“Jasmine? You say the flower will challenge me?”
“Ha, ha.” Taking my hand, she led me down the stairs and out onto the main floor, where a narrow path wove among the riches. “One of these days, we need to watch a bunch of movies,” she said gaily.
I followed her as she gushed about the treasure, exclaiming over the intricate designs on a small statue, the size of the rubies mounted in a golden crown, and the patterns on the coins.
The floor underfoot appeared made up of pale pink tiles.
Except for a blue tile PJ stepped on before I could hold her back.
Something ground overhead, as if gears turned, which was never a good sign.
My heavy sigh rushed out, because I had a feeling our momentary lull was over.
We both froze, staring at each other.
Intending to haul her backward, I grabbed her arm. “We should—”
A net emerged from underneath the floor tiles and yanked us toward the ceiling.
Chapter Eleven
PJ
“Good time to take on your dragon form?” I asked Jarik. “Then you can sever the net with your claws or burn it with your flames.”
“Too tight. I can’t shift without risking hurting you. And if I cut or burned the net and didn’t shift back quickly enough, you’d hit the floor. We’re too far up.”
About thirty feet. This adventure was full of height challenges.
Squished together between the ropes, our backs were pressed together uncomfortably close. I enjoyed snuggling as much as the next girl, but I did prefer not to do it with a net wrapped around me, let alone suspended from a ceiling.
“Maybe I could hold on.” In the same way I clutched the ropes already. I might end up dangling when he released us, but I’d find a way down after that.
I did appreciate his unwillingness to hurt me, but how could we get out of this predicament? The city was empty, so there’d be no shouting for help. Where was a knife when you needed one?
“We’ve got to figure something out.” I shifted my butt. Tried to, that is. Wrapped up in the shapeless net, it was hard to breath, let alone move.
Was this what happy couples called together-time?
“Ideas?” I asked, because I was fresh out of them.
“I’m thinking.”
“Don’t suppose you’ve hidden a sword somewhere on your naked body?”
He chuckled, his back shifting against mine with the movement. Shoving at the net, he was able to maneuver around to face me, after which, he helped me do the same. I settled on his lap with my legs wrapped around his waist, my arms draped on his shoulders.
On any other day, this position would hold infinite possibilities. But being strung up in the air tended to dampen desire.
Funny how comfortable I felt when he held me, though. As if this was where I’d belonged my entire life.
What about Jim and your lack of trust?
“Fuck Jim,” I whispered. “And fuck trust.”
“Hmm?” Jarik kissed my forehead. “No worries. I’ll get us out of here.”
I loved the surety in his voice.
And he’d said, us. Not he’d get himself out of this. He really did see us as a couple.
That’s because this man is nothing like Jim.
“Perhaps we can find a loose place in the net?” I asked. “If we pick at it, we might be able to open a hole big enough for us to slip through.”
“I could drop down and catch you when you jump.”
My laugh burst out of me, echoing around the room. “We’re about thirty feet in the air. I’d end up knocking you on your ass again.”
“While I like the idea of you lying on top of me, you must know I’d never let you fall.”
I kissed him, slow and sweet, a mix of taking and giving. I couldn’t help wishing…
Now was not the time for wishes. We had a mission. After we found the heart and helped my friends, we could talk. And share more kisses.
How hard would it be to date Jarik, with him here and me up on the surface? Other couples made long distant relationships work.
But I had to ask myself: What was so important about my life that I couldn’t leave it all behind and remain here with Jarik? I loved my job, but look at the adventure I was having right now. My other friends would miss me, but none were closer than Jenny and Tanya, and from what Jarik told me, they planned to remain here with their mates.
I had no family. I didn’t even have a pet.
Jarik called me his mate and made it clear he planned for us to get married. When he’d mentioned a wedding, I’d scoffed, because I’d just met him.
But now…
I shook my head. How could I be contemplating staying here with him after such a short time?
He leaned back, frowning, but I doubted he was aware of my wild thoughts.
“What?” I asked. Completely distracted by dreams of us, had I missed something?
Index finger lifted, encouraging me to remain silent as he glanced around.
My heart stalled, because, what now?
Very faint, and so soft, I could barely hear it. A scratchy, swishy sound, that grew, as if something—or a few somethings—were coming closer.
I held my breath, because releasing air might draw its attention, and I knew…Just knew I wanted to remain hidden.
“I think we’re going to be grateful we’re up in the air,” Jarik murmured, staring beyond my right shoulder.
I scooted around enough to see, and my breath whooshed out. Too late.
“Hate snakes,” I whined. Something I shared with Indie.
Speckled black and brown, and longer than Jarik was tall, with large, rounded heads, an endless army of snakes slid into the room from low holes along the back wall. Somehow, I’d missed seeing the holes when I’d walked around.
Weaving among the gold and jewels and mounds of treasure, the snakes worked their way toward the center of the room, until they gathered together to form a black and brown, inundating mass the size of a small car, just beneath us.
Of course, underneath us.
“Snake party?” I asked. Odd that they gathered so close, and right under where we were suspended. I was kidding myself, of course, because there was nothing odd about it at all. This adventure had been one coincidence after another, starting with a rope and a big rat.
“Don’t suppose your Lifegiver is behind all this,” I said in a tight voice, my skin crawling, even though the snakes were nowhere near me. I pulled my feet up, tucking them against Jarik’s back.
“Can’t imagine why she’d bother with something like this.”
“She brought me here.”
“But it’s a stretch to say she also brought the snakes.”
I shrugged. “What do we do now? Even if we find a way out of the net, we can’t exactly drop down on top of them.” A shiver rippled through me at the thought of falling into the huge nest of snakes.
“Normally, I’d suggest we wait them out. After they leave, we’d escape the net, like we originally planned.”
“Why not suggest we wait them out right now?”
Eyes trained down, he bit his lips together, as if he didn’t want to share what was happening.
A quick peek made me grimace. “Crap.”
The mass was slithering around, somehow using each other to inch up toward us, resembling a writhing black and brown cluster of demented cheerleaders, stacking on top of each other to form a creepy pyramid.
I had no idea why they’d decided they needed to reach us, but did it really matter?
My heart had decided that, since I kept jumping from one dangerous situation to another, it might as well remain a solid lump in my throat. At this rate, it would forget it belonged in my chest.
“They’re climbing up here,” I said, my voice high-pitched and tense.
“They do seem to have a purpose,” he said.
“How can you be calm at a time like this?” I screeched out.
“Because I’m
going to save us.”
More surety on his part, but I couldn’t imagine how he’d do it this time. Even a dragon would eventually run out of tricks.
“Don’t suppose these snakes are sociable,” I said, peering down at them as they continued to stretch and climb, getting closer every second.
“They bite.” His teasing eyes met mine. “And it’s not a fun kind of bite.”
“We’ve got to get out of here.”
“I’ll shift. Burn them.”
“Ignoring your earlier concerns about shifting in a tight space, it would be a shame to hurt the snakes.”
Leaning back, he gazed at me, his face filled with amazement. “They’re poisonous. Coming for us. This variety is particularly aggressive.”
“I’d be happy if I never touched a snake in my life, let alone got bitten by one of these babies, but they’re living beings, like us.” But a tiny thought was skittering through my mind. I just had to turn it into an idea. I held up my finger. “Give me a second.”
“Make it a quick second. They’re almost here.”
I could hear them, their tongues flicking, their scaly skin scratching as they slid together. It wasn’t hard to picture them writhing all over me.
Sinking their teeth deep.
There had to be a way out of this tenuous situation.
I glanced up and remembered. “The ceiling is made of panels.” That was the idea I’d been trying to grasp on to. I’d noticed the ornate designs weaving around the ceiling when we first entered the room, and tucked the paneled system away in my mind.
Jarik peered up. “Think we can shift the one above us?”
A quick look down made me gulp. The weaving, hissing tower of snakes had almost reached our net. “We have to try.”
“Climb onto my shoulders.”
Ha. “You’re suggesting I use you as a jungle gym?”
His brow furrowed. “I guess?”
“I’m a little heavy, in case you hadn’t noticed.” If he had noticed, he sure hadn’t let on that my size mattered.
“You’re not.”
More surety in his voice. I could get used to this.
“I am.” Couldn’t he see what the rest of the world pointed out on a regular basis? There was no way I could crawl up onto—
“PJ,” he said firmly.
My scrambling thoughts came to an abrupt halt. “What?”
He took my hands and squeezed them. “You weigh next to nothing. Climb up onto my shoulders.”
We had no choice. I had to do this. For both of us. “Okay.”
Looking up, I clasped his arms and dragged one of my legs out from around his waist. While pulling myself up, I placed my foot on his thigh, then the other foot on his opposite leg.
“You’re sure,” I said, staring down at him, raking my teeth across my lower lip.
He grinned. “Hurry, love. We’re running out of time.”
“Love?” I said, my lower jaw practically touching my chest.
“Snakes?”
“Oh, yeah.” With some difficulty, I brought my focus back to the present, because my brain was all swimmy from emotion. “Escape.”
I scrambled onto his shoulders, bending at the waist with my butt jutting out, my hands on his head. He had nice hair. Thick and silky and I’d love to run my fingers through it for a long time, while he—
His hands grabbed my shins and he held tight while I reluctantly let go of his hair and straightened, clinging to the net to keep from falling backward.
My lungs felt like they were exploding, even though I’d only climbed Mt. Jarik, not Mt. Everest.
Hands shaking, I teetered, then told myself to get a grip. Reaching up, I pushed the ceiling tile. It popped up but fell down, back into place.
“You’ve got it,” Jarik said, watching. “Again.”
This time, I put all my energy into it, shoving the square up and sideways.
It smacked back down, but onto whatever subflooring existed up there, leaving behind a black hole.
I was really getting tired of black holes.
“Go, go,” Jarik said hoarsely.
While my hands could reach the sides of the opening, I lacked the upper body strength I’d need to haul myself up. “I’m not sure I can.”
Jarik stood. Literally, he rose up with me still perched on his shoulders. Like I rode an elevator, my head and shoulders popped up through the hole in the ceiling.
I peered around. Cave bugs lit up the tunnel I found myself in. I’d arrived at what looked like a three-way intersection in a series of cave channels. This portion had a dirt floor, which suggested we were leaving the main building and venturing into the mountains above and behind.
“What’s up there?” Jarik asked. “Is it safe?”
Nothing seemed poised to jump on me, but in this place, that notion meant next to nothing.
“PJ? The snakes have reached the net.”
Bracing my forearms on the sides of the hole, I hauled myself up onto my belly, leaving my legs dangling.
Jarik jumped and grabbed one side of the hole and easily pulled himself up. In seconds, he stood over me, staring down, leaving me amazed, jealous, and drooling. Because, those flexing muscles!
“Let me help you,” he said, offering a hand.
“Nope. Got it.” There was no way I’d let him haul me to my feet. I had to do something for myself, somehow maintain a tiny shred of dignity. If I couldn’t do this one thing, I was useless. I flung one leg up and braced my foot on the opposite side, then, pushing, levered myself around and onto my butt, my feet hanging down in the hole. “Did it!”
He stooped onto his heels beside me and gave me a quick kiss. “We make an awesome team.”
We did.
Leaning around me, he glared down. “Let me take care of our ongoing snake problem.”
When I peered into the treasure chamber, I yanked my legs up and tucked them underneath my butt. “Ugh.” The snake mass had taken over the bottom of the net. Some stared up at us, while others had decided staring was boring, that biting would be more fun. They’d climbed the net and were only a few feet from the hole.
Energizer snakes. They just kept on coming.
“Are you going to shift and burn them?” I asked. So much for preserving each sacred life. At this point, I was up for a little snake roasting party.
He showed me a thin, sharp rock he must’ve found in the cave. Leaning down, he used it to sever the ropes securing the net to the ceiling.
The snake and rope cluster dropped down onto the treasure. While they still might rebuild their weaving snake tower, we’d have time to run.
I wiped my brow and blew out a big breath. “Phew. That was close.” Rising up onto my feet, I peeked around, taking in the three-way intersection, with one tunnel sloping downward, the other two leading up.
“Where is your spidey sense telling us to go next?” I asked.
Jarik grabbed my hand and tugged me so fast, I stumbled after him. “Up here.”
Always uphill, the thigh-master. Never downhill, which would give my body a break. “Why, why, why?”
“Because the water is coming from up there,”—he waved toward the second uphill tunnel, then pointed to the down-sloping one—“and flow down there.”
“Water?” I sputtered out, chugging along behind him.
A sloshing sound reached my ears.
Uh, oh.
Glaring, I stared backward, toward the other uphill channel.
A wall of water rushed from the tunnel and took a sharp turn, aiming for us.
Chapter Twelve
Jarik
Swimming was not going to be an option. With the peak of the wave sloshing along the top of the tunnel, shoving away any air, we’d drown.
“Run faster,” PJ yelled, gaping over her shoulder as she stumbled, barely staying ahead of the water.
Where the hell had it come from? And why wasn’t it going downhill, flowing into the treasury chamber and out through the windows,
toward the river? It seemed to defy gravity.
PJ’s suggestion that the Lifegiver was driving us from one dire situation to the next flickered through my mind. It couldn’t be true. But we had experienced one crazy coincidence after another since we met.
From the moment we met, actually, when I saw PJ falling from the sky and tried to catch her, only to have her knock into me and send us hurling to the ground.
My lungs on fire, I ran uphill, determined to find a way to save us.
We’d outdistance the water eventually.
But it kept coming, gaining on us fast. Roaring at our heels.
“We’re not going to make it,” PJ gasped out. Bright pink stained her cheeks, and her eyes echoed the despair I refused to give voice to.
“We will make it,” I shouted, half carrying, half tugging her behind me, trying to send my strength to her through our clenched hands.
“You can run faster,” she said in a hoarse tone. “Let go of me. Go on ahead. I’ll…catch up.”
Did she really think I’d leave her behind?
Her offer only made me more determined to get us through this together.
“Do you see any place ahead…where we can climb up and away from the water?” she chugged out. “Maybe a tunnel that…connects with this one?”
Unfortunately, no. In fact, the passage we raced through was narrowing. And becoming…smoother underfoot. Which was unexpected.
No longer made up of dirt or the rocky surface I’d avoided so PJ’s arms wouldn’t get scratched, the rounded walls almost gleamed, as if they’d been made from mica or a milky version of jellar.
We crested a hill, and half-slid down the other side, the wave gaining on us like a herd of morkets eager to haul us back to their nests and feed us to their young.
“What’s that ahead?” PJ pointed, hope ringing out in her voice.
A shadowy circle, recessed into the ceiling. Had we found an exit from this part of the cave system?
As we drew close, it appeared the circular area continued up.
“When we reach it, I’ll boost you,” I shouted. “Look for hand holds; anything you can find. If the passage keeps going, climb.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you.” If nothing else, the water should flow underneath us, rather than follow.
CLAIMED BY A DRAGON: Fated Dragon Series (Book 3 of 3) (DRAGON MATED) Page 7