“I’ll go home, keep a low profile, and investigate my sister and her tie to your brothers. It has to be something on Hissing Isle since this was where the crime they accused me of occurred. The soldiers captured me during a business trip, and the council incarcerated me here.”
Leo pried another stone free and set it aside. The gap allowed a wash of early dawn light, and he scanned for pedestrians. None.Yet.Although the building blueprints remained in his mind, he still wasn’t positive of their location. The single thing he was certain of was the alley had led them from the castle grounds.
He, Martinos, and Jakab continued to work in silence. As did Gwenyth, who cleared the area of stones behind them to give them more room in which to work.
“I think I could squeeze through the gap now,” Gwenyth said. “Why don’t I scout the area? At the least, I can give you an idea of our surroundings and where we are.”
Leo wanted to protest. His dragon shouted a dissent because they wished to protect her from further harm.
“Leo,” she said, coming close enough to place a hand on his forearm. Her touch seared through him, arrowing to his cock.
“Let us clear a few more stones, then you can go through,” Leo said. “If anyone comes, run and hide. I’ll come for you.”
She opened her mouth as if to protest, then nodded. She continued with her rock moving, and when Leo glanced back, he was proud to see a hip-high wall of stone. Any barrier, no matter how flimsy, would offer them precious extra seconds in which to escape.
“Gwenyth,” Leo said. “You should be able to fit through here.”
She squirmed through without difficulty.
“Be careful,” Leo ordered. “Stay in the shadows.”
“I promise.”
Watching her scurry away was the hardest thing he’d ever done. To stop himself from howling, he applied himself to making the hole big enough for all of them to pass through. His dragon chattered off his ear.
“We shouldn’t have let her go. What if she gets captured again? The guards might notice our escape tunnel. What if that Nan revisits her brother?”
“Stop,”Leo demanded.“Gwenyth is clever. She won’t get caught.”He applied force to a stubborn piece of rock, grunting as it came free without warning and almost planted him on his arse.
Jakab steadied him and yanked another bit from the wall.
“Martinos, you slide through the gap and leave,” Leo said. “Once you’re free, make your way to the human village.”
Martinos nodded. “I’m serious about meeting with you again. Hopefully, we’ll each have information we can share by that time.”
“All right. Leave a message with the baker at the human village on Perfume Isle. Gwenyth and I will make our way in that direction.”
“Thank you. I won’t betray your trust.” Martinos sent Leo a long look before nodding and squirming through the hole. Once through, he paused.
“I think we’re near the entrance to the dungeon. Take care leaving.”
Leo watched Martinos melt into the shadows.
“Do you trust him?” Jakab asked.
Leo shrugged. “Time will tell.”
He put renewed energy into removing rocks, his worry increasing when Gwenyth didn’t return. If the guards spotted her, all of this would be for naught.
17 – Survival Is My New Middle Name
Gwenyth slunk through the shadows cast by the buildings. She approached a corner and slowed. Was that the clink of swords and the stomp of boots on cobblestones? She risked a glance around the corner and barely restrained her gasp.
They’d emerged right by a guard station. Gwenyth backtracked and wondered at the amount of activity given the early hour.
A blast of flame lit the road, and Gwenyth squeezed against the wall of the building at her back.
A black dragon flew overhead, giving Gwenyth a glimpse of power and beauty. Then the dragon disappeared over the rooftops and out of sight.
