Descending (The Rising Series) (30 page)

“
What do we do while they’re gone?”

“We wait.”

They were gone for over an hour before Pallas returned.

“I saw nothing but flat sand and silt
,” Pallas said. “I sure hope the others had better luck.”

Amar came back next. He shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

Straton swam in with a smile on his face. “I think we have a winner. There’s an island with an empty cabin.”

“On land?” Kyros
asked.

“Yes, on land. How many cabins do you know
of in the sea?”

Kyros must have not thought
Straton’s question warranted an answer. He simply scowled.

“Well, Drakōn still hasn’t come back
,” Kyros said. “Maybe he found someplace better. Like a cave.”

“A cave would be better?” Gretchen asked.

Amar swam past her and mumbled, “He’d think the belly of a sperm whale was better than anything on land.”

Gretchen whipped her head around at his retreating figure.
Did Amar just make a joke?
She was too stunned to laugh.

Drakōn came back with no news.

“Well, it looks like the island is where we’re going.”

“Wonderful,” Kyros mumbled.

Cabin was an understatement. Kyros looked around inside the structure. It had six bedrooms, seven baths, and an eighty-nine inch projection screen with state-of-the-art electronic equipment.

“Okay, everyone,” Gretchen shouted.

Surprised faces turned her way—his included. “Since we are staying uninvited in someone’s house, we need to take care we leave everything just as we find it. Please respect this property and its owners. That being said, I think we need to figure out who is staying in what room. Xanthus and Sara will share a room, obviously. That leaves five bedrooms and six people. The beds are larger than the couches, and you guys are much larger than I am. I think it’s best to have the rest of you take a room each, and I’ll sleep on the couch out here.”

“Absolutely not
,” Kyros bellowed.

The others nodded their agreement with him.

“You will not be sleeping unprotected out in the open.”

“
I’m not in the open; I’m in the living room of a house,” Gretchen said. “Are you telling me one of you giants is going to sleep on this short couch?”

All of their eyes turned
to the small sofa with the knotted, wooden armrests and frowned. “Look,” she said, plopping down and stretching across the seat. “It’s the perfect size for me.”

Kyros frowned. She looked tiny on the sofa. Her skinny limbs appeared weaker than ever. He stomped over to her and scooped her off the couch as she squealed. He strode back into the hallway and through the nearest bedroom door. Stepping up to the
bed, he dropped her. She squeaked and bounced against the mattress. “What are you doing? I’m not sleeping here.”

“
Yes, you are.”

“But this is the biggest bedroom, next to the master.”

“Good, it should easily fit both of us.”

She turned over on her stomach and propped her head against her hands. “What about your vow to not touch me
?”

“I won’t touch you.”

She nodded to the door. “This is not like the cave where anyone could see us. They’ll think we are...you know.”

Kyros narrowed his eyes and growled.
Turning, he stomped out the door. If they were truly entertaining such wicked thoughts, he’d just have to set them straight.

They all looked up, stunned at his return. “So,” Straton said to him, “
you
are going to sleep on this couch?”

“No. I’m sleeping with Gretchen.”

Their eyes widened so far that they nearly popped out of their skulls. “Xanthus is rather fond of Gretchen. I don’t think he’ll like this.”

“We won’t be having…” Kyros began
. “That is…”
Hades, why is this so hard to say?
“You can assure him, Gretchen’s virtue is safe with me.”

With that said, he turned his back on their smirking faces and stomped back to the room. He found Gretchen forcing back a smile. She must have heard him bumbling at his friends.

“Go ahead. Laugh. I can tell you want to,” Kyros said.

“No
.” She smirked. “I’m fine.”

She looked over to the clock and said, “It’s getting late
. I need a shower to wash the salt water out.”

Kyros nodded, relieve
d she was going to leave—allowing him a chance to collect his thoughts.

Gretchen stepped in and pulled the door shut.
Soon, he could hear running water. His mind began to wander—Gretchen, standing in the shower, naked. No, he had to get his mind off her. And in order to do that, he had to get out of there.

He returned to the living area to find it practically deserted.

“Back so soon?” Straton asked.

“Uh, yeah. I couldn’t sleep.”

“I don’t know if I could sleep either if a beautiful woman were naked in the next room.”

“How do you know she’s naked?” Kyros growled, wondering how he came by that knowledge.

“Retract the fangs, Kyros. She simply mentioned to Sara she was looking forward to a long, cool shower.”

Kyros relaxed.

Straton stepped over to the couch and sat down. “You love her, don’t you?”

Kyros glowered. “How do you know?”

“I’d have to be blind not to see it. You hover around her constantly. It’s almost like you’re ready to kill anyone who breathes on her wrong. Then there’s the fact you fought a Ketea for her. You’ve sunk farther and faster than I would have dreamed possible for you.”

“I guess it’s pointless to deny it.”

“Yeah.”

“I intend to marry her.”

Straton nodded. “I figured. Things are going to be rough on you until you do—especially if you insist on sleeping in the same room with her. You know Xanthus wouldn’t take kindly to you shaming Gretchen before the wedding.”

“I wo
n’t shame her. Hades, I love her too much to do that.”

Straton nodded. “S
hould I congratulate you or give my condolences?”

Kyros smiled. “Either one would be appropriate.”

Straton stood and stretched. “Well, this is as much male bonding as I can take. Besides, I feel like I’ve been chewed up and spit out by a Ketea. And you, my friend, actually have and boy, do you look it.”

Kyros
smiled. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Straton walked through the hall, but turned back before he entered his room. “Kyros.”

“What?”

“I know you
were the one who put me on Xanthus’s list.” Straton’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Thank you for coming to get me. You can’t imagine what life was like at Panthon Prison.”

“I’m glad I could. You, of all people, didn’t belong there.”

Straton nodded and stepped into his room.

Kyros awoke to the smell of burning flesh.

He looked around. Gretchen was gone.
“Oh, not again,” he mumbled, pulling Gretchen’s pillow over his face. Her alluring scent was almost enough to mask the stench coming from the kitchen.

“Kyros
,” a voiced whispered through the door—Pallas? Straton? He wasn’t sure. The door creaked open, and Pallas’s head poked in. “We’re sneaking out the back door to go hunting. Do you want to come?”

Hades, ye
s. But he simply had to talk to Gretchen. They couldn’t take her trying to feed them dead flesh at every turn. “I’ll come later. I need to have a talk with Gretchen first. Explain things to her.”

“It’s
your
stomach,” he said before slinking down the hall.

“Explain what?” Gretchen’s voice materialized as her head poked up from the side of the bed.

Kyros hollered as he flung back and scrambled to his feet. “What in Hades? Where did you come from?”

“I was sleeping on the floor.”

“The floor? Why?”

“Someone was tossing and turning all night. The second time I was bumped onto the floor, I decided it wasn’t worth climbing back in
so I curled up and fell asleep here.” She smiled slyly. “What did you need to explain?”

“I guess I don’t have to explain.” He nodded toward the kitchen. “That’s not
your
cooking?”

“Not unless I have Jedi cooking skills.”

“Jedi, what?”

“Never mind. It must be Sara. And…” She narrowed her eyes. “I think I’ve figured something out. Dagonians don’t like bacon, eggs, and sausage.”

“What kind of animal is a bacon?”

“It’s a pig. And the pig makes up the sausage too. You should try it. It tastes amazing.”

“Nothing that smells like
that
could possibly taste amazing.”

“Ah,”
she said, as understanding lit her face. “
That’s
why you were all acting so strangely. And why you…”

“Why I what?”

“Why you kissed me. Desperate times, huh?”

“I took one for the team.” Kyros smiled.

“You.” She had a wicked grin on her face as she jumped up and pounced on him. He let her push him back on the bed. She clawed up and down his sides, poking him.

He cocked an eyebrow and cracked a smile. “What under Olympus are you doing?”

“I’m trying to tickle you.” She frowned.

“What is a tickle?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Don’t tell me that Dagonians aren’t ticklish.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Gretchen frowned and blew out a breath, climbing off him. Kyros was having none of that and pulled her down, turning her over. “Not so fast, mermaid. I’d like to give this tickle thing a try.”

“No!”
she screeched. “No, don’t tickle me.”

He tried to mimic what she did and hesitated when she squirmed as he reached toward her side. “I’m not even touching you yet,” he said
, grinning as he enjoyed how she could laugh, writhe, and plead at the same time.

“Don’t. Oh, please don’t tickle me.”

He reached again toward her, stopping just before he touched her. She yelped again.

“If you
’re reacting this much to the idea of me tickling you, I’m curious to see what would happen if I actually touched you.”

“No, so help me. If you do, I’ll never kiss you again.”

“Added bonus.” He smirked.

She slapped his chest. “Very funny.”

Curiosity got the better of him, and he touched her. She shrieked, ringing his eardrums. He softly clawed her side, and she nearly bucked him off the bed.

The door slammed
open, and Kyros found a sword pointed at his throat. “Get off the mermaid.” He followed the blade and found Drakōn on the other end of it. Seconds later, the others surrounded him.

“Stop
! Don’t, Drakōn,” Gretchen breathed as she was wiping away tears.

Did I hurt her?
The thought struck Kyros like a slap.

“Don’t hurt him,” she said. “He was only tickling me.”

“He was doing what to you?”

“Tickling. It’s what we humans do in play. To have fun. To tease.”

“Why are you crying?” Kyros asked. He knew he wasn’t helping his case, but he was concerned. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, of course not. Sometimes when a person laughs too
hard, they cry.”

“
Yes, they do.” Sara stepped into the room and pushed them back out the door, one by one. “Come on, you Neanderthals; you’re embarrassing them. They were just having fun. Let them be.”

She placed her hand on Drakōn’s arm, which was still raised and pointing his sword at Kyros.
“Come on, Drakōn. Kyros would never hurt Gretchen. It was all in play.”