They climbed the mountain in silence. Aurora’s legs ached with exhaustion, but she forced herself to stay quiet, taking step after painful step. The waste spread out below her.
Then the ground started sloping downward again, falling away under their feet, a steep plunge into the heart of the mountain. “Well,” Lucas said, as they paused on the edge of the descent, peering into the darkness. “This is it.”
“Have you ever been here before?” Aurora said.
“Once,” Lucas said. “Only once.”
She took a deep breath, letting the hot air fill her lungs. She could still feel the heat of the night before, of Finnegan’s hands on her waist, the way the necklace burned against her skin. Dragon girl, he had called her, over and over again, whispering it into her ear, letting it loose under her skin. She would not be afraid.
“Maybe you two should wait out here,” she said. “It’ll be safer for me alone.”
Finnegan laughed. “Since when has splitting up ever been a good idea? If something went wrong when you were alone, you’d be dead. We’re coming with you.”
“Then remember,” she said. “Leave the dragons to me.”
Her walk turned into a clumsy run as she gained momentum. The men’s footsteps followed.
The cave grew darker and darker as they descended. Sunlight peeked through the entrance, but Aurora could see nothing in the cave itself, hear nothing, as though the rocks were absorbing all hints of light.
Aurora held out her hand, thinking of kisses in the dark, of lives betrayed. She summoned a small ball of flame, casting orange light across the walls. She could see the features of the rock now, the contours of Finnegan’s face as he moved to walk beside her, but the area beyond seemed darker as a result. More threatening. The flames flickered with uncertainty, but she frowned, forcing the magic to hold.
“Seems risky,” Lucas said, “bringing a light here.”
“It’s risky anyway,” Aurora said. “At least we can see if anything approaches.”
They picked their way over more sliding stones, down and down and down. Then the path twisted and split. She could not see the bottom of either tunnel, so she chose the one on the left, the one that was less steep.
“Think you can send the light ahead?” Finnegan asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
As soon as she tried to nudge the light away, it flickered and weakened, the burning in her chest slipping. In the park, it had all been so easy, but she could not sustain it under the oppressive stone. She shook her head. “I’ll go first,” she said.
Finnegan clutched her free wrist, but he did not stop her.
Heat rushed toward them. Aurora flinched as a dragon catapulted up the tunnel, its scales shimmering red, its eyes glowing like smoldering coals. It stopped a few feet from Aurora. It had to hold its wings tight to its body to fit in the cavern, but Aurora knew that it was small, nothing compared to the beasts they had seen. Its head wove back and forth as it stared at them, mouth half-open. Aurora’s light glittered off its razor teeth.
It could destroy them all in an instant, burn them away so that no trace of their existence remained, but for one heartbeat, and then two, it simply looked at them, as though curious why they had come into its domain.
“Girl . . .” Lucas said.
The dragon snapped its head at the sound of Lucas’s voice, and its lips curled back.
“Hello,” Aurora said, her voice soft, soothing. She stepped forward, holding the fire aloft. “Hello. Look at me.”
The dragon looked back at her, and it paused, as though trying to puzzle her out. Aurora met its gaze, and a shiver of terror and excitement ran through her. The fire grew.
Finnegan tightened his grip on her arm, but Aurora pulled away. The dragon looked at him, its tail smacking against the wall, but Aurora stepped forward again, her free hand outstretched. “Hello there,” she said. “Hello. We’re no harm. We’re not going to hurt you.” The dragon lowered its head, inch by inch, until Aurora could feel its hot breath on her skin. The light in her hand fizzled out. She barely noticed. She had no thought for anything but this creature, the majesty of it. She knew, she knew, deep in her bones, that it would not hurt her. It was as fascinated with her as she was with it.
She trailed her fingers across the dragon’s nose. The scales