The Warrior King (Inferno Rising #3) - Abigail Owen Page 0,67
own.”
Meira blew out a silent breath of relief. Was it selfish of her to have wanted someone to not let her sacrifice her life? Unfortunately, unless they came up with a better plan, she’d have no choice.
“We’ve made a new tunnel that leads out a different side of the mountain,” he said. “It’s on the other side of this chamber.”
But…leaving the mountain was a risk, especially with the still-human women. So was staying. The men inside the mountain might have others out there. They could wait them out, starve them out. Meira struggled through the options. “I can get a few to safety, but not all of us before I need to rest.”
“Where?” Aidan demanded.
Skylar was going to kill her, but she’d done the same sending Airk to Ladon’s mountain. And Angelika’s wolves were there now. Precedent had been set. Though, given these dragon shifters’ current situation as rogues, they might not like it, either. “Ben Nevis.”
…
They’d been walking for a long fucking time down a tunnel hardly big enough for a human woman, which as a dragon shifter meant stooping over and frequently whacking his head into overhanging chunks of granite. Easier to do given that the only light came from both their eyes. Black flames weren’t exactly bright.
“Dammit, Rune. Warn me.” Samael rubbed at the raw lump forming on his head.
“Sorry,” Rune tossed back.
No, he wasn’t.
“Hold up.” At least Rune gave him a warning before coming to a dead stop. The telltale click of buttons sounded a heartbeat before a beep, then the cavern wall appeared to swing wide. A hidden door.
“Move and I fry your ass,” a now-familiar voice growled.
Aidan.
“Asses, rookie,” Rune corrected. “And you don’t want to do that.”
Samael didn’t wait to hear the next part, shouldering past both men into a large, dank chamber to find it lit by torches around the part of the circumference that wasn’t taken up by an underground cave lake.
Beside an oddly propped computer monitor, the black surface of which was shattered, the splinters of glass reflecting the firelight and water, Sera sat with Meira’s head in her lap.
The relief at finding her disappeared at the sight of her still form. Too still. Samael was by his mate’s side, gathering her to him, one hand tangled in her hair to support her head, before he processed making the decision to move.
“What happened?” he demanded.
Sera flinched, and behind him Aidan let loose a soft but definite warning growl. Sera shot her mate a glare. “I can growl for myself, thank you very much.”
“Sorry, baby girl. Instinct.”
She huffed and turned back to Samael. “She’s fine. A blast from whoever is attacking us shook some rocks loose. A bigger one hit the screen. A little one managed to hit her.”
She grimaced and lifted a lock of hair away from Meira’s forehead to show a knot already turning purple there. About the same spot as his, though his was probably healing by now. “I haven’t mastered the dragon speed thing yet to try to shield her,” Sera said ruefully.
“I see.” Samael held her closer, the warmth of her breath against his arm the only thing keeping him sane at that moment.
The shifters in the room seemed to understand that he’d need a minute. He needed longer than that. They weren’t safe yet. Still holding Meira, he lifted his head. “I thought you were getting out of here.”
Aidan’s mouth flattened, and he nodded at the screen. “That was our way out.”
Well, hell.
Having not yet met everyone, Samael couldn’t have said who was missing from the room. “Where was she sending you?”
“Ben Nevis.”
He jerked and Meira murmured an incomprehensible protest, so he eased his hold on her. “Holy shit.” How the hell had she convinced them to do that?
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rune snarled.
Beside him, Sera winced. Even Samael knew not to screw with him when he sounded like that.
Aidan stood his ground. “Ben Nevis.”
“You fucking sent the mates we’ve been keeping out of the hands of the kings to a king?”
Suddenly, Meira’s hand fisted, curling into Samael’s shirt. “Safest place,” she slurred. “Promise.”
The words came out as hardly a sound. He watched her face, her eyes still shut.
Rune stepped forward, violence in every line of his body.
A snarl ripped from Samael’s throat and Rune stilled, hands fisted, gaze locked.
Meira twitched in his arms. “S’okay,” she mumbled.
Samael growled again, even though Rune hadn’t made a move. “They’ll be safe with King Ladon. I swear it,” he managed to grate.