Page 89 of The Inheritance

The fur on Bear’s back rose. A terrifying growl rumbled in the shepherd’s throat. The dog snarled and erupted into barks, biting the air with huge fangs.

Leo took a step back.

“Back,” Adaline said.

The shepherd stopped barking and sat at her feet.

“Does she seem like your dog, Vice-Guildmaster?”

Leo opened his mouth. Elias shook his head.

Adaline turned back to him. “The dog is mine. It’s non-negotiable. I cleared the cave-in London caused. The adamantite is marked. The way to the anchor is open, and resistance should be minimal. Give me the dog, and you can be mining all that adamantite in half an hour while I sing your praises to the DDC. Or I will make sure you lose the gate and three days from now you will be testifying before a congressional committee. You might keep the guild, you might not. Your choice.”

Elias stared at her. “Are you threatening me?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“Hmm.”

He looked into her eyes and saw steel-hard resolve staring back. She wasn’t bluffing. He knew that if he tried to contain her, she and that so-called dog would explode with violence. A part of him wanted to do it just to see how strong she was.

He hadn’t felt so alive in years.

“But will Mellow be okay with it?” He couldn’t resist baiting her.

“What happens in my family is none of your business, Guildmaster. Do we have a deal?”

“We do,” he said. “The guild record will reflect that K9 47 died in the breach with her handler.”

Her posture eased slightly.

“We’re going to give you everything you want,” Elias said. “As a gesture of goodwill, would you tell us more about what we can expect from this breach?”

“Stay away from the flowers with mauve petals. The pollen goes airborne quickly and will kill you. Stay away from red coral growth. Their thorns secrete poison. It will kill you. Any water source larger than a small pond might have dragons in it. They wait under the surface, ambush you, and will kill you.”

What the hell happened to her in that breach?

“Malcolm marked his route in white. Stick to it, don’t deviate. You won’t encounter resistance.”

“Even at the anchor chamber?” he asked. Did you reach the anchor?

“Even at the anchor.” Yes I did. Don’t worry about it.

He almost asked her to go back in the breach with him.

“If you see the spider herders, you’re going the wrong way. Leave them alone and backtrack…”

What in the world was a spider herder? “Or they will kill us?”

“Not unless you piss them off. They keep to themselves, but I have seen their war spiders, and it will be a hard fight even for you.”

The doors of the library opened, and Tia and Noah ran inside.

Adaline spun off her chair, so fast, he barely registered the movement. The hard mask on her face broke. Her eyes shone, and she smiled a beautiful, glowing smile, as she threw her arms around her children.

Twelve hours later

Elias stood on a stone bridge. Below him the recovery crew bagged the last of the assault team’s bodies and loaded them onto a mining cart.