Page 91 of Dragon’s Rogue

She broke off, for the first time realizing the enormity of what her mother had done for her. She’d resisted the idol’s influence for years with the help of the Seal. And then, when she’d realized she could neither recover, nor fight Silas and the others, she’d passed it on to Blaze.

“Then she gave the Seal to you.” Zane was beside her, his hand covering hers. She could feel his understanding, his realization of her mother’s last gift.

To keep Blaze safe, she’d sacrificed her only protection. And then she’d given in to physical death, to keep the evil taint from taking over her soul.

Oh, Mom. Grief overtook her, and she buried her head in Zane’s shoulder.

Thorne said, “How exactly did she give it to you? Could you give it to Zane the same way?”

“Fuck, Thorne, give her a minute,” Zane said.

Blaze shook her head, swallowing hard. “No,” she forced out.

“We just tried a little while ago,” Zane said. “It didn’t work.” He described the white light and the feeling, giving Blaze time to pull herself together.

“But nothing else happened,” said Blaze when he finished. “I still have it.”

Thorne spun back and forth in his chair, frowning in thought. “Maybe she’s not literally supposed to give it to her mate. What if she tried to transfer it directly onto the tomb, where the Seal originally was?”

“That would make the most sense,” Tyr conceded. “But I don’t like the idea of her in there with Vyrkos. What if her transfer attracts his attention and starts to wake him?”

“If it’s going to put her in danger, then hell no,” Zane said.

Blaze didn’t like the idea either, but it seemed like the most obvious thing to try. The Seal was supposed to get back to the tomb; that was the whole point of the prophecy. “I think we should do it.”

It took some coaxing for her to get Zane on board, but finally he agreed. Thorne led the group out of the Batcave, striding through the huge domed foyer and into the warren of tunnels.

Blaze glanced at Zane, and he slipped his hand around hers. That safe, protected feeling stole over her again. His touch said he had her back—he’d always have her back.

She was still astounded by that, at the realization that she was no longer alone.

They turned down another corridor, this one human-sized. They passed a couple of closed doors, and then stopped at what looked like a dead end.

Thorne reached out to put his hand on a flat place to the right of the featureless wall in front of them.

“Hold up,” Zane said. He pushed Blaze gently past Thorne, and lifted her hand to put her palm where Thorne’s had been about to go.

Zane put his on top of it. Blue light glowed around their hands, and Blaze felt a tingle of magic.

Thorne was scowling. “What did you do that for?” he asked.

Zane scowled back. “I gave her access,” he said, “because she’s a Keeper of the Seals. If this doesn’t work, and all hell breaks loose at some future point in time, don’t you think she should be able to get the Seal inside?”

Thorne made a reluctant gesture of acknowledgement. Blaze realized that he, too, was used to going it alone, with only his brothers for help.

It was hard for him to let other people in.

Zane turned to Blaze. “Take your hand off the sensor, and then put it back.”

She did what she was told. The blank wall slid aside, revealing a small room with a stone worktop built into the far wall, a frosted glass mirror in a gold frame above it. Two ornately carved wooden chairs on casters were tucked underneath. The whole place was covered in a layer of dust, as though it had never seen a zefir.

Thorne went forward and touched a button concealed on the bottom right corner of the mirror frame. The glass cleared like a windshield with the defroster turned on, becoming transparent.

It was the same view of Vyrkos’ tomb she’d seen on the monitor, the first night she’d come to the Batcave. Such a short time ago, but it seemed like a lifetime.

Now she was going inside—and it scared the hell out of her.

“This is a portal chamber,” Tyr said. “The Guardians’ shortcut to Mount Hood. Once the portal is activated, it can take us straight to the tomb.”