NADINE'S P.O.V
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I knew for certain that he could too.
We were pressed against each other so firmly that I could feel every hard ridge of his body and he was all muscle. I should have been more worried about whatever snarling sound was outside our door but instead, I couldn't help but focus on how he felt in his leathers.
I had always thought the guard clothes to be annoying and uncomfortable- it was pure leather, molded almost perfectly to their skin and in the color black. It was rough and padded, presumably to protect them against the monsters whenever they went out but I always thought it to be a little overdramatic.
Feeling it against my skin- I had a much different idea.
He didn't move his hand from my mouth as we stayed in that tiny room. Seconds seemed to tick by slowly sand the snarling sound seemed to fade away. I wanted to ask what it was because he seemed to know and yet, I knew my questions would not be appreciated so I remained silent and waited.
For what felt like hours, we stood there and finally, the lights came back on. It was so bright that it took me a second to adjust to it. It was only when the lights came on that I realized that we were in a supply closet. I could see the bandages and first aid kits all around us. It explained the smell of antiseptic that I smelled when we first got in.
Caine blinked then stepped back from me as if I had burned him. Whatever spell was cast around us was broken and he walked out the door without another word. I didn't know whether to be impressed or annoyed that he still managed to keep his self-proclaimed vow of silence towards me despite what had just happened.
"What was that?" I asked but he said nothing. "That snarl, I have never heard anything like it before."
"Do you ever stop talking?" he hissed. "For fucks sake, all you ever do is talk."
I frowned. "Look, I get that you don't like me and I have tried to be nice to you but you're a real asshole. We don't have to be friends but we are stuck together and right now, I am terrified. I have never experienced anything like that and you can blame me for being a spoiled princess but it wasn't my fault that I was born who I was."
He started to interrupt but I cut him off.
"I am not done speaking," he was clearly shocked by my outburst but stayed silent. "I thought that maybe a shared experience would be enough to stop you from acting like a jerk but clearly I was wrong. The least you could do is try to explain but seeing as you clearly cannot do that, I would like to go back to my room now."
He sighed. "Nadine-"
I ignored how nice it felt to hear him say my name. Before now, he had never said it but I knew he overheard my father and Joshua say it a few times. It was typically grunts from him or the occasional sarcastic 'princess'.
"I want to go back, now!"
He swallowed deeply and nodded. "Of course, this way."
He said nothing as we walked back to the room. Nothing seemed amiss and I would have thought that I imagined everything that happened but I couldn't get that snarl out of my head. I just couldn't forget about it, no matter how hard I tried. I knew it would haunt me in my dreams.
When we arrived at my door, I made to get in but his voice stopped me.
"I've heard that snarl before," he began slowly. "A few times to be honest and it never meant anything good. It's a lot better if you don't know what it means."
I turned to him. "Is it the monsters?"
His eyes took on a dark and almost haunted look. He opened his mouth to speak but it seemed like he thought better of it at the last minute because he gave me a pained smile.
"Have a good night, Nadine."
Father wasn't in the room when I walked in so I retired to my bed and lay with my eyes wide open and facing the ceiling. Each time I tried to close my eyes, I remembered the snarl, the terror in my chest and the feel of Caine pressed against me.
It was a weird mix of terror and something else- something I didn't exactly want to identify, at least not right now.
Around dinner time, there was an announcement asking everyone to meet in the dining area. I knew it was coming, had expected it even, but that didn't stop the small terrors from running up my arms.
It was about the black out, that much was sure and I hoped that maybe I would get some answers about the snarls that I heard.
I rushed to freshen up and tried to appear responsible. Caine was back to ignoring me and this time, I did my best to ignore him. I was done trying to be nice if all he was going to do was pretend like I didn't exist.
"Nadine!" I turned to the source of the voice and found Joshua running up to me. "You made it out."
"No thanks to you, you left me," I hissed and his cheeks tinged pink.
"I didn't leave you, my guard pulled me out."
"Is that what you would have told me if I agreed to have your child? Is that the same excuse you would have given your child? Your guard pulled you away, what are you, five?"
I knew I was being a bit overdramatic but it was very annoying that one minute, he was asking me to consider a family with him and the next, he was leaving me in pitch black darkness. If there was any small chance of me agreeing to his offer, it was dead now.
He tried to speak but I ignored him and made my way over to my seat. Caine left my side to join the other guards leaving me alone with father who didn't even glance at me.
"Thank you all for coming," the general took the stage with a smile. "It's dinner time so I will try to make this brief. I know you are all worried about the outage that happened today. I want to assure you that everything is fine."
It took me a second for his words to settle and once they did, I was left utterly confused.
"It was just a little miscalculation on our part, we overpowered our energy source but we are fine, I assure you. Nothing is wrong, you are all as safe as ever."
Everyone sighed in relief but I couldn't shake the anxiety in my belly. What about the snarls? Surely that needed to be explained too. I waited for him to say more but he didn't. He gave a wide smile and said something about having a great dinner.
"What about the animal?" I asked and everyone went silent.
"What are you doing?" father hissed but I ignored him and kept my eyes on the general who had turned to me.
"There are no animals here, little one."
"Yes, there are," I stood to my feet. "I was in the planetarium today and I heard snarls when the lights went out. I only got away because-"
I looked across the room, my eyes finding Caine's and he shook his head slightly, silently telling me to let it drop but I couldn't- I wouldn't. If he wasn't going to fight for this then I would.
"Because I hid in a closet," I finished.
The general smiled coldly. "There were no animals, dear. Perhaps it was your fear playing tricks on you."
"But-"
Father gripped my hand and pulled me back into my seat. "Don't disgrace us girl, you have said enough."
Everyone was staring at us and whispering. Whenever my eyes found theirs, they would look at me as if I was a plague and turn away quickly. The only person who didn't look away from me was Caine.
His eyes held mine, almost accusingly and at the last minute, he turned away.