The second we reached the circle—which did continue overhead for some distance—I pulled PJ close and lifted her until she could scramble up onto my shoulders.
“Anything you can grab onto?” I asked, while the water sloshed over my shins, my knees, until it reached my thighs.
“There are a bunch of brackets mounted on the wall. Made of metal, I think.” Her voice echoed down to me. “No, not metal. They’re clear. And cold. They look like glass, which is weird.”
Everything about this trip was weird.
“As long as they’ll hold you, keep going,” I rasped out, my throat sticky with fear for PJ. I couldn’t care less about my own fate.
The unrelenting water rushed across my waist, my chest, rising all the way to my neck. Soon, I’d drown, but not before I’d saved my mate.
PJ stepped off my shoulders and fully into the hole. Soft thuds told me she was moving farther away, using the grips to pull herself higher.
When the water lifted me off my feet and shoved me forward, determined to carry me along with it, deeper into the channel, I snagged the edge of the hole and then one of the handholds. With a grunt, I used it to haul myself up and out of the water.
Steady pads overhead told me PJ continued to climb.
“An end in sight?” I asked, water sluicing down my body. My bare feet slipped on the rungs.
“Not yet, but there’s light ahead.”
“Keep going. I’m right behind you.” Moving farther into the passage, I caught up with her and remained close on her heels. “What do you see?”
I itched to find a way around her, so I could lead, because I worried about what lay ahead.
How could I protect her from whatever came next? I had no doubt there would be a next.
“I’ve almost reached an opening,” she said. “And it’s really bright up there.”
“Lunarlights?” Perhaps another cavern, the one where the Norans had hidden the dragonstone heart? Was our search coming to an end?
So close I could almost taste them, the pulsations of the heart called to me. Which was excellent, because we didn’t have much time left. If we were going to make it back to Muraque before our holy one, Ludar’s deadline, we needed to leave the Noran city within hours. Yet we may be no nearer to finding the heart than when we’d started looking.
“I see a big room,” PJ called down. “I’m going to climb up into it.”
“Be careful. Wait for me. Don’t—”
She chuckled. “I’ll be okay.”
As she left the passage, I followed her out, into a large, gleaming cavern.
“This is unbelievable,” PJ said in hushed awe. “Everything appears to be made of glass.”
“Or crystal.” Pretty, but I’d long since learned that the Norans had little appreciation for art. This room may be lovely to look upon, but it was no doubt lethal.
A smooth, glossy surface coated the exterior walls, without a plant or any other living thing in sight. Tall opaque spikes rose from the ground toward a ceiling that had to be sixty, eighty feet overhead. Bluish-green lunar bugs coated the upper part of the chamber, their light reflecting off every surface in a vertigo-inducing array.
Some of the spires had crumbled and lay in scattered heaps on the ground, a mesh of jagged shards.
“Where to?” PJ asked, staring across the chamber that had to be half a mile wide. “Other than back down the chute, because it’s got to be better up here.”
That was debatable.
“At least the water hasn’t followed us.” Her lips twisted. “Yet.”
“It kept flowing down the tunnel.” I peered around, looking for an exit or, even better, the ruby-red heart, because the rhythmic pulsations inside me had grown stronger. “It’s close. Here.”
“The heart?”
“In this room.” Eagerness to find it and return to Muraque filled me. Only then, would I be able to keep PJ safe. And do everything in my power to convince her to stay.
She started walking away, heading down a glass-strewn path that wove through the room. “Why don’t we split up and look around. I’ll call out if I see anything. Red, right?” She chuckled. “Let’s hope it’s just lying around, waiting for us. We can grab it and get the hell out of here.”
I snagged her arm before she took three steps. “We need to stay together.”
Her brow furrowed. “Why? I don’t hear or see anything threatening. No bugs, no snakes, no water. Not even a chunky rat with buck teeth.”
Nothing about this quest had been simple. When the next threat came, it would jump us, not announce its presence. I shrugged, unable to voice why I couldn’t shake the feeling of claws raking up my back. “I just think we should look for the heart together.”
“Okay by me, but let’s make it fast.” Taking my hand, she tugged me along with her, her shoes crunching on the shards.
Toughened from years of walking barefoot, I barely felt the splinters fracturing underneath my footfalls.
“After we locate the heart, I’m ready to find some sort of normalcy. Maybe close my eyes for a moment. Take a nap. I never thought I’d say it, but treasure hunting is exhausting.”
“Especially when we’ve spent three-quarters of our time running.”
“Or falling.” She smiled, but her laughter faded, and she shivered. “Funny how cold it is here. It’s been warm everywhere else.”
“Ice,” I said, as the frigid sensation crept past my toes and up my shins. “This isn’t crystal or glass.” My heart leaping up into my throat, I leaned close to a spire and confirmed my suspicion. “And these are not simple columns.”
PJ squinted through the milky surface. “Oh. There’s something—no, someone—trapped inside there.” Shudders ripped through her body. “This is horrible.”
Maybe not trapped. Buried.
“Do you think we’re found the Noran graveyard?” she asked. “Maybe these are dead Norans?”
“They’re not Norans,” I said shortly. Nowhere near tall enough, and the expressions on their faces…
She cringed when it sunk in. “Oh. Gross. Who are they, then?”
Victims. “The Norans used to…play with humans.”
“Those stories about elves luring people into their realm…”
“And never letting them go? All true.”
“Ugh.” She waved. “Does that mean all these columns are people from the surface?”
“I believe so.”
“Why didn’t they let them go when they were finished with them? Seems sad to keep them here forever.”
I shrugged, because I didn’t know enough about this extinct race to come up with a reply.
Her fingertip slid down the glossy surface, heating it, and a trickle of water followed, as if the spire cried. “Do you think they’re still alive inside the ice?”
“I hope not.” No one would be cruel enough to freeze someone alive.
Except the Norans.
“What should we do?”
“When we return to Muraque, I’ll send a team here to thaw this room. If the humans still live, we’ll take them back to the surface.”
Wipe their minds first, so they wouldn’t remember anything that had happened, but no need to tell PJ that.
Hugging her waist, she peered around. “This place is creepy. We need to locate the heart and put this place behind us.”
“Agreed.”
We’d started forward again, when a skittering, crackling sound reached us from ahead.
Dread curled through me like a wraith’s icy finger. Time for the next hurdle.
Stopping, we stared.
About twenty feet away, a mound of ice crystals lifted and dropped back down. Shifted. Pieces skittered across the glossy floor and locked onto others. A low, rumbling growl echoed through the chamber and the shards came together to form into a solid unit.
An enormous ice creature took shape. A mix of a lion and a giant bird—including wings—it crouched on the floor and shook its clear, glossy mane.
Stretching, it raked its claws along the floor, creating deep furrows.
We must’ve made a soft sound, because its beaked-head turned, and its gaze shot toward us. Blackness flickered behind its eyes.
With a roar, it released a stream of ice in our direction.
Chapter Thirteen
PJ
Crappity crap.
Leave it to us to jump from the griddle into the flames.
Welcome to the world of the ice griffin.
Damn elves.
“When I shift, I want you to climb onto my back and hold on,” Jarik shouted as the crystal monster stomped closer. “We’re getting out of here.”
“What about the heart?”
“It can’t be here. My instincts are wrong.”
“But I know you’re right. It is here. We just need to look for it. If we leave without it, Tanya and Jenny—”
He cupped my cheeks, and urgency tightened his face. “We’ll find a way to help them, but it won’t be with the heart. We’re almost out of time.”
Ice shot from the griffin’s mouth. Freezing in mid-air, it fell to the ground with a crash of shattering crystal. Had the Norans used this creature to lock humans into frozen spires?
Releasing me, Jarik hunched forward. Sapphire and red scales rippled along his skin, and his limbs elongated, forming muscular legs outfitted with talons. His neck stretched upward, and his snout grew. Sharp teeth poked through his gums.
He tipped his head back and roared. Flames shot from his mouth, slamming against the ceiling. While the lunar bugs seemed impervious to the heat, the icy surface melted.
Cold rain fell on us, as I clambered up Jarik’s leg and settled on his back between the spikes.
He exploded up off the ground, just as a blue-white blast of deadly ice crystals tore our way. If we hadn’t moved, we’d be a permanent part of the crumbling snow bank.
Jarik soared up above the huge griffin, as the creature leaned back on its haunches and sent another stream of freezing spray our way.
After darting to the side to avoid the blast, Jarik flew across the open chamber, aiming for the far side.
Holding on tight, I gulped at the drop-off below and prayed I wouldn’t slip and plunge to my death.
With a roar, the griffin burst up into the air, flying straight at us.
We weren’t going to get away. Eventually, we’d be hit with ice, which would slow Jarik and crystalize me on top of him. A few more sprays after that, and we’d drop to the ground and morph into spires like all the others.
Someday, someone would wander into this chamber and speculate about the tall ice structures and wonder if the people trapped inside still lived.
Meanwhile, my heart would either stop immediately or I’d remain locked in place inside the ice, unable to scream for help. My brain would be the only part functioning, and I’d live in horror for each remaining second of my life.
Jarik reached the other side of the room, but scrambled around, because there was no exit. Would we have to climb back down into the water-filled tunnel?
Wings beating frantically, he swerved, barely avoiding another blast of ice.
With a growl, the enormous griffin soared across the room with deadly intent in its black eyes. We must seem like paltry prey after generations of freezing humans.
More crystals shot from its mouth, and Jarik dove down to avoid them. He zipped around the spires, making me dizzy, with the griffin right behind.
Not ready to give up yet, I clung to Jarik’s back and searched the ground for the heart, but I couldn’t find even a speck of red among the blur of white.
We flew up toward the ceiling again, and I had to wonder how long Jarik would be able to keep going, let alone dart away from the icy spray. Would he tire? Made of magic, I doubted the griffin would stop until it had added more spires to its display.
The beast dove in close, and Jarik leapt to the side, roaring. Flames shot from his mouth, hitting the griffin, but they slid over the creature, barely generating a few drops of melted water.
As it flew beneath us, something red flickered beneath its icy crust.
Of course.
“Jarik. The heart,” I shouted. “It’s inside the griffin. Can you get me close?”
His chest rumbling, he pivoted sharply and flew after the beast, who must’ve heard me, because he was suddenly playing a game of cat and mouse, with him the mouse.
I hoped my dragon-cat would rip the griffin apart.
As if the creature knew we were coming for it, it flew in the other direction. Faster, Jarik gained on it. We rushed past and I reached out, hoping to grab the heart from its chest.
Could life ever get simple for me? My fist slammed against ice, and I moaned, shaking off the pain. Damn, elusive dragonstone heart.
Jarik roared, shooting more flames, and darted around to rush the griffin again.
Unsure what I’d do with it, I broke an icy stalactite from the ceiling as we zipped through the room.
When Jarik flew past the griffin, I jumped off his back and onto the creature’s.
Roaring and shaking to dislodge me, it plunged down toward the ground.
I clung tight to its mane with one hand, and, with the other, lifted the stalactite over my head.
The griffin darted sideways, and I clung to its back. Talk about a thigh workout. If I survived this, I was going to be sore for a week.
Slamming onto the ground, the griffin shook itself. I was thrust forward, hitting my chin on its head. Stars flickered in my eyes, and I shook off the dizzy feeling.
I needed to do something. If only I could remember what it was.
Something gleaming between the griffin’s shoulders brought it all back.
Get the dragonstone heart roared through me.
Yes! Lifting the stalactite, I brought it down sharply, stabbing it through the griffin’s spine.
The beast staggered, its legs splaying wide. It crashed to the floor and tried to buck, but I’d mortally wounded it.
Putting all my weight into it, I shoved the stalactite in farther, pushing it down through the creature’s chest.
With an ear-shattering scream, the beast combusted, disintegrating beneath me. Ice shards shot in all directions as I fell onto the floor and spun along the wet, icy surface.
Lying on the broken ice, gasping, I assessed my arms and legs, but everything seemed to work like it should.
Something warm pulsed beneath me, and, with a groan, I shifted to the side.
The dragonstone heart. Ruby red, it throbbed like it lived. I clutched it tight and my sigh of relief whooshed from me.
As I sat up, my body a big quaking mess, Jarik landed, skidding on the smooth crystal surface. Bones from the ice griffin clattered around his talons. He shifted and dropped to his knees beside me.
Heart in hand, I climbed into his lap.
“We freakin’ did it!” I yelled.
His grin warmed me through. “You did it, PJ. You.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you. We did it together.”
Cupping my face, he kissed me. “Together.”
Heat filled me at his touch, and the feelings I’d kept penned up inside burst like a herd of wild horses released from the gate.
“PJ,” he said, kissing my neck. “I…”
I knew what he held himself back from saying. In fact, I’d know almost from the moment I met him.
Crashed into him, that is.
“I’m not going anywhere, Jarik.” Running my fingers through his thick hair, I pulled his face close. “I’m yours, for as long as you want me.”
He helped me to my feet and backed me against the wall. His voice came out in a growl. “Then you better get used to me being around, because I want you forever.”
I could deal with that.
After tucking the dragonstone heart into my pocket, I pulled him close. “I’m still waiting for that persuasion you mentioned.”
He unzipped my climbing suit. “Far be it for me not
to deliver.”
I scrambled out of my clothing, aching for the heat of his body against mine.
Wrapping his arms around me, he pulled me against his chest and dropped his mouth onto mine. Our tongues tangled together, and fire flew through me, centering low in my belly.
His hands on my waist trailed fire, a sharp contrast to the cold wall behind me. A blaze zipping up my spine, I melted from his touch. Clutching him, I was unable to focus on anything but his mouth, his hands, the strength of his body.
He captured my breast and massaged the nipple. I wanted to arch my back to give him easier access, but that meant I’d have to stop kissing him, and kissing him was life. But if he kept doing that thumb and finger thing that sent shock waves to my groin, I was going to come in seconds.
I moaned, overwhelmed with knowledge that he wanted to be with me always.
With every touch on my breasts, my sides, my hips, he showed me how much I meant to him. Nothing was more arousing than having someone you cared about return the feeling.
“Jarik.” I sighed his name. I could barely think, let alone make my tongue form words.
While he sucked my nipple into his mouth, I ruffled his hair, fingering the silky strands. Need shivered through me.
I slid my hand along his waist. His quick inhalation encouraged me, and I took his raw steel against my palm. I slid my fingers down his length then back to the top, stroking the tip I couldn’t wait to feel buried inside me.
He twitched. Leaning his head back, he groaned. “Damn. That feels good.” His lips capture mine again as he pinched my nipples. I could willingly drown in his kiss.
While I squeezed and rubbed his cock, he nuzzled my neck, raking his teeth across my sensitive skin.
“Tell me what you want,” he said.
“You. Now.” I leaned back, savoring the contrast of the cold wall and the fire of Jarik pressed against my chest, my thighs.
He braced his palms on either side of my head and kissed along my jawline. One hand slid around to my back, and he pulled my lower body against his. His other hand stroked across to my chest to my waist. Between my legs, where he ground his palm against me.
CLAIMED BY A DRAGON: Fated Dragon Series (Book 3 of 3) (DRAGON MATED) Page 8