From ten miles away, he heard the creepers turn away from his position. Gaze shimmering, he glanced at his packmate. “Tempel.”
Magic displaced dank air as Tempel shifted into human form. “Making a hole.”
Horns tingling, Rannock pushed out of his crouch. “Quick and quiet.”
Tempel nodded. Arms outstretched, palms facing the forest floor, he turned full circle. One rotation revolved into two, then three. The ground gasped in gratitude, absorbing the male’s healing earth magic, then opened, tunneling beneath his packmate’s feet. Tempel dropped through the hole.
Arctic air ruffled the trees as Levin shifted and leapt in after him.
Kruger’s rough emerald-green scales turned to smooth skin. Conjuring his clothes, he disappeared into the man-sized cavern.
With one last look around, Rannock shifted into human form. Murmuring his wishes, he dressed in his favorite fighting gear, then strode to the edge of the crater. His boots sank into sick, spongy soil. A putrid scent rose around him. Nose twitching, he reached the lip and stared into the vertical shaft.
A straight shot down. Perfect proportions. A round tunnel driving into the bowels of the earth.
Taking a deep breath, Rannock jumped, following his wingmates into the viper’s nest.
16
Trapped inside the Emerald Room, Cate stared at the closed door. Solid wood. Honeyed antique patina. No cracks in the raised panels. As beautiful as the rest of the room, but right now, nothing but a barrier—one she must get through if she planned to stay sane tonight.
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the unmade bed, she picked at her cuticles while contemplating her next move. Her gaze cut to the brass doorknob. First step? Get dressed. Second step? Check to see if the jerks had locked her in. She hadn’t heard the lock turn, but that meant nothing. Not with the amount of supernatural hoodoo humming inside the house.
Grabbing the top sheet, Cate dragged it with her as she left the bed. Her bare feet touched down on the oriental rug. She tiptoed around the end of the fourposter monstrosity. Why? No freaking clue. She was alone, at odd ends, about to go out of her mind if she didn’t find something to occupy her time until Rannock returned.
No eyes on her as far as she knew, but again… that meant nothing.
She didn’t know much about Shadow Walkers, but Rathbone and his brothers didn’t seem like the inattentive type.
Rannock hadn’t helped on the information front. More interested in making love to her than explaining, he’d skirted her questions about their hosts. Maybe he didn’t know. The more likely scenario was he didn’t want to scare her. A lovely gesture. She sighed. Her dragon had a heart of gold, even if his reasoning lacked a certain amount of logic.
Ignoring a problem never made it go away. Fear of the unknown only created more uncertainty. A truism, one she could attest to, given she’d been freaked out long before he left her in bed.
Being out of her element tended to do that to her. She liked routine, not the unexpected. A preference no doubt informed by the chaotic nature of her childhood. A shrink would say her father’s inability to provide a stable home contributed to her dislike of surprises.
Cate disregarded it all.
She’d survived. Period. No shame in the way she did it, but…
Maybe—just this once—she should embrace the notion of flexibility, given the fluidity of the situation. And the fact she had a pod packed full of explosives inside her head. Bad enough, but worse? Rannock was gone, heading into God-knew-what, to battle blind witches in a cauldron no doubt bubbling with venom.
Another round of fear shivered through her. Unease rose in its wake, making her imagination take flight. Worse-case scenarios kicked up, invading her already unhappy thoughts.
Clutching the sheet to her chest, Cate paused in gathering her clothes. She closed her eyes and sent another prayer heavenward. The tenth—or maybe the hundredth—since Rannock walked out the door, asking for his safe return. She didn’t care how he came back to her. All she wanted was to see him again. Hear his voice. Kiss his mouth. Hold him, feel his strong body against hers—forever. Into infinity.
Her hands started to shake.
The belt buckle on her jeans rattled.
Cate opened her eyes. Staring into the banked fire, she shook her head. No way. No how. She refused to fall apart now. Rannock needed her to be strong, to embrace the strain and wait out an untenable situation with fortitude, not fear. To trust him to know what to do and how to take care of himself.
Throwing her clothes onto the armchair, she slipped into her underwear. Jeans and her long-sleeved tee went on next. Her temper began to simmer as she yanked on her socks and glared at the door.
The jerks. Stupid Shadow Walkers. She refused to allow them to intimidate her.
Stomping her feet into her boots, she pivoted and marched toward the door. Prepared to bang it down, she reached for the knob. With a vicious twist, she pulled. The door flew open. Cate lost her grip on the handle. Thrown off balance, she stumbled back into the room and, arms flailing, landed butt-first on the floor.
The thump echoed.
Pain shot up her spine.
“Shit,” she said as the door crashed into the wall.
“What the fuck?” a deep voice, full of surprise, growled.
Her attention cut back to the now-open door.
Frozen in the middle of the corridor, Dillinger stared at her. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Losing my frigging mind, apparently.”
“Weren’t you nuts to begin with?”
“Probably.”
A look of consternation crossed his face.
Cate laughed. She couldn’t help it. Despite his unpleasant personality, she found him funny. The startled look in his eyes when the door flew open made her night.
“You gonna get up?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
Green eyes shimmering, Dillinger scowled at her. “Totally nuts.”
“Nah,” she said, rolling her feet. “Just in need of a distraction. I can’t stay in here. I’ll lose my mind.”
“So don’t,” he said, dark brows low. “As long as you stay inside the house, you’re golden.”
“I know. I just…”
“What?”
“Need something to do.”
“Go to the kitchen. Bake something.”
Disgust made its way onto her face.
“What about the library?”
She wrinkled her nose.
“The game room?” he asked in a hopeful tone.
Cate pursed her lips.
His eyes narrowed on her. One second ticked into more. Silence stretched, invading her space, filling his. His expression became thoughtful as he contemplated her. He tilted his head, then motioned her out of the room. “Follow me.”
She hesitated.
“Not gonna eat you.” Glancing over his shoulder at her, he raised a brow. “You want something to keep you busy until your mate returns, move your ass, woman.”
Annoyed by his attitude, Cate strode out of the room. “Don’t call me woman—”
“Aren’t you one?”
“—in that tone of voice,” she said, ignoring his interruption. “It’s patronizing.”
She felt him roll his eyes. Seriously. She felt it like an invading army crossing hostile borders.