The question hung in the air like smoke from a dying fire.
Naga's coils tightened further, scales catching the afternoon light in uneasy ripples of emerald and gold. "You think the shadow will just let us walk in and take the stones? Do you think it'll be that easy? "
Lucas met the serpent lord's emerald gaze without flinching. "No. I think it will try to stop us. But it let Alex leave once. It wants something from him—something it believes it can get if he's isolated. That gives us a window."
"A window to walk into a trap," Leo said from his perch, wings half-spread in agitation. His tail lashed once. "I've fought beasts that lurk in the darkness before in the high passes. And something that twist light and sound. This sounds worse. Much worse."
