Page 120 of The Breeding Cave
CHAPTER
SIXTY-NINE
YEOSIN
I stood in front of Gideon, who had put out the fire on his fingers so we were in total darkness against the wall. My heart pounded heavily inside my chest, and my throat tightened as the voices became louder and louder.
Who is this? Did someone follow us down?
The musty air seemed to get even thicker, the longer we waited in tense silence. When the footsteps sounded like they were close enough for whoever owned them to see us, I pressed up against Gideon, my back against his front.
A moment later, the men stepped into the hallway with us, their torch lit very dimly, but enough to see in front of them. I craned my head up to look at them, their stature at least seven feet tall and several feet wide.
Guards.
I hadn’t seen them before while I was here; however, they didn’t look human or beast or dragon even. They were an entire other breed of animal, and I wasn’t that in tune with the mystical world yet to know what they were.
Gideon pressed his fingers into my upper arms and kept me close to him. I held my breath, hoping that they wouldn’t pick up on the fact that there were two other people in the room with them.
If they found us, then it was over. If they found us, then all the phoenixes would be locked up. Maybe Luciano was right. Maybe he should’ve come down here with us. He would have been able to take on at least one of these guys.
Gideon couldn’t even compete with Luciano, muscle on muscle, strength on strength.
The sound of their heavy boots echoed through the room as they walked to the door we had both just been standing by. When they passed us and their backs were turned, Gideon strummed his fingers against my left arm.
I glanced back at him, seeing him nod at their waist. A key shimmered in the dim light.
One guard grabbed it from the chain and stuck it in the keyhole. When the door opened, my heart leaped out of my chest. I could see hundreds, if not thousands, of phoenixes inside the prison.
“Stay here,” Gideon whispered into my ear.
My eyes widened as he gently set me to the side and followed behind the two men.
Where the hell is he going?! And without me?!
I couldn’t be left down here alone. I came here to free the phoenixes.
“Gideon!” I screamed inside my head.
To my surprise, Gideon looked back, as if he had heard it.
“I will be right back,” he said back.
Then he slipped into the room behind the guard, the door slamming shut behind him. I stared at it for a few moments, wondering why I hadn’t gone inside with him. It just … it didn’t seem like a good idea for both of us to go.
If we were both trapped inside there with the door completely locked and two large animals with us, then every single one of the phoenixes alive would be imprisoned. Then nobody would be there to save us. Then Luciano would die.
Tears burned my eyes. Luciano dead? My baby growing up in a prison?
I would rather actually die than have either of those things happen.
Suddenly, yelling ensued from inside the prison. I hurried to the door, pressing my ear against it to see if I could hear anything.
Was Gideon able to set them free that quickly? Was that happening on the inside? Were we?—
“Little Mouse …” someone murmured inside my ear. “Gideon told me you’d be here.”
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