Maggard, with his bulging eyes and sour stench, tilts his head. “Just figuring out that you’re actually trapped?” His smile fades. “You should have minded your own business.”
“It is my business.”
With a huff, he throws me across the room to land in the cage right beside Mac, who is slowly recovering from his paralysis.
“Get comfortable, boys. You’re going to be here averylong time.”
With a twist of his wrist, he leaves us in darkness and silence. Only the light from the fire lake makes it possible to see. I try to illuminate again, but it’s just a flicker.
“Mac.” I reach for him, focusing as my eyes adjust. He blinks rapidly, pulling himself upright. “Are you hurt in any way?”
“No. Are you?”
I feel my side for the injury, finding a minor scratch that should heal easily. “No. I’m fine. What the Hades happened?”
“Gods,” he moans, rubbing his forehead. “I don’t really know. I was sound asleep, but I was having these vivid dreams about an item in my hoard. It was like it was calling to me. I felt a strong urge to retrieve it.”
“You brought the dagger with you?”
“Shit. I did. I don’t know why.”
I blow out a breath. “Maggard was tracking you somehow. I don’t know how I didn’t sense him. We led him straight to your hoard.” Rubbing my forehead, I rack my brain for options. “Maggard has the dagger. That’s bad. We’re trapped in the lowest level of hell. That’s really bad. My powers don’t seem to be working. That’s… about as bad as it gets.”
After a beat of silence, Mac asks, “What do we do now?”
“I don’t know, little dragon. I don’t have a fucking clue. I think all we can do is hope Valentino can find us.”
“And if he can’t?” His voice trembles.
“Let’s not think about that.”
“I’m sorry, Montrose. I’m really fucking sorry.”
Any animosity I still felt toward the young dragon melts away as his fear washes over me. I hate to admit that I’m just as scared. I don’t want to die. Not now that I know there could be something good waiting for me.
“I’m sorry too.” Reaching for his hand, I squeeze it, and he actually cuddles into me. “We should focus our thoughts on Valentino. Maybe he can sense us that way. Don’t think of anything but your brother, okay?”
Mac nods. “Okay. I’m only thinking of Valentino.”
“Me too.”
Pushing back the desperation slowly creeping through, I close my eyes and envision my sexy dragon’s face, praying he can somehow sense me.
He’s the only hope we have.
VALENTINO
Bolting upright, I stare into the darkness, acutely aware of the cool spot beside me. Where the fuck is Xaze? It only takes a few more seconds before a sinking feeling washes over me. I’m out of bed in a flash, stomping through my room. Upon finding it empty, I swing the door open between rooms to find my brother’s bed empty too.
Fuck.
I manage to put on a pair of sweats before I launch myself out of the window, running through the night to my brother’s hoard room. I can smell both of them, faintly, so they must have come here. What I find when I get there terrifies me.
The shack that was barely standing hours ago is in shambles, nothing but a pile of rotting wood on the ground. My dragon pushes forward, causes me to half shift, my chest twisting with the loss of my mate. I toss wood out of my way until I find the opening in the floor leading to the hoard.
Dropping through it, I land with a thud and use my dragon vision to scan the room. It’s empty. Completely fucking empty. No hoard, no brother, and no beautiful mate. A roar of discontent bellows out of me. My dragon, nearly delirious with fear and rage, blows a stream of fire across the remains of the hoard room, scorching it all. There’s no trace of them or anything that was here. Nothing has been left behind.
I howl, ready to torch the rest of the building, when my eyes catch a glimmer of broken glass. The bottom of the container lies mangled on the floor. The dagger. Oh gods. He found them. Maggard found them.
