Highland Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon #6) - Genevieve Jack Page 0,29
looked over her shoulder but there was no one there.
“He’ll have yer head if he hears ye say that name.”
Avery’s eyes widened when she recognized what was speaking to her even if she didn’t know the creature’s name. The tone of the voice held the same tinny quality as Tempest’s and Laurel’s, although she sensed this voice was definitely female.
“Are you his oread?” she whispered.
“Shh. What did I just say? Do not address me directly. Look toward the fire.”
Avery did as she was told. Thinking back, the bard and the painting had only called Xavier the dragon. His name was never used. Whatever had happened here, no one seemed to remember him. But her heart leaped with hope. If Xavier’s oread was here, maybe he wasn’t dead at all.
“Do you know where he is?” Avery whispered toward the fire.
She felt a disturbance in the air beside her.
“Dungeon,” the voice whispered. “I’ll come for you tonight when it’s safe and take ye to him.”
Avery nodded. “What’s your name?” Avery whispered.
“Glenna.”
The air shifted again, and she was gone.
That night Avery was exhausted by the time she was dismissed to retire to her chambers. Her room was only as wide as her bed and had a sloping ceiling that limited the area where she could stand at her full height. Still, she was thankful for the bed and would have gladly made use of it if not for Glenna. When would she come? Would they have to hurry from the room?
She knew she’d fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, but she had to find out what happened to Xavier. He was her only chance of ever going home, or at least to what served as home these days, Nathaniel and Clarissa’s. At first she tried to wait for the oread, but after falling asleep on her feet and falling into the wall, she blew out the candle next to her bed and fell asleep still dressed in her clothes.
“Wake up, girl.”
Avery came awake to an invisible force shaking her by the shoulders.
“Glenna?”
“Shhh. Lower yer voice. Who are ye and how is it ye ken my laird?”
Avery lowered her voice to a level she could hardly hear. “I’m a friend of his brother’s. Is he alive?”
“Aye.”
Avery’s heart leaped. “Take me to him.”
“Ye’ll be able to free him?”
Avery didn’t know how to answer that without seeing where Xavier was being held. Certainly, if it was easy, Glenna would’ve done it herself. “I’m going to try.”
She swept her bag off the floor and slung it over her back, then reached for the candlestick.
“Nay,” Glenna said. “’tis too risky. Follow me.”
Avery didn’t have to ask her what she meant. The oread began to glow until her outline was visible in the darkness. She was dressed like the other women here but had a set of gossamer wings that fluttered at her back. She looked like a winged ghost.
Glenna silently opened the door, and Avery squeezed through before closing it softly behind her. She followed the oread to the rear of the castle, then down a stone staircase. They descended two levels and stopped at a heavy iron door in front of which slept a guard snoring like a bear. An empty cup sat on the floor near his feet and smelled strongly of whisky.
“Sleeping draught,” Glenna said. “I spent all afternoon concocting it.” Silently, she moved past him and tugged the door open a few inches. Its hinges squealed and Avery froze, but the sleeping man simply grumbled, wiped his nose with his hand, and fell back to sleep. Avery squeezed through the narrow opening.
The dungeon was dark and dank. The steady drip of water echoed against the stone. She covered her nose and mouth against the smell of mold, human filth, and something else. Something animal. She scanned the cells. There was a man huddled in the first one who looked more dead than alive. He didn’t raise his head as she passed. The next three cells were empty. She kept going, following Glenna as she led her farther back into the bowels of the dungeon.
By the light of the oread, who glowed brighter now like her own personal star, Avery came upon a cage with polished silver bars. The construction reminded her of a modern jail, and it stood out against the dark stone walls. She squinted through the bars at a shadowy figure near the back of the cage. Glenna came closer, and her light beat back some of the darkness.