The Christmas Dragon's Heart (Christmas Valley Shifters Book 2) Read online

  She’d finally made Raul chuckle with that. It chased the worry from his eyes, and the look he gave her in answer was one of admiration that filled her heart with heat.

  “I wouldn’t know,” he said dryly. “Never had one. And I’m coming to the conclusion they might be more trouble than they’re worth.”

  “Don’t insult it while we’re in its power,” she said and laughed.

  “Oh, it’s a very powerful lair. Very big and uh... powerful,” he said, searching for words as his eyes shone with amusement. “Too powerful for me. Which is why I’m definitely going to leave as soon as it shows me where the girl is hiding.”

  She entwined her fingers with his as they carefully made their way forward into the hall-like opening that spread in front of them.

  It really felt like entering a cathedral.

  Their steps echoed eerily. It was completely silent, except for the faint sound of the girl.

  Slowly, they moved forward, then stopped simultaneously to stare at the different corridors opening before them.

  “Any idea?” Claire found herself whispering for some reason—perhaps it was just that the answering echo was so unsettling. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something powerful was watching her.

  Raul looked at the openings, then shook his head. “She could be in any of them,” he said in frustration.

  “Let’s just start with the one on the left, and then keep going left.” Claire had read that once in a novel. It meant that they’d be able to retrace their steps by always turning right, as soon as they hit a dead end.

  At least she thought it worked that way. Confused, she tried to mentally draw up a plan of a maze—but Raul had already gripped her hand tightly in determination, heading towards the leftmost entrance.

  Suddenly, from out of nowhere, she felt a strange burst of heat.

  It came from—it came from somewhere near her throat?

  As soon as Claire had reached out for it, the heat vanished as abruptly as it had come. In her confusion, she’d released Raul’s hand. Instead, her hand was now clutched around the necklace of gold he’d given her.

  The only thing he still owns out of his family’s lost hoard...

  Had the necklace suddenly heated up?

  But now, it was painfully cold against her fingers—and when she released it, she gasped with shock when it settled back against her skin. The gold was freezing cold, when before, she’d hardly felt it at all.

  She looked around. They were almost in front of the leftmost entrance into the labyrinth of ice. Beyond, she could see the narrow path leading off into the distance before it turned around a corner.

  She looked back the way they’d come. Maybe it hadn’t been the necklace. Maybe she’d stepped into a sudden ray of sunlight, and the weirdness of this place had made her overreact—

  This time, she cried out when the gold on her skin glowed with heat.

  In shock, she turned towards Raul who was staring at her with helpless fear—and just as suddenly, the necklace returned to coldness once more.

  “Wait a minute...” she said out loud, her voice still trembling.

  Experimentally, she turned around again, her eyes skimming past all the other openings leading down different paths into the labyrinth.

  As soon as her eyes came to rest on the second entrance from the left, the necklace heated again, thrumming with an almost pleased satisfaction.

  That’s stupid. Gold can’t be satisfied, she thought, still shaken.

  Out loud, she said, “You could have warned me that your necklace is a weird sort of compass. For some reason, it wants us to go down that path instead.”

  “It—what?” Raul looked just as shocked as she felt. “That’s never happened before. It shouldn’t—I never formed that sort of bond with my hoard. And it definitely shouldn’t happen in here, because this is where a different dragon’s hoard is hidden.”

  Claire shrugged. “I don’t claim to understand dragon magic,” she said, “but that’s where it wants us to go. It’s quite adamant about that.”

  After a moment of hesitation, Raul nodded. “I have no idea what’s going on anymore,” he admitted, “but I suppose this place knows better than we do where that kid got lost.”

  Holding hands once more, they stepped forward. Claire took a deep breath, bracing herself for another magical snowstorm—and then they went through.

  Nothing happened. Ice walls still spread all around them, with only one path going forward. And to her relief, when she turned around, the doorway leading back into the large hall of ice was still there.

  “Phew,” she said, and then smiled up at Raul with relief. “Okay, it seems your necklace picked well.”

  “On we go,” he replied, returning her smile even though his eyes were alert, his shoulders tense.

  It was a relief to have him by her side.

  “There really isn’t anyone else I’d rather explore a magic dragon maze with,” Claire said, and that at last made him laugh out loud.

  Some of the tension left him, although he still didn’t take his eyes of the path—which was probably for the best.

  After all, he’s the dragon shifter. I’m just the manager.

  The thought made her want to giggle, and she bit it back just in time.

  I wonder if I can add that to my CV. “Experience in managing magical ice dragon lairs and retrieving children attracted by a dragon’s hoard.” Maybe that’s what it takes to get that glitzy job in Dubai.

  Not that she really wanted to move to Dubai for a year. Not with Raul in her life now.

  They walked for what felt like several minutes. Every now and then, the path turned a corner, but so far, no other openings in the ice wall had appeared. Several times, they heard the faint sound of the girl shouting—they tried to call out that they were on their way to help her, but she didn’t seem to hear them.

  Claire gave the towering walls a frustrated look. Who knew how sound carried here...

  Of course, it was entirely likely that they were going into the wrong direction. She couldn’t even keep track of how many times the path had twisted and turned.

  But the necklace had led them here. Whatever dragon power guarded this place, it was helping them. She couldn’t give in to her frustration when a child needed their help.

  “There,” Raul said. “Do you see that? It feels like we’re getting closer to—”

  “Closer to the end of this ice cave,” Claire said, her heart sinking.

  Before them, the path lead onward. But if she raised her eyes a little, she saw that the gleaming roof of ice came down here. With the way it reflected the light, it was difficult to make out what exactly lay ahead—but for some reason, she didn’t think they’d find what they’d been looking for.

  “It’s not the heart of this particular maze,” Raul said in encouragement, “but remember, the child is as lost as we are. If this turns out to be a dead end, maybe she just gave up when she reached the end, and decided to wait for help.”

  “You always know how to cheer me up.” Claire nudged his shoulder a little. It really felt good to have him by her side. “Have you ever thought about a career as a motivational speaker? I hear life coaches are all the rage now.”

  Raul laughed softly as they moved closer towards the gleaming light. “I think I’m barred from imparting dragon wisdom to any human but my mate.”

  “That wisdom wouldn’t happen to include next week’s lottery numbers, would it?”

  Raul chuckled. “If that were the case, I wouldn’t have to actually work with investments.”

  “Touché,” Claire murmured, narrowing her eyes as she tried to make out what was ahead.

  They had to be close now to where the cave ended—but with the sun reflecting so brightly off the ice, all she could see was the white glare ahead.

  “Hey, are you still out there?” she called out, just in case. “Don’t be afraid! We’ve come to help you!”

  Only silence answered them.<
br />
  They gave each other a worried look. Neither of them seemed eager to admit out loud that it was entirely possible that the strange way sound echoed here had led them down the wrong corridor.

  All around them, the light of the sun grew even brighter, reflecting off the massive walls of ice around them until Claire had to shield her eyes with her hand.

  And then, from one moment to the next, the glaring light was gone, as suddenly as if they’d stepped inside a cave.

  Raul cursed. When Claire at last dared to look at her surroundings, she saw why. They’d indeed at last reached the end of the giant cave of ice that housed the dragon’s maze.

  Before them, the passage they’d explored ended. Instead, the walls of the cave curved upwards here. There was still light falling in from somewhere high above—but now, it felt like sunlight again, even though they couldn’t see the sun. The blinding, brilliant gleam was gone without a trace of what had caused it.

  “A protective system,” Raul muttered to himself as he looked around. “Interesting—and very clever. Of course, ice isn’t just about the cold and snow storms...”

  He sounded admiring, and a little nostalgic. She still didn’t understand much about dragon hierarchy—but she could see that this place reminded him of all the things he couldn’t have.

  She straightened. She might not be a dragon, and she didn’t have any treasure—but she knew his worth. And she wouldn’t let him keep tormenting himself, especially when there were a lot of things he could give her that weren’t made from gold.

  Like babies, the dry voice of her dad whispered in her mind.

  It was true, her dad would love to be a grandpa...

  And Raul would be fantastic with kids. She’d seen the way he’d quickly won Dylan’s respect, after all—and if a man could deal with a sullen teenager, he could deal with pretty much everything else parenthood would throw at him.

  Which reminded her...

  “Do you think we went into the wrong direction after all?” With a frown, she touched the necklace again. “But we were meant to go in here, and I didn’t see any other paths opening up.”

  “That’s right,” Raul said after a moment, as if he’d just realized that fact himself. “I wonder if there’s dragon magic in the light—maybe it’s meant to draw an unwanted guest into this dead end. But if that’s true... where’s the girl?”

  Claire allowed her eyes to travel up the wall once more.

  No, it was impossible. No one could climb straight walls of ice. Unless the kid was some sort of winged shifter...

  “Oh my God,” she breathed when her eyes returned to the path.

  She hadn’t seen it at first, and it was still almost impossible to make out—but there, to her right, where the ice wall met the side of the cave, something small and dark rested on the ground.

  “Is that a shoe?”

  Raul didn’t lose any time and ran straight towards it, so that Claire could barely keep up. It took them only a few steps to reach the end of the path—but when they did, Claire gasped, instinctively reaching out for Raul’s arm.

  The path didn’t come to an end. Even though they hadn’t been able to see it, there was another opening in the wall here, disguised by the gentle light that pulsed through the ice.

  The tiny shoe had been dropped right where the passage opened. It was a pink snow boot with fluffy fur. Breathless, Claire picked it up. It meant that they were on the right path. The child could be right ahead of them.

  Giving each other relieved smiles, they followed the path down this new passage—only to find that after a moment, it twisted right back to the left. And in the span of a heartbeat, all relief was driven from her by a shock that hit her like a blow to the stomach.

  In front of them, there stood a man. It was Malcolm Ryder, the castle’s accountant.

  And yet, instead of his large camera, he was now holding a gun—a gun which was pointed straight at them.

  “Welcome, welcome,” he said jovially. “You took your time to join me. I’ve been waiting here for you for quite some time.”

  “What have you done to the child?” Raul asked, his voice dangerously soft.

  In answer, Malcolm laughed. “You really fell for the stupid trick, didn’t you? Just like I expected.”

  He raised his phone, to which he’d connected a small speaker.

  “Mommy,” the voice of a girl cried as if on command.

  “You dragons are much stupider than you look, aren’t you?” Malcolm sneered. “I recorded the sound clips off a movie, assholes.”

  “Wait—you know about the dragons?” Claire felt her heart pounding in her chest. Nothing made sense. There was no lost child—which was good. But instead, there was Malcolm, who was... What was he doing here?

  “You learned about dragons, and you thought you could steal the dragon’s hoard, while the dragon and his mate are off in Europe,” Raul said slowly. “You really didn’t think that through. Do you know what Henrik will do—”

  “Oh, fuck Henrik.” Malcolm gave them another of his manic grins—which all of a sudden seemed to make a lot more sense.

  That’s why he seemed so weirdly excited. And why he was so adamant about us joining the snowball battle. It was his chance to lure us into this trap...

  “It’s not Henrik’s hoard I want. I don’t want to spend my life running from a living dragon. No. I’m here for a dead dragon’s hoard. My former boss Alistair.”

  “Henrik’s uncle,” Raul said with a growl in his voice. “He died in shifter prison—he killed two guards when he was trying to escape, before they got him.”

  Malcolm nodded. “See, I never knew Alistair was a dragon, despite all those years I helped him with his offshore accounts. But he finally ‘fessed up from prison. Promised me half his hoard if I’d help him get his revenge on Henrik. He wanted to raze the Snow Castle to the ground, kill Henrik and his mate, claim all their treasure as his own. Sounds mad, but... all that gold was tempting.”

  Then Malcolm shrugged, his gun still pointed at them. “But now he’s dead, so we’re going with my safer, human plan. All I want is Alistair’s hoard. Henrik can keep his gold. He never even knew where his uncle hid his own treasure, so no one will miss it.”

  “That’s insane,” Claire said, her throat tight. She couldn’t look away from the gun. Dragon or no, this was a weapon Raul wouldn’t be able to save her from...

  “Insane?” Malcolm laughed. “I’ll tell you what’s insane. Dragons! Fortunately for me, this one here isn’t much of one. Which is why Raul’s perfect for my plan.”

  “What makes you think I’ll help you?” Raul asked.

  In answer, Malcolm tilted his head with a smirk, pointing the gun straight at Claire. “You don’t want anything to happen to her, do you?”

  Claire’s heart was racing, her pulse a roar in her ears as she stared at the gun.

  Raul had endangered his life before to help her—but this was different. Shifting again would kill him. And there was nothing a human could do against a bullet...

  “What do you want me to do?” Raul demanded. “I didn’t even know about the treasure. I’ve got no idea where Alistair hid it.”

  Malcolm scoffed. “You’re really a sorry excuse for a dragon. We’re right there. Turn around. All I want you to do is to go through that entrance over there. Alistair gave me a jewel from his hoard before he died, which got me into the dragon part of the maze. But only a dragon can go further now.”

  He nodded towards an opening behind him—an opening in the wall of the cave that surrounded the maze, Claire now realized. She hadn’t seen it earlier, because they’d run straight into Malcolm and his gun when they turned the corner.

  But there, behind him, the ice had lost its glow. It was a strange, dull gray—and the opening was like a black wound in the wall of ice. Like a door made of shadow, it swallowed all light. She couldn’t see what was inside.

  The sight was terrifying. Every human instinct inside her screamed with a p
rimal terror. This was dragon magic—dark dragon magic. Whatever Alistair had put into place to protect his treasure, it was certainly nothing a mere human could deal with.

  And then her necklace heated up again. She nearly cried out in shock at the sensation. She swallowed the sound just in time. Fortunately for her, Malcolm had turned his attention back to Raul.

  “My powers are no match for whatever protects Alistair’s hoard,” Raul pointed out.

  The beckoning, impenetrable darkness still terrified Claire—but the necklace was pulsing gently now, sending waves of warmth against her skin.

  It thinks that we should go in...

  But could she trust the necklace? After all, it had led them straight into Malcolm’s trap.

  Or did it lead us here because Malcolm’s the intruder, and it wants us to defeat this threat? You could have picked a better team than a human woman with skills in Excel table formatting, and a dragon shifter who can’t shift!

  The warmth of the necklace seemed to grow more insistent, as if it understood her protest.

  Claire swallowed, her gaze going from the terrifying darkness to Raul’s face.

  “Do it—do it, or he’ll kill you,” she said, allowing her terror to show in her voice.

  Raul hesitated. Through the fragile, half-formed connection between them, she could feel his own fear for her—and a slow, questioning confusion.

  Concentrating on the comforting heat of his gold against her skin, she tried to send back a wave of reassurance.

  I know what I’m doing, she thought at him—even though she didn’t know if the words would reach him. Even though she didn’t actually know if the necklace’s plan would work.

  But it was what his gold wanted—and with a gun pointing at them, she was willing to trust Raul’s gold over Malcolm’s threats.

  Raul took a deep breath. “If I go in, you promise you won’t harm her?”

  Malcolm scoffed. “As if I care about her—or you. All I care about is Alistair’s gold. Once I’ve got that, you two can run back to your precious castle, for all I care.”

  Claire could faintly feel herself trembling. But there was no time now to give in to panic. They had to act, and fast, if they wanted to make it out alive.