Minutes passed. An hour. It was hard to tell.
The flashlight finally burned out, leaving us in the dark. That made things so much worse, which I didn’t think was possible. Light from the candles and the flame in the dragon statue’s mouth did not extend into our cell. I thought of the white bug, scurrying under the rock pile, and phantom itching made my skin crawl.
I tried to get my mind off our situation. To formulate some kind of plan. What to do when Rothwild returned. How long could he keep us here? Would he take the ring band from me by force? And what then? Would he slaughter us? Impale us? Wouldn’t that be rich?
I stared through the bars, watching the robed guards. They didn’t talk. Not much. Anything they said was too low and too far away for me to hear. But when they both jerked around and raised their sickle-shaped swords at the opposite side of the cavern, I sat up straighter.
“Is he back?” Father whispered next to me in the dark.
He wasn’t. But something was here. Moving. Invisible in the shadows. Stalking. I couldn’t see it, but I could sense it. The guards left their post and tried to seek it out. Only for moment. Then they gave up, muttering to themselves. But I was worried now, because they looked spooked. Were there ghosts in here? All the misbehaving children who’d been whisked here in the local fairy tales?
But I didn’t have time to worry much longer.
The sickening thumping noise returned.
“He’s coming!” I whispered to Father.
“I don’t hear anything,” he whispered back.
“Trust me.”
We scrambled to stand as a dark figure emerged from the cavern tunnel. My pulse ratcheted back into overdrive.
Striding toward the prison cell, Rothwild stopped in front of the bars and clapped his hands together. “Now, Miss Fox. What will it be? Ready to make a trade? The ring band for your freedom.”
He held up something in one hand. I fought back a wave of dizziness and squinted in the dark to see it.
A key.
He wanted to bargain? Fine. We’d bargain.
I squeezed Father’s hand.Trust me, I thought.For once in your life, please trust me!
Stepping toward the bars, I took the ring box out of my coat pocket. And I held it up like Rothwild held the key. Just out of reach. “This is what you want?”
“I knew you’d see reason.”
“Won’t fit through the bars,” I told him. “Open the door, and we’ll trade.”
He shook his head. “Open the box and hand me the band through the bars.”
“Theo!” Father warned behind me.
I flicked open the catch on the box and cracked open the lid.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
It was awful. Terrible. Unbearable. My knees went weak. I was going to be sick if I touched the band sitting inside the box. I was going to be sick if I didn’t.
Funny thing was, Rothwild wasn’t. He looked unaffected. Greedy for the band, yes. He reached his hand through the bars, beckoning for my band.
But not affected.
He didn’t hear what I heard.
He wasn’t the Dragon.
I was.
