But at the same time, he was aware of walking in sync with her, breathing in sync with her. She was someone he could share silence with.
When they reached the back wall of the canyon, Jade started automatically for the shallow staircase leading up to the pueblo ruins.
Lucius tugged her back. “Wait. Not up there.”
She turned back. “No? Where are we going, then, and what do you need my help with? I’m assuming that wasn’t, as Patience suggested, a euphemism.”
“I need your magic.”
Her brows snapped together. “Okay, that’s not what I expected you to say to me.” She paused. “For that matter, it’s the first time anyone has said that to me.” But she was intrigued. “Go on. What are you—or rather, what am I looking for? Are you thinking buried treasure?”
“Not exactly.” He turned her so she was looking off at an angle. “See that curvy rock over there, the one that makes sort of an ‘S’ shape? And see how next to it there’s a round hole that looks man-
made?”
“I see them. What do you want me to do?”
“I need you to look for energy patterns, the way you did in Rabbit’s apartment. Do you need a boost?”
“Nope, I’ve got it covered.” That shouldn’t have irritated him, but it did. Beneath the irritation, though, his worry persisted as she took a couple of calming breaths and faced the rock formation he’d seen in his mind’s eye as the burning inn had receded in the distance.
Was there a better way to do this? He’d thought to have her look for a hidden door first, then—
“I see it,” she said.
He exhaled in a rush. “Okay. I have to warn you, though—”
“It’s a spell I’m not familiar with,” she interrupted. “I think it might be like the one that the ancients used to hide the First Father’s tomb, not just a visual illusion but a physical one as well.
Michael said that one was very old magic, but he figured out how to turn it off and on. Let me see if I can remember the spell he used. It didn’t work for me back then, but it might now.” She headed toward the spot.
He snagged her arm, shaking it. “Jade! Wait up and listen for a second. This is important.”
She looked up at him; her eyes were sleepy and blurred, and very, very sexy. She blinked at him, her eyes clearing with a final whole-body shudder. “Whoa.” She rubbed her face with both hands. “I went deep under the magic there.” She shook her head, seeming more like herself once again. “Okay.
What’s up? Are you expecting there to be booby traps behind that fake wall?”
“Gods, I hadn’t even thought of that. Maybe doing this on the sly wasn’t the best idea.”
Her eyes sharpened. “Why are we out here by ourselves? If you’ve figured out something, then you should—” She broke off, her color draining as her eyes locked onto the rock formation he’d walked and jogged past a hundred times before, never once suspecting that it marked a concealed entrance until a nightmare showed him the way. “Flames,” she said, her voice gone dull with shock as she moved to touch the sinuous, flamelike rock and stare at the empty socket behind it. “Staring eyes.”
“Yeah.” His voice rasped more than usual on the word. “I don’t think she was talking about just what she saw up at the mansion. I think she was talking about where she performed the ritual. If we ever find some in-depth info on the star bloodline—like the stuff they didn’t tell outsiders—I think we’ll find that this was a sacred chamber that was reserved for them alone, probably connected with the library.”
“Assuming there’s anything behind the illusion spell.”
“Why would it be there at all if not to hide something important?” He knew she wasn’t asking about the logic, though. Going on instinct, he gripped her shoulder, more a gesture of support from a teammate than an overture from a lover. But he suspected that was what she needed him to be right then: an almost-warrior who had her back.
“We should go get the others.” She didn’t move, though. Just stood there touching what he supposed wasn’t really a rock at all, but rather a solid-seeming illusory rock.
“It’s your call.”
She hesitated, hand pressed to the stone. Finally, she said, “I’m going to try the on/off spell. If it doesn’t work, we’ll go get the others. If it does . . . I need to see. I want to be the first.”
He nodded. “Then go for it.”
“I’m too scattered to concentrate on finding the magic.” With that scant warning, she turned toward him, grabbed him by the front of his T-shirt, and kissed him, hard.
The kiss vibrated with nerves and need, and hit him with a sledgehammer of lust that slammed him right back to where he’d been the night before in that gossamer white canopy bed, fresh from her body and wanting to promise her impossible things. When she pulled away, he had to stop himself from tugging her back and kissing her again, touching her. It wasn’t just about sex either. He wanted to wrap himself around her, shield her from whatever bad stuff was on the other side of the illusory wall, giving her the good stuff and taking the rest onto himself. The need was hard, hot, and sharp, and it made him take a big step back, wrestling for control.
He cleared his throat. “Glad to help.”
“Shh.” She pulled what proved to be a butterfly knife out of her pocket, flipped it open, and used it to score her palm. She didn’t explain about the knife and he didn’t ask; she wasn’t the only one going armed after what had happened the day before. With the blood sacrifice made, she pressed her bleeding hand flat to the fake stone surface and whispered a few words he didn’t catch.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the wall shimmered. And disappeared.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Breathe, Jade told herself as she stared into the dark entrance of a tunnel leading into the canyon wall.
Just keep breathing. She was glad she had someone with her, though, and she was glad it was Lucius, who was letting her take it slow when she knew he had to be dying to get in there, not just for discovery for discovery’s sake, but because he was hoping that the members of the star bloodline—or maybe even Vennie herself—might have left behind some additional clues that might, gods willing, get him back into the library. It seemed that love—or at least great sex—wasn’t the answer. It was all about the magic, after all.
“Dumb ass,” he said suddenly. When she turned to him, he made a dope-slap motion. “I didn’t bring a flashlight.”
“Let me try.” She held out her hand and kindled a foxfire. The magic shone brightly and didn’t sap her strength nearly as much as it had before. Was she actually getting stronger? It seemed so. She took a deep, steadying breath and didn’t let herself lean back into him. “Here we go.” Then, remembering the claustrophobia, she asked, “Are you going to be okay with this?”
His grin was that of the overgrown boy he’d first seemed, in the body of the man he’d become. “Just try and stop me.”
The tunnel was wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side, so they did. Unlike most of the Mayan-era Nightkeeper temples, it was tall enough that Lucius didn’t have to duck. At first, Jade thought that was because it was a natural fissure. As they moved inward, though, she saw smoothed-