by C. R. Jane
"Sleeping on the job?" Laz mocked from somewhere behind me.
I groaned under my breath, and twisted toward him when something golden glinted in the corner of my eye, right by an open fridge laying on its side. Something I could only see from being low to the ground.
"Bingo!" I murmured under my breath and hurried over on my hands and knees. Please let it be the scroll case.
Just then, an earth-shattering roar exploded behind me, the kind that only a terrifying, pissed-off dragon would make.
My heart immediately skipped several beats, then full panic mode settled in my bones.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Laz cursed from somewhere behind me.
I darted behind some boxes and curled in to make myself as small as possible. Only when I looked out from my hiding spot did I see the true extent of the trouble we were all in.
Laz hid behind a burned car, about twenty feet from me, his eyes on the beast, then over to me. I couldn't see Alaric, but somehow Keon had made his way back up into the protected plexiglass platform.
I glanced behind me quickly to the open fridge and there sat the freaking scroll case, at least two feet in length, golden decorations all over the outer shell. At the top, a keyhole... I'd hit the jackpot alright, except it might just get me eaten.
Looking up, Keon was gone, leaving the three of us down here. But he wouldn’t do that. He had to be getting help.
Peering out at the dragon. I saw that he was stumbling around, shaking his head. This was my chance. I took a deep breath, and lunged for the case. I grabbed it, and scurried back to hide behind the boxes because as much as I considered bolting up the stairs while he still appeared out of it, I doubted he would have a problem charbroiling me.
When it unleashed another terrifying roar, this time fire sprouted from its mouth, and I ducked low. Shit, shit, shit.
Only when he grew silent again did I look up to find the animal lingering near the platform, meaning we weren’t going anywhere, anytime soon. I glanced over to Laz, who stared my way. He was farther from the platform, so he’d have to cross the open area without attracting the dragon’s attention to reach me.
I shook my head, then gingerly picked up the scroll case, and showed it to him.
He did a small fist pump and smiled. I don’t know how long we waited after that, but my legs were cramping from sitting in a curled ball behind the boxes.
A sudden blur came from my right, and I flinched so hard a small cry spilled from my lips.
I quickly slapped a hand to my mouth just as fast.
"Fuck," Alaric's whispered voice came from my left, crouching low behind a laundry basket.
I blinked at him and did a double-take. "What? Where did you...?" I couldn't finish my sentences as shock collided into me. Alaric was next to me.
A thunderous footstep hit the ground, then another. Alaric placed a finger over his mouth, making a quiet shhh sound. Then he pointed to his left, where there seemed to be, amid the collected treasures, a small path that led to the steps.
He shuffled in closer to me, and his eyes were on the scroll case, widening at the sight of our prize. I lifted my gaze to the dragon beating its wings, taking flight.
Fuck, had he seen Alaric moving?
My heart beat faster, and terror gripped me.
Alaric grabbed my wrist, and he pulled me to move.
The dragon's roar had me flinching.
I was certain my heart was attempting to burst out of my ribcage. But with Alaric's strength, he forced me to move instead of freezing from fear.
Rapidly, we crawled along the narrow path, and I kept looking over my shoulder, noticing Laz had vanished from his position.
Panic struck, and I glanced around. He was sprinting in the opposite direction, drawing the beast away from us.
"Crap, no." I wrenched against Alaric’s grasp on my hand. He paused and glanced back at me, his expression perplexed.
I pointed toward Laz with the dragon flying in his direction.
"Goddamnit." Alaric hoisted himself to his feet, dragging me with him. "Run, gorgeous. Get the hell out of here."
Before I could respond, he shoved me in front of him, then gave me a strong nudge to my lower back. I stumbled forward, then spun back around to find he'd already gone after Laz and the dragon.
I had a complete moment of confusion about what to do next. Nova came to mind and her spells. Before I knew it, I was racing past the junkyard, leaping over objects, my breaths puffing, my gaze swinging from how far the stairs still lay to where the animal and my men were.
The stairs weren't far.
I could no longer see Laz or Alaric.
But I kept running because all our lives depended on it.
When a shadow fell over me, my stomach knotted, and I threw my arms over my head, hunching forward. For those few moments, I became resigned to the fact that this was it. My moment had come, and any second now, I'd perish into a ball of flames.
But when my end never came, I craned my head up.
The dragon crash-landed in front of the platform, mouth open, staring right at Keon. He stood in the plexiglass room, carrying a massive, frozen turkey. He opened the food hatch, and without hesitation hurled the bird at the beast.
In one swipe, it snatched the turkey out of the air, chewing on it, but it was gone in seconds. Keon grabbed another turkey from the large box at his feet. I frantically looked around for my other two men who were racing up behind me, panic in their eyes, and waving for me to go, go, go.
I whipped around and threw myself up the stairs, the plexiglass door swinging open for us.
The dragon's head jutted in our direction in that same moment, fury burning in his eyes.
"Hurry," Keon bellowed, then tossed another turkey at the dragon, which only hit him in the face, then plonked to the ground.
The beast started pivoting away from the front of the large platform, coming around to the side toward us.
My feet scrambled faster. Someone's hands were on my back, pushing me, and Keon was there. He reached and grabbed my arm, and next thing, I was flying into the enclosure, then landed on my hands and knees.
Alaric and Laz threw themselves in right after me just as a burst of fire exploded from the dragon's mouth.
Quick-footed, Keon grabbed the plexiglass door and hauled it shut just as the flames engulfed us.
Huddled around the scroll case, I lowered my head, hating the cracking and snapping sounds, the overbearing intensity of the heat.
Finally, when it subsided, strong hands grabbed me by the waist, and I was off my feet being rushed out of the dragon's cavern.
When my toes touched the floor again, all four of us were in the hallway, the door to the beast locked, and our breaths heaving out of our lungs. All my guys' faces were red and covered in ash, their eyes wild with the terror we’d just escaped.
"Fucking hell, that was close," Laz muttered exactly how I felt.
"Please, let's never do that again," I said.
Keon and Alaric didn’t say a word. They were staring at the scroll case in my arms. I glanced down and lifted it in front of me, smiling. "I can't believe we actually found it and survived."
"Can I touch it?" Alaric asked, already stretching his hand out. His fingers stroked the side of the scroll. I wasn't sure if he expected it to affect him, but when nothing happened, he drew his hand away.
"Okay, so where's the key?" Laz asked.
"With me," Keon asked, moving to stand next to me. "Let's get out of here, and do this in a safe place."
We all nodded and hurried as far from the dragon as possible. "I really hope whatever we find inside isn't an impossibly difficult treasure map. I mean, what is worse than facing a man-eating dragon?"
No one answered, and that told me everything. Whatever came next might be the end of us.
Chapter 12
Laz
Alaric's cell appeared a lot bigger than mine, complete with a table and chairs, a private section for the toilet… was
that a minibar? What the fuck? Talk about privileges. Then again, I'd heard enough things about the guy to know most feared him. So, no surprise that the Warden favored him.
But I didn't hate him, and especially not after he'd just saved my skin coming back to save me from the dragon. The more time I spent with Selena and the guys she surrounded herself with, the more I understood why she was drawn to them.
Aside from being fucking scary sonsofbitches, they adored her to a fault... the kind that involved killing anyone who dared touch her. That passion roared inside me, too. From our first time meeting in the mess hall, I knew she was different, and the impact she had on me was instantaneous. I fell fucking hard, and didn't regret a single thing. And for me, I was in for life with her.
I looked at the open cell door, expecting Keon to arrive at any moment. He'd apparently put in a request to get Seth out of his cell for some bullshit reason, and it had just been approved. So, he was collecting him to join us. He insisted that since we were dealing with magic, that it made sense to have a powerful fae like Seth with us when we opened the scroll case... just in case. Who the hell knew what we'd find, so we waited for their return.
"Nice room," I said, studying Alaric’s bookshelf with books all about history and warfare. That said a lot about him.
"Alaric definitely gets special privileges," Selena told me, our hands grazing, and I took her hand in mine. She was warm to the touch, and I adored the way she’d pressed in against me.
"I don't think so," Alaric answered, and we both glanced over to him lounging at the end of his bed like not much worried him.
"Sure," I said, and Selena smirked at him.
"So, what do you think we'll find in the case?" she asked.
I shrugged. "I'm hoping it's the actual stone. Wouldn't that be nice?"
Alaric collected the scroll case lying on the bed next to him, and shook it. “Nope, doesn't sound like there’s anything inside."
"Shit, it better not be empty," Selena said. "After what we just went through, I'm going to be really angry if we hit a dead end."
"We are finding that stone today," a deep voice said from behind me.
I twisted around just as Seth and Keon entered the room. Selena's breaths hitched, and she dropped my hand, then rushed to Seth, throwing her arms around him. He wrapped her up in his embrace. They exchanged hushed whispers and a kiss. I shouldn't have stared at their moment, but I felt like she belonged to me too, so the intimate time involved all of us. We got to share their reunion.
The passion she held for all the men in this room was undeniable. I'd always been a dominant man who never considered sharing in a million years, but it was funny how when you met the right person, everything changed.
I studied the powerful fae who carried a strong aura that commanded attention. Despite the injuries on his neck and arms, even the stories I'd heard of his beatings, he stood with determination and radiated power. It explained why the Warden had kept such a close guard on him... I suspected out of all of us, Seth could be the most deadly.
"I'm ready to do this," Keon started.
Alaric climbed to his feet, and the four of us now stood around Selena, who'd collected the scroll case and had it in her hands. Keon retrieved the key from his pocket, and handed it to her. The room fell silent, and we watched intensely as she pressed the key into the lock. It went in all the way, then she twisted it clockwise. A small click sounded, and the top of the scroll case flipped open and clattered to the floor.
I leaned in closer for a look inside the case, as did everyone else. Selena lowered the tube-like case for a better look when a bright green light flicked and shot out of the container.
Selena reared back, still holding onto the scroll case but all our attention followed the tiny light that was the size of a fly, hovering in front of us.
"What is that?" Selena asked in a breathless whisper.
"Doesn't look like a map to me," Alaric muttered.
"Is it a spell?" Keon added.
"Maybe it's a test?" I said.
Just then, the light zipped away from us and darted right past Keon and me. Twisting to follow it, the light lingered outside the cell, just hovering there.
"It's a tracking device," Seth said. "We need to follow it quickly."
The moment he said the last word, the light darted to the right into the hallway.
"Shit," I murmured and scrambled out after it. Everyone fell in close behind me. "There it is." I pointed to it curving around a corner down the hallway.
I ran after it… we all did without pause, stampeding past inmates who lunged out of our way at seeing our approach. I moved faster, loving the chase. It had been too long since I'd been out on a true hunt... since being locked up in here, of course. Before that, I hunted every day. But that was a past I wanted to forget, a past tainted with betrayal by my second-in-command after he killed my mate and framed her murder on me. I seethed at the thought and shoved that anger into my determination to destroy him.
The fast, rhythmic thud of my heart picked up the farther we ran. Selena was beside me, and my hand fell to hers, holding onto her. We ran together.
The magical light steered us left and right, and even I lost track of where we were. I kept looking back, swearing we were going in circles.
Hallways grew darker and longer, until we reached the staff elevator in what I finally recognized as the west wing, and as far from our cells as possible. The green light zipped down between the tiny gap, vanishing.
"What the fuck!" Alaric gasped for air.
"It went down," Selena confirmed what we'd all seen, stepping forward, her hand pulling free from me.
Keon jabbed a finger into the button and entered his passcode in the keypad on the wall. The moment the doors opened, we all rushed inside the small space, pressed together like sardines.
"What floor?" Keon asked, staring at the six buttons on the wall.
"Start in the basement," I suggested. "Where else would a magical light go?"
Seeing no one had a better plan, Keon hit the button, and we lurched forward as the elevator jerked and started descending. I rubbed shoulders with Seth, who now held onto Selena to stop her from losing her footing.
In moments, the doors slid open to a dark corridor. No one moved a muscle. There was no sight of the green spark we’d been chasing. Or much light at all, for that matter, in this area.
"What's down here?" Selena asked, sticking her head forward to peer out.
"It's mostly used for storing equipment and anything that has no home, not to mention the Warden keeps a lot of his other collectibles locked away down here, as well.”
“Maybe we should burn them all?” Seth suggested, causing everyone to look at him. It wasn’t what I expected him to say, and apparently, neither did anyone else.
“I’m with, Seth,” Selena piped up when a familiar green light zipped out into the hallway from the right, taunting us.
“There it is,” I called out, taking the lead and rushed out of the elevator, determined to not lose the damn thing again.
Selena
We were off again, my breathing out of control, and I wiped the sweat from my brow. Just like visiting the dragon, this level of the prison burned with heat.
I kept up to Laz and Keon, who took the lead, Seth and Alaric at my back. It was a strange thing to be surrounded by all four men, to have them all cooperating, and not attempting to rip each others’ heads off. The danger coming for me seemed to have shaken them, not to mention myself. We’d come this far, so this had to work in my favor.
Rounding a corner, we hit a dead end... or more specifically, a set of doors bolted shut. Keon wasted no time getting them unlocked with the ring of keys attached to his belt. There was no hesitation in him; he was breaking prison rules… his sense of duty went out the window the moment the Warden put a target on my back. His loyalty was to me.
Laz collected my hand in his, and he drew me past the open doors. We emerged into a great hall thrown int
o darkness. Keon grabbed the flashlight on his belt and flicked on the light, the beam revealing an actual ballroom, complete with chandeliers.
"The fuck!" Alaric bellowed. "Has the Warden been holding dinner parties down here with the demons he makes deals with?"
"It sure looks like it," Seth answered.
"Before the building became a penitentiary, the lower levels were used by the underworld creatures when they entertained non-demonic beings. It was a halfway point," Keon explained.
The green light blinked through the darkness and veered right. We rushed after it until it suddenly vanished. That was when Keon's beam of light swept over a door.
"I don't think I have a key for this entry," he said, though he still tried some of his keys with no success.
"Move over," Laz commanded.
Keon did just that and moved to the side. Then Laz and Alaric charged the wooden door, ramming their shoulders into it repeatedly.
Wood groaned, echoing around us. When the door didn't break open, Keon turned and rammed his heel into the wooden door, sending shards of wood flying in every direction. I ducked in case the shards came flinging in my direction.
The green light hovered inside the room. Then before our eyes, it burst into specks of green light and dissolved into lime-green ash, vanishing.
"This has to be it," I murmured in awe, mostly to myself.
Keon took the lead, and I watched intently as he entered the room and his flashlight illuminated a grand black gate that divided the large room in half. It was as if someone had blocked off a portion of the room with metal bars.
I followed Keon, as did the others, and I approached the elaborate gate, the lock made of a skull.
"What's in there?" Alaric asked, and we were all peering inside, holding on to the metal bars as Keon slowly swept the light left and right across the empty cell... until the beam paused on a treasure chest that looked like it came directly out of a pirate movie.
"We found it," Seth breathed. My thoughts exactly.
