She hadn't explored this direction before. Now she realized why: the tunnel led downward.
The wrong direction.
But right now, Alyx didn't care. Anything was better than going back to being the dragons' prisoner.
Her heartbeat was as loud as thunder in her ears when she raced through the new tunnel. And for once, luck was on her side.
There were several tunnels opening up before her, and none of them large enough for a shifted dragon.
Without wasting time to think, she threw herself into the tunnel to her right, running as fast as she could in the hope that the dragons wouldn't be able to figure out which tunnel she'd taken.
There were still shouts and the sound of boots hastening across stone, echoing weirdly in the narrow tunnel—but no hand had reached out to grab her.
Yet.
There was another tunnel opening up, and then another.
Every time, Alyx threw herself into the narrow side tunnels, hoping to confuse the men who followed her. She had no idea where she was, or how she'd get out of this maze—but right now, she was still free. It was all that mattered.
Until the ground beneath her suddenly gave way, and she found herself sliding down a steep incline.
Her heart pounding in terror, even now she didn't allow herself to make a sound.
The stone beneath her was smooth, and she went faster and faster. In her mind, she already saw herself falling down an endless hole that led right to the center of the earth, where she'd burn to death in a giant cave filled with magma...
And then she slowed.
The incline was no longer quite as steep. A moment later, she came to a stop.
With trembling hands, she felt around. The ground beneath her was smooth—and even.
She hadn't fallen into a vat of magma. That was good.
But she also had no idea where she was. Worse, it was completely dark. There were no torches or lamps of dragon fire that lit the area.
I'm going to die down here, she thought, her chest so tight that for a moment, she couldn't breathe.
Then she swallowed down the rising panic.
She forced herself up, her entire body aching from her flight. She stretched out her hands, trying to feel for the wall of the tunnel—but there was nothing in front of her.
A moment later, the cave she'd ended up in was lit almost unbearably bright—and the terrible light revealed the figure of a man in front of her.
It was one of the three guards who'd hunted her. He had the dark hair and eyes of the fire dragons who'd imprisoned her, and the broad shoulders and athletic build of a fighter.
In his eyes, Alyx could see red flames dancing, and a sudden, terrified heat filled her body.
The man in front of her looked like he'd sprung right from the cover of her lifestyle magazine. In fact, Alyx knew that Jen from the fitness section would have killed for a photo spread of this guy.
His hair was a little shorter than the old-fashioned looks of the dragons down here—and his eyes seemed to hypnotize her, the fire in his gaze kindling something inside her.
And he was her enemy.
She couldn't forget that, not ever. To him, she was just a human. Expendable. Useless.
He reached out to grab her hand with a strange expression on his face—and at his touch, a wave of heat rolled through Alyx.
She gritted her teeth. She'd had enough of fire dragon games and poisons.