Page 94 of Dragon’s Rebel

“Let’s go,” she said uneasily. “I don’t think we have much more time.”

They followed the tunnel underneath the gardens, stepping in puddles and brushing aside cobwebs, taking turns scanning in between brushing scuttling insects off their clothes.

Thorne was muttering under his breath.

“What’s that?” Rebel asked.

“I hate fucking spiders.”

“A big-ass dragon shifter is scared of spiders? They won’t hurt you.”

“You don’t know that. What if they crawled into my ear while I was sleeping laid eggs in there? And ate my brains?”

“Seriously? These are the things you worry about?”

Thorne just kept muttering.

They passed through the foundation of the house and up a narrow wooden staircase that doubled back on itself. Finally they came to a paneled wall, with yet another carving of the dolphin and wave circle.

It took Thorne a minute to find the catch on this side. Then a section of the wall moved, and they stepped through into a large room on one of the upper floors of the house.

Thorne held the door open for Rebel, and then he let it shut again. Before it closed completely, Rebel found the latch on this side and made sure it would open again.

“You really think Corwyn’s on his way?”

Rebel gave him a look. “Yes. And for the record, you would make a sucky thief, my friend. Always have an exit strategy. Preferably more than one.”

“Mine was always my wings,” he said.

“Well, until you have them back, you need to have other ways to escape. Stick with me. I’ll keep you out of trouble.”

“I so doubt that,” Thorne murmured.

They looked around the room. It had obviously once been beautiful, with a plaster medallion on the ceiling, and mouse-eaten remains of an oriental rug on the floor. The walls on both sides of the fireplace were lined with bookshelves, now empty except for a couple of tattered volumes lying on their sides.

The boards had fallen off one of the windows, and there was a litter of leaves and debris on the floor.

Rebel remembered it clearly the way it had been. The most beautiful room she’d ever been in—at least, until she moved into the dragons’ mansion. Even though she hadn’t liked the Lady—and the Lady hadn’t liked her—she’d always wanted a room like this.

They followed the same procedure, scanning the room. No sense of the Seal anywhere.

“Dammit,” Rebel said. “I was so sure it was here on the estate.” She felt close to tears. “Thorne, what if we don’t find it? What if they’re already being attacked at the lair?”

“They’d let us know,” Thorne said. “Tyr said everything was quiet the last time we talked to him. That was less than two hours ago.”

She shook herself. “A lot can happen in two hours.”

He put his hand on her arm. “Hey,” he said. “Focus on the job. You’re the best thief anywhere ever, and if the Seal can be found, you’ll find it.”

“I’m the best thief when I have the right intel,” she said. “Right now, I’ve got nothing.”

He cupped her chin in his hand. “Don’t forget, the Seal wants you to find it. You’re the Keeper.”

Yeah. The Keeper who refused to mate with her Destined Dragon. What did that say about her?

“Come on. We’ll start from the beginning. Scan this whole place.”

They didn’t have time for that. She knew in her gut they didn’t. And what if there was something else they had to do to find the Seal? Do the horizontal mambo? Say their vows? Perform some kind of sacrifice? Blaze’s Seal had been on her body, and no one knew about it until the influence of Corwyn and the idol had made it start flashing like a neon sign.

What if Corwyn was the secret ingredient? What if she needed him in order to find it?

The room they were in turned out to be the central room of a suite, each room connecting to the next. They followed them to the end, and Rebel looked out the window.

Outside on the terrace was a portal, with hellhounds and men in leather pouring through it.

“Thorne!” Rebel called sharply. “Look at this!”

He took one look and swore. “Back to the passage,” she said. “It’s the only way out they won’t know about.”

They ran for the connecting door, Thorne in the lead. He slammed through to the next room and slid to a stop.

Rebel barely missed running into him. Inside the room she heard a low, threatening growl. Then another one sounded behind her.

Slowly, Thorne turned.

There were hellhounds in both directions. They were trapped.