Page 25 of Ascension of the Pack

‘I don’t want him to come to any harm,’ I protested.

Tarkers threw an arm around the boy’s shoulders. ‘I’ll keep an eye on him, Your Maj.’

‘See that you do,’ I groused. ‘Get your butt over this yellow line,’ I ordered Xander.

He obediently moved next to me on the right side of the bomb-warning line. ‘What do we do now?’ he asked brightly.

‘We wait,’ I said firmly. ‘In silence.’

‘Forwhat?’

‘An explosion.’

Xander winced. ‘I’m not sure being in a tunnel when an explosion is due is a good idea.’

I sighed. ‘It is a small, controlled explosion, not a huge demolition one. Greg, Debbie and Wakado are outside creating a diversion. When it’s gone off, we go in, collect a hammer and a magic orb then hightail it out of here. Easy.’ Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t going to be that simple.

Law of the Sod,Esme said wisely.

I was on tenterhooks so I didn’t bother correcting her.Exactly,I agreed.

My stomach was tied in knots. Intuition was telling me that things were about to get very, very messy. I was fairly certain that Murphy was about to shaft us up the ass – and he wasn’t even going to use lube.

Chapter 16

Despite my words to Xander I’d still expected the explosion to roar up the tunnel, so it was rather anti-climactic when there was nothing more than a low rumble. There were no spewing flames and the earth beneath our feet didn’t even shudder. In the distance, though, I heard a far louder rumble.

‘Let’s go!’ I said quickly, moving forward after the noise had died away.

Tarkers held a hand out to stop me. ‘Disposable people first, Your Maj.’ He took point and I reluctantly followed with Ben and Xander bringing up the rear. I had toyed with trying to send Xander back to the car, but there was every chance he’d pretend to obey me then pop into the tunnel later and get hopelessly lost in the dragon’s hoard. At least this way I could keep my eyes on him.

When we reached the site of our mini-explosion it didn’t look so mini: there was alarge hole in the wall. Tarkers peered into it then moved through the opening. We all braced, ready for him to drop dead, but nothing happened.

I grinned: no runes. Thank goodness our information about their absence had been correct or we’d have been scuppered before we even began. Still, what kind of idiot didn’t use runes?

One who has other security measures,Esme warned.

She was right: we didn’t know what we’d face inside the hoard. I licked my lips and followed Tarkers into the room and pulled my magic forward as I touched the wall. Nothing happened, no runes lit up, nada.

Geneve might be evil but she was also a fool, and sometimes that was the worst form of evil. Idiots didn’t know enough for their behaviour to be tempered by sense; idiots with power were even worse because it was all too easy to make a bad situation terrible if you were so inclined, as Geneve clearly was. Her dethroning of Emory showed exactly where she stood; she’d taken a brilliant leader who’d cared about his people and removed him from power because of her own petty desires.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Greg:No runes.

I’d expected the hoard to be like a scene fromAladdin –lots of jewels and piles of golden coins –so I was nonplussed when we peered around the tunnel and saw nothing but greenery. Alotof greenery.

‘She hoards plants,’ Tarkers whispered.

Evidently she did. Emory hoarded companies, which was why he was a bazillionaire; Geneve collected plants, which was why the room we’d stepped into was hot, tropical and moist. That begged the question: if she hoarded plants, why the hell had she stolen the hammer and the orb? If magical objects weren’t her thing, why had she taken them? Was she really so petty and insecure that she simply wanted to appear superior? Could it be that simple?

‘How the heck are we going to find an orb in all of this?’ Tarkers said, half to himself. ‘It’s a freaking jungle – and probably a poisonous one at that.’

I grimaced; I’d have bet good money he was right.

Pipe the plants,Esme suggested.When you piped the trees outside, they were annoyed at the metal’s dissonance amongst their roots. We can find the hammer and the orb in the same way.

I didn’t know why her brilliance still astounded me but it did. Nine times out of ten she was the one in the room.

Maybe five times out of ten,she disagreed.And the other five are becauseyouare smartest one in the room.She purred and nuzzled me.

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