Page 45 of Aria's Ascension

Excitement, trepidation, and hope had her stomach twisting into a knot of nerves.

Kix’s hand brushed against hers in the dark. She took the offer of comfort readily, entwining their fingers and letting his touch steady her.

Whatever happened, she had her men.

She could face anything with them at her side.

Chapter 26

Tirox led them down so many twists and turns she wasn’t sure she’d be able to find her way out again with a map and a flashlight. At one point, they had to crawl when the tunnel narrowed too far to allow either of her men to stand upright.

While that wasn’t the most comfortable experience ever, it was nothing compared to when her barbarian got stuck for an alarming couple of minutes. He managed to wiggle himself free before anyone—Kix—succumbed to claustrophobia, thankfully, but the farther they went, the more she suspected the path to the dragon was purposefully difficult.

The most likely reason was to keep the dragon from getting out, but it probably also served to discourage the other prisoners from trying to enter.

Finally, after an eternity of walking, climbing, and squeezing themselves through tiny passages, Tirox came to an abrupt stop in front of her.

“I see him,” he announced softly.

Her heart skipped a beat and she jerked ramrod straight. “Is he a man or the hrrykask?”

“Man. And he knows we are here.”

His tone told her that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Despite her excitement to see him, she had to grit her teeth to keep from instinctively drawing her gun. Standing without a weapon in hand, in pitch darkness, while a predator might be preparing to pounce was hair-raising, but she didn’t want to make any moves that would be construed as a threat and unintentionally set him off.

“Kix?” she whispered through clenched teeth.

He immediately blazed to life, glowing more brightly than she’d even seen. Blinking hard to clear the spots from her eyes, Aria quickly scanned their surroundings.

They were standing in the entrance of an absolutely massive cave. It had to be at least three times the size of theirs. The floor and walls were, not surprisingly, rough stone, but a quick glance at the ceiling revealed it was void of the stalactites she disliked so much.

Actually, unless she was seeing things, the ceiling looked smooth, slightly metallic, like the material used to make up the walls and floor in the constructed area of the main cavern.

An image of the dragon disappearing beneath the ground in the canyon flashed through her mind.

Holy shit. Zhrovni just raises and lowers the entire room, eliminating the need to transport him from one place to another.

The rattle of chains and a low, vibrating growl had adrenaline surging through her. Whipping her head around, she stared at the spot from which the sound had come. He sounded big,reallybig. Tirox said he was in man form, but how big of a man was he?

That corner was still in shadow, shrouding whoever stood there, but she couldfeelhim.

The hair on the nape of her neck stood on end, but an opposing flash of eagerness almost had her taking a step forward before she stopped herself.

Tirox cursed under his breath.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“He is chained.”

She’d expected him to say he was charging at them or maybe shifting to dragon form, not that he was still chained like a fucking animal. For a long second, Aria had to fight the urge to either break things or get sick to her stomach.

In that moment, as selfish as she knew it was, she hoped Zhrovni really had died in the blast. She hoped he suffered.

Swallowing her anger, she spoke softly, nonthreatening when she asked, “Does he look aggressive?”

“Oh, yes.” Tirox sighed deeply. “He is still blind, and I do not think we are close enough for him to catch our scents. He does not know who encroaches on his territory.”

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