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Chapter Seven
Dragons trumpeting from above forced reality back into focus, and Arianrhod pulled away from Angus at the same time she draped invisibility about them, hoping she wasn’t too late. She peered upward, but the skies were dark and silent. When she next heard the dragons—at least two of them—they’d moved away.
“No more kissing.” She shook a finger at Angus. “We have a task. Ye addle my mind.”
“It’s good for you. And certainly, it’s good for me. I’ve followed orders like the lowest form of hired help for far too long.”
She didn’t want to get drawn into a conversation she’d be prone to agree with. Arianrhod narrowed her eyes. “Can ye still sense Eletea?”
“Of course. If her life force had ebbed at all, we’d be on our way to rescue her. As it is, we lost nothing these last few moments when my lips sought yours.”
Arianrhod smothered a laugh. Men. Silken-tongued, single-minded. Except in this instance, she wanted the man in question as desperately as he wanted her.
“How many dragons do you recall from this era?”
She considered the question before she answered. “Hard to say. Dragons left Fire Mountain with greater frequency a couple hundred years ago. Sometimes they came here; sometimes they traveled to one of the borderworlds. Are ye asking to determine if the ones in the sky were Malik and Preki?”
“Exactly. If they were, then Rhukon and Connor are in shifted form.”
She blew out a breath. “Since they must take one form or the other—man or dragon—that makes sense. But we doona know which dragons were in the sky.”
“Can we use magic to find out?”
“Nay. If we did, they’d be on us in a trice. Dragons are very sensitive to all variations of power directed their way.”
He crinkled his forehead in thought. “Best get moving toward where I sense Eletea. Once we lay eyes on where she’s being held, we can determine what to do next.”
Arianrhod fell into step next to him, taking care to guard them from prying eyes and ears.
“Can you kill a dragon?” His deep voice rumbled near her ear.
“Not the dragon shifters. Immortality is part of the bargain. The others, aye, but ’tis verra difficult. What are ye thinking of doing?”
“Unless Danne had a change of heart and isn’t here, our best bet would be to knock him out of the picture.”
She pushed her tongue against her teeth. Killing dragons went against the grain, no matter what they’d done. The ancient creatures were arrogant and a pain in the ass, but they were a miracle too. “Mayhap we can find another way.”
“Like what?” He grabbed her arm. “Slow down. It’s not far.” He batted at a thick, evergreen branch that doused them with water when he touched it. “Wish I could see something, but between the night and the trees, it’s not easy.”
“I muted my mage light because—”
“I know why you did that,” he broke in. “It’s the same reason I didn’t kindle my own. Ssht.” He slunk forward, his magic muffled down to nothing.
She did what she could to hide them and wove her energy with his. They stopped at the edge of a large clearing, but remained under the thick forest canopy. Arianrhod knew this place. Rhukon’s manor house rose through the foggy gloom. Six floors of rough-hewn timbers, huge river rocks, and mortar holding everything together—more or less. Lanterns burned from some windows, but most of the structure was dark, which made sense. Pre-electricity, people used illumination sparingly, choosing to sleep through the dark hours.
“She’s underneath the house.”Angus spoke into her mind.
“Good news.”Arianrhod turned in a full circle. She kept her magic subtle as she searched for what had to be there: a subterranean way inside that didn’t involve using any of the obvious entrances. When her first scan yielded nothing, she tried again, altering the frequency of her search. Modern life was good for some things; radio waves didn’t exactly mimic magical emanations, yet some similarities existed, and they’d enriched how she manipulated her own abilities.
Angus threaded his arm around her and blended tendrils of power with hers. It was enough of a boost, she found what she sought.
“This way.”She motioned, and they faded deeper into the forest. Magical antennae on high alert, she came to a halt fifty yards to the north and pointed at the ground.
Waterlogged brush grew thickly, but at least it wasn’t a bog. She dropped to her knees and yanked at the undergrowth. Magic would’ve been cleaner and a whole hell of a lot faster, but it would also mark their presence—if anyone was looking. Her trousers soaked through immediately. Angus came at it from the other side of a huge clump of gorse, working his way toward her. A square of muddy earth studded with rocks came into view as they dug. If a gateway lay beneath, it hadn’t been used in centuries.
Angus grabbed a large, flat rock and scraped dirt aside. A few inches down, the rock pinged against wood with a hollowthunk. He raised his gaze and jerked his chin at the hole in the ground.“Now can we use magic?”
She got a rock of her own and bent her back to help him.“Not until we see the whole door. Mayhap ’twill be so rotten with mold, damp, and age, we willna need anything beyond rocks or my bow.”
