Free Out Of The Darkness by Calle J. Brookes Page B

knock you out and carry you in. Leave you tied up until I get back.” He wrapped his fingers around her arms and lifted her. Cass knew he meant it. But she still didn ’t care. There was no way she could voluntarily go under that pile of dirt and be able to breathe. Why didn’t he understand that? “Make your decision.”
    “I can ’t do it. Please. You need to understand...”
    He glared at her and Cass closed her eyes. Waiting for him to knock her out like he’d said. She wouldn’t put it past him.
    Instead she was pulled against his chest and his hand rested on the back of her head. Why did he both terrify her and make her feel so safe, sometimes at the very same time?  “I ’ll get you down there. If you just trust me.”
    “Do I have any other choice?”
     
     
     

    Chapter 14
     
     
    He carried her into the den, three times as large as their last one, and he knew with one look that the power he carried had enhanced while in this realm. With a place like Evelanedea—most likely based on the old magics—what on Gaia was minimal power would grow in the magic-charged atmosphere.
    This was a den even the oldest of the damned Lupoiux dogs would envy. It would do for his female for one night.
    He ’d added a larger stream than in their previous den, and lined a portion of the floor with the softest moss. She would like that, his little Druid female. It would give her a place to rest while he was away. “You can let go of my back now, little one. We’re inside. And I even added a few skylights.”
    The holes at the ceiling weren ’t large, and would be pitifully easy to clog up if someone discovered them, but they would let in enough light that hopefully she would be alright. At least while he was gone.
    The days were short in this place. It would be night within a few hours, but he hoped to be back long before she was asleep. “I ’ll light a fire, and you can grow your damned trees. Can you manage apples, as well as oranges, this time? Or maybe some vegetables out of the rock? Carrots or cabbage?”
    Dardaptoans would eat fish occasionally, but mostly existed on a diet of vegetables. And blood. It had been a damned while since he ’d fed.
    He ’d take care of that little need in the city. There was no way he was allowing himself even a drop of his female’s blood.
    One taste just wouldn ’t be enough. Ever.
    Tonight he ’d just content himself with fish. And whatever his female could provide.
    “I can do a full garden if you want it.” Her words were proud but her voice was timid.
    His heart hurt hearing the fear he’d put in his female’s voice. He should be damned for what he’d asked of her. If he hadn’t thought it truly necessary...
    “Just enough for a meal or two.”
    “You’ve got it. Hope you like Brussels sprouts.”
    Fifteen minutes later he had a small fire going, two fish roasting on spits and carrots and Brussels sprouts baking in an oven made of small stones he ’d gathered from just outside the den.
    After five hundred years, he for damned sure could provide food for his female at least. Even if she managed the vegetables. He ’d found the way to cook them, without the trappings of more modern society.
    If he were the kind of male to take pride in that, he would.
    But he wasn’t.
    “Once we eat, I ’m going. I figure it’ll take me about an hour to fly the rest of the way into the city. Then there’s a merchant I need to meet. He should have what we need to get out of this place and get you to Levia.”
    “Not the demon realm?”
    “No. I want you with your damned sister. The rest of those Taniss females. At least then you’ll be better protected.” He’d made a decision while carrying her into the den. No matter what realm she ended up staying in—demon, Gaian, or Levian—he would go, as well. Would watch her from afar. Make sure she always remained safe, until the day she hit the end of her human lifespan—because though she had definite Druid traits, her