“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?”
