He decided the best way to get his answers was to allow the intruder or intruders into his home. After all, the sun was beginning to sink. If they wanted to prepare a surprise for him, he was more than willing to oblige. He moved up close to the stained glass and concentrated on his safeguards. He wanted to rid the house of the lethal traps and spells only on the outside to allow the estate to be penetrated. It shouldn’t be so easy that they would become suspicious, but he wouldn’t want them to be discouraged and give up too soon.
Having done what he could, Lucian flowed through the house, the basement, and the narrow passage carved through rock to the sleeping chamber, then below to his earthen lair. He returned to his body deep within the healing soil. It required intense energy to flow free from one’s body, and he wanted the rejuvenating soil to strengthen him.
He put himself to sleep, relying on his inward alarm system to tell him when the intruder had actually violated the sanctity of his home. It took the man well over an hour after the sun went down before he managed to make it into the main yard. From there he opened the gate for two of his colleagues. When Lucian felt the disturbance, he came awake slowly, waving a hand to open the earth. The vibrations of violence echoing through his home were amplified by the stained-glass safeguards Francesca had wrought. It disturbed the soothing tranquility of the house.
Beside him, without his consent or command, Jaxon inhaled. Her heart began to beat, and she moaned softly in distress. Lucian would never have believed it if someone had told him her built-in alarm system would be enough to disturb her sleep so soon after her initiation. Fledglings did not often awaken at the mere presence of evil. He merged with her before she could open her eyes, his intention to send her back to sleep.
Don’t!
She said it sharply, her lashes lifting, her eyes blazing with fury. “You lied to me.” She pushed his body away from hers and looked around her.
Lucian could feel her rising nausea as she realized she was in the ground, not in the sleeping chamber. When he would have comforted her, she held up both hands to stop him. “I don’t want you to touch me. You buried me alive, Lucian. You buried me and let me believe we were sleeping in a normal bed.”
“Jaxon,” he said softly, persuasively. “I did not
lie
.” She tried to scramble out of the hole in the earth.
“Call it whatever you like, it was still a sin of omission,” she hissed over her shoulder.
But when Lucian caught her around her waist and pulled her back to him, she didn’t resist, rather went very still. She was pale, her skin clammy, and he could feel her heart pounding. “Someone’s in the house.” She clutched her stomach, knowing they were being stalked. “I thought you said nothing could get in.”
“The intruder is human. Actually, if you listen, you can hear more than one. They are spreading out now, searching the upper story. I allowed them entry to the premises to see who they are. It is always best to know your enemies.” His voice was soft and winning, wrapping her in warmth and tranquility. “I did not allow them access to your room. I did not want them touching your things.” She swallowed her anger. “That’s supposed to make me forget all about what you’ve done? I’m so angry with you, Lucian. Right now I hate the way you’re so calm and unemotional. How many more surprises do you have in store for me?”
“I presume you are alluding to our resting place, not the intruders.”
She thought about hitting him, but he was built like an oak tree and more than likely she would end up with a bruised fist. “Where are my clothes?” she asked between her teeth.
“Your usual feminine garb?” When she steadfastly refused to look at him, Lucian shrugged with his casual strength. “Your clothes are in your mind. Seek and ye shall find.” Deliberately he floated from the hole in the ground. It was a little more than eight feet deep. Jaxon could not possibly get out of her own accord.
You want to bet?
Furious, Jaxon stood up and examined the walls of their grave. That was how she thought of it. Their grave. She swore repeatedly in her head, calling him every name in the book as she paced off the area. The walls were impossible to climb.
You need help?
It was an infuriating male taunt.
“Not on your life. I’d rather stay down here with the worms than ask for your help,” she snapped.
Lucian waved a hand down his body and at once was clothed in black jeans and a black T-shirt. His long black hair hung loose and shone like a raven’s wing there in the darkness. It suddenly occurred to Jaxon she could see as well as if the sun were shining on them far below the earth.
She tilted her chin. If he could do it, she could do it. All she had to do was think about being dressed. Picture it in her mind. She closed her eyes to block out everything else. It took a few moments to clear the fear of spiders and creepy crawlers out of her thoughts before she began to build an image of what she would wear. Lace underwear, the comfortable kind, her favorites. Slim cotton blue jeans and a thin cotton ribbed top. Black, to suit her mood. When she opened her eyes, she was astonished that she had done it. She was fully clothed. With the exception of her shoes. She had forgotten shoes.
Jaxon had to push down the beginnings of a smile. It was amazing to be able to do such a fantastic thing. Immediately she thought of cleanliness, her hair and teeth, her body, ensuring she was as clean as if she had spent a long time in the shower. Then she began to inspect the grave-like cubicle.
She could hear the hearts beating upstairs, the sound of footsteps as intruders moved through the house. She heard the air moving in and out of their lungs. When she glanced up at Lucian, he was grinning at her with that infuriating male taunt. “I will return to help you out of there after I dispose of our guests.”
He actually turned around and sauntered away from her. For a moment her breath stilled in her lungs. She wanted to cry out after him to come back, but her pride wouldn’t allow it. She wasn’t afraid of spiders. Not really. Her ears picked up the sound of something scratching around somewhere close by. Too close. Okay. Rats.
There are rats here, Lucian. I won’t put up with rats . I am certain you can manage until I return.
He sounded smug.
At least I know you are safely stuck there instead of trying to shoot someone. If any rats come around, try talking to them . They’re probably related to you,
she sniped. Hands on her hips, she turned around twice, trying to figure out how she could manage on her own. She
would
get out, and she
would
shoot someone, preferably Lucian. How did he do it? How did he manage to float the way he did? Did she have to picture herself floating to the top? She tried it, but nothing happened. She tried two short hops. Still nothing.
Lucian’s laughter brushed at her mind like butterfly wings. Could she possibly strangle him? If she thought about strangling him, would it work? She knew exactly where he was. In the kitchen. He was moving silently, not a single footstep audible, but she knew where he was. When he breathed, she breathed. How did that happen? How did she suddenly need him so much, need the touch of his mind to hers, just so she could breathe?
She was very still for a moment, waiting to see what Lucian would do next. She did not want him confronting intruders without her, but she knew that was his intention. Suddenly she was smiling. How did something float? It wasn’t that hard. It was lighter than air. So light it just moved through space, drifting upward toward the sky. In this case, more toward the floor of the sleeping chamber, but she’d take what she could get because...