The Goblin Warrior (Beneath Sands Book 2) by Emma Hamm (100 books to read txt) 📕

“That’s all I can ask.” He whispered back to her.

In a short amount of time, they gathered what they needed for their newest adventure together. Jane was silent as she packed the small amount of things that she could take. Ruric had disappeared to prepare the others and left her alone to take what they would need from their cave.

This was the first moment he had allowed her to do more work than him. She walked through her home with a light in her hand and carefully chose every small bit that she thought would help them. The items she chose were not the ones he would have.

The flashlight was bundled quickly, as were the clothing that she had arrived in. Cloaks were gathered into her arms but laid out only at the end. A few reeds and two knives were rolled inside the large bundles of cloth. The rest was food that she could gather that had been drying in the back of the cave. Fish that he had insisted would go rotten were instead edible as she had smoked them.

They were meager things, but they were all she had. Jane wanted to take a few crystals to remember this place by. The goblins would assume she was taking them for currency. They would assume she was running away.

The thought didn’t register as strange in her mind. Jane had yet to realize that she was already planning to never return.

This place had become her home. Merely the thought of leaving created such mixed emotions within her gut. To see sun and sand again was an opportunity that set loose butterflies of excitement deep within her belly. But it also created a sense of guilt at leaving this place.

Her hands trailed along the walls and she smiled at the light that blossomed in their wake.

The smart choice would be to remain Above whether it was offered or not. There was plenty of mending to be done between the goblins and humans. Frankly she wasn’t certain whether that could ever be achieved.

It certainly wouldn’t happen if no one tried.

She said her goodbyes quickly to the place she had come to think of as home and hefted the pack onto her shoulder. By the time Ruric returned, she was seated once more by the gathering of bright crystals. Her eyes did not move from their light for a long time.

Finally she looked at him and nodded her head. “I think I have everything.”

“Nothing else?” He asked quietly. “You bring very little.”

She could hear the worry in his voice, and at the end, the resignation.

Jane shook her head in response. “No. The rest we’ll gather when we get there. We cannot afford to take too much. These things are very different and will likely gather too much attention.”

Her eyes looked over him critically and she added, “We’ll have to find you and your men clothes when we reach the surface. You can’t walk around like that. Boots will be the most uncomfortable I’m afraid.”

He stood. His powerful height had always given him an advantage over her. Yet in this moment Jane stood stronger than he. She was confident in her actions. This was her world that they were going to. Ruric realized he wasn’t fond of this position.

A strange fluttering in his stomach was making him edgy. Nothing felt right about this. She was likely to run as soon as he gave her a chance. The chance of the mission succeeding was minimal. And if they did not succeed, his people would have more to blame her for than ever before.

Ruric wasn’t certain when he moved, but he knew the moment he stood in front of her that his entire body had been aching for her. Not just to be close, but to smell her, to feel the soft texture of her skin.

His clawed hand raised to gently press against her cheekbone. She was so delicate in his grasp. He could crush her with just a thought. And yet when he touched her, she curved inwards towards him.

“Are you ready to go home?”

Her blue eyes looked up at him. “It was never a home. I just didn’t know that until I came here.”

With those words echoing in his head, he watched as she stepped away from him. Her body had grown thin in these few weeks. The strength he was accustomed to seeing in her was waning. How had he not noticed this before? She was not the same woman he had brought down here. The fire within her would never be stamped out, but the confidence in her body was less.

She hefted one of the packs over her shoulder and gestured for him to do the same. “Come on then. Let’s head out. There’s no use stalling.”

The other goblins waited for them in the armory. Their shadows stretched towards the pair that walked towards them.

Shusar had been an obvious choice. He was small enough to pass as human as long as the others didn’t see his face. He was the most likely to notice the first moment when and if Jane strayed towards her own people again. Illyrin would be the other half of the bulk that would help them should they enter a fight.

Both goblins stood when the couple entered the cave.

“You are ready then?” Shusar asked quietly in the goblin language.

“Yes.” Ruric replied. “And you?”

Illyrin shifted, the beads in his hair clacking softly. “As much as we ever will be.”

Ruric nodded slowly.

“Ruric?” Her soft voice caused all the goblins to look at her. Not because they were surprised that she spoke, but because they had all nearly forgotten she was there. “Is everything alright?”

He was always forgetting she could not understand their language. It was something he would need to remedy as they traveled. “We are unsure whether we can be above ground for long. We are as ready as we will ever be.”

As was her way, Jane then surprised him. “We should