The outer door scraped against the stone floor again. I thought of hiding, but where would I go?
I went back through the tunnel to the antechamber, faced the door, and waited. I still had the lantern in hand. Maybe I could use it as a weapon.
The werewolf and were-lion entered; I smelled them before I saw them. The door scraped again, shutting this time. Probably not locked. If I could overpower them both, I might have a way out. What were the odds? I set down the lantern.
They emerged from the tunnel into the chamber. We stared at each other. It was like none of us knew what to say.
“I don’t suppose if I asked nicely you would let me go,” I said finally. My voice scratched, my throat aching from all the shouting and dehydration. So much for sounding tough. At least with my clothes on I had an easier time standing tall and showing my dominance. Perceived dominance.
“It’s daylight,” the werewolf said, gesturing backward to some theoretical exit. “Kumarbis is asleep.”
I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. Did that mean I could go? Would they really let me go? “Kumarbis—the vampire?” I asked.
The woman, the were-lion, nodded. “This is our chance to explain this to you—”
“About time,” I muttered.
They moved forward, reaching to me—and I took a step back. They looked like attackers, coming to finish me off at last.
“Please, don’t be frightened,” the were-lion said. Her voice was light, beautiful. If we were having coffee in a hip bistro I could have listened to her all day long. But we weren’t. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said. I itched, I had to move, so I started pacing back and forth along the back wall of the chamber, my bare feet scraping on cool stone. Rapid steps, my hands opening and closing into fists.
The two of them moved closer together, flinching back from me. I must have looked pretty crazy. But I had to let Wolf bleed out a little, or I’d scream. So I paced.
“I’m sorry about this. We’re both sorry,” the man said. He had a crisp accent that I couldn’t place. “Does that help?”
“Only if you let me go now.”
“We can’t do that.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“If you’ll stop, sit and be calm, I’ll explain,” he said. He sounded oh so rational. I didn’t trust him, how could I? March six steps, turn, march six steps, glaring at them the whole time.
“Please,” she said in that melodic voice.
Their body language shifted; they turned away from me, lowered their gazes—not showing submission, but not offering a challenge. Giving me room.
I slowed. We have to run …
Not yet, not when they were between us and the door. Finally, I stopped. “How the hell do you deal with all the silver?”
It had started to feel like bugs crawling on my skin. I kept looking over my shoulder and checking myself for open wounds. I couldn’t tell what was paranoia and what I ought to be truly worried about.
The man said, “Most of the silver here isn’t pure. It’s ore, at a low purity, or it would have been taken out decades ago. The rock here won’t hurt you, unless you eat it or rub it into an open wound.”
Somehow, this was less comforting than it should have been. “I can still feel it.”
“You just have to ignore it,” he said.
So not helpful. “But why? Why put yourselves through this?” Why put me through this …
“Protection,” he said. “It’s a magical defense.”
Against what? Was that supposed to make me feel better? My questions were starting to turn circular. “Okay. Fine. But what about … what did you do to Tom?” Their confused expressions made my stomach drop. “The other werewolf who was with me. My packmate, Tom.”
The woman got it first and nodded. “We left him behind. We didn’t hurt him, he’s fine.”