“What the hell are you sitting around for? The boss wants you on the field today.”
Estelle glared up at Ken, who smirked at her.
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” he said. “It wasn’t my idea. I don’t get a say in most things.”
“Where on the field, exactly, did the boss want me?”
Ken shrugged, his infuriating smile widening.
“Guess you’ll have to ask around. it’s a big day today. Nobody is supposed to be in the office. Check the memo.”
Estelle watched Ken leave, her blood boiling, and scanned her email. Sure enough, there was a memo there directly from Blaine, telling her and everyone else doing office work in the building to join him at the peak of the mountain. Apparently, he had big news.
“He could have told me before I bothered to drive down here,” Estelle grumbled to herself.
The truth was, she had been furious at Blaine lately. Ever since they had arrived back on Oak Mountain, they had barely even looked at each other, let alone spoke. He made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her, which felt cruel, especially after opening up to her about his past. She knew she should try to be understanding about it, but somehow, she could only feel angry. He wasn’t being fair to her or to himself. He was hiding from the truth; the pure, raw feeling that drew the two of them together. And no matter how he disguised it, she knew that it was all due to his own fear of commitment.
Estelle continued to grumble to herself as she let herself out of the office and locked it behind her. she should have known something was off when she arrived and nobody was there. But seeing Ken saunter in and sneer at her had nearly driven her over the edge.
But she had been trying not to make any waves ever since things had gotten tense with Blaine. The last thing she needed was to give him an excuse to fire her from the internship and lose the credit she needed to graduate in her program. There would be nothing worse than that.
Estelle had no idea where she was supposed to go first, and headed up the mountain on foot. If nobody was in a hurry to tell her where she needed to be, then she would be damned if she decided she was in a hurry to get there. They were just going to have to wait.
“That’s her, boss.”
“Really? I never figured Blaine for that kind of guy…”
“What kind of guy?”
“Well you remember the first girl he was with, right? Rail thin…”
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Estelle demanded, too angry not to even feel afraid.
“So sorry, that was terribly impolite of me,” a tall, gaunt man with neat white hair said. He had on a shimmering blue robe with belled sleeves, and bowed at Estelle graciously. “It’s just that it appears we have an associate in common.”
“Blaine?” Estelle asked, raising her brow. “What do you want? Who are you?”
The two men exchanged sly looks, and suddenly Estelle knew exactly who these men were. The dragon shifters that Blaine had been worrying about.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Estelle said, her anger deepening. “This isn’t your land.”
The two men erupted into unkind laughter, and the tall older man stepped forward.
“You’ve got spunk,” he said. “I guess that I can see why Blaine likes you. But listen to you talking about things you don’t understand. We’re going to have to talk some sense into you.”
Estelle opened her mouth to protest, but the man smiled eerily at her and suddenly, her body felt heavy; her limbs completely frozen. The shifters came toward Estelle, their eyes serious and soon she was moving forward against her will. A sudden fear surged through her as it suddenly dawned upon her just how much danger she was truly in. And there was no way that anybody would know where she was or who she was with. Maybe she should have gotten off the mountain when she had the chance.
***
“So, what the hell are we doing?” Estelle finally managed to ask. They had been moving through the woods for at least an hour, and although she was being strung along by some form of ancient magic, she was fully aware of everything that was going on. Still, it didn’t make any sense to her.
“We’re not going to let Blaine get away with keeping these tunnels from us,” Geron said darkly. Estelle sighed.
“You do get that this is his land, right? And he’s been beyond patient with your bullshit.”
“This land belongs to none but he who sanctified it,” Geron growled, his eyes flashing menacingly at her.
Estelle was chilled into silence, and they continued through the foliage until they finally reached the entrance of a tunnel made of rock, deep within the mountain.
“I don’t want to go in there,” Estelle whispered.
“Too bad,” Frenja, the other dragon shifter, snapped at her. he pushed her forward and Estelle fell inside. The air was cool and damp, and she struggled to her feet with the help of Geron, who refused to meet her eyes.
“This task is bigger than your friend Blaine and his supposed claim on this land. We must take the mountain before the equinox. You have to understand. This is a significant task, and if you or anyone else gets in the way, you’re going to die. It’s very simple.”
Estelle had to bite her tongue to keep her mouth shut, but somehow, she managed to do it as Geron and his lackey continued on their way. The tunnel was lit by torches that were mounted to the walls, and the deeper they went, the more afraid Estelle started to be.
Finally, they came into an open area, glittering full of quartz, and Geron turned to her, his eyes reflecting the sparkle of the minerals on the walls of the cavern.
“You’ve seen something like this,” Geron insisted. “I can tell you have. Where is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Estelle growled, squeezing her eyes closed. Maybe if she didn’t look at him, his disturbing magic wouldn’t work on her.
“Don’t lie to me, child,” Geron said, his voice heavy with malice. “I know you know. And you’re going to help us, whether you like it or not.”
Estelle cried out as a sharp pain jolted through her body, and she collapsed to the ground as the world around her grew dark.