whispered across the back of my neck. His temper must have mellowed as he’d crossed the piazza.
I shivered. The man had a thing for necks. Maybe, not unlike a vampire, he knew my neck was my weak spot.
Spinning on my heel, I looked up at his grim, hard mouth and fiery eyes.
“I did my part,” I challenged. “I found them before they could set traps for you.”
“No, you’re not done,” he disagreed. “Follow me. We have only a few hours before sunset.”
Whirling on his heel without waiting for my reply, he strode away, confident that I’d just trail behind him like some kind of yappy poodle.
I almost didn’t. But now that I’d eaten well, curiosity won out.
A little peeved and picturing myself as a curly-haired puppy on a leash, I followed him through the crowded piazzas, over the bridges arching the canals, down a side street, back into the abandoned alleys, and into an old church graveyard. Under the canopy of ancient trees, we wove through the crumbling tombstones to pause in front of a long-forsaken crypt. Lucian brushed his hand over the unintelligible script carved deep into the crypt’s stone-facing.
The ground beneath me moved.
Startled, I took a step back as the stone-facing split, exposing a circular staircase going deep into the ground.
Lucian didn’t hesitate. As his dark head disappeared down into the yawning maw below, I galvanized myself into action and followed him.
There was a decided lack of spider webs. Not enough oxygen, perhaps. Wherever we were going, it was clearly a well-travelled passageway. Darkness fell the farther we descended, and as the last glimmer of light fled, my foot caught on a stone and I pitched forward.
In a flash, Lucian was there, catching me by the belt of my pants. For a moment, I held still against him. I could feel his solid muscles under me and the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Why was the man so distracting? Enthralling, even. His sheer physical presence held an intensity that I’d never encountered before. Was it some kind of magic, a spell?
As suspicion warred with attraction, I was the first one to move, stepping aside with the greatest of reluctance.
“A light,” he murmured softly.
A moment later, a candle sputtered into life in a sconce along the wall, and we silently continued our descent. After a few more loops, we arrived in a long room with a vaulted ceiling illuminated by candles. Hundreds of them. Pools of melted wax dripped down onto the flagstones. Arched entryways lined the walls, tons of them, reminding me of the Coliseum.
I smelled them coming then. Dozens of them. They arrived to hover in the archways, their tall forms shrouded by long, dark cloaks. I was relieved I’d eaten, or else the mana spilling from these beings would have driven me to the brink of madness. Already, from this distance, I could taste various exotic scents upon my lips.
Gripping Lucian’s arm, I asked, “What kind of creatures are they?” I had to know. I didn’t even care if I were revealing a level of ignorance better kept hidden.
“They are Night Terrors,” he responded without looking down at me.
Night Terrors. I recalled that he’d suspected me of being one. But I’d never heard of them before. Well, the beings, anyway.
Breaking out of my grasp, Lucian strode into the center of the chamber and called out, “I must speak with the Keeper at once!”
Voices floated on the air, hauntingly beautiful voices, calling back and forth in a murmur of haunting music. Then someone clapped their hands and silence fell.
“She has only one foot in the Earthly world. The other is in the spirit,” a rasping voice accused out of the darkness.
I had no doubt that she meant me .
Lucian remained silent.
At the far end of the room, a door hitherto hidden cracked open enough to reveal a faint light glowing from within.
“Enter,” the rasping voice commanded.
Crooking a beckoning finger for me to follow, Lucian headed for the door.
I
I shivered. The man had a thing for necks. Maybe, not unlike a vampire, he knew my neck was my weak spot.
Spinning on my heel, I looked up at his grim, hard mouth and fiery eyes.
“I did my part,” I challenged. “I found them before they could set traps for you.”
“No, you’re not done,” he disagreed. “Follow me. We have only a few hours before sunset.”
Whirling on his heel without waiting for my reply, he strode away, confident that I’d just trail behind him like some kind of yappy poodle.
I almost didn’t. But now that I’d eaten well, curiosity won out.
A little peeved and picturing myself as a curly-haired puppy on a leash, I followed him through the crowded piazzas, over the bridges arching the canals, down a side street, back into the abandoned alleys, and into an old church graveyard. Under the canopy of ancient trees, we wove through the crumbling tombstones to pause in front of a long-forsaken crypt. Lucian brushed his hand over the unintelligible script carved deep into the crypt’s stone-facing.
The ground beneath me moved.
Startled, I took a step back as the stone-facing split, exposing a circular staircase going deep into the ground.
Lucian didn’t hesitate. As his dark head disappeared down into the yawning maw below, I galvanized myself into action and followed him.
There was a decided lack of spider webs. Not enough oxygen, perhaps. Wherever we were going, it was clearly a well-travelled passageway. Darkness fell the farther we descended, and as the last glimmer of light fled, my foot caught on a stone and I pitched forward.
In a flash, Lucian was there, catching me by the belt of my pants. For a moment, I held still against him. I could feel his solid muscles under me and the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Why was the man so distracting? Enthralling, even. His sheer physical presence held an intensity that I’d never encountered before. Was it some kind of magic, a spell?
As suspicion warred with attraction, I was the first one to move, stepping aside with the greatest of reluctance.
“A light,” he murmured softly.
A moment later, a candle sputtered into life in a sconce along the wall, and we silently continued our descent. After a few more loops, we arrived in a long room with a vaulted ceiling illuminated by candles. Hundreds of them. Pools of melted wax dripped down onto the flagstones. Arched entryways lined the walls, tons of them, reminding me of the Coliseum.
I smelled them coming then. Dozens of them. They arrived to hover in the archways, their tall forms shrouded by long, dark cloaks. I was relieved I’d eaten, or else the mana spilling from these beings would have driven me to the brink of madness. Already, from this distance, I could taste various exotic scents upon my lips.
Gripping Lucian’s arm, I asked, “What kind of creatures are they?” I had to know. I didn’t even care if I were revealing a level of ignorance better kept hidden.
“They are Night Terrors,” he responded without looking down at me.
Night Terrors. I recalled that he’d suspected me of being one. But I’d never heard of them before. Well, the beings, anyway.
Breaking out of my grasp, Lucian strode into the center of the chamber and called out, “I must speak with the Keeper at once!”
Voices floated on the air, hauntingly beautiful voices, calling back and forth in a murmur of haunting music. Then someone clapped their hands and silence fell.
“She has only one foot in the Earthly world. The other is in the spirit,” a rasping voice accused out of the darkness.
I had no doubt that she meant me .
Lucian remained silent.
At the far end of the room, a door hitherto hidden cracked open enough to reveal a faint light glowing from within.
“Enter,” the rasping voice commanded.
Crooking a beckoning finger for me to follow, Lucian headed for the door.
I
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