Page 61 of Queen Takes King
I hesitated, trying to think of anything I could do to better my chances. Salt and iron weren’t going to help bring Leviathan to heel, not that I’d brought any. Absently, I patted my pocket, felt the small knifethere.
Guillaume snorted. “I need to give you a lesson in knives when you establish thenest.”
“I’d like that. And a forge for Rik so he can make some ketars forme.”
“Done,” Rik said. “I’ll hold you to thatpromise.”
The ground rumbled beneath my feet. I thought it was his rock troll, but he shook his headslightly.
“If that was an earthquake, we need to get down off the mountain,” the guard said. “Now.”
Turning toward the waterfall, I took a couple of deep, centering breaths. “I’ll be as fast aspossible.”
He rushed toward me, his hand out like he was going to touch me. Rik growled and stepped closer, protecting my back as always. I don’t think the man meant me any harm. He just wanted to escape landslides or whatever destruction might happen if we were up here when an earthquake hit. Rather than let him grab my arm, I stepped into thewaterfall.
Cold water splashed down on me, stealing my breath, but with another step, I was through. Absolute darkness closed in. With the roar of the waterfall behind me, I couldn’t hear what they were saying outside. If I was still even in our world. In my head, my bonds still gleamed, but they felt… stretched. Less substantial somehow. Almost like I was looking at a reflection of them throughwater.
Hands outstretched, I felt around until I found the side of the tunnel. Just as in my dream, it led downward, though it felt wider and definitely steeper. Water trickled down the walls and the floor, making the rock slippery, and this time, I didn’t have a golden ball of sunlight to light my way. I thought about calling a fireball, but I didn’t want to flash a lot of power. Ideally, I’d keep him guessing about how strong I was. I really had no idea how my power would hold up against something thousands of years old, but I had a feeling I’d be able to hold my own. I was well fed, and he surelywasn’t.
Though now I was kicking myself for giving him power lastnight.
I slipped and fell on my ass, bruising myhip.
:My queen.:Rik’s bond vibrated with concern. He hated being left behind. He hated my back unprotected as I approached danger. A little bit of my pain had him standing at the edge of the waterfall, ready to shift and come afterme.
:I’m fine. Justslipped.:
The further I went, the harder it was to stay on my feet. My thighs and heels ached from keeping my weight shifted back as much as possible, and my palms were raw from the rock side. I had no idea how I was going to climb out ofhere.
:I’ll come getyou.:
A sense of space opened up in front of me, though I couldn’t see anything with my eyes. I eased my foot out and felt the edge of adrop.
Crap. I had no idea how far down it was. I listened a moment, trying to hear the chains or deep, rumbling sounds of the beast’s breathing, but all I heard was the heavy pounding of my own heart and the steady drip ofwater.
He was close, though. He had tobe.
I lifted my injured hand and willed a small ball of fire to fill my palm. Golden flame instantly glowed in my hand.Golden, like Ra. It made me shiver. How much had his power changed my own? Was it enhanced… or twisted? Tainted? I had to admit that the brighter flame made it easier to see. I sent the small ball out into the void and slowly brightenedit.
A cave loomed straight ahead, with both the ceiling and floor widening into a dome. The drop was only ten feet, but the bottom was littered with bones as if all the graveyards of the world had been dumped here. It was too far for me to make out the details. Some of the bodies looked like animals, but there were definitely human skulls jumbled among the bones. How long did he have to wait for an unwary tourist to wander into hisdomain?
“The last was two yearsago.”
I jerked my gaze up to the opposite side of the cave. Eerie green eyes glittered at me from a shelf about two storieshigher.
Now that he had my attention, Leviathan made a great show of coming out of his den. Wings outstretched, he glided toward the bone yard below in a slowspiral.
No chains. That was the first thing I realized. He wasn’t chained atall.
And fuck, he was big. Long, sleek green-black body, four legs with powerful rear haunches, sinuous neck, and spiked tail. My tiny fireball floated down his side and he gleamed like an iridescent oil slick in the faintlight.
Circling around toward the floor, he didn’t even look in my direction. Wary of his teeth and claws, I should have been watching his tail. It crashed into my ankles, wrapped around both legs, and dragged me off the edge. I didn’t even have time to grab for the side orduck.
He landed and swung me around in front of him, dropping me with an oomph in front of two giant clawedfeet.
“Shara.” He drew out the first syllable of my name in a hiss. “So kind of you to visit me in person thistime.”
Bones poked me in the back. I scrambled up, trying to get to my feet, but he casually planted one big foot on my stomach and pinned me to theground.
