound and jerked a foot down. My stomach bottomed out. I whimpered and bit my lip until I tasted the coppery flow of blood against my teeth.

“Luna, Luna.” Fowler’s steady voice drew my attention to him. “They’re not going to go away.”

I bobbed my head, latching on to the sound of his voice, so calm and mesmerizing. I inhaled, searching for composure. If I wanted to live, if either one of us was going to have a chance, then I couldn’t be a hysterical mess.

“We can’t both stay up here.” I nodded again, even though his words did not fully penetrate. Was he saying we were going to have to make a dash for it? Through all those dwellers? I bit back a cry as the tree jerked again with a splinter of wood. Even if we fought our way free, how could we clear them without getting a fatal dose of toxin from so many receptors?

Fowler released a deep breath and cupped one hand against my face, his thumb stroking my cheek tenderly. “Luna, I don’t regret it. Any of it. Not since the first moment I met you in that forest.” He paused with a deep inhale. “Understand me?”

I shook my head, bewildered. “No, no, I—”

“Say you understand,” he cut in, his voice hard, allowing for nothing else but my agreement.

“Yes. Yes.”

“Hold yourself silent and still. No matter what happens. Be quiet. Stay in the tree. Let them think there’s nothing more up here for them.”

“Fowler?” I angled my head. “What do you mean—”

He kissed me so hard that our teeth clanged, but I didn’t care. I only felt the hot press of his mouth and his strong fingers diving into my hair, holding me for him. He lifted up his head at the same time he released my face. “I love you, Luna.”

My chest clenched as his arms loosened around me. He sucked in a sharp breath. My mouth worked, searching for a response as his words reverberated through me.

His palms rasped the rough bark as he shoved off the branch. It sprang higher with the sudden loss of his weight and I tightened my grip to stop myself from falling even as I stretched my other hand out for him, groping air wildly.

Thud.

Dwellers went wild under me, snarling, clawing each other for a piece of him. I opened my mouth on a silent scream, but Fowler’s words held me in check. I would do what he asked of me. His sacrifice couldn’t be of no value.

I listened hard for him. I heard several of his grunts over the dwellers’ din, but he didn’t scream. I had to hope he wasn’t being torn apart. Who could hold silent during that?

Hot tears streamed down my face, but I held quiet, choking on sobs, drowning in the sound of the savage thrashing below. I grasped my branch with aching, bloodless fingers, desperate for the sound of him. A cry. A single word. I needed to hear him. I needed something to tell me that he was fighting them off, getting away, escaping like he had always managed to do before.

Only nothing ever came.

Gradually, the noise stopped. My ears strained, but I could not even detect the dwellers’ telltale breathing. I sniffed, searching for the coppery-sweet scent of freshly spilled blood. Nothing. Silence hummed, floating in the loam-laden air, and I knew they were gone. They had gone underground and taken Fowler with them. I held still for several moments longer, my heart racing, my thoughts churning. It couldn’t end like this. Fowler could not end like this.

Calm swept over me. Suddenly I knew what to do.

Unsheathing my dagger and pressing a palm flat to the tree’s trunk, I gathered my nerve, inhaled several quick breaths, and dropped down from the tree. I struck the sodden ground on my knees. Mud splattered me in the face, sticking thick in my eyelashes. I wiped at my eyes with the back of one hand.