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“Guys, you need to see this!” Shannon called.
There was no need for her to say that. Almost as soon as she’d stepped through the stone wall, her companions had followed after her. The alphas’ big bodies pressed in behind her and Rufus’ big furry snout appeared at her side. All of them froze, awestruck by the sight that confronted them.
Up to now, Shannon had been envisioning their destination as a cavern or mine. Instead, what lay before her looked more like an immense crater of red stone. The blue sky was visible overhead, but it was overlaid with a ghostly image of the mountain’s peak viewed from within. Shannon felt as if she could have spent hours studying that strange, spectral illusion—if she hadn’t been even more interested in what she saw below, cradled within the bowl of the crater.
Crystalline firestone formations, some as large as houses, jutted up from the sandstone. The formations glittered with a metallic yellow hue similar to gold, but they also glowed and flickered with a warm inner light. That was how the substance had gotten its name.
Shannon’s father had never told her exactly how much firestone was available here. She’d assumed it was a lot, but she’d never imagined anything like this! Yet somehow, the vast amount of firestone was not even the most incredible thing in the crater.
“What the hell isthat?” Logan whispered behind her.
Shannon didn’t have to ask what the alpha was referring to. In the very center of the crater, sat a large hemispherical structure about twenty feet in diameter. The surface looked to be constructed from a type of metal Shannon couldn’t easily identify, and the metal had been torn away in places by some violent event. A few of the rents were large enough for a person to fit through. Inside, Shannon thought she could see machinery, but it was not like any machinery she’d ever seen before.
“I don’t know what that thing is,” Shannon said in response to Logan’s question, “but I think it must be what’s creating the mirage of the mountaintop.”
“I believe you’re right,” Logan agreed. “Think it’s dangerous?”
Shannon thought for a moment, then shook her head again. “I don’t think so. If it was dangerous, my father definitely would have told me about it, or at least given me a hint of some kind.”
She was curious why he hadn’t mentioned anything about the structure, but she knew he must have had a good reason for keeping it a secret.
“Well, it may not be dangerous,” Tanner said, “but I reckon we’d better steer clear of it just in case.”
Shannon eyed one of the large rents in the dome’s side and the strange machinery that lay within its shadowy interior. Her curiosity was pushing her to go inside and investigate, but she knew there wasn’t time. They needed to get what they’d come for—firestone—and then get the hell out before Flarity and his men showed up.
She nodded in reluctant agreement.
The hidden entrance to the crater was more than wide enough to admit the horses. At first, the animals were confused by the prospect of walking into a seemingly solid stone wall, but after a bit of purring and prodding, the alphas managed to get them all through. Rufus remained at the entrance to keep an eye out for Flarity’s men. Everyone else went down to the firestone. This time, Tanner was in the lead, followed by Shannon, then Logan, each of them leading their respective horses by the halter. Nobody spoke.
While Shannon was guiding Stormy down the slope of the crater, she had the strangest feeling that something inside the metal dome was watching her.
No…watchingwasn’t the right word.
Dissecting. Disassembling. Analyzing. Taking her apart, studying the pieces, and putting them back together again. Cold sweat stippled her flesh, and the knot of muscle inside her chest started beating harder and faster.
Shannon shook the feeling away. Whatever that dome was, it had clearly been out of commission for a long, long time, and whoever had built it must be long gone too. Nothing could live in this place. There was no food here, no water.
She wanted so badly to go inside the thing and look around.
But there was no time.
Shannon glanced around the rim of the crater and quickly found the other entrance her father had marked on his map. That was how they were going to make their escape. The path outside that opening would be much easier than the one they had just climbed, and it would take them down a different section of the mountain, so they didn’t have to worry about crossing paths with their pursuers.
They went to the nearest house-sized cluster of firestone crystals and set to work. Shannon had her father’s old pickaxe and shovel tied behind Stormy’s saddle, and Tanner had a second set of tools which he’d taken off Blaylocke’s horse a few days ago. Dynamite could not be used around firestone due to the ore’s volatile reaction to heat and sparks, but more primitive tools would work just fine, provided the mining was done carefully. They didn’t need much of the stuff. A few bags would be more than enough for Shannon to pay off her debt, and the alphas would have plenty left over for themselves.
Shannon unstrapped her tools and headed toward firestone, but Logan caught her arm.
“Let me do it,” the alpha said.
She glared up at him indignantly. “I know how to use a pickaxe.”
“I’m sure you do, little omega, but in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m ever so slightly bigger and stronger than you—no offense.”
“He’s right,” Tanner said with a teasing smirk. “Look, if time wasn’t an issue, me and Logan would happily sit back and watch you mine the whole damn thing yourself. After all, you hired us for protection, not for digging. But Flarity and his boys are coming up the mountain after us, so we need to get this done as quick as possible.”
Shannon sighed and handed her pickaxe to Logan.
“Fine,” she said. “But I don’t want to sit here and do nothing while you two do all the work.”
