Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians (12 page)

It was like the world turned into a slow motion reel as Samantha lowered her hand down and then jerked it up, releasing the key at the apex of her upward swing.
 
It sailed above the level of our cages, out towards Jared.
 
His eye never left it, following its trajectory so he could capture it when it got close.

But the throw went long.
 
The key was going to go over the cage and hit the wall behind it.
 
I felt my hope deflate like a leaky ballon, as I saw our plan for escape disappearing into thin air.

Jared back-pedaled in his cage, walking blindly in reverse as he tried to adjust his catching stance, but he couldn't get to where he needed to be in time.

Just when I thought all hope was lost, a skinny arm and hand popped out of the top of the cage, snatching the key out of midair and pulling it down inside.

"Gotcha!" said Finn, a huge smile breaking out across his freckled face.
 
"Tried to get away from me, but ya didn't know I played left field, did ya?"
 
He held his hard-won prize out for Jared to take.
 
"Open that lock, man.
 
Let's get the H-E-double hockey sticks outta this joint.
 
I got me a girl back home waitin' for me to come back in one piece."

"Gladly," said Jared.
 
"Thanks for having my back, dude."

"Anytime, you know that, J-man."
 
They fist-bumped before Jared reached around with the key to unlock their cage.
 
Two seconds later Finn was shimmying over the top of the cage with a leg-up from Jared.
 
With only one close call, he made it to the chain and then down to the ground where he was able to turn the cranks that lowered our prisons.

Jared rushed to Ben's cage, opening the door and releasing him, Spike, and Tony to join us.
 
Tony and Spike came right over to give me huge hugs, and I gripped them as hard as I could while being careful to protect Willy's sleeping body that I held in my left hand.
 
I stared at Samantha over my friends' backs as she stood off to the side trying not to look at us.

I released Tony and then Spike and walked over to Samantha.
 
I held out my right hand.
 
"Friends?"
 
I asked, staring her down, daring her to take my offer.

She unfolded her arms and took my hand, thinking she was just going to give me a limp shake, but I refused to let it go until she looked me in the eyes.

"I mean it, Sam.
 
Never throw this back in my face because I'm only offering once."

She nodded strongly.
 
"I understand.
 
I accept."

I sent some of The Green up into our joined hands, causing both of us to catch our breaths.
 
Then we both nodded, staring at each other, acknowledging the connection that was there.
 
The Green had made it all so clear.
 
It wasn't the link that came from us touching hands that had come alive in our eyes; it was the deep roots we felt now that connected us as girls suffering the same kind of misunderstandings and neglect in our lives, and also as women who were related by blood somewhere up the line - two girls who might someday actually do something good in the messed up realm we called home, if they played their cards right and had the right friends at their sides.

Our hands broke apart, and I could no longer feel her skin touching mine, but I still felt her link.
 
She was an official part of my life now, for better or for worse, and it was so much more meaningful than a fake bonding ceremony cooked up to manipulate and use people or fae.
 
I looked over at Ben with disgust, hating how he'd played both of us.
 
He was going to pay when we were done here, and if the look on Samantha's face was any clue, I was going to have help bringing the revenge.
 
I sent my new friend a look that said,
You fuck with one Blackthorne girl, you fuck with them all
.
 
She nodded once before turning and walking towards the entrance to the room.

"Where to?" asked Jared at her retreating form.

"To find a dragon and then to get the heck out of here," she said without even looking back.

"Hell, yeah.
 
That's what I'm talking about," I said, bending down to scoop up three strawberries off the floor.
 
"Come on, guys.
 
Let's go dragon-hunting."

We filed out of the dining room, following the determined strides of Samantha.
 
She was apparently following her nose because the smell of sulfur got stronger and stronger as we went on.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I WASN'T SURE WHERE ALL the dwarves had disappeared to, but we made it through I wasn't sure how much of their mountain home without even seeing or hearing a single one of them.
 
It felt like we walked for an hour, much of it uphill, the smell of dragon breath getting more intense with nearly every step.

"Oh, man, gag a maggot, what is that unholy stench?" asked Finn.

"Dragon stink," I said.
 
"They smell like egg salad sandwiches to me."

"Mmmm," said Spike, "I love egg salad.
 
It's been way too long since I had some of that."

I patted him on the shoulder.
 
"You may change your mind about that once you get an up close and personal whiff of this big daddy," I said, remembering all too clearly the size of the monster we were about to see.

Jared dropped back and walked next to me.
 
"What can you tell us about this dragon, Jayne, or about dragons in general?"

I had to work really hard not to remind him and the others that I wasn't even supposed to be allowed here, and yet now they wanted all my knowledge and skills to help them out.
 
That would have been petty, and I was dragon-hunting right now.
 
I didn't have time for that crap, plus it didn't seem like as much fun right now, anyway.
 
I just wanted to get this done and get home with all my friends in one piece.

"Well, they're about the size of T-rex dinosaurs, only minus the tiny forearms.
 
They have big ones with claws large enough to skewer about three or four ... uh ... ," my gaze caught Niles ahead of me, and I changed my story accordingly, " ... smallish fae on the end of each one."

"They breathe fire, right?" asked Spike.

I half-expected Spike to already know everything about dragons; I had to keep reminding myself that he hadn't been with me in the Underworld, just the demon who looked like him.

"Yeah, they breathe fire.
 
It didn't burn me at all, but that may have had something to do with me being an elemental.
 
The demon there seemed to be pretty afraid of it."

"Any vulnerabilities?" asked Ben, barely sparing me a glance.

I so wanted to ignore him, but I couldn't.
 
Whatever was going to happen to him would happen when we were back home - not here.
 
"None that I saw.
 
But The Dark definitely wanted his fang back, so I would suggest that we not do that - give them back, I mean.
 
I had a feeling it would have made that fire a little hotter or something.
 
Maybe I'm just crazy, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry."

"No, I think you're right to withhold the weapon from them.
 
There's a reason they're sacrificed during battle.
 
They have power," said Jared.

"They have other teeth too, though.
 
I mean, these beasts aren't defenseless without their fangs.
 
We'd be like appetizers for them."

"What do dragons eat?" asked Finn.
 
"Someone please tell me they hate green elves.
 
Someone.
 
Anyone?"

"They eat whatever they can get their claws on," said Ben.
 
"But I hear around here it's deer and things like that."

I frowned.
 
"You hear from who?
 
Who told you that?"

"Shayla told us," answered Samantha when it seemed like Ben wasn't going to share.
 
"She said they stay in the sides of mountains with openings that lead to caves they can sleep in and store their food in.
 
They prefer ones that are higher up, not very close to the ground."

Well, that explains the upward climb and lack of friggin oxygen up here
.
 
"Did she clue you in as to what we could say to these monsters to get them to agree to our plan?"

"Nope.
 
She said we'd hafta commune with the dang dragons, whatever the heck that means," said Finn, sounding very disappointed in our hostess.

"I say we tell them it has to be done ... don't offer them an option," said Ben.

I laughed at his arrogance.
 
"And demanding shit and forcing fae and people into things has worked out so well for you in the past, it can't possibly go wrong with a dragon, is that it, Ben?
 
Seriously?"

He ignored me, walking faster and pulling ahead of us.

"Just let it go," said Tony.
 
"We can't afford to be fighting right now."

"I know," I said, partially disgusted with myself and partially mad at Tony for making me feel like an idiot.

"She's right," said Samantha.
 
"We need to use a little finesse with dragons.
 
They're at the top of the food chain, and the minute we forget that, the sooner we'll be french fried fae."

I tried not to be happy about having her on my side, but it was hard.
 
She was smart and tough.
 
"What do you suggest we do?" I asked her.

"I have no idea.
 
You're the one with dragon experience.
 
What did you do last time to get them to let you go?"

My face started to flame red with the memory.
 
Tony stifled a giggle ahead of me, making we want to give him a flat tire on his stupid shoes, but they went up too high for me to pull the heel-part down.
 
I placated myself with kicking one of his heels over to make his foot hook onto the other one.

He stumbled once but caught himself, speeding up to get out of my range.
 
"Why don't you tell her about your narrow escape, Jayne?" he said over his shoulder, giggling some more.

I shook my head.
 
"You guys don't need to know about the escape, since that was a witch's spell that held me kind of captive.
 
What you need to know is how we communicated.
 
All I can tell you is that it was in my head.
 
The dragon spoke in my brain somehow.
 
It was all lizardy too, with lots of hissing and stuff."

"Lizardy," said Jared, like he was trying the word on for size.

"Yeah.
 
Lizardy.
 
They're big friggin lizards, so what else do you want me to call it?"

He held his hands up.
 
"Hey, lizardy works for me."

Finn and Tony were both laughing now, being smart enough to do it far away from me, up ahead.
 
They were even past Ben now.

Just then I heard what could only be called a lizardy sound, slithering around in my head.
 
I held out my arms to either side, stopping Samantha and Spike from going any farther.
 
"Stop!
 
You guys,
stop!"

Finn and Tony kept going, oblivious to my warning.

"What is it?" asked Jared, turning to face me but still walking backwards.

"Don't go any farther!" I whisper-yelled.

Ben had stopped too, his head cocked to the side as if he were listening for something.
 
Jared came up next to him, first watching Ben and then me.

I cupped my hands together to yell at Tony and Finn, but it came too late.
 
Just as the words were leaving my mouth, a mighty roar came at us from up ahead, and the dim amber glow that had been lighting our way was overwhelmed by a bright orange and yellow light flooding every inch of the space.

We all screamed - even the guys - when the flames came right behind the light, lashing out and licking at the ones in front, namely Tony and Finn.
 
They both screeched and ducked, covering their faces and turning to launch themselves in our direction.
 
The flames immediately died down, leaving blackened soot in their wake.

We were back to being in a dimly lit hallway, only now we had two men down.
 
Samantha and I ran over to join our friends who were crowded around Tony and Finn, still lying on the floor.

"Tony!" I yelled.
 
"Finn!
 
Are you guys okay?"
 
I shoved Niles out of my way, dropping down in between them, reaching out to touch first Tony's back.
 
They were both face-down on the stone floor.
 
My hand made contact with Tony's tunic, and I immediately pulled it back, the material uncomfortably hot.
 
I held the sleeping Willy up high so he wouldn't get too warm and wake up.

"Dude, are you okay?" asked Spike.
 
"I smell burnt hair or something.
 
Gah,
that's gross."

Spike was right.
 
It was the smell I remembered from when my hair got caught in the back of the hairdryer once.
 
"Tony ... Finn ... talk to us," I said, placing my hand gently on Tony's back again.
 
Willy snored away, blissfully ignorant to the drama in front of us.

"Uhhhh," moaned Finn.
 
His words came out sounding slurred and at a slower speed then normal, which meant they were now four times slower than a normal person's.
 
"What in the sam hill happened back there.
 
My face is on
fire!
 
Did I get sunburned or what?"