“I can, but not quickly?—”
“Come on.” Koal’s voice drifted from deeper in the tunnel. “Found an older route. This way.”
They pushed on, while Skaldr stopped to plant the explosives in the vents they passed. The path narrowed, twisting under the mountain’s belly, the air thick with dust and the coppery sting of old stone.
His dragon rumbled, its distress rearing at the confined space, too reminiscent of Tartarus’ coffin cell.
We’ll be out soon.He shoved the words down into himself, half command, part prayer. The rut-fire roaring through his blood at least drowned out the memories of void-irons, the endless dark, and didn’t bring him to his knees in the claustrophobic place.
Ash.His bond to her throbbed like a heartbeat in his chest, tethering him to the present, keeping him from losing his mind.
“This way,” Koal’s whisper cut through the gloom. He pulled away fallen rocks to reveal a narrow gap and slipped through. “The holding cells, we can still reach them. Lower tunnel.”
Lower?Race’s teeth ached from the grinding of his jaw.
“It joins again three hundred paces ahead,” Koal’s voice echoed to him. “Drops us right where we need to be.”
They moved like shadows, their boots whispering over the worn ground, the narrowness of the tunnel closing in on him.
Ash.Her warm presence within his mind, soft and steady, hauled him back only for his rut to burn hotter.Fuck.His chest heaved. His cock ached, his dragon snarled, and he fought to concentrate on the mission?—
A muffled sob carried through the tunnel, and his vision bled red. They were close. Voices drifted to them.
Rhaedra brushed past him, her pilfered brown-and-gold garments catching the torchlight, Malcarion’s crest glinting faintly on her chest. “Two minutes. Let me clear the way.”
They waited as she slipped around the corner. Then her voice drifted back, smooth as honey and just as dangerous.“Captain, what a surprise. I was just looking for you...”
Race braced his palm to the rough wall, the bite of cold stone holding him up as another molten wave rolled through him. His entire body burned, muscles coiling too tight, his dragon’s agitation growing. Through their bond, Ash’s first flicker of strain brushed his mind—thin, sharp, and gone too quickly, hauling him back from the edge.
Hold on, heart-fire,he soothed, even as his dragon raged to go to her.We’re nearly there.But his mate’s growing strain gnawed at his focus.
Koal’s hand settled on his arm. “You good?” he whispered.
“Fine.” He straightened, the lie tasting like rusting metal. “On Rhaedra’s signal, we move.”
The children were waiting. His mate was out there fighting to hold the storm. And his dragon—his dragon was on the edge of exploding.
The storm raged above Ash, lightning forking through the dark clouds like veins of fire. Her hands shook as she fought to keep the eye steady, her breath coming in sharp gasps. The bitter winds whipped about, stinging her face, but she barely felt the chill.
Something warm trickled from her nose?—
“You’re bleeding.” Gentle fingers pressed a cloth beneath her nose, wiping away the blood before it froze. “You’re pushing too hard.”
She shook her head, didn’t speak, her hands still held out, her focus on the mountain. Maintaining the eye was like trying to hold back an ocean. Her temples throbbed, and her vision blurred at the edges.
The clouds parted slightly. Dragon patrols wheeled in the strong wind shear of the eye’s wall, keeping them out of the calmer center.
“They cannot take off in that ring of winds,” Attor rumbled. “Numbers down to half.”
Good.
Her body screamed for rest. No matter her mental exhaustion and aching arms, she remained ever aware of her mate’s warm light within her as he moved deeper into the mountain, a warmth she clung to?—
Pain ripped through her mind,and she gasped.Not hers.
“Race!” a cry tore from her throat as lightning split the sky, responding to her terror. Then rage slammed into her—raw,feral, unstoppable—bleeding through their bond with such force, it stole her breath. His fury burned through her veins, wild and primitive.
Oh, God. What was happening to him?
