Got something. She hesitated, then sniffed and added, It's water. I think.
Okay, the minute I move, you spray that water across the room. Hopefully, it'll deter the spawn long enough for me to grab the pew.He paused. Ready?
No. Her spirit reached out to his, wrapping him in heat and love. Now I'm ready. Let's do it.
Okay. He took a deep breath, then said, Go.
He dove for the pew. The spawn screamed and zipped towards him, its vaporous curtains reaching out, ready to smother and consume.
He hit the ground, sliding through the dirt as he grabbed the pew. The spawn screamed again, teeth gleaming as it tried to wrap vaporous arms around him. Water slewed through the air, glittering brightly in the fire of Nikki's flames. The droplets lashed across the spawn's mass, and it hissed, snapping its skirts away. Michael lifted the pew and threw it toward the coffin. The spawn howled in fury and lurched forward, wrapping its gowns around the pew in midair. There was a retort, a bright flash, then the pew and the spawn were gone.
He blew out a relieved breath and climbed to his feet.
Why did you throw the pew at the coffin rather than the spawn?Nikki twined her fingers through his and squeezed lightly.
Because I figured the spawn might have been programmed to protect the coffin, whereas the first spawn had been set to attack anyone who touched the handle.
Anyone but Dunleavy.
He nodded. By throwing the pew at the coffin, I made the spawn attack the pew rather than us.
But why would Dunleavy have a spawn here, when he's protecting the coffin with magic?
Extra insurance.He squeezed her fingers then released her. We'd better get out of here She raised an eyebrow. We're not going to try to destroy the coffin?
I doubt that we can. I don't know enough about magic, and I'm sure the magic protecting Weylin's brother is pretty powerful.
He cupped his hands, and she stepped into them. He boosted her up, ensuring she'd climbed safely onto the second step before following her up.
"Where next?" she asked, dusting her hands on her skirt. "The Standard Mine?"
"Yeah. I don't think we have any other choice." It was either that or sit back and wait for Weylin to come to them, and he'd never been one to do that.
"Neither have I." A smile teased her lips. "Which is why I'm always so surprised that you're so surprised when I do something rather than wait, as ordered."
"That's because you tend to rush in where angels dare not tread." He caught her arm and pulled her into his embrace, kissing her quickly. "Or vampires, as the case may be."
He slid his grip down to her hand and again twined his fingers through hers. "Let's go."
They walked into the church's main room. He scanned the outside of the building as they headed for the door, using his vampire vision so that he could detect blood heat. No one waited for them. Yet, tension crawled through his limbs, and he had a peculiar feeling that the men from the bar would soon be making an unwelcome appearance.
"Which is odd, you know," Nikki commented, as he released her hand to put the wire mesh in place.
"What's odd?" He couldn't do much about the lock, as he'd broken it when he'd snapped it free. But he hooked it onto the latch. From a distance it would look as if the mesh and the lock had been undisturbed.
"These feeling's you're getting. It's almost as if you're somehow siphoning my abilities."
He glanced at her. "Could be. After all, you're siphoning mine."
She raised her eyebrows. "Am not."
"Then how do you explain the fact you've developed brilliant night sight?"
"But—" She hesitated. "I don't see blood rushing through bodies or anything like that."
"No. But from what you said, you're vision is somewhat similar." He led the way down the steps and into the main street. It was eerily quiet. Too quiet. Even the blustery wind made little sound as it blew around the old buildings.
"So how is something like that possible?"
"I'm told it's because of the bond we share." He hesitated and decided to finish the sentence through the link, simply because he couldn't shake the sensation that they were being watched. Seline thinks that because I shared my life force out of love rather than need, the bonding between us became far deeper than normal. It made us one.
Her frown deepened. But you have talents I'm not developing. And vice-versa True. But we haven't been together all that long. It could take years for the assimilation to be fully complete.
And years before we know which talents we can share, and which we can't?
He nodded. Right now, he was wishing that they could share all their talents. He had a feeling it would come in handy when they were finally battling Dunleavy.
They turned the corner and headed up the hill towards the old mine. The wind was colder here, fiercer.
Yet through it he could hear a heartbeat. Many heartbeats, in fact.
The men were waiting up ahead.
He scanned the horizon, but he couldn't see anything, which meant they were probably underground.
Maybe they were waiting near the pentagram. Maybe Dunleavy expected them to do precisely what they were doing.
He stopped. "I think we should try getting to the Standard Mine pentagram through the shaft near the ranger's house."
Her gaze searched his. "You sense something?"
"Those men are waiting up ahead."
Her gaze jumped to the top of the hill then back to his. "Where?"
"I don't know. I can hear the beat of their hearts, but I can't see them with vampire sight. If we're in that smaller shaft, we're at least coming from a direction they might not be expecting. Plus, there's less room for them to come at us."
She nodded, and he changed direction, heading back down the street and across to the house. The wind had blown off a lot of the dirt covering the mine shaft's hatch, making it hard to tell whether the shaft had been used recently or not.
He flung back the door and peered inside. No sound. Nothing to indicate anyone or anything waited inside the dank blackness. He met Nikki's gaze.
"When I give you the all clear, come down."
She nodded and crossed her arms, her determined stance at odds with the fear lurking in her eyes. That determination was part of the reason he'd fallen in love with her. Part of the reason he would always love her.
She'd become part of the Circle simply because she was determined to share his life—determined to share everything—good and bad.
And for the briefest of moments, he wished he could simply give it all up, just walk away and enjoy an eternity of being with her, loving her. But he couldn't. He'd vowed on Patrick's grave that from there on in, he would hunt and kill the evil that preyed on good. That vow was the reason he'd made into a reality Seline's half-formed desire of a paranormal army to battle evil. The reason why he was still financing the Circle today. He knew that evil would always be around. But if he had any say in the matter, the Circle would always be there to battle it.
And though he now had more to lose than ever, he finally had something more than a vow to fight for.
Live for.
He leaned forward, briefly, fiercely, kissed the love of his life, and then dropped into the hole.
Nikki shifted her position so she could see him a little more clearly. Power surged through the link, and after a moment or two, Michael looked up. His eyes were as forbidding as the black shadows crowding the edges of the puddle of afternoon sunlight in which he stood.
"Come down."
She bit her lip, but she eased over the edge and into the tunnel. He helped her down, then twined his fingers through hers and led the way forward. The darkness leapt into focus as her eyes adjusted, but she felt no easier now than she had before. It still felt like there was a ton of earth above her, just waiting for the chance to bury her again.