by Donna Grant
Despite her foul mood, he made her smile. “Well, now that you mention it…”
“Have you already been to the council?”
“Yes.”
“Then when is the best time to make a break?”
“The sooner, the better.”
Varek lifted the bag. “Then I should change.”
Jeyra wanted to watch him, but she averted her eyes. “You can’t use magic to break open the door. That’s our hardest metal.”
“I thought it rather nice they left the manacles behind. Maybe it was to remind me that I was at someone’s mercy, though it doesna matter, really.”
Her gaze moved to the shackles. “What about them?”
“They shouldna have left them.”
Jeyra took a closer look. That’s when she noticed a link missing from the chain. Her eyes lifted to Varek in time to see him fastening his pants. “How did you get the link off?”
“It wasna easy.”
The chains were supposed to suppress his magic and make it impossible for him to use his strength. She had since learned that was a lie. Something else was being used to hinder his magic. Regardless, he shouldn’t have been able to take off a link seeing as it required more strength than someone could muster without the use of tools.
Jeyra inwardly shook her head. Why did it matter? He had gotten it off, and he planned to use it somehow to open the door. That’s all that mattered at this point.
“How do I look?” Varek asked from his position on the stool.
She looked him over, admitting that he would fit in well with her people. Except for the tattoo that stood out. “Very good.”
He grinned, but it didn’t last. “The armbands… Will my no’ having any make me stand out?”
“I’m more worried about the dragon on your arm.”
“Your bag will work great,” he said as he lifted it with his left arm and swung the bag over his shoulder. If he held it just right, it covered a lot of the tattoo. “Ready?”
Her eyes widened. “Now? You want to do this now?”
“You did say the sooner, the better.”
So she had. But she hadn’t expected it to be in the next few moments. Though, she wasn’t sure why it mattered. She wanted to leave, and she wanted to do it today.
Varek’s gaze caught hers as he watched her intently. “Lass, if you’d rather no’ come with me, I understand. This is your home, all you’ve known.”
“And it’s been a lie.”
“You doona know that.”
“Oh, I do,” she said with a nod. “I don’t belong here. But I’m not sure where I do belong.”
He grasped her hands through the bars and smiled. “You belong wherever you want to be.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“It’ll be as easy as you want it to be. But first, we need to get out. If you still want to come but are having second thoughts about helping me escape, then leave the city now. I’ll meet up with you later.”
She shook her head before he finished speaking. “We do this together.”
“And those following you?”
Jeyra squared her shoulders. “I’ll have to make sure they don’t.”
“We’ll make sure they doona,” he corrected.
She blew out a breath. “All right.”
Varek shot her a wink before he dropped the bag and moved to his knees. He pulled something out of the pocket of his old pants. It looked like one of the links had been broken in two. He reached around the door and inserted the pieces into the lock and began to jiggle them around. Jeyra helped him since he couldn’t see what he was doing. Together, they unlocked the door.
She barely got out of the way of the door swinging open. In a blink, Varek stood before her with the bag in one hand. He helped her to her feet. He was so tall she had to crane her neck to see him. Desire smoldered in his eyes before he pulled her against him and claimed her mouth in a long, simmering kiss.
Her hands flattened on his chest, his hard muscles warm beneath her hands. She smoothed her palms to his shoulders then looped her arms around his neck as she sank into the kiss. But just as suddenly as he had started it, Varek ended the embrace.
“I’ll give you a proper kiss once we’re safe,” he told her.
She blinked, wondering what proper meant since she was still reeling from the most recent one. He took her hand and pulled her after him to the entrance. As they reached it, he paused and looked first one way and then the other.
“Where does this lead?” he asked about the tunnel that continued deeper into the earth.
Jeyra glanced down the darkened hall, barely suppressing a shudder. “I didn’t even realize there was another tunnel. I’ve never been this deep in the dungeons before. I didn’t know there was anything deeper.”
“Go shut my cell door,” he whispered, his gaze still down the corridor.
She hurried to do as he asked. When she returned to him, he seemed more perplexed than before. “What is it?”
“I’m no’ sure.”
“We don’t have time for this. We need to leave before someone comes.”
He nodded but still didn’t move.
“Varek,” she urged.
He swung his head to her. “My gut is telling me we should check it out.”
“That’s insane. There’s nothing down there.”
“You said yourself you’ve never been this deep. You’ve no idea what’s down there.”
She shrugged, not liking that he was right. “If we go down there, we could end up trapped. We’ll never get out if that happens.”
“I’m getting out one way or another, and I willna let anything happen to you.”
“You can’t promise that,” she snapped.
He jerked his head toward the main entrance of the dungeon. “Go. I’ll meet you once I get out.”
Jeyra sighed, shaking her head. She wasn’t sure why she was agreeing…actually, that wasn’t true. She was doing it because she felt safer with Varek than anywhere else in the city. “If you’re sure.”
Chapter Eighteen
Varek stared into the lower tunnel. Something urged him to go down, but he wasn’t sure what. If he had his magic and the ability to shift, he would’ve headed into the unknown without hesitation. But he didn’t have either. And then there was Jeyra, his mate.
She was willing to leave the city with him. That wasn’t a decision she’d come to lightly, and he needed to remember that. Varek swung his head to her, the apprehension on her face solidifying his decision.
“We leave. Now.”
The relief on Jeyra’s face was proof that he’d made the right choice. She grabbed his hand, making him smile, and then pulled him after her as they began the long climb up to the main entrance.
Varek counted five other tunnels that veered off from theirs. He heard the moans and cries of prisoners in each. No doubt the council had decided to keep him separate from others to make sure he learned nothing of where he was being kept or the city’s people. And he wouldn’t have learned anything if it hadn’t been for Jeyra.
What concerned him was that they hadn’t run into any guards yet. He suspected they might be grouped near the entrance and only came into the dungeons to deliver food or to handle other such tasks. Then, just as he spotted sunlight up ahead, he heard the laughter.
Jeyra suddenly halted and moved closer against the wall of the tunnel, pulling him with her. She turned her head to him, her face covered in the red-orange glow of a nearby torch. “Four or five guards usually laze about in a small room they use near the entrance. I can distract them so you can get past, but there’s still the open courtyard to get across. It’s surrounded by a stone barrier, and there’s a guardhouse over the gate. There are usually another four guards there. If we cause too much of a ruckus, at least one of them will sound the alert.”
“Then we don’t cause any kind of commotion,” he said with a grin.
She eyed him, her lips turning up at the corners. “What
do you suggest?”
“We take the ones here by surprise. After we put them in cells, I’ll take one of their uniforms.”
“And we walk out,” she said with a nod. “I like it.”
It took very little for them to come up with a plan. They quietly made their way to the room she’d spoken about. She entered first. Varek remained outside, his back against the wall as he listened to the guard’s quiet down to hear Jeyra.
“Sorry to disturb your game,” Jeyra said. “You boys seem to have the best job. Maybe I should’ve gone this route.”
They laughed, eager to hear more. Varek quietly set down the bag and smiled. Males of all species and realms were exactly the same. Put a pretty woman in a room with them, and they forgot everything but her. Varek swung around the doorway and took in the room at a glance—four men on stools, a small table between them with cards, dice, and money.
The area was barely big enough to accommodate all of them, which worked to Varek’s advantage. He was upon the first two before they knew it. He grabbed their heads and slammed them together, the two falling like rocks off the stools and onto the floor.
Jeyra stopped one guard who raised a hand with a dagger and kneed a second in the face, snapping his head back and rendering him unconscious. Varek walked to the one with the weapon and knocked him out cold.
“That was fun,” Jeyra said with a smile.
Varek nodded, thinking how sexy she looked. He wanted to kiss her, but now wasn’t the time. He slung one guard over his shoulder as Jeyra helped him get a second onto his other side before grabbing keys. They rushed as quickly as possible back down the tunnel to the first cell they came to. They dumped the two unconscious men in before running back for the others.
Jeyra stripped the biggest of them. Varek hastily donned the uniform before they got the other two into the cell. Only then did he take a deep breath.
“Here,” she said and handed him two armbands.
He accepted the hammered silver bands and slipped one on each arm. After a glance down at the red tunic and the black pants, he lifted his gaze to Jeyra. “Think this will work?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
She started to walk away, but he grabbed her hand and turned her back around for a quick kiss. Then he smiled down at her and picked up his bag. “Now we can go.”
The grin she gave him said she hadn’t minded the delay at all.
“Walk in front of me,” she told him. “I’m hoping they won’t pay too much attention to you.”
“They won’t think it odd that I’m walking out of the gate?”
“Guards come and go all the time. If they stop you, I’ll say that I’m sending you to the council with something from the Dragon King. Or we can just attack them like we did the others.”
Varek chuckled. “As much as I’d like to take you up on that offer, we should try to keep a low profile. It’ll give us more time to find the secret door.”
“You’re only doing it this way because I’m with you. You had another plan when it was just you.”
“A good warrior knows when to change tactics as well as plans. We can bust our way out of here and attack anyone who gets close, but it makes it three times as hard to get free. This is the easier way. And we get what we want.”
She nodded, wrinkling her nose. “I’m still irked I was followed. Wait… I’m sure they’re still out there. They’ll see you.”
“I thought of that. No one saw me when I came in because there was a bag over my head. No one knows what I look like.”
Her gaze raked him from head to feet and back again. “You blend in with the clothes, that’s for sure, but you still stand out to me.”
“That’s because you know. We won’t go the same direction.” He lifted his sack of clothes over his shoulder once more to hide his tat. “We’ll let the guards think this is what I’m bringing to the council while you head in the opposite direction, which should draw out your followers. Can you lose them?”
She gave him a flat look. “Of course.”
“Then I’ll meet you in the nobles’ district.”
“Don’t wait on me if you can get away,” she told him.
He touched her cheek softly. “I’m no’ leaving without you, lass.”
She grabbed his hand and kissed his palm before she motioned for him to walk ahead of her. Varek wished the guards wore some kind of hat so he could have disguised his hair, but two of them had at least been blond, which helped.
As he drew closer to the entrance, he had to blink against the brightness of the sun. The first glimpse of the courtyard he got was packed dirt devoid of any grass or trees. The wall Jeyra had spoken of was tall and wide enough for the guards to walk along and resembled the battlements of castles on Earth.
Varek saw one guard looking out across the city beyond, and two more moving about in the guardhouse. He glanced around, hoping to spot the fourth sentry before he got to the gate.
“Open up!” Jeyra called from behind him.
The two in the guardhouse looked through the open windows at them before they began quickly unlocking the gate from within using some tool.
“Don’t dally,” Jeyra said, loud enough for others to hear as she came up alongside him and they waited for the gate to finish opening. “The council will want that.”
He gave her a nod, and out of the corner of his eye, saw the fourth guard in the courtyard. “Behind you,” he whispered.
When the gate was open wide enough, he slipped out, the map she had drawn him popping into his mind as he began weaving through the crowded streets. He looked behind him to see Jeyra talking to the guard before she walked away. Not long after, three people peeled away from their positions and fell in step behind her.
Varek faced forward and took stock of the city and its occupants. For all intents and purposes, it was a Medieval village with some advancements that Earth hadn’t come to until the Renaissance period. Everyone was dressed similarly, and even though he could distinguish the wealthy from the poor, he didn’t see any homeless or starving.
What he did note was that many—men and women alike—carried weapons. It also appeared as if Orgate treated men and women as equals—something that was still an issue in his realm.
He passed humans of all races—Asians, Native Americans, Blacks, Latinos, Pacific Islanders, and Whites. All living in harmony and speaking one language with a hint of a dialect he still couldn’t put his finger on.
The main streets were wide and similar to the cobblestone streets of Europe. The smaller roads were still hard-packed earth, but he saw that they were working to convert all lanes to stone. There were carriages pulled by horses and oxen, vendors, and stone buildings three stories tall, all with glass windows, and many with flower boxes overflowing with flora and fauna. If he hadn’t known he was in another realm, he would’ve assumed that he’d traveled back in time.
Nobody stopped him. When he was able, he ducked into an alley and made sure he found somewhere private before stripping off the guard uniform and putting the clothes Jeyra had brought him back on. Then, he was back out on the street, making sure to keep his tattoo covered.
As curious as Varek was about the city, he couldn’t wait to leave. Jeyra’s mapping was perfect, allowing him to know exactly which roads to take and which to stay off. He spotted the nobles’ district easily enough since the homes within were much larger and nicer than those he had seen elsewhere.
He filed away everything he saw to pass on to Con and the other Dragon Kings. Varek spotted a park not far from him and headed there to await Jeyra. He lowered himself to the ground next to a large tree and watched children playing as adults walked or sat and talked. He hoped Jeyra arrived soon because there was no telling how long they had until the alarm was sounded for him, and they still had to find the hidden door.
As the moments passed, it was hard for him not to relax. This area was particularly beautiful, though it made him sad that the other residents of the city weren’t f
ree to enjoy it. Something about humans made them want to place designations on and segregate things. Rich separate from poor. Men better than women.
A few in the park looked his way disapprovingly as if they weren’t happy that he was there. No one told him to leave, however, and anyone who looked as if they might, he simply gave a stern stare to ensure they didn’t.
Finally, he caught sight of Jeyra. She was sweating and out of breath. He jumped to his feet and waved to get her attention. Her smile eased some of his tension. Then she looked over her shoulder. Varek strode toward her, his gaze sweeping the area, looking for threats.
“I was getting worried,” he told her, adjusting the bag.
She swallowed, breathing heavily. “My trackers were trickier to get rid of than expected.”
“You can tell me all about it after we’re out of the city. Come,” he said and started walking along the street.
Jeyra didn’t argue as they made their way deeper into the district, each searching for anything that might look as if it led to a door. The farther they walked, the more elaborate the homes became—some as big as Dreagan Manor. Nearly all of them had some sort of fence around the property and a guarded entrance.
“We can’t take much longer here,” Jeyra whispered. “We should turn around and go to the gate.”
“It’s too late for that.” It was too late the moment they came to the nobles’ district instead of going to the gate. “It’s here, I kn—”
The word vanished as he felt something in his head. The same something from the previous night. He’d initially believed it was his imagination. Now, he wasn’t so sure. He halted, waited, listened for it again. Nothing happened.
“What is it?” Jeyra asked, her brows furrowed deeply as she watched him.
He shook his head and continued walking. “It’s nothing.”
“We’re almost to the edge of the district. That big house directly at the end of the street concludes it.”
Varek eyed the huge domicile. “Whose place is that?”
“Sateen’s. She’s the eldest member of the council. She looks innocent enough, but she’s as cutthroat as they come.”
