Part 20 (2/2)
Ignoring his ridiculous words, she grabbed Levet's shoulder and gave him a small shake. The gargoyle groaned softly, but his eyes remained shut.
”He was trying to reach my mother when he collapsed,” she muttered.
”Reach your mother?” Torque demanded. ”How?”
”Levet claims to be a telepath.”
Torque snorted. ”He claims to be a lot of things.”
She turned her head to study him in confusion. ”I thought he was your friend?”
”Friend?” Torque shuddered. ”He is a barnacle that is impossible to sc.r.a.pe off.”
”Hey,” Levet protested, his eyes fluttering open. ”I am no banjo.”
”See?” Torque growled, straightening as Levet pushed himself to his feet. ”Aggravating pest.”
Rya concentrated on the tiny gargoyle, still worried that he'd hurt himself. ”Are you okay?”
”Non.” He absently rubbed one of his stunted horns. ”My head is throbbing.”
Rya grimaced. ”I'm sorry, Levet. I should never have asked you to use your gifts in this place.”
”It is not your fault, ma belle,” the gargoyle a.s.sured her. ”Your mother is very...formidable.”
Rya pressed a hand to her chest as her heart missed a painful beat. ”You spoke to her?”
Levet's wings gave a violent flutter. ”Actually, she spoke to me.”
Rya blinked back sudden tears of relief. Until that precise moment she didn't realize just how worried she'd been. ”She's alive.”
”Very much so,” Levet muttered.
Rya reached out to grab his arm. ”Could you tell if she was nearby?”
”Non, I am sorry. I sensed that she's trapped in the same icy prison as we are, but it is impossible to know her precise location.”
Rya slowly rose to her feet, vaguely aware of the heat that scalded down the length of her back as Torque moved to stand directly behind her. Her attention never wavered from the tiny gargoyle. ”Did she speak to you?”
”Oui.” Levet s.h.i.+vered at the memory. ”She was frighteningly insistent.”
Rya smiled with wry amus.e.m.e.nt, growingly confident that he had indeed contacted her mother.
She was a female who let people know exactly what was on her mind. In very vigorous fas.h.i.+on.
”What did she say?”
Levet grimaced. ”She told me that we're all in danger.”
Torque's arm abruptly wrapped around her waist as Rya gave a small gasp, tugging her protectively against the hard strength of his chest.
”We already knew that,” he growled.
She glanced over her shoulder to send Torque a reprimanding frown before returning her attention to Levet.
”Anything else?”
Levet nodded. ”She insisted that we must wake the dragon.”
”What dragon?” Torque demanded.
Levet glanced toward him with an overly innocent smile. ”I a.s.sume that she meant your female.”
Torque swore beneath his breath. ”For the last time, she isn't mine,” he ground out.
Levet shrugged. ”So you say.”
Feeling Torque stiffen, Rya rolled her eyes.
Men...
Did they all feel the need to bicker and fuss like rabid orcs?
”Is that all she said?” she asked, trying to diffuse the sizzling tension in the air.
”Oui.” Levet nodded. ”Just that we are in danger and that someone must wake the dragon.”
Slowly turning in Torque's arms, she met his narrowed gaze.
”Rya-”
She overrode his protest. ”We have to find the dragon. And we have to do it now.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
Finn turned away from the closed fissure to study the strange mound that consumed the majority of the cavern floor.
Unlike the ice that made up the labyrinth, it was denser. And far too cloudy to determine what was beneath it.
Not that Finn intended to find out.
His magic easily determined that it wasn't just one big chunk of frozen liquid. Instead, there were thousands of thin layers that covered a hidden object.
Clearly someone had gone to a lot of trouble to keep the thing buried. He had no intention of disturbing it.
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