most recent visit, she brought Gabriel along to help her demolish our home, and now she has taken your Walter to do who-knows-what. She seems to enjoy collecting young men as she blazes a destructive path.”
Trying not to shake, Ashley glanced at her wristwatch. “Maybe we should give her time. She said she would come back if she left anyone behind. It’s only been a few minutes.”
Roxil snorted. “Put your faith in humans if you wish. But you shouldn’t hold your breath”—the dragon smiled scornfully“—unless you really want to be dead.”
The dragon’s last word sliced into Ashley’s mind. Dead. The very last word she wanted to think about, a state she didn’t want to consider.
Lowering her chin to her chest, she closed her eyes. There had to be an answer. There had to be a way out. Taking a deep breath, she finally settled down and concentrated on the events of the last hour, going backwards in timeSapphira’s story, the journey to the museum chamber, the giants climbing out of the mobility room.
She snapped her fingers. “The mobility room! I can still get up to the staircase and climb out.”
“But the rope is on the floor,” Roxil said. “How do you expect to get up to the ceiling?”
“Can you give me a boost?” Ashley started toward the corridor and called back. “You can get there, can’t you? The corridors between here and there looked big enough.”
Roxil let out a sparks-laden sigh. “I suppose I can, but if you leave, what will I do?”
Ashley halted. “If I find Sapphira, maybe she can come back for you. Maybe it was all a mistake, and she’s trying to figure out how to find us right now.”
Roxil twitched her ears and raised her scaly brow. “Considering that she has played the temptress, usurped your position with your young man, and left you here to rot, I am surprised at your trust in her.”
“Temptress? What are you talking about? Sapphira’s too sweet to do anything like that.”
“Perhaps you didn’t notice the attraction, but my experienced eyes tell me far more than your human vision can detect.” Roxil flicked her tongue out and in. “The evidence is quite convincing. She and your young man are together, and you are here. Why should you trust such a deceiver?”
Averting her eyes, Ashley kicked aside a pebble. Something about this dragon was definitely strange. Why was she so filled with distrust? She couldn’t be right about Sapphira, could she? “If you have a better idea,” Ashley said, “then let’s hear it. Otherwise, Sapphira or no Sapphira, I’m getting out of here, and I’ll do whatever I can to rescue you.”
Roxil lumbered toward the exit. “I still think we are in Hades, so I have my doubts whether or not the staircase remains, but I suppose it is worth a try.”
As cold drizzle pelted his head, Mardon stood at the edge of a highway next to one of his giants. The road to his left climbed a slope and curved around a low grassy rise, disappearing about half a mile away. To his right, the highway descended into a more forested area where tall spruces reached into an elevated fog bank.
Mardon tapped the giant’s hip and pointed at a white Ford Explorer cruising toward them on the rain-slicked road. “That one will do nicely, Bagowd.”
The giant stepped onto the pavement and waved his arms over his head. As the Explorer’s wheels locked, the female driver screamed. Sliding while it decelerated, the SUV came to a halt with a not-so-gentle bump into Bagowd’s legs. The young woman flung open the door and leaped out, but the giant, in three limping strides, snatched her by the coat collar, hauled her back to the Explorer, and threw her behind the steering wheel.
“You will drive,” he bellowed.
Mardon opened the door on the other side and slid into the passenger’s seat. “I apologize for frightening you, Madam, but my need for a vehicle is urgent. When my giant carries me, our progress is much too slow.”
Her arms shaking violently, the short-haired brunette reached for the gear stick on the steering column and shifted to drive. “Where … where do you want to go?”
He nodded at Bagowd, who had bent over to rub his injured legs. “Follow him.”
She settled into her seat, straightening her coat around her. After taking a deep breath, she raised her hands to her temples and said, “Okay, Kaitlyn, you can handle this. Remember your boot camp training.” Now wearing a forced