They were halfway up the stairs again when a loud rumble made the stones shiver around them.

Autumn found herself clutching at the wall, feeling it vibrate against her hands.

An earthquake...?

“Shit,” Damon cursed.

He’d jumped forward to shield her with his body, Autumn realized. She reached out a grateful hand to rest it against his back—both to show him that she was alright, and for the reassuring feeling of his muscles shifting against her palm.

He was so tense that he felt hard like a statue. Autumn had to swallow against her sudden fear.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Damon said, his voice low. “Something’s going on. The rock is upset. But I can’t see what causes it...”

Autumn watched as he reached out to rest both of his hands against the stone. For a heartbeat, he didn’t move—then he recoiled with a swallowed curse, his fist hitting the rock.

“Damn,” he cursed in frustration. “It’s like there’s a shadow. I can’t see through it...”

Through the bond, Autumn could feel his frustration—and his fear.

She’d never seen Damon afraid before.

“Whatever it is—it’s bad,” he murmured, turning around to face her. “The stones aren’t speaking to me. That has never happened before.”

“Maybe it’s the chimera?” Autumn said hopefully, even though her heart had begun to pound in her chest with sudden fear.

Damon was right—something was wrong. She didn’t know how she knew, but she could feel it. It was like the entire mountain had tensed around them. And there was a faint, acrid smell... a smell like something burning...

Suddenly, out of the gloom before them, a tiny shadow came racing down the stairs.

With a growl of anger Damon whirled around to face their attacker—but the creature raced straight past him, too small to be stopped.

A moment later, it halted after all. There, on the stairs below Autumn, illuminated by the flickering light of the torches, a tiny mouse sat.

“Ginny!” Damon said in surprise. “What’s going on?”

Right before Autumn’s eyes, the tiny mouse shimmered. A heartbeat later, she’d transformed into a human and very much naked woman.

“Fire dragons,” she said hastily, her eyes wide with terror. “Here. In the caves. Attacking the chimera.”

Quickly, Autumn stripped out of her coat, and the terrified mouse shifter gratefully wrapped it around herself.

“They’ve somehow blocked me from seeing what’s going on.” Damon gritted his teeth as he turned from them to stare up the stairs, pressing his hand to the stone again.

“You’ve got to go. Protect the chimera!” Ginny was trembling, but even so her voice was full of determination. “We need him. If they manage to harm him—or kidnap him—”

“I can’t.” Damon clenched his jaw as he turned around. “I’m not going to leave Autumn. I promised to keep her safe.”

“She won’t be safe if they get to the chimera,” Ginny said. “I’ll protect her.”

“You?” Damon shook his head. “No. No way.”

“Listen to me,” Ginny said. She was speaking very softly, but there was a core of strength in it. “There’s one place in this mountain where Autumn and I will be safe. That’s where I was going. A place where only a council member can go...”

“The prisoner’s rooms.” Damon shook his head. “No way.”

“No. I’ll go,” Autumn interrupted. Her heart was beating in her throat—but she remembered how the door in the stone had only opened at Damon’s touch. No key could open it. Only a council member could.

“Ginny’s right,” she continued when Damon stared at her in open surprise. “You’ve got to go and stop them. I don’t know what’s going on—but I’m not a dragon shifter. I’m holding you back. I won’t let them use me as a weapon against you. We’ll be safe in those caves.”

“He got his weekly dose of dragonsbane yesterday,” Ginny said. “And he’s behind bars. Couldn’t harm a fly that way. You’ve seen him.”

Damon shook his head again, his eyes dark and desperate as he reached out for Autumn.

She let herself be pulled into his arms willingly, kissing him with all her need for him while her heart kept pounding in her chest.

Go, she whispered silently, hoping that he’d feel her through their fragile bond. I love you. I know you’ll keep us all safe.

His mouth on hers was hot and desperate. He groaned into the kiss, his arms tightening around her waist as if he’d never let her go again, his powerful heart beating against hers with the same terrified rhythm.

But his terror wasn’t because of the fire dragons that threatened them, she realized when he finally let her go.

He was terrified for her.

“You’re my mate,” he whispered hoarsely, so close that she could feel his hot breath on her lips. “I’ll give my life to protect you if I have to. I’ll come back to you. I swear it.”

“And I swear that I’ll wait for you. I’ll be safe. I’ll be safe with Ginny.”

She kissed him again, and then, at last, he tore himself away from her, panting.

“Hurry,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “I can’t feel them. There’s a shadow covering them—they could be very close.”

Together, they rushed down the stairs. In front of the heavy door of stone that had no keyhole, Damon pressed his hand to the wall.

“I’ll seal it after you,” he said quietly. “It’ll become part of the rock. Once this is done, I’ll come back as soon as possible and let you out.”

“Be safe,” Autumn said, looking up into his eyes which were gleaming with the sharp, metallic hue of steel now.

He was strong, she knew that. He would be fine.

Still, her heart clenched in her chest when he hastily kissed her one last time, and then stepped back out through the door.

Autumn shuddered when it fell closed with a deep, echoing thud.

A moment later, the outline of the door began to shimmer and shift. Within seconds, all traces of the door were gone. She was standing before a wall of rock.

A wall with no door. Which meant in turn that she was now trapped in a cave with one of the fire dragons they were hiding from.

Her heart racing, Autumn turned around. And there, from the other side of the bars, the fire dragon was watching them in confusion.

“What’s going on?” he asked slowly.

Silently, Autumn shook her head. She couldn’t talk right now, not with her fear for Damon like a stone in her throat.

Braeden frowned at them. Then, when he took in Ginny’s state of undress, his eyes widened and he flushed, immediately turning away. Without speaking a word, he hurried away from them, ducking through a hole in the wall into another cave.

A few seconds later, he returned. His eyes averted, he thrust a sweater and what looked like a pair of pajama bottoms through the bars.

Before Autumn could react, Ginny had taken hold of them. She had blushed, too.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

The fire dragon hastily retreated back into the other cave to give them some privacy, and Ginny quickly dressed.

She was curvy like Autumn, and the pajama bottoms were too long for her. But even though they were cut for a man’s hips, there was just enough stretch in them to fit her curves.

In any case, it had to be better than waiting in this cave wearing only Autumn’s coat.

“Can I come back in?” the fire dragon called out meekly after a moment.

Surprised, Autumn had to bite back a laugh.

“Yes, thank you,” she called back, smiling in amusement when Braeden made his way back to the cell they were currently sharing.

“You’re awfully polite for a big, bad fire dragon,” she said.

“You may not believe it,” he said, sounding affronted, “but we have honor, too.”

“Mm-hm,” Autumn said, not convinced at all. “That’s why you and your people think killing humans is no big deal. Very honorable, that.”

“I’ve never killed a human in my life—” Braeden began in annoyance, then suddenly fell silent. “Never mind. What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

Autumn looked at Ginny, who calmly answered her gaze but remained silent.

Well. Doesn’t look like I’ll get much help from this side.

Would it be better to keep quiet? They didn’t want Braeden to get any ideas. On the other hand, even if he knew about the other fire dragons, he was still locked in his cell. What harm could he do?

“Fire dragons are attacking,” she said finally. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this, though. We’re here because this is the safest place in the mountain. The one place where they definitely won’t find you.”

As if in answer to her words, a distant rumble made the ground beneath her vibrate.

Suddenly terrified, Autumn bit back a gasp, clenching her fingers until her nails bit into her skin.

She wouldn’t show any weakness in front of Braeden.

But even so, with every minute apart from Damon, the terror in her heart grew.

She wasn’t afraid of being locked in a cave, or of the distant force that made the mountain tremble.

But she was afraid for her mate. She’d lived for so many years without him—but now that she’d finally found him, it seemed impossible to ever live without that all-consuming love in her life again.

Be safe, she sent through the bond, not knowing if it would even reach him. Be safe, my mate!