The Goblin Bride (Beneath Sands Book 1) by Emma Hamm (good short books TXT) 📕

  The expression on the human’s face did not calm him. The man tilted his head to the side, looked down at Jane and touched her face. He hadn’t wanted it to come to this. “It’s a pity that you’ll have to choose between the two of us then.”

  Ruric did not have time to question the man’s motives.

  Time seemed to slow as the man leaned his weight forward and pushed her off the edge of the cliff.

  It was his worst nightmare come to life. She wasn’t awake. She didn’t know what was happening. His sweet beautiful Jane, tossed over the edge of the cliff like something that had no meaning to anyone.

  He didn’t have to think about the choice. He lunged after her limp body.

  His hand caught one of her arms and held on as he scrabbled for purchase against the stone. He slid forward, her weight pulling him down. He held his breath, trying desperately to keep her with him as they both slid over the edge.

  They were close enough for him to touch the wall. Close enough to hit against it when he reached forward. It was a choice he would have to make. He held her in place with his legs, claws grappling with the rock wall.

  Speed was what he fought against, though neither of them had managed to fall long enough to be unstoppable. His claws ripped out of his hands, yet still he held on. Eventually he managed to hold onto one of the outcroppings. His arm wrenched out of its socket, his pained cry ringing through the cave systems.

  Loud and low he groaned, raising up his other arm to try and take the pressure off of the other.

  He was a big man and Jane was no small woman. The added weight and slick blood on his hands made it difficult to hold on. He had to, for the both of them, or they would plummet to their deaths.

  Pain was something he could handle, but worry was harder to bare. The woman he held onto with his legs had yet to awaken.

  “Jane.” He gritted between his teeth, relieved to hear her groan.

  “Ruric?” The next thing he heard was a strangled gasp of pain, her eyes squinting hard as she looked up at him.

  “Jane I need you to climb up me.”

  “My head hurts.” She whispered. “That bastard knocked me out.”

He let out a slow breath. “Bright one please. Focus. Climb up me and pull yourself onto this ledge.”

She seemed to realize then what had happened. Her eyes widened in fear at the drop below them, but she nodded and started the climb.

  Her feet tried to find purchase on the parts of him that would hurt the least. His thighs and hipbones held most of her weight, her hands balancing on his shoulders. But when she reached for his wrist, her own hand shaking in fear and pain, she couldn’t grab onto it.

  There was blood running down his arms.

  Biting her lip, she tried to see in the dim light where he was hurt. She knew the metallic smell of blood well. That was a scent that she could never forget.

  She did not know how they had arrived here. There was a large blank spot in her memory, nothing after the realization that Simon was not the man she had thought. Thinking past that or even trying to figure out what tunnel they were in, made her head throb even harder.

  She reached past Ruric’s hands, whispering an apology as she raised herself so that her feet could push against his shoulders. There was no response but a groan from him and she wondered just how wounded he actually was.

  Damn Simon for this. Damn all of them for this. She had never thought that the hatred between goblin and human could have grown so strong. This was nonsense, foolishness that made no sense to her. Were they missing their home so much?

  A world of a sand and sun. She would always miss the sun. But their lives? Nothing had truly changed from their lives Above. Their shackles had simply been given to someone else. Yes they were wounded, yes they were hungry, but at least they were not dying of thirst. They had likely lived longer here than they would have Above and that was without the sand sickness that had killed so many loved ones.

  But she could understand their frustration. Not everyone was given the opportunity she was. They could not speak the same language, they could not know what was happening.

  To the goblins, they were simply slaves. They gave her the opportunity to prove herself but ignored the fact that the males of her species might be similar. There was such a gap between their thought process that they had forgotten how to be kind. She could hardly blame the humans for their anger. But she also could not blame the goblins for their actions.

After all, wouldn’t humans be the first to enslave creatures they did not understand?

  This had all turned into such a mess. Jane dragged herself up onto the ledge and made room for Ruric who was quick to follow her. The muscles along his arms and back bulged as he struggled to move himself even that far.

  “I’m so sorry.” Her voice shook as she talked. Short shuddering inhales that she could not quite control.

  He laid down on his back, arms loose at his sides as he struggled to control his breathing.

  “Why should you be? We are beneath you.”

  The words cut down to her very soul. She flinched back from him at the sound of his voice. She had never heard him speak like that. Not to her.

  “I was wrong to say that. I was angry and confused.”

  “We say the things we truly feel when we are angry and confused.” He responded quietly.

  “That