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The air grew hazy Stea seelanced back

"I’h the exit onto a pathway--

A pathway that was bordered by a sheer cliff dropping into a river of lava He was pinwheeling at the edge! She didn’t think; her hand shot out, grasping the back of his breeches to reel hiave her an irritated look over his shoulder "I can fly, you know" Lava erupted froeyser inches fro path, he positioned his wings over the back, she said, "If you’d fallen and tried to fly, that lava would have engulfed you"

He couldn’t deny it

"I think the words you’re searching for are ‘Thank you, oh great and wonderful sorceress’ "

He narrowed his eyes "You savednow If only you’d shown me the same consideration when I was a boy"

"If only you’d warnedover for tea and decapitation! What else have you got? I can do this all day!" She heard rock crunching behind the the hts blazed on the other side of the peak--frohts directed straight up into the sky, they cut through the steam and murk

"When they crest, we’ll have to hide," Thronos said "For now, get as far down the path as you can"

As she ran, she could see that the mountains on each side of the plateau beloere actually the beginnings of two jagged ranges More peaks lined the ongoing plateau and distant valleys--like teeth

Farther down, she came upon a wooden handrail She reached for it, nearly sturated into ash

"Careful, Melanthe!"

Like a do into ash, foot by foot for what looked like leagues "I’hts!"

As they raced forward, Thronos kept her between hiot on the path, the e

Molten silver ore spilled froht--distracting her

"Eyes forward, sorceress!"

When they had to vault over a burned-out section of the ledge and she nearly fell short, he snapped, "Come to me"

Without a word, she turned to hop into his ars around his waist, her arainst hi you"

He did a double take as he set off once er Ito run for our lives"

"Just watch our back" As he lunged across another gulley, he said, "I couldn’t have warned you about my father"

"What?"

"I had no idea of his plans until after he and his ot there, he’d already killed your parents"

The truth of that night "How’d he find out?"

"My tutor sawout and followed me" Thronos slowed to meet her eyes "I never betrayed you, Melanthe I’d been tempted to tell my parents about you--I knew the Hall would move soon--but I would’ve talked to you about it first"

To his clear surprise, she said, "I believe you" Then her gaze drifted past his would perfectly match this blackened rock face and the silver ore that drizzled fro you blend"

"I do not blend"

"Face it, demon, you blend like a native of hell Luckily for us, the fire-breathing dragon breeds don’t scent so well"

"Hoould you know?"

"I’ve hung out with a pack of them in Rothkalina My sister can talk to theet to know the trespassers and such" She trailed off when Thronos froze in place, craning his head up She followed his gaze

At least a dozen dragons swar

TWENTY

We are trespassers" Thronos crouched down, pressing her back against thethe

When Melanthe shook against him, he muttered, "They haven’t seen us We’re hidden here Just think of so moments, the sounds of their heartbeats were loud drus

"You used to enclose us like this ere young," she finally said in a low voice "I always felt I should whisper, as if ere under a sheet, staying up too late"

"We told each other secrets"

"So you do recall ourpleased by this

So do you think we’ll have to wait here?"

"We can stay for as long as we need to" He’d no sooner said the words than he sensed a section of path disintegrating to his left The dragons above roared in reaction Then another section to his right collapsed, leaving hihts" She bit her bottoht she would split it

He wanted to talk to her, distracting her mind from their situation What to say?

She took care of the proble back for the medallion"

"The hell you are" Besides, she wouldn’t find it if she returned

"That wasn’t regular gold It’s red silisk gold, also known as dragon’s gold, the rarest and most valuable in all the known real is poor I can’t believe you’re still thinking about it, considering our current circulihs spread around his waist, her skirt worked up perilously high--and his thoughts had booed back to the temple, to the treasures he’d almost seen Even in this situation, his shaft hardened for his mate