Daughter of Nyx (Book Four)

Chapter Ten

"I'm looking forward to it."

He stopped, looking around at the ground. "This looks good. You want to find somewhere away from civilization if possible. I'm sure you know what happened to Nikolas." She nodded. "The thing could have killed him outright and some would say that would have been for the best, but I'm sure that now, he would disagree. But you don't want to be in the ground and have someone dig you up on accident. You don't want the pleasure of waking up to your skin on fire."

She shook her head. "No, I think I can skip that."

"Seeing as how we are limited on where we can go, then, you want to look for places that are covered in foliage. Winter is easier because of the dead leaves, but you are going to want to create your hole where things look as natural as you can make it. I've seen enough police shows on TV to know that humans are insanely curious about lumps in the ground and that usually never turns out well. So, we try to avoid that."

"Makes sense."

He laughed and there would never be a time that the sound of it wouldn't warm her heart.

"Okay, so, watch what I do. It's going to seem counter-productive, but trust me."

"You know I do."

He smiled and pressed his lips against hers. "I know."

Stepping away from her, he began digging out handfuls of dirt. He moved quick and eventually the ground began to dip into the area he had excavated. Getting to his feet, he spread out the mound of dirt, sprinkling it through the new grass. "So, what I did was created a place for the earth to cover our feet. Earth that we will move as we move further in. This is where you get dirty."

"Okay."

He held out his hand and she took it, kneeling beside him. "Breathing might be an issue, but, we don't need to, so, that gets rid of the issue. But once we are inside, we can use our strength to create hollows. While it won't be oxygen, it'll still suit our purpose." He glanced at her. "Still with me?"

She smiled. "Kian, I'll always be with you."

"Stop being mushy before I forget what I'm doing out here."

"Like that could happen," she said.

"Baby, you distract me to no end."

"Okay, I'll hush." The tiredness was beginning to set in.

"I would do this myself, but the ground is going to settle around us as we go."

"I'm fine."

"It won't take long."

"I trust you."

He smiled and told her what to do and she leaned forward, feeling the cool earth surround her hands. Together, they dug, easing their bodies into the welcoming ground. It was easier than she imagined to to be. The hard part was shifting loose dirt around their bodies. After a few minutes of this, they were laying together, and Kian used his hands and strength to press against the ground above them, creating an opening above their faces.

"How do you feel?" he asked, wriggling his arm around her.

"Safe," she said. "I feel safe like this and honestly, I'm a little surprised by that. But it's probably because you're here with me."

"No place else I'd rather be."

"Kian?"

"Is this the part where you tell me your claustrophobic?"

She smiled in the darkness. "It's a bit late for that, don't you think?"

"Probably."

"No, this is the part where I tell you how much I love you."