The dungeon was silent except for the sound of their heavy breathing as they sat, leaning on each other. Thank God he’s okay. She reached across and placed her hand on top of his. “I’m not sure what happened, but thank you.”

Aidan twisted, groaning, and kissed her temple. “Theodora struck you with her dark magic and killed you. I revived you.”

She chuckled. “Leave it to you to give me the condensed version.”

He shrugged, his face scrunching in pain.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Are you hurt?” She angled away from him to get a better look.

“Broke my shoulder,” he said through clenched teeth. He came to his knees and stood, helping her to her feet with his good arm. “Now that you’re okay, I’m going to go after her. We have to get that scepter and get out of here.”

“I can help.”

“I’ll have to go through the door again. I’ll come back for you once I have the key.” Wrapping his uninjured arm around her, he kissed her with longing. When they parted, his lips tugged into a lopsided smile. “Just in case Theodora does permanent damage this time.”

She pulled him closer and kissed him again. “You figure a way out of this, and then we’ll to talk.”

“Deal,” he said, stepping back.

Rhianna sunk her teeth into her lip as he morphed into an eagle, made himself impossibly small, and squeezed through the bars of the door. On the other side, he changed back.

“Your arm,” she said. “How will you fight her injured like that?”

“I heal rapidly. It will be fine.” He gave her one last look of yearning, and then his hurried steps were echoing down the corridor. Eventually the footfalls disappeared altogether, leaving her in silence.

Rhianna stood in the middle of the empty cell. She hugged her arms around her middle and began to pace. At least it was better to listen to her footsteps than the silence. She paused at the door and glanced down the corridor. What had Aidan encountered when he’d left?

She jerked and pushed on the door, hoping it would miraculously open. It didn’t. If only she could unlock it somehow. Her eyes swept the floor of the cell, looking for anything she could use to try to pick the lock. She pursed her lips, then gasped. She’d had a bobby pin earlier!

Maybe . . .

She patted her hair, and her fingers struck the thin slip of metal. Yes! She pulled the clip free of her hair.

Fiddling with the pin, she tied to recall the video about picking locks she’d watched years ago after locking herself out of her apartment.

First, bend the bobby pin back and forth until it breaks in half. Then, bend one of the halves  at the tip.

Taking a deep breath, she reached her arms through the metal grates. The cold bars nudged her chest. Since the lock was on the other side of the door, she’d be working blind, just by feel.

She put the bent end in place first and then added the other half in the lock above it. She jiggled the pin. After several attempts, she had to stop and rest. Her arms were cramping from having to hold them up at an awkward angle. But it didn’t matter how long it took or how tired she got, she had to keep trying.

On the fourth attempt, the lock gave, and the door inched open. She could have squealed with joy. She’d done it!

But she had to be discreet. So she exited the dungeon cell as quietly as she could.

* * *

Once Aidan left Rhianna, he moved cautiously through the castle, taking his time to allow his shoulder at least some time to mend before confronting Theodora. He traveled along the main floor, peeking in doorways to vaarious rooms—kitchen, dining room, living room, library. The castle was cavernous and empty.

He moved up the curved staircase to the second floor. There was a surprising lack of artwork for a place this size, leaving the walls bare. His footfalls were muffled by the thick rugs as he walked along the hallway, again tipping his head through every doorway. Each time, he held his breath, knowing Theodora could be within. At the end of a hall, he came to a room with tall double doors. A distinguishing sign, he thought.

He hesitated, rotating his shoulder. It was still painful, but it was usable. Controlled and careful, he turned the doorknob and looked in. The lighting was dim, even yellowed inside. Pushing the door wider, he inched through the threshold.

She was there in her bedroom, standing in her undergarments. Thick slashes covered her shoulders, ribs, and back, scars that spoke of being on the losing side of a sword fight.

He skimmed the room. No mirrors. Perhaps she didn’t want reminders.

But the scepter lay on the bed not far from her.

Since she was still turned away from him, he slinked into the room. He was about as close to the scepter as she was now, and he swallowed hard.

As he stepped toward the bed, she turned with a hiss. “How dare you?” Her entire body was shaking with rage, and she lunged for her scepter.

Aidan crouched, then sprang forward, transforming into his tiger in midair as he leaped. His huge paws hit her square in the chest, knocking her back. He jumped again, this time to the bed, changing back to his human form with seamless ease.

He reached out and swept up the staff without breaking momentum and rolled off the bed, landing on his feet. Even with the scepter in his hand, unease ran rampant through him. Until it was destroyed, there was always the chance she could get ahold of it again. He would have smashed it on the ground if not for his uncertainty about whether he needed it to get out of this blasted universe or not. And he needed to accomplish that first.

As if fleeing a dangerous animal, he backed up quickly. The door was only a few feet away.

Just a little farther.

Theodora rose and spun around, grabbing something from the dresser. A red-stoned ring, he noted, as she slid it on her finger. She touched the stone, and it began to glow. She extended her hand, and the room began to move. Things shifted just as they had when he’d ended up in the dungeon.

He eyed the scepter in his hand. “But . . . but how?”

He heard footsteps coming up behind him and then Rhianna was bursting through the door.

“The ring!” she shouted. “We need to get the ring!”

He glanced back to Theodora. The ring was still glowing—the true source of her power.

Rhianna took two long strides, the second landed her on the bed and then she vaulted off the other side.

“No!” His heart rose in his chest, pushing into his throat. Theodora had already taken her life before. He couldn’t stand to watch it happen again.

The room was moving as if it were a boat on a stormy sea. Rhianna cartwheeled over to Theodora with seeming ease. She had executed the move so fast, Aidan couldn’t believe what he’d seen. She grabbed Theodora’s arm and held it over her head.

Theodora twisted and struggled to touch the ring with her free hand to no avail. “Let go of me,” she snarled.

In a blink of an eye, Rhianna reached up and removed the ring, gliding it from Theodora’s finger and into her closed fist. The room instantly stilled.

“Run!” he yelled, even as pride filled his chest.

Rhianna darted over the bed again and out the door in front of him.

Theodora ranted at their backs, her voice shaking with fury. “The Demon Prince will hunt you down. The ring is mine; Riam is mine. You cannot leave.” Theodora’s cry of anguish bounced down the hall behind him, powerless.

Clutching the staff in one hand, Aidan ushered Rhianna forward with the other.

“We did it,” she exclaimed.

He couldn’t help but smile at her. “Now we just need to get out of this universe . . .”

* * *

They ran down the staircase. When her feet hit the landing, she halted, looking left and then right. “What happened to Katsu? Have you seen him?”

Aidan shook his head. “No. The last time I saw him was outside your chamber, before we were dumped in the dungeon.”

“Do you remember where that was?” she asked.

He angled his head, thinking. “The other side of the library.”

She nodded resolutely. “Let’s go. I can’t leave without him.”

Aidan’s jaw tensed, and he pulled back his shoulders. “Rhianna, we need to get out of here. We may have the scepter and the ring, but there is no telling if Theodora has other sources of destruction at her disposal.”

“Please. If he’s there, we’ll take him with us. If not—” she swallowed hard, forcing the words out even though they were difficult to speak “—then we’ll leave.”

“Hurry,” he bit out.

Aidan led the way to the appropriate room. The door was half-closed, and he pushed it opened. Rhianna sensed from the way his body stiffened that something was horribly wrong. She pushed her way in, stopping with her chest slammed up against Aidan’s arm.

Her gaze darted straight to Katsu, who hung from a rope attached to a beam on the ceiling. She gasped, sharp pain radiating through her as her heart pounded hard against her breastbone.

“Is he . . . ?” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Yes,” he said, his voice soft and sad.

“Maybe we could use the scepter or ring to—”

“We can’t bring him back.” He placed his hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes. “We don’t know how to use these. For all we know they might not do anything but evil work. It’s too risky.”

She pressed her lips together, and her chin fell to touch her chest. She knew he was right. But it hurt. God, it hurt. After all her great-grandfather had endured, after all this time, she had hoped to deliver him from this awful place. Hot tears slid down her cheeks.

Aidan walked over to Katsu, took him down, and rested him on the floor.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish there was more we could do”—he held his hand out for her to take—“but we must go.”

* * *

Aidan led her from the castle, squeezing her hand in his. Now that the worst was over, she seemed exhausted. Her feet dragged with every step, her limps hanging loose. When they were outside, he paused. “You are too tired.”

“No,” she said faintly. “I can make it.”

He presented her with the staff. “Here. Carry this. I’ll change into my tiger and you can ride down the mountain.”

Before she could protest, he transformed, stretching his muscles and testing his injured shoulder. It hurt a little but nothing he couldn’t stand. Then he stood there, waiting for her to climb onto his back.

After a moment, she did.

Aidan broke into an easy run as Rhianna lowered her chest against him and held on. When he came to the drawbridge and the gorge below it, he jumped and changed into his eagle, taking care to keep her weight centered over his back. They soared for a mile or so, and then he returned to his tiger once more as they came into town.

People peered out the windows, and when they caught sight of a tiger and his woman, they ran into the streets. Aidan halted and changed to his human form. A buzz filled the air as the people around them whispered.

“Is that Theodora’s staff?” one man finally asked.

“Yes. We have the staff and ring,” Aidan told him. “And we’re going to see if they will take us out of Riam and back to our world.”

“Take us, too!” someone yelled.

“Yes, do not leave us here!” shouted another.

The crowd pushed against them. At the back of the group, Aidan spotted Steve, Sean, and Dillon.

Aidan held up both hands, palms out. “Wait. Wait. Anyone who wants to can come with us.”

The people cheered and followed close behind as Aidan led them to the spot where they’d entered. Worry began to niggle in Aidan’s belly. He wasn’t sure how everyone was going to make the transition. Some of these people were very old. What effect would crossing over to the real world have on them, if any? Would it kill them instantly?

He quickly explained the situation to the group, and every person agreed to transfer out of this universe, no matter the consequences. No explanation was needed. Aidan understood the need to be released from this pain, this prison. In small groups, they silently joined hands.

“You took the ring from her, you should do the honors,” Aidan said to Rhianna.

“I don’t know if I can.” She swept her tongue over her upper lip. “What if I mess up?”

“Just try,” Dillon said. His words were followed by others, softly encouraging her.

Aidan leaned in and whispered in her ear so only she could hear. “No matter what happens, I love you. You can do this. I know it.”

She pulled back and met his gaze with teary eyes. She simply kissed him and nodded.

Placing the ring on her hand, she touched it the way the sorceress had, running her index finger in a circle over the ring and then extending the scepter and repeating the same motion.

“Concentrate on our destination,” she told them all.

The dirt and soil swirled up in the air and turned over. A bubble-like capsule appearing, catching all four hundred of them and transporting them back to their world. When the bubble finally burst, the men and women fell to the earth, covering his entire front yard. As they stood, it reminded him of the rock concerts he’d seen in movies.

A boisterous round of whoops and whistles sounded.

“Look,” Rhianna said, her voice full of awe. “Color.”

Aidan tipped his head back, looking up at the blue, blue sky and the shades of green of the foliage around them. He smiled and rained hot kisses over her face and mouth.

As they both came up for air, he realized he had a little problem. He had four hundred people on his deserted island.

He turned to face Dillon. “I leave it up to you to get these people off my island.” He turned then and tromped into the forest, tugging Rhianna with him. They’d just made it beyond sight of the crowd when a dog’s bark floated through the trees.

“Takeshi!” Rhianna cried. The dog came bounding at them, jumping up and pawing at their legs. He went from Rhianna to Aidan and then back to Rhianna.

“Easy,” she said with a laugh. “You don’t have to get so excited. We’re home.”

A warm feeling skipped over him. Had she just called this home?