“Hanging isn’t enough!” Aahz taunted. “It takes more than a piece of rope to do me in.”
“Yeah. It takes a little girl with blue eyes and a spiked drink,” my bodyguard sneered back. “If you think I’m going to let you live that one down….”
I forced myself to ignore them. While it was tempting to rally to Luanna’s defense, there were other more pressing matters to attend to.
Moving as carefully as I could, I looped one end of the rope up and around Massha’s waist. It took a couple of tries and a lot more rope than I would have liked, but finally I managed to catch the dangling end and tie it off securely.
“What’s with the rope, Hot Stuff?” Massha said calmly, the only one of our group who had managed to keep her cool through the entire proceedings.
“Well, with any luck, in a little while we’re going to be heading down . . . with Aahz,” I explained. “Even though I know you’re strong, I don’t think your hands are strong enough to keep a grip on all three of us while we make the trip. This is to be sure we don’t lose anyone after we spring the cell.”
“Speaking of that,” Aahz called, “I’m still waiting to hear how you’re going to get me out of this thing. You might even say I’m dying to find out.”
He wasn’t the only one. The dragon’s head was watching my every movement through slitted eyes. I’m not sure how much pride it took in its job, but it was obvious the beast wasn’t getting ready to overwhelm us with its cooperation.
Everything was as ready as I could make it, so I decided it was time to play my trump card.