Page 20 of Charming the Dragon
However, before she could ask for more information, something on the fireplace mantle caught her eye. A design was carved into the stone, but there was a dark ring around a circular portion, almost like a border. She walked up and stared at it. “Did some of this get replaced?”
“No. It’s all original, as far as I know.”
She pointed. “Then why is this part different?”
Nathan moved closer and peered at the piece. He pushed it with his forefinger, and everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The fireplace twirled quickly before clicking into place, leaving them in complete darkness. The air was also musty. “What the…?”
Nathan touched her shoulder. “Stay here.”
“Wait, don’t leave me alone!”
“It’ll be for just a minute. I see a candle and matches on the far side of the room. That way you can see too.”
She nearly reached out to take his hand, but resisted. She didn’t like small, dark spaces, but she wasn’t a child. Besides, she had to work with the dragonman. She didn’t want to give him, or Bram, any reason to send her home so soon after arriving.
And even though she heard Nathan’s footsteps, her heart raced and her palms began to sweat. She’d been in a much smaller place as a child. And…
No.She couldn’t go there. She just couldn’t. Besides, they should be able to get out the same way they came in. She just had to hold it together for a few more minutes.
Nathan’s footsteps finally stopped. It felt like an hour had passed, but it could only have been a few seconds before a match flared to life and Nathan lit a candelabra of candles.
Haley blinked against the sudden light and noticed the space was much bigger than she’d thought. Unlike the original room they’d been inside, this one was about four times as big, with doors going somewhere on two of the walls. “Tell me you know where we are.”
“I wish I could.”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. “Well, maybe if we push the button on the mantle again, we’ll swing back. Let’s try it.”
She whirled around, quickly found the button, and pushed it. Despite the audible click, nothing happened.
So she pushed it again and again. But still nothing.
Nathan finally reached her side. “Let me try it with some extra help.”
He pushed the button and shoved against the mantle with his shoulder. After trying five more times, he cursed and walked a few feet away.
Hayley could only stare at the button, her mind trying to catch up to their situation. She finally found her voice and asked, “Are we really stuck in here?”
She placed a hand on her throat, swallowed, and looked around the room. Not a window in sight, and suddenly she yearned to see the overcast skies of the Lake District.
Rubbing her neck with her fingers, she tried to justify that the room wasn’t that small. Not compared to other places. It was definitely bigger than the trunk her cousin had shoved her into as a child.
Nathan’s voice, softer than normal, cut through her thoughts. “Hey, we’ll find a way out.”
“How are you so sure?”
“I don’t see any dead bodies. That’s a positive sign.”
She glared. “That isnothelping.”
“Isn’t it? I, for one, am grateful we don’t have to smell that.”
“Do you have a modicum of charm, maybe buried deep down? Because thanks to you, I’m going to keep thinking about being stuck in here, dying, and stinking up the place for the next poor soul who ends up triggering that button.”
Nathan scanned the room and gestured toward one of the doors. “Come on. You wanted an adventure, so it looks like you got one. Who knows, maybe there’s an exit somewhere.”
After taking a few deep breaths, Hayley focused on the doors. There was still a chance they wouldn’t end up being trapped until they died.
