by Donna Grant
Awed, Sabina slowly let her gaze roam over the impressive area. She spotted the protrusion of land that rose up between the ice and magma like an island. Her eyes were moving away when they snapped back.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the cage on top of the island—and Roman within it.
She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes misting at the sight of him. She was excited, horrified, and scared all at the same time.
“Hi, lass,” he called.
He was too far away for her to make out his expression, but she heard the crooked smile in his voice. Sabina spotted the woman with him, but she was too focused on Roman to care who she was. “Oh, Roman.”
“It’s going to be fine.”
She wasn’t so sure about that, but she decided to keep her thoughts to herself. Sabina looked around, trying to figure out how to get to him. Her gaze drifted down, which was the last thing she should’ve done. Her feet were inches away from the edge that dropped off into … nothing.
Sabina hastily took several steps back as the cavern began spinning. She heard someone shout her name, and she was dimly aware that it was Roman. Her legs gave out. She hit the ground hard on her knees, the pain reverberating through her. With her fingers clutching the rocky ground, she opened her mouth and took in deep breaths to staunch the nausea.
“I’ve got her,” she heard someone say near her. “She’s fine, Roman.” A moment later, a hand touched Sabina’s shoulder as Eilish knelt beside her. “You are fine, aren’t you?”
Sabina continued to take in huge gulps of air. She was so far up. So. Far.
“Scared of heights, I’m guessing,” Eilish said.
Sabina’s vision swam. She hated the tears, but more than that, she hated her fear. Because it stopped her from getting to Roman.
“I can get you to the bottom in seconds,” Eilish continued. “I can teleport, you see. Because of these.”
Something silver flashed in front of Sabina’s eyes, but she didn’t see what it was. She could only nod her head. The idea of getting off the ledge or mountain or whatever it was she was on and onto lower, solid ground again sounded too good to pass up.
“Hold on,” Eilish said as she wrapped her fingers around Sabina’s wrist.
She waited, but she didn’t feel anything. And the ground looked the same.
“Damn,” Eilish murmured. “Give me a second.”
Sabina closed her eyes when Eilish removed her hand. She disappeared before returning a second later. Sabina knew without looking at Eilish that there was a problem.
“I’m sorry, but something is preventing me from taking you.”
Of course, it was. Damn the Others.
“Let me try something. I’ll be back shortly,” Eilish said and then was gone again.
Sabina would have to do this on her own. The very idea made her throat close up as she started to hyperventilate. She was going to fail because of a stupid fear. The Others would win because she couldn’t staunch the terror within her.
Did they know she had this phobia?
Had they given it to her?
“Sabina.”
Her face crumpled when she heard Roman shout her name. Tears slipped from her eyes. She hated the weakness within her. She couldn’t go onward, but she refused to go backwards. And she wouldn’t remain where she was.
Which left her … what?
“Sabina,” Roman said again.
She slowly lifted her head, careful to keep from looking down. Thankfully, the mist remained parted so she could look at Roman.
When their gazes met, he nodded his head of sandy blond hair. “It’s okay, lass.”
But it wasn’t. It was as if the Others had put the fear of heights in her just to keep her from this very thing. Whether it was true or not—and she didn’t put anything past the Others—it infuriated her.
There was a way to get to the bottom. And she was going to find it.
Sabina stood on shaky legs. She wanted to ask Eilish for help, but she was certain the Others would prevent it, just as they had the teleporting.
The longer she stared at Roman, the more courage filled her. Sabina wished she could see his eyes, his gorgeous sea green eyes.
With a deep breath, she turned to the right and walked as close to the edge as she could manage. She swallowed hard and slowly went down on her hands and knees to tentatively crawl to the edge. She didn’t look over. She lay on her stomach and put her cheek against the rock to steady herself. Then she peered over the edge, looking for stairs or some way to get down.
Unfortunately, she saw it. But the slope took her dangerously close to the pool of lava, which she’d already come too close to for comfort.
Sabina scooted back when everything began to spin, then shifted to her hands and knees before getting to her feet. She made her way to the left, repeating the entire process. And just as she expected, there was another way down.
It wasn’t exactly easy, and it would require some careful thought before she moved from one section to the other. When the ground started to spin again, she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to the rock. When she thought she could, she took another look.
The first section was about three feet below her. She could climb that relatively easily. The second one looked about the same distance, but it was hard to determine from where she was. After that, she couldn’t get an accurate determination.
If she started down, she’d have no choice but to continue. And there was a good chance that she would get stuck and have to climb back up.
Sabina slowly got to her feet and turned her head to Roman. He was standing utterly still, watching her. She would never have gotten this far without him. He’d given her the courage to face her biggest fears—and chance everything.
“This is not the end,” she whispered.
His head cocked to the side, and she realized that his enhanced hearing had picked up her words.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen for you, Roman. But you already know that, don’t you?”
She didn’t wait to see his reaction. Sabina turned and bent as she started her descent.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
No! The word roared in Roman’s head as he took a step, instinctively wanting to rush to Sabina’s side. He’d seen firsthand how badly she feared heights.
He was amazed that she had the wherewithal to attempt the climb, but he was afraid she’d get halfway down, and her fear would overtake her, causing her to lose her grip and … fall.
“She’s ballsy,” Rhi said. “I like her.”
Eilish suddenly appeared beside Rhi. “I tried to teleport her, but something stopped me.”
“We saw,” Rhi said.
Roman didn’t look their way. He was watching Sabina make her way down to the first section. Anyone with climbing skills, or those who weren’t afraid of heights, could get down fairly easily.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen for you, Roman.”
Her words had been as beautiful as the music from the metals. He’d been so shocked that he hadn’t had time to respond before she started climbing. And now he didn’t want to break her concentration.
“She can no’ fall,” he said, more to himself than Rhi or Eilish. “She can no’.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eilish and Rhi exchange a look, but he didn’t pay much attention to them. There was something much more important—Sabina.
“Roman,” Rhi said. “Look at what she has to climb.”
“What?” he asked, perturbed that she was talking.
Rhi moved to stand in front of him, her silver eyes blazing. “Look!”
“You’re in the way,” he stated angrily.
She rolled her eyes and stepped to the side. Roman then let his gaze move down the mountain that the mist continued to swirl around. There was a drop of about twelve feet and another of at least twenty.
A good climber could find foot and handholds, but Sabina wasn’t a climber in any sense. In that moment, that very
instant, he knew the Others had set her up to fail. She was going to fall to her death, and there was nothing any of them could do about it.
“Obliterate this … jail that holds you,” Eilish told him. “Go to her.”
His eyes swung to the Druid. “If I do, I willna save her. I’ll likely kill her.”
“What?!” Eilish asked in a high-pitched voice filled with shock.
Rhi’s shoulders slumped. “Remember, you learned what happened to Dmitri and Con when they touched the wooden dragon? The same magic is holding Roman.”
“Well, hell,” Eilish mumbled.
It didn’t matter if Roman watched Sabina fall to her death or if he broke through the Others’ magic and it made him kill her—either way, they didn’t intend for her to live.
“I’m not giving up,” Eilish said and teleported to Sabina.
Rhi rubbed her hands together. “It’s time I give it a try, as well.”
Roman knew it was useless to think that either of the women could help Sabina, but he held out hope anyway. It took less than three minutes for that same hope to wither and die a horrible death.
Roman dropped to his knees when Sabina’s hand slipped, and she hurriedly regained her hold. His heart was in his throat, fear and panic holding him tightly in their grip.
As one of the most powerful beings on the planet, Roman was curtailed, limited.
Restrained.
He had more magic than any Druid or Fae, but he couldn’t save the woman he loved.
His mind went blank before his heart filled with happiness. It was true. He loved Sabina. And he wasn’t going to lose her. He couldn’t.
She reached the second section and rested a few moments before she started on the third. He didn’t know where Eilish or Rhi was. Since they couldn’t help, it didn’t matter. He remained with Sabina, watching every placement of her hands, every position of her feet.
He could feel her muscles shaking, hear the frantic beating of her heart. She was terrified, but she was battling through it. He’d never been more proud of her than in that moment.
Twice she had to pause because her arms grew weary, but somehow, she made it through the section without incident. This time, she rested for several minutes. Roman tried to use his magic to give her water, but nothing would penetrate his prison.
He never took his eyes from her. She didn’t look his way, and he didn’t call out. Sabina had found a groove, and he was loath to disrupt it in any way.
When she began climbing again, he wanted to tell her to rest more, but he didn’t. It took her far longer because she was so exhausted. Between the strain and exertion of climbing, there was also the toll the fear was likely taking on her mentally and physically.
He frowned when he saw the grip she had. It wasn’t a good one. In fact, if she didn’t reposition, she would—
The moment her hand slipped and she fell, Roman bellowed her name. She was tumbling through the air, and he didn’t even hesitate to thrust his hand through the bars—and the magic of the Others—to use his own magic to stop her.
Except it wasn’t that easy. The feeling of the Others’ magic swirled dizzyingly, repulsively through him until he couldn’t concentrate. Sweat broke out on his brow as he pushed everything aside and yelled as he gave a burst of magic.
He saw Sabina stop inches from the ground. Roman tried to smile, but he couldn’t. Already, he could feel the effects of the Others’ magic.
The price for saving Sabina would be a hefty one.
* * *
The scream lodged in her throat, unable to break through. The fall was all too similar to when she and Roman had tumbled off the ledge at the magma river. It wouldn’t be lava that killed her this time, but a slam against the earth.
The wind was loud in her ears, but even so, she heard Roman shout her name. She wanted one last look at him, but she couldn’t figure out which way was up.
Then, suddenly, everything stopped as she jerked to a halt. Her heart was pounding so hard, she thought it might burst from her chest. A moment later, she dropped a few inches to the ground onto her side.
She sat up and looked toward Roman. Without a doubt, he’d saved her. The smile she wore faded when she saw him clutching his head as if in great pain.
“Damn,” a voice said from behind her.
Sabina jumped to her feet and whirled around to see two women standing there. Both gorgeous, both wearing black, and both with black hair, though one had silver eyes and the other’s were a green-gold color.
“You made it down,” said the one with the green-gold eyes.
Eilish. Sabina nodded as she recognized the voice and shifted her gaze to the other woman, whose hair was pulled back in some messy ’do that shouldn’t look good but did. “Who are you?”
Silver eyes slid to her. “I wish there was time for a proper introduction, and for me to tell you how badass I think you are, but there isn’t.”
“Rhi,” Eilish said with a frown.
Rhi! Of course. Sabina should’ve realized that’s who was with Roman.
The Fae cut Eilish a dark look and pointed at Roman. “We don’t have time.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Sabina asked as she turned to look at Roman again. The words were barely out of her mouth before she gasped.
Suddenly, he was in dragon form, the prison demolished. His ivory eyes scanned the cavern. But the kindness she was used to seeing in his gaze was not there. Instead, there was death.
“He saved you,” Rhi said as she came up beside her. “He had to push his arm through the magic of the Others in order to keep you from splattering on the ground.”
Sabina winced. “And in doing so, the magic changed him. He said it made the Kings want to kill humans.”
“That’s right,” Rhi said. Then she turned her head to Eilish. “You better get Ulrik or V. Oh, hell, get both.”
Without a word, Eilish disappeared. Sabina froze when Roman let out an earsplitting roar before he spread his wings and dropped from the top of the isle. He soared toward the lava waterfall and then headed toward them.
“Get moving,” Rhi told her with a hard push.
Sabina stumbled forward before she jerked around. “What are you talking about?”
“You need the sword,” Rhi stated, and then she too was gone.
Sabina nodded to herself. “Right. The sword.”
For the first time, she paid attention to her surroundings. Behind her was the mountain she’d just fallen from, the base wide as it narrowed to the top ledge where she’d first come into the cavern.
Fire to her right, ice to her left. But what was in front of her? Two huge chunks of rock rose up from the ground, soaring toward the domed ceiling. She couldn’t see much from her position. She’d have to go between them. The closer she got, the more they looked like an entrance of some sort.
Once she was even with them, she realized that they were much wider than she realized. From the front, they looked to be about twenty feet across, but the width was easily fifty feet.
A roar sounded above her. She looked up and spotted Roman. He suddenly dipped his wing and swung back around, his ivory eyes locked on her.
“You know me,” she said. “You know me, Roman.”
She saw the red glow in his chest as he inhaled. But right before he breathed fire, a copper dragon slammed into him.
“V,” Sabina said.
She looked ahead of her and started running. The sooner she found V’s sword, the sooner they could leave. Once out of the cavern, maybe the magic of the Others would wear off. Roman hadn’t let her die, and she wasn’t going to let him.
There was another roar, a different one. She glanced up and saw a silver dragon join in the fight. No doubt that was Ulrik.
“Don’t you hurt him,” she yelled at V and Ulrik.
Sabina slid to a halt when the rock walls ended, and she saw what was ahead of her. What she hadn’t been able to see before was that when the pools of lava and water overflowed, they fell
into a river. Both rushed toward the center of the cavern.
The hiss of the water meeting the lava was loud, but she wasn’t paying attention. Instead, she was looking at the magnificent sword that hung in midair, its blade pointing down directly over where the fire and ice met.
There was no way she could get into the lava. It’d kill her. She looked at the water. It rushed past her so quickly that no matter how well she could swim, the currents would suck her beneath the surface and batter her against the rocks.
But there had to be a way to get to the sword. All along, Roman had assumed she was meant to acquire it for V, but now she thought perhaps it was hanging the way it was so that only a dragon could get it.
“Here!” she yelled when V flew past.
His head turned to her, but he kept flying. She realized he must not have seen his sword.
“What now?” Sabina asked herself.
Eilish and Rhi were nowhere to be found. Sabina was on her own. Because that’s how the Others wanted it to be. They wanted her to make a mistake, to choose the wrong option and die.
This was her final test. And it would be the worst one yet.
She heard Ana’s voice telling her to follow her heart. But how could following her heart help her safely walk through magma or a rapidly moving river of water?
It couldn’t.
Sabina sighed. No. There had to be a way. She just needed to find it. She walked to the left, looking for anything that she could use to either cross the ten-foot span of water or throw at the sword to dislodge it.
Since she had horrible aim and that could very well tumble the weapon into the river, she opted to look for ways to get to the sword. She wasn’t discouraged when she found nothing. Retracing her steps, Sabina walked along the magma, searching for the same thing.
Finally, she ended up right where she started. At the convergence of fire and ice. Curious, she put her hand into the water. It was ice cold. Strange since there was steam coming from the pool, but then there was little that made sense in the mountain.
The whoosh of air near her had her head snapping up. She saw that Ulrik had stopped Roman from grabbing her with his long talons.
