by Donna Grant
“Declan then whispered in my ear that I could be his alone if I would join him. I almost agreed, but I couldn’t. Even the fear of being raped by his men wouldn’t allow me to give my soul to Satan.”
Camdyn cleared his throat twice before he was able to ask, “Did they touch you?”
Finally Saffron turned to face him. “When I still refused Declan, he had his cousin beat me. When the other men grew enraged at not getting to have me, Declan killed two of them. With just a few words I couldn’t even understand. Up until that moment I thought I could get away from Declan, but I saw the force of his magic. And I knew the truth then—that I was never getting out.”
Camdyn released the breath he’d been holding. It was small consolation that Saffron hadn’t been raped. But beaten? A woman was to be cherished and loved. Protected.
Not beaten.
“I survived the beating,” Saffron said with a half smile and eyes that swam with tears. “He locked me in the prison, and I lost all track of time. I had no idea how many days had passed. He would come to me and ask me to join him. Every time I refused he would punish me.
“If I had a vision, he would demand to know every detail of it. If I attempted to hold anything back, Robbie would get to hit me again.”
“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” Camdyn growled.
Saffron wrapped her arms around her middle and leaned a shoulder against the wall. “I tried to escape. Three different times. One time I got all the way out onto the road and was flagging down a car when they reached me. After the third attempt, Declan used the spell to blind me.”
Camdyn knew that wasn’t the end of her story. There was more, but she wasn’t ready to share it yet. Already she had told him more than she had told anyone else, and for now, that was enough.
“You’re free of him now.”
Saffron’s head swiveled until her tawny gaze pinned his. “I won’t be free of Declan until he’s dead.”
“That will be taken care of.”
She laughed and pushed off the wall to walk in the center of the room. “Don’t underestimate him. He has powerful black magic.”
“And so does Deirdre,” Camdyn said. “There is always a way to kill evil. You just have to know how to do it.”
“Will you help me?”
He was taken aback by her soft question. Camdyn stood and walked to meet her. “I’d like nothing better.”
Her smile was slow but radiant as it filled her face. He gripped his legs to keep from reaching for her. She had opened herself up to him, shown him her vulnerability, and all he wanted to do was comfort her.
Hold her. Caress her.
Love her.
Camdyn could barely draw breath into his lungs as he imagined Saffron with her wealth of thick brown hair spread around her, her head thrown back, and her legs open as he positioned himself over her.
Sweat popped on his forehead as he struggled to keep from touching her. Because one touch would be all it took to break the thin thread of control he had over himself.
Her gaze drifted over his shoulder, and her smile slowly faded. “Camdyn, look.”
He pulled in a breath and briefly closed his eyes as she walked past him. Only when he knew she was far enough away from him did he turn to see what she was looking at.
Camdyn saw the faint outline of something carved in the stone. He strode to her and they looked at it together.
“Has it faded?” she asked.
“Nay. I think this was done like this on purpose.”
“Why?”
“So it wouldn’t be seen easily.” Camdyn slowly walked along the wall.
Saffron went in the other direction, and they both searched for more. “I found another one,” she called out.
“As have I.”
“These markings are the same as the one on the doorway we went through earlier.”
“The same as from the cylinder,” Camdyn muttered.
Saffron pulled out the cylinder from her pocket and they both lined up the small squares in the correct order.
“We can’t move the stones,” Saffron said.
Camdyn leaned close to one of the carvings and smiled. “We push the stones.”
“Push?” she repeated.
Camdyn searched the room until he found the carving that was the first one on the cylinder. He took a deep breath and gave the stone a push.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
The sound of stone sliding on stone filled the room as it sank into the wall. Saffron bit her lip as elation swept through her.
One by one, she and Camdyn took turns finding the next symbol and pushing in the stone. The etchings were scattered throughout the room, some high, some low. It would have been easier to find them with a light, but they made do without.
“Here,” she said as she knelt by the last etching. Just as she placed her hand on the stone, Camdyn’s joined hers.
They shared a look before he gave a nod, and together they gave the stone a shove. For a moment nothing happened, and Saffron was just about to say they must have done it wrong when the floor dipped.
She screamed, and strong arms wrapped around her as they began to fall. Saffron held on to Camdyn with all her might as they hit something that reverberated through her body. Her teeth knocked together even though Camdyn took the brunt of the impact. With her mind still reeling they began to slide.
Saffron felt a nail break off as she clutched at Camdyn’s shirt while they continued to slide. If it hadn’t been so scary, she’d think she was on one of those huge slides at the fairs.
But this wasn’t a theme park. This was a labyrinth with booby traps and God only knew what else in store for them. The steady beat of Camdyn’s heart beneath her ear helped to keep her somewhat calm.
Until they were dumped unceremoniously into a room.
Saffron hardly felt a thing as Camdyn shifted and she landed on top of him before he rolled her onto her back. She blinked up at him, noticing too late how her hands were fisted in his shirt.
Cautiously he smoothed away the hair from her face. “Are you hurt? Is anything broken? Bleeding?”
“No, though I think my heart leaped out of my chest.”
She thought she saw a hint of a smile before he stood and helped her to her feet, then he turned away.
Saffron dusted off her jeans and looked around them. She didn’t know how far they had fallen, but it was obviously quite some ways judging by the dampness and dripping of water she heard.
The air didn’t smell old, just … still. As if it were rarely disturbed where they were. The way Camdyn walked soundlessly and didn’t speak had Saffron doing the same.
She let out a soft breath. Where would this adventure take them next? And would she survive it?
“I’ve found something,” Camdyn whispered in her ear.
She jerked, startled to find him right behind her. She hadn’t even heard him approach. Saffron turned and followed Camdyn to the other wall.
When he pointed to something, she had to squint and lean forward to make out the etching of the silhouette of a dragon’s head. The water that dribbled over the etching had begun to erase it so that it was barely visible.
Saffron looked over her shoulder at Camdyn. He gave a nod, and together they started down another corridor. This one was wider than the others, but here the air smelled almost rotten.
She was so busy looking around her that she wasn’t paying attention to where she was stepping. Saffron felt the rock crumble beneath her foot, and the next thing she knew she was falling again.
Before she could gather a scream she was jerked to a halt by her arm, then hauled against the wall with Camdyn standing in front of her.
Once more she found herself clinging to him. “I’m a menace,” she muttered.
There was a slight rumble in his chest that might have been laughter, but when she looked into his face, he wasn’t smiling. In fact, his glower had her rethinking holding on to him.
As the fear melted away, Saffron was all too aware of the rock-hard muscles against her. All too aware of Camdyn’s heat, of his hands wrapped around her arms.
All too aware of how his bottom lip was fuller than his top. And how delightful his kisses were.
She swallowed as his hands tightened around her arms a moment before he released her and took a step back.
“It’s the dragon’s head stones we have to keep to. Step where I step,” he said, and turned his back to her.
Saffron drew in a shuddering breath and glared at his back. But her gaze caught on the way his T-shirt was cut and she was able to get glimpses of his back and the way the muscles shifted and bunched with each of his movements. She hated how her body reacted so quickly to him, when apparently she didn’t affect him at all.
Damn her body. It was just like her to find herself falling for a guy who would only hurt her. She hadn’t asked for her life to be turned upside or to live in the hell she’d been in.
Even now Saffron wasn’t sure how she’d survived. There had been times she’d prayed for death. On several occasions she thought she might get her wish during the beatings.
Saffron hurried to follow Camdyn as he moved from one spot to another. She thought the stones beneath her might have something etched on them, but in the dark, she couldn’t see that well.
She had to keep her arms stretched out on either side of her to help keep her balance, and more than once her fingers snagged in a spider’s web. It took all her control not to screech each time. Somehow, she managed to bite her lip, but there was no stopping the shaking that took her as she peeled the sticky web off.
When she looked up to see the next stone wasn’t just a step away, but a jump, she got worried.
Then she took too long wondering how to get to the next stone, because when she glanced up at Camdyn he’d moved so far ahead she had no idea where to go.
“Camdyn, wait,” she said as he picked out the next stone and stepped.
He paused and turned his torso to look at her. “What is it?”
“It’s too big of a jump. I can’t make it. Are you sure there isn’t another between these two?”
His lips flattened as he slowly shook his head.
“Damn,” she whispered. There was nothing else for it. She had to do it or stay there forever.
Saffron took a deep breath and jumped. The toe of her boot caught the correct stone, but she quickly lost her balance and flailed about with her arms.
She desperately tried not to put her other foot down, but she was so off balance that she was liable to place it anywhere but on the dragon stone.
Without really knowing how, Saffron managed to grab a hold of the wall next to her to help right herself. She put her other foot down and scooted her first fully onto the stone.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” Camdyn said into the silence.
Saffron was too weak from the adrenaline rush to do anything other than stand there and shake. How had she ever liked going on roller coasters? How had she ever enjoyed the feeling of her stomach lifting as the coaster plummeted down the tracks?
After this, she’d never even look at a theme park or fair again.
“Saffron?”
Camdyn’s dark tone, edged with worry, brought her head up. “I need a moment.”
“And I need you off those stones.”
She tried to push her bangs out of her eyes, but her hand shook too badly. And she wouldn’t release the wall with the other one.
“You have to keep moving,” Camdyn said.
“I know.” And she did. She just needed to convince her body to get moving.
The last thing she wanted was for Camdyn to leave her to complete the quest. Saffron pulled herself together and looked at the stones in search of the next dragon one.
“I can’t see it,” she said as her fear began to rise again.
“Three stones to your right and then two up. Do you see it?”
“Not really. It’s too dark.”
Camdyn paced back and forth. He’d hurried to reach the other side of the trap so he could help Saffron, but now he wasn’t sure how he could do that if she couldn’t see.
“I can see the three over, but it’s the ones going up,” she said. “I can’t quite make out where one ends and the other begins.”
He damned the Druids who had added these traps throughout the labyrinth. “I’m coming back to help you,” he called.
“What if it doesn’t let you? What if you cause everything to cave in?”
Camdyn paused with his foot over the first stone and frowned. He hadn’t thought of that, but then again, she could be right. “You watch too many movies.”
“Probably. Regardless, I could be correct, and you know it or you’d already be over here.”
He wanted to go to her to prove her wrong, but the idea that he could be the cause of her death kept him still. But if he didn’t do anything it could also cause her death.
Camdyn was in a position he never thought to find himself in. Either way, he could damn her to die. He didn’t know what to do.
But then it was out of his hands as Saffron moved from her place to the other stone.
He bent forward with his hands on his knees as she managed to land on the correct stone. It was a good thing he was immortal, because she had already taken off decades from his life.
She met his gaze and blew out a breath so that it made her bangs lift off her forehead. “I overstepped. This isn’t the stone I was aiming for.”
Camdyn straightened and rubbed his hand over his jaw as he tried to get control of his heart pounding in his chest. “There’s just three more stones to find.”
“Three?”
He heard the horror in her voice and gave a hard nod. “Aye, and I’ll get you through them. The next one is two to the left and two up.”
“You know they didn’t exactly place these so they’re in order.”
“I know. Count the ones in the row first.”
She threw up her hands, but did as he asked. She leaned as far to the left as she could. “One … two.”
“Nay. Doona count that small one after the first one. It’s part of a larger stone behind you.”
Saffron’s nostrils flared as she gave him a hard look. “Fine. Then that means the second one is there,” she said and pointed.
“Aye. Now, two up,” he coaxed.
She squatted down to try to see. “Are there any stones I shouldn’t be counting?”
Most of them, but he didn’t want to frighten her more than she already was.
“Screw it. Here goes nothing,” she said as she stood and took the step.
Camdyn knew the instant before she chose the stone that it was the wrong one. “The next one up!” he shouted.
With her nimble feet she was able to quickly move to the right stone with her other foot. Yet, the entire area of the trap began to tremble and rock.
“Give me your hand,” Camdyn called.
She stretched out her hand, but she was still too far away.
The stones began to crack and fall away around her, and Camdyn knew he had to do something quickly. He took a few steps back, his eyes trained on her.
Then he ran and leaped into the air. He planted a foot on the right-hand wall and shifted his momentum to the opposite wall. When he did, he grabbed Saffron up in his arms as he pushed off from the wall.
They landed where he had been waiting for her as the stones fell away to leave a huge gap in the floor.
But Camdyn’s attention was on Saffron. He held her, his arms wrapped tightly around her while her head was buried in his neck, and she trembled in his arms.
“I’m not going to live through this, am I?” she whispered.
Camdyn cupped the back of her head. “Aye, you are. I willna let anything happen to you.”
“Some things are out of your control.”
“Some things are no’.” He pulled back to look at her and saw her exhaustion.
He
lifted her in his arms and started down the hallway. Camdyn wanted to find a place where she could rest. He didn’t want to think about how right it felt to have her head on his shoulder or her arms around his neck.
He didn’t want to think about how right it felt that he was the one protecting her.
Camdyn turned the corner and paused. The air seemed clearer. There was a spot in the corner where water didn’t seep through the stones.
He set Saffron down and sighed. She needed a fire, but there wasn’t any wood, nor a place for the smoke to vent to either.
“Sit,” she said, and patted the spot beside her.
Camdyn did as she asked, thinking he’d only help keep her warm.
And knew it for the lie that it was.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Fallon paced from one doorway to another, his gaze going again and again to the entry where Saffron and Camdyn had ventured through.
“They’ll be all right,” Hayden said.
Fallon raked a hand through his hair. “I hope you’re right. I just wish we were there to help them.”
“So do I,” Larena said as she pulled him down to sit beside her. “Wearing a hole in these stones as you pace isn’t going to help them though.”
“There has to be another way to get to Laria,” Arran said as he punched a stone.
The rain of the rock falling onto the stone floor echoed around the cavern.
“We’ll awaken Laria,” Logan said.
Broc grinned. “And watch her defeat Deirdre.”
Fallon met his brothers’ gazes. If for some reason Camdyn and Saffron failed, their one and only way to kill Deirdre was gone.
After all the heartache and death Deirdre had given them, Fallon wanted her to suffer as they had suffered. He wanted her to feel the pain as they had felt pain.
Fallon kissed the back of Larena’s hand. They had waited over four centuries to have their gods bound so they could have children and have the family both so desperately wanted.
Larena smiled sadly, her gaze telling him she knew exactly what he was thinking. They had spoken many times about the family and the future they wanted.