Page 2 of Regal Rising

“Suppressors bad?”

“No. I don’t need any. Not this time.” Reggie winced.

Rex muttered, “That wasn’t your voice.”

“No, it wasn’t. Tawney has been popping in and out a lot more this week.” Reggie rubbed her forehead again.

“Four hours left. Are you sure they won’t see us?”

“I am sure. She’s got this covered. She’s going to give me enough power to keep us alive. Our survival is very important to her.”

Rex nodded. “If you say so.”

“Are you good to drive if I nap?”

“Absolutely. This is going to be rough for you. If you had tried this on your own, I would have been panicked.”

Reggie pulled her jacket up over her and smiled. “I would not have done this without you, Rex.”

She settled in and slept.

Four hours later, they had followed the GPS coordinates and parked under a granite overhang. Reggie looked at her sister and the crack in the stone. It was just large enough for them to pass through.

Rex whispered, “You are sure you want to do this?”

“I don’t have a choice. Stay close. I may need an assist.”

“If you think I am leaving you, you are deluded.”

“There may be a time inside where I need to be alone with him. You might not want that memory.”

“Fine. Just warn me.”

“Oh, you will know.” She drank some water, passed the bottle to her sister, and walked toward the crack in the wall.

The scent was all she had to go by, but she could follow it no matter how far. She heard a click behind her and felt a tug at her waistband. Rex didn’t want to get lost, and they weren’t talking while they were there. Reggie was the only one who knew where they were going.

They passed a dead Elite and kept going. Slow steps up and cracks in the wall that had to be felt, but they weren’t going far. Her husband was in the lower levels.

She felt his proximity, and her hands slipped with sweat. Rex caught her with a hand to her ass and kept her against the wall.

They continued climbing until another jagged hole in the wall let them ease through and into a wide chamber.

Reggie’s sweaty hands were suddenly clammy as she saw the huge gates ahead of them. Her eyes could see in the dimness, and Rex was at her side. They walked to the gates, and when they reached out for the doors, two drakes rushed them from inside the prison.

Tawney’s memory provided the names. “Ignis, Kael, I need to speak with my husband. It is past time.”

The heads that looked down from a fifteen-foot vantage point blinked slowly. They shook slowly, left to right.

Rex looked at them, swallowed, and said, “I don’t know who or what you are, but my sister wants to talk with her husband, and she’s probably in heat, so you should probably get the fuck out of the way. Or get out of the way of a fuck. Literally.”

Reggie muttered, “You know that?”

Rex muttered in return, “I saw the ovulation test. There is only one reason for that, considering your dating history.”

The drakes blinked and sat back like large dogs. One reached out and pushed the gate open with the flick of a claw.

Rex whispered, “Go. I will stay back here and keep them from looking.”

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