Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

She’d just turned back around to try and see how Braeden would react to an explanation of the internet when the ground began to shake beneath her.

The rock released a deep, agonized groan. From above, dust and small stones began to fall.

Terrified, Autumn grabbed Ginny’s arm.

“What’s going on—” she began but was interrupted by Braeden.

“Hush,” he said, pressing a finger to his lips. He stood perfectly quiet, listening to something.

Her heart pounding, she stared at the fire dragon, who in turn stared at the walls of the cave with a frown.

For a moment, everything was silent. Then there was another distant rumble, and Braeden straightened, his face grim.

“They’ve found us,” he said simply.

Autumn turned to stare at the wall.

Nothing had changed. There was only blank rock where the door had been. There was no way the fire dragons could know where they were—unless...

“You’ve drawn them here,” she accused, turning back to glare at Braeden.

Impatiently, Braeden shook his head. “There’s not much time left. Quiet now. They're very close. I can feel them working.”

“But they have no power over the stone,” Autumn began.

“Fire can melt stone,” Braeden said quietly. “They’re not strong enough to melt these walls, I don’t think—but there are faults in every rock. Apply some heat, and even the strongest stone will crack. All they need to do is find the fault lines in this wall...”

As if in answer to his words, there was another low rumble.

“What do we do?” Autumn asked, turning to stare at Ginny in fear. “Is there anything we can do?”

This might be the safest place in the mountain—but she still hated the thought of being trapped.

Ginny shook her head. “We wait. Once Damon has dealt with the attack on the chimera, he’ll immediately return to you.”

“I hate this,” Autumn muttered, watching the rock where the door had been.

Were the fire dragons standing outside the wall even now? Or perhaps they were just attacking the mountain in random places, trying to find out where the prisoner was hidden...

It felt like the air was getting warmer inside their cave. Autumn suddenly realized that there were no windows in here—which meant that air had to come from somewhere. Maybe there was a ventilation shaft large enough for a mouse...

The ground beneath her began shaking again, hard enough that Autumn stumbled and had to grab hold of the bars to steady herself. Terrified, her hands clenched around the stone. Suddenly, there was a loud boom echoing through the rock all around her.

Even without being able to see what was going on, it felt like some sort of explosion had taken place.

Dust was raining from the stone above her. For a moment, she couldn’t make out the wall where the entrance had been, lost in a cloud of dust.

Coughing, she closed her eyes, clutching her fingers so tightly around the bars that it hurt. In her mind’s eye, she could still see the golden shimmer of the strange connection between Damon and her. With all her strength, she focused on it.

A trap! It’s a trap! They’ve come for us—help! she shouted silently through the mate bond, praying that somehow, the message would get through to him.

The golden chain of light seemed to gleam more intensely for a moment. She kept reaching along it, searching, hoping—

And then Ginny gasped softly, breaking her focus.

When Autumn opened her eyes again, the dust had settled down around them. The wall was still standing, although she thought that she was now able to make out the outline of the door once more, which had been hidden before.

But that wasn’t what had made Ginny gasp. Wide-eyed, the mouse shifter was staring at a point somewhere behind Autumn.