Page 32 of The Brightest Night

Oh…he wanted the explanation of sensation. To experience this moment through me. I exhaled, searching for the words to describe what I was feeling right now. “It feels like warm rays of sunlight are pushing into my skin and seeping into my bones. Like hands are massaging every knot and ache in my deep tissue. It feels like being held tight. Safe and warm and weightless.”

He closed his eyes. “Sunlight. I don’t know what that feels like, but…I can imagine it. That’s strange, right? That I can imagine something I have never felt?”

There was a lot about Gabe that was inexplicable. “Maybe you have felt it and you don’t consciously remember. That elder said there were parts of your mind that were dark and locked away, didn’t she?”

He opened his eyes and smiled. “Yes. She did. I guess I will have to wait for the Primus to open those hidden memories.” His gaze whipped over my head and narrowed. “Nova, swim toward me and get out of the water slowly.”

I tensed, the hair on the back of my neck standing to attention despite the heat. “What is it?” I drifted toward him, resisting the urge to look over my shoulder.

“There is something in the darkness. On the far wall. I see a heat signature. It looks arachnid. Four feet in size. There are more appearing. I believe there may be holes in the far wall housing the creatures.” I was almost at the edge of the pool, my heart hammering, disgust tightening my chest. I hated spiders.

Gabe gathered my clothes. “I can’t shoot them without compromising the structural integrity of this chamber.”

Yep, that sounded about right. “You ran out of bullets too, remember?”

“Yes, there is also that issue.”

I bit back a laugh, at the edge of the pool now, ready to climb out.

His eyes widened, and he reached for me. “Nova, there is no time to dress. We must run.”

Fuck my life. “Okay.”

“Now!”

He yanked me out of the water, and cold air slapped my skin, the shock forcing a sharp breath from my lungs.

We ran, my bare fleet slapping against the rocky ground.

Scuttling sounds accompanied by wet breathing followed, too close.

My stomach rolled, disgust and terror clenching a fist in my belly. The narrow passage loomed.

Gabe shoved me through. “Run.”

Not arguing with him there. I made it to our ride and looked back, my heart shooting into my throat at the sight of Gabe barreling toward me, arachnid monsters with glowing red eyes swarming out of the tight passage and spilling across the chamber, right on his tail.

I yanked open the carrier door and clambered in. Gabe followed a moment later, slamming the door closed and sealing us into the box.

I backed up, my naked skin prickling. “Drive!”

He dropped into the driver’s seat and started the engine, backing us out of the cave. The beasts landed on us with a clang, talons scraping the metal body of our ride and hammering at the tempered glass windshield.

“Fuck!”

Thud. The carrier shuddered and stopped, engine whining, wheels rolling but getting us nowhere. Gabe shot forward, then reversed.

The carrier jolted and stalled. I hit the ground on my knees but scrambled up quickly, hurrying to the driver’s cab. “Why isn’t it moving?”

“I don’t know!” Gabe studied the dashboard, pointless because there were no gauges to tell us a damn thing. “I think I hit something. The wheel track is stuck or damaged. I won’t know till I look.”

He climbed out of the cab as screeches of triumph filled the air, hammering surrounding us as the beasts tore at our metal cage.

I locked gazes with him, my jaw tight. “We need weapons. There must be something in here we can use.”

“There is nothing but me.” Gabe stood taller. “I am the weapon. I’ll get out and free the carrier. You drive. They may not even attack me. I have no flesh for them to eat.”

“You have a power core. You radiate energy. There’s no guarantee they won’t attack.”