Page 73 of Sapphire Flame
A considering light entered his eye. He even frowned. “Yes. You can.” He huffed another sigh. “All right.”
He turned in a slow circle. “Are you ready for us, Wizard?”
~ ~ ~
The kiss had helped, maybe more than Grant wanted to admit. He’d become damn possessive of his fae-wolf, more than he ought to be. He could feel the alpha part of him demanding more not just from Natalie but from life. Whatever was happening here, with Landris, had ignited something inside Grant.
His heart pounded in his chest.
The entire time he and Natalie had worked to stop the wizard from leaving, he’d felt like he was riding the heavens. He’d never moved so fast, never wanted to prove himself more than in that moment.
Kryder had become an unstoppable force in the Meldorin Pack and in Savage, more than Grant had understood until now. The only clue he’d had was the certainty that unless he advanced in ability and power, he’d never be able to defeat Kryder.
That Natalie had been a counter-force Kryder had created then monitored for years, spoke not just to the inherent danger of the situation, but to their combined potential.
They could make a difference in Savage and in Five Bridges.
He stared at Natalie for a long, penetrating moment.
“What is it?” she asked.
“We have it between us to take Kryder down. Do you believe that?”
She dipped her chin slowly, a measured look in her hazel eyes.
“Good.” He nodded as well.
He turned to face Landris, who had remained nearby and respectful. His cheeks had a drawn, serious look.
“We’re ready when you are, Wizard. Where do you want us?”
“Not here.”
Grant didn’t respond. Clearly, Landris had something in mind.
The wizard said, “I have several underground properties at my disposal. We’re going to one of them, but you’re going to have to trust me. I will use a spell and you will not remember the route and you will certainly never know the location. Are you with me?”
“Absolutely.” Natalie’s firm voice reverberated around the cave-like space.
Landris glanced at Grant who in turn nodded.
“Good. We’ll leave through here.” He pivoted and swept his robed arm toward the arched wall. The central rock face suddenly disappeared and in its place was the opening of a tunnel.
“The wall had a spell over it,” Grant murmured.
“Follow me.” Landris lifted into levitated flight and began to move swiftly.
Grant let Natalie follow the wizard, but the moment she crossed the threshold with Grant a split-second behind her, Landris called, “Begin.”
For a moment, Grant wanted to ask, ‘Begin what?’ But his mind soon developed a heavy sensation as though he’d been drugged. His gaze became fixed to the back of Natalie’s head and the loose, light brown curls that hung to her waist. Nothing else seemed to matter except taking in the flow of the curls, the pattern of her hair, her buoyancy as she flew, the way an occasional cross-breeze from a side-tunnel would push her hair around.
He had a sense of light, of movement, but no feeling of time. He couldn’t have said whether a minute passed or twelve hours.
The tunnel opened to another large space that he couldn’t quite make out though it was well-lit.
“End.” Wizard Landris’s voice and his choice of word drew the heavy sensation away from Grant’s mind.
He recalled the saying about ‘scales falling from the eyes’ and that’s exactly what the experience felt like. He turned in a slow circle because he stood in a sandpit, a very deep one with chipped rock walls rising thirty feet high. A railing was at the top maybe to keep spectators from falling in. “What is this place? I’ve never seen it before and my wolf senses tell me we’re not in Savage but in Elegance.”
