Hidden Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon Book 7) by Genevieve Jack (best ereader for manga txt) 📗

vampires would be helpless against her and the guardsmen until nightfall.

The sound of an explosion came from the front gate. Tobias checked the scope. “She’s not through yet, but that’s not going to hold.”

Tobias gripped the neck of Ruthgard’s shirt and shook. The vampire’s lashes fluttered. “Is there any other way out of here other than the front gate?”

His brows arched sleepily. “Worm tunnels.” He yawned.

“Where?” Sylas demanded.

“Behind the arena.” They released the vampire, and he curled onto his side. “Avoid the hornworms.”

Sylas met his brother’s eyes. “Fuck,” they said in unison. Nothing else was spoken. They ran for the room and their mates.

“What’s going on?” Dianthe asked as soon as they opened the door. She was dressed and packed. Sabrina was too, although the vampire appeared to be sleeping in one of the chairs.

Sylas threw his pack onto his back. “We’ve got to go. Now. The Guard is here. They’re raiding Nochtbend.”

“What?” Dianthe gasped in disbelief, but there was no time to waste. He took her hand and led her toward the arena, Tobias following with Sabrina in his arms. They passed behind the stadium and under the seats. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found a crude tunnel carved into the mud off the west end of the palace.

“What is that smell?” Dianthe raised her hand to her nose and mouth.

“Worm shit,” Sylas said.

She gaped at him in unmasked disgust.

“Believe me, it’s worse from the inside.” He tried to flash her a slanted grin to lighten the mood, but she wasn’t having it.

“Are you saying we need to go through the worm’s lair to get out of here?”

“This is the only way,” he said, “other than the main gates, and those are teeming with guards. Oh, and my mother… who came herself.”

“Eleanor is here?” Now Dianthe’s expression filled with fear. “Aborella must have tipped her off!”

“It’s the only explanation. This is tantamount to declaring war. She wouldn’t risk it if she didn’t think we were here.”

Dianthe’s face twisted, but she moved forward, her boots making a suction sound with every step. “Brave face and onward. I’d rather face the worm than your mother.”

Sylas smiled. The fairy expression “brave face and onward” was something teachers in Everfield usually said to fairy children who didn’t want to practice their numbers. He found his wife’s use of it incredibly endearing.

“If we weren’t knee-deep in shit, I’d take you in my arms right now,” Sylas said.

She passed him a pitying glance. “If we weren’t knee-deep in shit, that would be romantic.”

Tobias groaned. “Wonderful to hear that you two have made amends, but we have a decision to make.” He paused at a branch in the tunnel. “Right or left?”

But Sylas never got to answer because at that moment, Dianthe toppled.

Dianthe welcomed the vision like an old friend. She hadn’t realized until then how much her soured relationship with Sylas had been affecting her sight. The energy flowed into her unfettered. It flooded her with awareness until her skin prickled with energy. She knew how far they were under the earth. She knew exactly where the hornworms were. She could feel the Obsidian Guard like a dozen pinpricks of light, populating the woods above their heads.

Sylas caught her before she hit the floor of the tube. Thank the goddess. The last thing she wanted was to fall face-first into festering worm shit. The vision was so strong all her muscles had seized, even her lungs.

When she came out of it, she gasped, pulling the foul air deep into her. “I know the way.”

Sylas positioned her back on her feet. “You had a vision?”

“A strong one, Sylas. My sight is back, stronger than ever. I can lead us out of here.”

He kissed her thoroughly until Tobias cleared his throat. “Again, congratulations on your reconciliation, but a little help here.”

“Left,” Dianthe said.

After they’d walked for some time, Tobias broke the silence. “I thought you couldn’t have visions about yourself. How is it you had this one?”

She could hear the worms moving past them in alternate tunnels above and beside theirs. It gave her the creeps, but she kept going, navigating the way she’d seen in her vision. “It’s not that I can’t see a future with myself in it, it’s that the closer something is to me personally, the harder it is to see. I don’t have an emotional connection to these tunnels, so it really isn’t that surprising I can see the way through them, but it would be rare for any seer to see herself fall in love, have an accident, or even die. Which means even though I can see which way to go, it’s very possible I wouldn’t see myself being eaten by the worm. Visions of a personal nature are extremely rare.”

“Hmm.” Tobias adjusted Sabrina in his arms. “That’s inconvenient.”

“Agreed.”

The entire tunnel rumbled, and a piece of mud fell from the ceiling between them—a worm passing over them. Dianthe shivered. Screams followed the rumbling sounds.

“I think the worms have developed a taste for dragon,” Sylas said, looking up toward the surface. “I hope the poor thing doesn’t get a black-and-red uniform caught in its teeth.”

Dianthe grunted. “Am I imagining it, or can you hear the crunch of bones?”

“You’re not imagining it. I fear those men didn’t think to shift as I did. How much longer?”

“This way.” Dianthe hung a sharp right and climbed a ramp of rising earth into a dense clump of trees. She looked both ways. “We’re alone. I don’t see any guards.”

Sylas took her hand. “You did it,” he whispered, then planted a kiss on her cheek.

There it was. The way he used to look at her was back, but she didn’t think it was because of the worm tunnels. The way he looked at her, it was like somehow, last night, they’d healed each other. The doubt was gone, but then it hadn’t actually been doubt at all. It was fear. And last night they’d made a pact to protect each other.