Page 94 of Night Prey
SOPHIE: How are you going to do that?
We’re about to pay a visit to the Elder dragon.
SOPHIE: What? Are you crazy? She’s dangerous.
Shit. Her message doesn’t bring me comfort.
It’s the only way. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.
SOPHIE: You can’t ask me that. Of course I’m going to worry.
Since I don’t know if I’ll make it out of the dragon’s lair alive, I don’t hold back.
I love you.
My heart gets stuck in my throat, and all my insecurities come to the forefront of my mind. What if she doesn’t feel the same and believes I’m a creep?
SOPHIE: I love you too.
I smile before I pocket my phone. Now I’m ready to face my doom.
We round the boulder, but there’s nothing but a smooth wall. “I don’t see any entrance.”
Solomon looks over his shoulder with a glint of pure contempt in his eyes. “It’s concealed. Do you think the Elder dragon wants any idiot stumbling upon her lair?”
“I assume you know the spell to reveal the entrance to us,” Karl says.
The dry crack of a twig breaking sounds nearby. For fuck’s sake. I do hate nature.
“What are you waiting for? For the monster prowling to attack us?” I complain.
Solomon wastes precious seconds glaring at me before he faces the mountain and begins to recite a spell in a language I don’t recognize. The rocky wall in front of us vibrates and then caves inward, revealing a dark passage.
“Voilà.” Solomon makes a grand gesture with his arm. “You can go first, Vaughn, since you’re so afraid of monsters.”
Jackass. Ishouldgo first to prove to him I’m not afraid, but as I stare at the black void, my legs won’t move.
“I’ll go first.” Karl strides forward.
No sooner are we all inside the tunnel than the wall solidifies again behind us.
“I hope the spell to open that is the same,” I say.
“Stop bitching and move,” Solomon barks. “Manu is still trapped in Ellnesari, and we don’t know how long it will take to convince the Elder dragon to part with the mirror. You know how dragons love their treasures.”
I’m surprised how quickly my eyes adjust to the gloom. The dark void was only at the entrance of the cave. It’s not completely dark inside the mountain. There’s light coming from fissures in the ceiling, but I don’t know if they’re magical or natural. At the end of the tunnel, I see the beginning of stairs.
“How many steps do you reckon until we get to the top?” I ask.
“No idea. Why don’t you count?” Karl jokes.
I flatten my lips. Granted, it was a stupid question. It’s almost a disease that words come out of my mouth without me thinking first whenever I’m this tense. I don’t think I will ever not be the butt of everyone’s jokes.
It takes us at least an hour to reach the top of the mountain, and my legs turned to jelly ten minutes ago. I have to crawl up the last steps, panting. It’s embarrassing how out of shape I am. “Jesus fucking Christ. I think climbing the mountain from outside would have been easier.”
“Pathetic.” Solomon steps over me, looking fresh as hell. How is that possible? He must have used magic.
“How are you not tired?” Karl asks, massaging his legs.
