"But...you're injured."
Worry. She worried for him. "Yes." He pressed a swift kiss to her lips before withdrawing from the bed.
"You shouldn't be fighting. You'll make your wounds worse."
"Don't do this again. Don't doubt my skill. Besides, I'll know you are waiting for me. I'll do whatever proves necessary to survive." He wished there was time, at least, to sate her desires, to give one of them relief.
He dressed, tugging on a pair of leather pants, and strapped his armor in place-every piece was stained with blood from today's practice.
He wasn't at full strength. His grip wasn't as tight, and his limbs weren't as steady. But he'd meant what he said. He would survive.
"I thought you fought better without your armor," she said.
"With a single opponent, yes. But the dragons are part of a horde." He laced up his boots, gathered his helmet and shield and slid the Skull in the center sheathe.
She pushed out a heavy breath. "Here's a revolutionary idea. Why don't you just give the dragons back their palace?"
"It's my palace now, the only access we have to the portal into and out of Atlantis."
"Oh," she said.
Yes. Oh. Without the palace-the portal-he would never be able to surprise her with a visit topside to see her relatives.
"Our people will never be wanderers again."
"Our?"
"Of course. What's mine is yours, and what's yours is all mine."
The color in her cheeks deepened. With contentment, he hoped.
"Get dressed," he said.
Motions stiff, she straightened her clothing, covering each of her wanton curves. A travesty.
Valerian mourned the loss of her seminakedness. He held out his free hand and motioned her to join him. Surprisingly she did so without protest, smoothing the rest of her clothing in place as she walked.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"To the same place as the other women, where you'll be safest."
"And where is that?" she insisted. "The hobby room?"
"No." Urgency battered at him. He pulled a fur coat from the closet-fur from the were-shifters-and draped it around her shoulders. "Someplace a bit...farther underground."
He led her out of the room, through three separate hallways and down four flights of stairs. Along the way, men rushed past him, nodding in acknowledgment as they headed for the arena.
The air cooled and thickened with moisture; mist curled toward the ceiling. Finally they entered a cave; the walls were rocky and jagged, painted with sensual murals.
A tremor vibrated through Shaye when she spotted the swirling portal. He passed it, careful not to step within reaching distance of the dappled liquid that separated him and Shaye from the sea. Twigs and bones-left over from the time the dragons had owned the palace, killing every human who'd strayed into Atlantis-snapped under his boots.
More than once Valerian had wondered why Atlanteans couldn't survive upon the surface for more than a day or so, and yet humans could come and go through Atlantis as much and as long as they pleased.
"Are those bones?" Shaye covered her mouth with a shaky hand. "Gross! How did I miss them last time?"
"I'm sure you were preoccupied by my astounding beauty," he told her dryly.
She snorted. "Yes. That must be it."
"Throughout the centuries, humans have tried to destroy the creatures of Atlantis in an attempt to steal our riches. The dragons did what they thought was right in order to protect the entire kingdom."
Valerian's father had once lamented about a human army that had passed through the portal and not only decimated the dragon army in charge of guarding it, but skulking through the Outer City and slaughtering innocents mercilessly.
Afterward, a new dragon army had taken charge of the portal, and this cavern had become a place of death and destruction. Anyone who'd stumbed through had been killed on sight.
What if Shaye had accidentally passed through when the dragons were in charge?
Easy. She would have been beheaded.
The portal was better off under Valerian's control.
"Is this a test?" Shaye asked. "This feels like a test."
"Will you pass or fail?"
"I guess time will tell. I mean, really. You've proved to be nothing but a tease."
"Me?" he choked out. "I'm the tease?"
"Yes, you. You told me you'd make me hate staying here, hate being with you, and you have yet to follow through. I'm outraged!"
His lips twitched with much needed humor. "I'll strive to do better."
The sound of female voices drifted from around the corner. He descended a final flight of stairs, this one hidden in the narrow crevice between two bloodstained boulders.