“You might have found out in a less painful way if you hadn't run off like that,” he snarled.
“Don't be mad at me, I'm hurt,” I whined pathetically, then gave him a weak grin.
Re's jaw clenched as he held his hands over me: one at my shoulder wound and one at my hip. His palms began to glow, then they burst into flames and the heat of the sun poured into me. My dragon responded to the fire, taking power from it and using that energy to heal my body. Broken bones became a memory as my strength returned like a freight train. My clothes burned away but golden scales rose from my skin to cover my nudity. Back arching, I gasped in pleasure and relief before dropping limply onto the charred earth.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” I purred.
“You foolish, reckless, obstinate woman!” Re yelled at me. “This is the shit Viper was talking about—this right here!” He yanked me to my feet. “You don't get to go running off like that!”
“I'm sorry,” I said as I found my footing.
“Of all your idiotic moves, Vervain, that stunt is at the top of the list.” Odin pulled me away from Re, took me by the shoulders, gave me a good shake, then fiercely hugged me. “You terrified me.”
“I'm sorry,” I said again.
Soon, I was surrounded by my men, all of them giving me hell—especially Viper, who, frankly, was justified—but we didn't have the time for all of that.
“I know. I know. You're right, you're all right and I'm wrong and very sorry.” I pushed away from them. “You can yell at me more later but right now, we've got to keep going.”
“Together,” Azrael said firmly.
“Yes, together,” I agreed. “But quickly.”
“Remember, Adro is a god of earth too,” Odin said as we started down the tunnel again. “I'm expecting there to be more traps involving stone and soil.”
“And snakes,” Viper, who had gone ahead—I think it was an attempt to be cannon fodder so I wouldn't—called back to us.
“Yes, obviously, there could be snakes as well,” Odin agreed. “Normal snakes in addition to the Adroanzi.”
“Nocould beabout it, therearesnakes,” Viper reported.
I hurried up to Viper, who stood at the top of a flight of steep, stone stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, the tunnel continued but its floor was covered in writhing bodies. They weren't an unusual size nor were they green so I assumed they weren't the Adroanzi. But there were a lot of them.
“Huh. So, we've gone fromBatmantoRaiders of the Lost Ark,” I muttered.
“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” Trevor delivered the best Indiana Jones line of all time—one that happened to be perfect for our current situation.
This meant that I could only say one thing back to him and it had to be done with a pseudo-Middle Eastern accent. “Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.”
Trevor and I chuckled as the others shook their heads and gathered around us. Re, back to glowing softly, held a hand out and directed his light upon the moving floor. Yep, those were snakes. Lots and lots of snakes.
“Re should go first,” Trevor said. “He's our spotlight.”
“Sure,” Re said with a brilliant and utterly false smile. He went down a couple of steps and the light coming from his hand brightened.
“Don't you dare!” Viper growled.
“I'm not going to hurt them,” Re huffed irritably.
Sunlight hit the snakes. At first, they seemed to enjoy it but soon the heat became unbearable and they slithered to the edges of the corridor. Re stepped down onto the open path, looked back at us over his shoulder, and smiled smugly.
“I'm handsomeandcompassionate,” the Sun God declared.
“Yes, you are, baby,” I said approvingly as I went down after him.
“La-la, could you not use that tone of voice on me?”
“What tone?” I headed down the snake-free path.
