Page 71 of Red Dragon’s Heart

“I hate that guy,” Mayah muttered. Tristan, her mate, growled. Mayah was the one who had been caught in the trap the first time they’d met Larkin. She’d been stuck there for days.

“Everyone hates that guy,” Zak said. “Can’t we just go in with explosives and tear the place apart? That would disrupt the fucking wards. We could tear Chisholm and Larkin apart too, while we’re at it.”

Maddie looked alarmed. “We can’t do that. He might hurt Troy before we can get to him.” She put her hand on Zak’s arm. “I like the part about tearing Eric and Larkin apart, though. Can we fit that in the plan somehow?”

Rebel said, “I like the explosives idea. I can get through the wards, but that doesn’t help if no one else can, including Troy. But the spells are anchored to the walls, and destroying even one anchor point on the room Troy’s in could make enough of a breach to allow Kira to make a gate.”

Rebel had an innate ability to penetrate magical and electronic fields—she could walk through them like they weren’t there. But that didn’t always extend to anyone with her.

“Nice idea, but it’s not like we can plant explosives on Chisholm or Larkin,” Emon said drily. “How about ideas we can use?”

Zak was watching Maddie. She was staring into space with that look on her face that said the giant brain was working.

“We can’t plant explosives on Eric or Larkin,” she said slowly, “but we can plant them on me and Zak.”

“You mean go through with the exchange?” Flynn said in his deep rumbling voice. He shook his head. “You don’t really think Chisholm is going to let Troy go, do you?”

“Of course not,” Maddie said. “But he’ll probably put us all in the same room, at least for a while. He’d almost have to—you said yourself it’s the only part of the complex that has that worldwalker trap. Besides, he loves to gloat, so he’ll need to have all of us together for that to have maximum effect.”

“There’s no way you’ll get in there with a big enough charge to blow the kind of hole we need,” Kira said. “They’ll find it when they search you.”

“I have a plan for that,” Maddie said. And she proceeded to tell them what she had in mind.

When they had it set, they prepared to call Chisholm back at the number he’d given Cazbek’s security forces. Maddie said, “I want to be the one to talk to him.”

Emon said, “Usually a neutral negotiator is a better choice.”

Maddie said, “First, I really don’t want to know how you know that. And second, it’s not a better choice for Eric. I told you—Eric is a gloater. He wants to see me cry and beg, and if he sees that, he’ll be so full of himself he won’t suspect me of nailing his ass to the wall.”

“She may be right,” Flynn rumbled.

“Damn straight I am. He thought I was just a little scientist he could bully, and he was wrong. Every time he’s gone up against me, he’s lost, and he knows it.”

She looked around the room. “I escaped. I took his data. I destroyed the backups. I coerced him into coming to the warehouse a few weeks ago, and he fell into my trap.”

“He got out again, though,” Emon said.

“But he didn’t get his data back. This time, we have to make him think he’s won. He loooves to win.”

Emon said, “And what about you?”

Maddie said, “I really, really love to win.”

So they did it her way. Watching her, Zak was reminded again of what a remarkable woman she was. She put on a stellar performance—mostly holding back her tears but not quite, as if trying to be defiant but knowing Chisholm held all the cards.

The bastard told her exactly where to come and what to do, and then elaborated on how she and Zak were totally screwed.

“This whole place is warded—including the airspace, by the way. So keep your little winged friends away—you don’t want them to get fried, do you?”

“You’re a bully, Eric,” Maddie said, sniffling. “I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”

“Your mistake was believing I ever saw anything in you. You’re pathetic.” He shook his head. “You should never have taken up with that dragon. You know he was just using you, right?”

Zak growled.

Chisholm went on, “You two had no idea who you were dealing with. Now I’ll have both of you.”

“Just please don’t hurt Troy,” Maddie begged.