Chapter 13
Scarlett listened to her words and knew the answer before Ransom replied. Somehow, they had to disable the prince and make Narenda safe. If this same situation occurred on Tiraq, Saber and their allies would join forces to end the despot. No matter what the risk to their safety.
She and Ransom, Talon too, could do no less. They couldn’t rely on the volcano to do their job for them.
“Where are your potions? How many did you say you have left?” she asked.
“Three,” Ransom replied, his expression one big grimace.
“Take one now,” Scarlett ordered. “Talon and I can’t do this on our own. He’s too short for one,” she added in an attempt at light relief.
Ransom pulled a vial from his pack, his hand trembling so much Scarlett feared he’d drop it.
“Let me.” Scarlett uncorked the vial and handed it to Ransom. “Down the hatch.”
“I don’t enjoy taking mystery potions,” Ransom grumbled.
“They haven’t killed you yet.”
Ransom wrinkled his nose and lifted the vial to his mouth. He swallowed the contents with a grimace. “It tastes as disgusting as it smells.”
Talon tapped her on the leg and pointed at Ransom’s pack. Then he pointed to him and to her. He growled and repeated the action, then mimed drinking.
“You want us to take one too?” Scarlett asked.
Talon nodded, enforcing this with a grunt.
“What do you think?” she asked Ransom.
“It has muted the pain in my head. It’s there still, but I’ll be able to function. Before…it was difficult to make my limbs work.”
“All right,” Scarlett said, rapidly deciding. “I’ll do it, but mark this, Talon. If I die, you will live in fear.”
“Haw-haw-haw.”
Scarlett took one vial. She removed the stopper and handed it to Talon. He downed it without hesitation.
Scarlett opened the third vial, sniffed it, and grimaced. It stunk. No getting around that truth.
Talon growled.
“All right. All right. Ugh. It tastes disgusting.”
“But it has dulled my headache. The pain struck hard up there. That must be the entrance,” Ransom said.
Ransom’s voice sounded as if it came through a tunnel, but he was right. Her head was no longer aching as severely.
“Let’s do this.” And kick Prince Kalim’s royal butt, she added silently. Despite Ransom’s promises, she’d yet to find any suitable precious stones. “You promised me gemstones,” she grumbled as she approached a pointy hat statue.
“There are plenty of stones. Look in any direction, and you’ll find them,” Ransom said.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
“Enough from the cheap seats. This must be the statue the prince mentioned, but which is the base stone?”
“It’s close,” Ransom muttered. “The pressure at my temples has increased.”
Talon growled and pointed at a massive rock on its own.
“Why that one?” Scarlett asked.
Ransom gingerly approached the flat rock. Although it resembled others and smaller rock chunks buried half of it, the area attracted his closer attention. “My head hurts more when I’m near it.”
“How do we get into the chamber? Do we dig, or is there a handy lever?” Scarlett asked, studying the oblong rock. Heck, Ransom was right. The pressure on her head—it was like being tortured in a vise. “They wouldn’t make the chamber too easy to access. I mean, what if strangers opened it?”
“True.”
Talon scampered around the rock and pointed, snaring their attention with one of his growls. He grabbed a smaller rock from the top of the oblong-shaped flat one and pushed it clear.
Ransom helped to shift the massive rock, and Scarlett offered her aid. Now, although her head ached, a barrier muted the pain.
Finally, they shoved the rock away and stared at a small hole.
“For an entrance, it’s not big.” Scarlett glanced at Ransom. “You and I would have trouble. We’d have to crawl, making us vulnerable to attack from the inside.”
Talon growled and thumped his furry fist against his equally hairy chest. He prowled around the flat rock, pushing and poking. He pounced, his growl triumphant.
The rock slid with an ear-wincing grind, opening up a waist-high hole.
Scarlett went to dive through the opening, and Ransom grabbed her. At the same time, Talon bit her on the right calf.
“Slow down,” Ransom ordered. “Plans, remember? We don’t know if they added a booby-trap or a counter-measure against unwanted intruders.”
Scarlett swallowed, a splash of embarrassment heating her cheeks. Ransom and Talon were correct. They needed to approach with caution.
“This must end so I can go home to the resort and have a hot shower and a decent meal,” she muttered, keeping her gaze confined to her feet.
“I’d hoped you’d want to come home with me,” Ransom said.
“Thanks, but I have plans. Things to do.”
“Of course.” Ransom’s tone was stiff.
She’d hurt his dragon-man feelings. Too bad. They’d had sex. Great sex. No matter what her feline might want or crave, she refused to belong to any man.
“What’s the plan now?” Scarlett asked. “I can’t keep up. It’s continuously changing.”
Talon released a tiny growl and scuttled away from them toward the dark hole.
“No, wait,” Ransom snapped.
Talon didn’t listen. He darted into the entrance.
A silver arrow flew from the darkness. It sailed over Talon’s head and barely missed Ransom.
“That would’ve hit me in the gut, or if I’d been bending down to get inside—”
“You’d be dead,” Ransom interrupted. “Talon, take care.”
A second and a third silver arrow fired from the dark depths of the chamber. Ransom jumped aside, the arrow lodging in his tunic sleeve. The third one missed.
Scarlett gasped. “Did it get you?”
“Just the fabric of my tunic,” Ransom said.
“Do we have a torch? Talon, are you okay?”
A faint growl carried to them.
“I have a lamp. It’s in the side pocket of my pack.”
“No way are you toting a lamp in there,” Scarlett eyed his pack.
“Back right pocket. The lamp is silver.”
Scarlett fumbled in the pocket Ransom indicated and produced a silver square. “Where I come from, this isn’t a lamp.” She handed it over, and Ransom activated a switch.
The lamp illuminated a large area when Ransom directed it at the hole.
“Talon, wait there,” Ransom ordered. “We’re coming inside.” He turned to face her, the hole going dark again because he’d redirected the light.
But before they could move, Talon shrieked and scuttled from the hole. He bounced up and down and slapped his claws at a long, hissing thing that had attached to his fur.
“Snake!” Scarlett backed up so fast, she tripped over a rock and fell on her arse.
Ransom yanked on the animal-creature—whatever it was—and threw it away from the entrance. “It’s harmless, but its bite is nasty.” Ransom kneeled beside Talon and checked his coat. “You’re fine. Your fur is too thick.”
“I wonder what other surprises they have in there,” Scarlett said. “Did you see the prince?”
Talon shook his head.
“We need to get inside,” Ransom said. “Ideas?”
“Well, we know a short-arse like Talon wasn’t in danger. What if you and I crawl? We can leave our packs out here. From the glimpse I got, it looks as it only the entrance is low and we should be able to stand once we get as far as Talon did. Are there any more of those snake things?”
“They hide from the light,” Ransom said. “As long as we have the lamp, they’ll keep away.”
Scarlett retreated. “I’m not so gung-ho about going in there. Indiana Jones keeps popping into my head.”
“Who’s Indiana Jones?” Ransom’s eyes narrowed to dragon-slits while his body expanded.
Scarlet raised her right hand in a stop motion. “Whoa, dragon-man. You don’t have to do the big, scary monster thing. It’s a vid series. Entertainment. If you ever visit the resort, I’ll treat you to dinner and a vid.”
Ransom winced and cupped his aching skull.
“We need to hurry,” Scarlett said. “We don’t know how long it will take, and if the potion wears off, we’re in trouble.”
“Shush, someone might be listening.”
“Good point. Let’s do this.” She scratched her arm, and Talon hissed a warning. She ignored him to keep scratching, and he leaped at her with bared teeth. Before she could shake him off, he nipped her. “Ow, you crazy wee demon. I am not the enemy.”
“Cut it out. Both of you,” Ransom snapped.
“Yes, Dad,” Scarlett said, her tone syrupy sweet.
“Haw-haw-haw.”
Scarlett stared at the Trolleris with irritation. “Bite me again and I will use you for a rugby ball.”
“The pair of you are worse than dragon younglings going on their first flight. Not another word from either of you.”
“Talon, you go first.”
Talon shrank back in clear alarm.
“I’ll shine the light to keep the worms at a distance. They won’t come near as long as we have illumination,” Ransom said.
“What happens if your lamp conks out?”
“It won’t,” Ransom promised.
Ransom gave Talon a tiny shunt toward the hole and turned on the lamp. Scarlett grinned as Talon peered in cautiously before he edged inside.
Scarlett crawled after Ransom, their progress slow and cautious.
It gave her plenty of time to appreciate the dragon-man’s butt and strong legs.
She liked him. She liked him a lot, and her feline approved.
The problem—she craved independence. She wished to follow her dream.
Yes, her brothers’ mates all seemed deliriously happy, but each of them had moved to the resort.
Each of them had changed their lives to be with their mates.
Scarlett refused to do that, to take a backward step and give up her freedom. Things she’d taken for granted on Earth.
Ahead of her, Ransom rose to his full height. Scarlett used her arms to propel forward and stood beside him.
The area inside the chamber was more substantial than she’d anticipated. Rows of casket-like boxes lined the walls and created aisles. Each was a bright purple color that reminded Scarlett of blueberries.
“Which way?” she asked. “How do we find the prince?”
“It would make sense for him to be toward the rear of the chamber in case someone entered,” Ransom said. “Any ideas, Talon?”
Talon shrugged and scampered to the right. He took three or four steps and sank from sight.