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

Which was precisely why her hand continued to find its way to the spark of life inside of her. If she lost Ruric, and her heart clenched at the thought, then she would always have a piece of him with her.

“If we get out of this, what are you doing to do with…” Luther paused, and Jane knew he was keeping himself from calling her child “it”.

“We’ll have a small home together.” She said quietly. “We’ll be caught between two worlds, so we’ll go elsewheres. These deserts are large enough for me to make a home for us.”

“What about food?”

“We’ll manage.” She always did. A flutter of nerves made her stomach heave, but she didn’t have much of a choice. No child of hers would be subjected to living with the scrutiny of the human world, and the goblins likely wouldn’t welcome her back.

They’d welcome the child, but not the woman who had caused so much loss.

Luther was about to argue with her when they heard the clipped sounds of heels striking the stone floor. So far, the only people to visit them had been guards hiding behind masks. This person was new.

Jane turned so quickly that her vision seemed to spark in front of her when the woman came into view.

“Catherine!” Luther stood up, pushing hard against the glass. “Catherine you have to let us out.”

She stood in front of them, her white lab coat pressed so perfectly that Jane could see the lines that ran down the edges of it. Her hands were clasped in front of her as though to appear calm and collected. But Jane could see that her knuckles were white as she clenched her fingers.

“I’m afraid I cannot Luther.”

“But why?” He appeared shocked.

Jane, however, was not. She stepped towards the glass and looked Catherine in the eye before answering her brother’s question for the other woman.

“Because she can’t.”

“That’s not an answer, Jane.”

“It’s enough of one.” There was a part of Jane that understood Catherine. She had been in the room with Jane and Luther, yet she was not in jail with them. The woman was doing her best to survive.

Jane wanted to dislike the woman. But she could clearly see the relief in Catherine’s eyes that she hadn’t been the one to disappoint Luther. At least directly.

Catherine wasn’t the kind of woman that was born to be a fighter. She was too small and delicate for that world. And though Jane felt intense dislike for her, she also understood that there was little a woman like her could do in this situation.

So instead of growing angry or yelling, Jane kept a direct gaze on the smaller woman and remained silent. After all that had happened, she was learning how to listen rather than jumping to conclusions.

“I’m to take your vitals.” Catherine’s voice was so quiet that Jane almost didn’t hear her.

“Where are your guards?”

As Jane watched, Catherine’s fingers untwisted in the slightest movement to gently flick in the direction she came. “As we have already had contact, I managed to convince them that I had no need of guards. I had hoped that you would trust me.”

And yet her fingers had clearly said something opposite.

Jane’s head cocked to the side and her eyes narrowed as she swept a glance from Catherine’s toes to her head. There had to be something that she was missing.

As she watched, Catherine’s hands raised to gently smooth a hand down her lab coat. But that hand lingered for the barest second upon one of the black buttons. Both women’s eyes met, and Jane understood that they were being listened to. There hadn’t been a moment since she had been here that was entirely private.

She sighed.

“Alright. I’d rather go with you than the other guards I suppose.”

“Jane.” Luther’s hands pressed against the glass between them. “Jane, I don’t think we’re in any place to be trusting anyone.”

“Maybe not.” She replied. “But we don’t have much of a choice in the matter. I’d rather quietly follow her than have the guards involved.”

She didn’t dare look at her brother as Catherine pressed a few buttons and the glass door slid open in front of her.

They were surprisingly alone down the white hallway until they came to another door in the same area Luther and she were kept. At least this one didn’t have clear glass walls.

“I trust you are doing well?” Catherine murmured as she stepped aside to allow Jane to enter first.

“I’ve seen more of my brother in the past few days than I ever wanted to.” Jane answered dryly. There hadn’t been any privacy between the two of them. It wasn’t the homecoming she had hoped for.

“Well I suppose that cannot be avoided.” At least the other woman had the decency to blush.

“It could be avoided. We could be let go.”

“You know why we can’t allow that.”

“I know why he can’t allow that.” Jane emphasized the word “he” and they both knew who she was referring to. “But I don’t know why you can’t.”

“I work here.” Catherine sat down on a chair next to a clear white desk and pointed towards the cold metal table in the center of the room.

“Of course.” Jane sat herself down and tried not to shiver when the metal touched the back of her legs. “But you don’t have to.”

Catherine was already flipping through papers on the desk. When she responded, she did not look up. “I have a rare disease that requires medication. My lungs don’t work very well in this environment. I am lucky to have a job that allows me to work for the drugs that keep me alive.”

The words held more meaning than simple dedication. Jane could see clearly now why Catherine was still here. Why she was doing work that so obviously made her uncomfortable.

“Ah.” Was the only response Jane could give her.

Their eyes met from across the room and Catherine slowly nodded. Her hand raised to smooth down her lab coat