Chapter 20

When the dragon breathed its fire, I threw myself in front of Astrid. I spread my arms wide and flung out my shadows, bracing myself for the pain of flesh melting from my bones. Heat stormed toward me and curled against my face, but then the cool touch of my shadows shoved it away.

My shoulder hit the coins hard. The clatter of my teeth rang through my skull, nearly drowning out Astrid's cry of alarm. My stomach dropped. The distinct lack of furious pain told me I'd survived just fine. Which meant I'd failed. I hadn't been fast enough to stop the flames from claiming Astrid.

Gods, I have to get her out of here.

I rolled over and leapt to my feet, my heart thundering so hard I could barely breathe. Astrid stood just behind me with a shaking hand pressed to her mouth. Her face was stark white, but she was fine. But fear painted every feature.

Her knees buckled. I shot out an arm, catching her waist just before she fell.

"Whoa, there," I said, tucking my other arm beneath her legs and hauling her up against my chest. Her eyes had slid shut, but she was still breathing.

"I'm fine," she said in barely a whisper. "I just got light-headed is all."

Still, worry wormed its way through my gut, and all I could think of was a dumb joke. "Keep this up, and I'll lose count of how many times my handsome charm has made you faint."

She let out a breathy chuckle. "There's that ego. I was starting to miss it."

Something unsettling tightened in my stomach, and I had to admit that Astrid Balstad had well and truly gotten under my skin. I'd been desperate to kiss her earlier, landing us both in a heap of trouble.

I could not get involved with her more than I already had. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her, and I would. Nothing good could come from this. I had to stop seeing her.

But I would get her back home safely first.

I held her tighter against my chest. "You're all right? None of the fire got you?"

She cracked open her eyes. "She didn't actually breathe any on us."

I glanced over my shoulder. The dragon had returned to her perch, talons curled protectively around a trunk that held a dizzying amount of chocolate bars. "Right. Well, it looked like she was going to."

Astrid grinned up at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "You leapt in front of me, Tormund."

Clearing my throat, I shifted on my feet. "I fell."

"No, you jumped in front of me to take the brunt of the fire," she said insistently. "You tried to save my life."

"You make it sound far more noble than it was. Anyone else would have done the same thing."

"That is absolutely untrue. Most people would run screaming. But you didn't. You tried to save my life." A pause, then her voice went soft. "Thank you."

I couldn't help it. My chest puffed up a bit, and my arms instinctively tightened around her body, where I still held her against me. "All right, let's not make a fuss of it."

And then the most delightful sound in the world met my ears. Astrid giggled. It was a different sort of laughter than any I'd heard from her before. Those had always been chuckles or laughs, but this. There was something so light-hearted and free about it, as if the chains that burdened her had finally broken off. Warmth curled through me, and for a moment, it was hard to remember why I was so determined to keep my distance.

"You? Not making a fuss of yourself?" She giggled again. "Maybe I need to be the one holding you up because I think you're feeling quite funny in the head right now, Mr. Tormund Bakke, the big, bad shadow demon who is good at everything."

"Good at everything, eh?" I cocked a brow, grinning.

"Ah, there he is again." Beaming, she tapped my nose. "Can you put me down now? I think the dragon wants us to leave."

As loathe as I was to let go, I lowered Astrid onto the pile of gold coins. We turned toward the dragon in unison. She watched us through half-lidded eyes, her tail twitching against the coins.

"I think that is an annoyed twitch," I said.

"Very observant of you," Astrid quipped.

I sighed, relaxing. But deep down, I knew this bone-deep relief had nothing to do with the dragon's lack of fire and everything to do with Astrid's improved mood. My reaction to the kiss had hurt her, and I couldn't stand it.

"You don't think we should try talking to her? After all this effort, I hate to leave without the Everstone."

She cocked her head, considering the dragon. "Do you see anything that looks like the gem?"

"I was hoping you did," I said.

There were plenty of sunstones—enough to light every dwarven home for miles. Other gems littered the gold, but most were common ones, like rubies and onyx, none of which had magical properties. Pretty, yes, but sparkly things would do nothing but gain us some coin. And I wasn't about to try stealing from a dragon to line my own pockets. She hadn't doused us in fire, but I was fairly certain she would if we took anything.

"Maybe she's laying on top of it," Astrid tried.

"She's not in the same spot as she was in before. I would have noticed it."

"Bloomin' fates," Astrid muttered. "You think she hid it somewhere in all this gold? I don't suppose she'd let us start digging through it…right?"

"Unlikely. Besides, I doubt she'd bury the best prize." I looked at Astrid and smiled. "She'd want it where she could enjoy it anytime she liked."

She cut her eyes my way. "Is that another innuendo?"

Yes, but not in the way you think.

I'd been thinking about her laugh and her smile. Nothing about her glorious hips and the treasure that would lay between her thighs. But now I was thinking about both those things and more. And I could tell by the sudden spark in her eyes that her mind had gone in a very similar direction. I wondered what she thought of my horns and how I'd imagined—on more than one occasion—how it would feel to have her hold on to them while I trapped her against the wall and followed through on all my innuendos. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind she'd feel as good as she looked.

Instead of saying all that, I winked.

Her face flushed. "You're completely hopeless." A pause. "So what do we do now?"

What I wanted to do was, unfortunately, not in the current realm of possibility. We were inside a dragon lair, and I didn't want to suck Astrid into my doomed world. Both of those thoughts kept me focused on the task at hand rather than the way her tunic hugged her breasts in a way that outlined every curve.

I cleared my throat. "I think we leave the dragon alone for now. Are there any other tunnels we could search before returning to Steingard?"

She pursed her luscious lips, then nodded. "There are miles of tunnels. We could spend months searching them all."

"I'm willing to do that if you are," I said, then mentally kicked myself. Did I really want to suggest spending the next several months travelling through these mines, just the two of us? I'd likely manage to keep my hands to myself precisely one night.

"What, now?" She tugged on a strand of hair, and her bells jingled. "We'd need far more supplies. A real tent. Lots of food. Maybe some chocolate bars, if we could find some. For energy purposes, of course."

I quirked a smile. "Of course. We can return to Steingard first and spend a few days getting things together."

She cocked her head. "You're serious about this."

"Astrid Balstad, I travelled here all the way from Azraak just to find the Everstone. I'm not leaving until I find it. And if that means seeing every inch of these dwarven mines, then so be it."

And if it means spending all that time with you, even better.

"What about the Fittest Under the Mountain competition?" she asked. "We both entered it. Thor won't let us walk away."

"Luckily, I don't think Jostein will restart the trials until the Everstone is found."

Astrid shook her head and glanced at the dragon, who'd closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep. That or she was lying in wait to see if we'd attempt to steal anything from her. A look of disappointment crossed Astrid's face. She'd truly believed the dragon had stolen the treasure, and I'd hoped for the same. Deep down, I'd doubted it, though.

Nothing about this sat right with me. And I would not stop searching until I found the answers.

Eventually, Astrid nodded. "All right. Let's do this. You and me, travelling through the mines." Then she giggled. My gut twisted again. That beautiful, musical sound. "Hopefully, we don't end up driving each other mad."

And hopefully, I wouldn't fall in love with her by the end of it.