Chapter 28
When the moon’s light dimmed they moved up the valley, skirting the edge of the woods, staying under cover as much as possible until the final dash to the base of the castle.
If this castle followed the plan of the other Al-Maddeiri castles, there should be an emergency exit tunnel. Always have an exit strategy. Kira and Flynn had both learned that from Markus.
The stone foundation wall loomed above them, easily twice Flynn’s height. Kira trailed her fingers along the wall, trying to sense the magical wards that kept the door invisible.
There. She concentrated, and the outline of a door appeared. Magical runes glowed faintly where a doorknob would normally be.
“I don’t suppose you know the access code,” Sloan said.
“She shouldn’t need it,” Flynn said.
Kira nicked her finger and pressed it to one of the runes. There was a faint grating sound, and the door slid open. It had been made for the Blood Members of the House—for them to enter unseen, or escape under attack.
“Nice,” Sloan murmured.
After they moved inside, Flynn tucked a small canvas duffel bag into a corner near the opening, then closed the door behind them. “What’s that?” Caitlyn asked him.
“Emergency supplies.” His grin flashed in the darkness. “Just in case.”
In case they lost their weapons, ran out of ammo, had to shift and escape with nothing.
They closed the door and made their way quietly up the tunnel, their only light a faint glow from Flynn’s bracelets, which he was wearing unwrapped.
Once or twice Sloan paused and attached some plastic explosive to the low ceiling. In case they had to bring it down after them.
They had a tense moment when they reached the far end of the tunnel. If Ragnor knew about the escape tunnel, there was always a chance he’d have it guarded.
But when they slid the door open at the other end, weapons at the ready, there was no one there.
In fact, they didn’t encounter anyone as they made their way through the darkened castle. There were glowing crystal orbs set at intervals along the hallways and staircases, giving barely enough light to see by.
The emptiness should have made Kira more relaxed, but the longer they went without opposition, the more the hairs on the back of her neck rose.
Every time she’d pulled off a job where it seemed there was no opposition, it had always gone to hell at some point.
It was almost a relief to encounter a guard station at the top of one of the main stairways. Two sentries—and Kira and Flynn were on them before they knew what hit them. They disabled them and left them bound and gagged in the nearest empty room with a door that shut.
Nearly all the rooms seemed to be empty—dusty and bare.
Flynn stashed another emergency bag in a storage closet filled with broken junk. They were getting near the top of the castle now. According to Caitlyn’s map, the lab was on the next level up.
Her sister. Her brother.
She expected the thought of them to bring more screams, but she heard nothing. Cold fear gripped her. They couldn’t be too late. If they’d waited too long for the moon to go down…
Flynn looked at her questioningly, and she shook her head. She couldn’t lose it now. Not when they were so close.
They paused at the top of the stairway. To their left a large reception area opened out, the faint lights set into the walls barely penetrating the gloom. At the far end was a huge staircase, split into three sections.
The large, shallow main staircase led up to an immense set of double doors with a coat of arms carved into them.
The two narrower side staircases went up one more story and then turned in opposite directions, continuing on into the darkness. Kira knew those led up to observation balconies that overlooked the Great Hall—for overflow guests during parties and ceremonies.
They darted up the left-hand staircase. They didn’t have much time—if anyone came along and saw the guard station below was empty, they’d raise an alarm.
Crouched low, they followed the curve of the staircase and came out on the observation balcony. It was rimmed by a half-wall of intricately carved stone, and they stayed crouched, looking through the holes in the carving.
The lab was laid out in the middle of the vast room below them, exactly as she and Flynn had seen it in her vision. Her sister was still sitting strapped to the chair in the center of the lab, lit by the glow of the machines. She was slumped over now, as if she were passed out.
God, please, not dead. Kira opened her mind, trying to hear her, but for the first time in months, she’d gone silent.
Behind her was the huge cage with the great dragon in it. He was quiet as well, lying on the cage floor, the silver muzzle still enclosing his jaws. One eye was cracked open, glowing a dull muddy green.
She could see a sheen of magic around the cage. It had some kind of force field surrounding it, to contain the dragon’s power and prevent him from escaping. The muzzle was magical as well—it probably kept him from Changing, or breathing fire. Or both.
Flynn crawled up next to her, leaning in. “That’s one fucking big dragon,” he said. “I hope to hell he can shift, because if he can’t, it’s going to be a lot harder getting him out of that cage.”
“There’s always Plan B.”
Flynn gave her his famous crooked grin. “Yup. Plastic explosives on that side wall. Caitlyn can fly up and put them on the outside.”
They both turned to look for Caitlyn. She was on the other side of the balcony, looking through a window to something down below.
She turned slowly to look at them, her face pale. In a moment, Flynn and the others were all at her side.
Below the window was the Council Chamber. A huge domed amphitheater, with tiers of dragon-sized stone platforms marching down to a central dais.
The platforms were filled, but not with dragons. The whole room had been turned into an encampment. Hundreds of men in leather slept next to braziers holding magical fire, or cleaned weapons, or repaired armor.
And all of them had orange glowing eyes.