Page 97 of Dragon Tempted

Mia’s eyes widened. “Yes.”

Sienna recited the curse.

“And?” Mia pushed.

She told Mia the second paragraph.

Mia frowned. “I see what you mean by that not really providing you with anything concrete to bring magic back. We know that the oracles are back and obviously the Templars are in this up to their necks, but the rest is vague. And it doesn’t reference the dragon sentries at all.”

“Your research on the sentries was very helpful,” Sienna added.

Mia’s eyes tightened. “Is that what you meant by ‘it worked’? You figured out how to bring back the sentries?”

Was she going all in? “Yes.”

Mia stiffened. “Then we’re definitely out of time, especially with John here in our midst.” She turned to him. “I know you, John Baker—Harper, Collins, Jones, Hopkins, Cunningham. Should I continue?”

John shook his head.

“Not sure if you were going for a Clark Kent moment with the glasses, but it didn’t work. The Templars will be really eager to find us, especially with you bringing the witch-dragon here. They were royally pissed they weren’t able to get to you before the cabin blew up. Nice touch, by the way.”

“If the Templars know that John can’t die, then why try and attack him to begin with?” Sienna asked, locking her knees so that she didn’t rush down and shake Mia.

Mia gave her a long look. “To incapacitate him.”

“Why? So that they can try to figure out a way to kill him?”

“No. The opposite. They want to lock him away so that the curse can’t be broken. But now that we have dragon sentries again, we can stop it all.”

“How?” John asked.

An alarm sounded, making them all flinch. “What is that?” Ryan yelled.

“Fire alarm. Don’t believe in coincidence. They’re trying to flush you back outside. Come on. We need to go,” Mia said as she walked to the door at the front of the classroom.

Ryan came to one side of Sienna and John the other.

Mia turned back and shook her head when they weren’t behind her. “Follow me and I’ll explain when we’re safe. You don’t want to face off with the Templars’ hired guns around a bunch of students, do you?”

Sienna looked to Ryan and John, who both nodded. They jogged down to the front of the room, Ryan taking the lead before heading through the door behind Mia. They walked into a smaller room. Mia shut the door and jammed a chair under the doorknob. She headed out a side door and down an empty corridor, the alarm still ringing. She came to a door and opened it. A metal gate blocked stairs that led downward.

“Where are we going?” Sienna demanded as Marcus barked the same question in her ear.

“There are underground tunnels through the campus that house utilities. I can get you out of the building over to the south.” She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the gate as a gate alarm went off, and she shut it down quickly.

“Come on. Your earpieces aren’t going to work down there.”

“We’re heading to the next building to meet you,” Marcus said over the coms.

They hurried down the stairs and turned into a long tunnel with various pipes running along the walls. Mia pulled out a flashlight, and they set a quick pace through the tunnel. The fire alarm from above was thankfully muffled.

“Is this how you move around the campus?” John asked.

“Yes. We have a stop to make first before you head out.”

They jogged for a bit before Mia stopped in front of a door. She pulled it open, and they entered a storage room.

“Can you watch for anyone coming this way?” she asked Ryan.