by Denise Agnew
Tears stung her eyes. She never would have wished this on Jim in a million years.
Jim and Sorley lunged toward them so fast, Clarissa didn’t have time to react. Jim swooped and grabbed Clarissa around the throat. The pressure around her neck cut off her air immediately. She swung up to slash at his eyes and tried kicking him. He threw her back against the wall. Pain and shock rocked into her head as dizziness filled her head and her knees crumbled. She fell to the concrete on her right side. Disoriented, she heard Erin’s struggles, and then saw Sorley lift her up and into the sky. She fought unconsciousness but as Sorley’s high-pitched laugh echoed over the air, everything went black.
* * * * *
Ronan awoke with a start, his breathing coming hard and fast. In deepest sleep he’d heard strange noises somewhere outside the house. The bed felt cold. He couldn’t sense Clarissa next to him.
He reached out and touched the bed and found it empty. Because he could see through the gloom without a light, he scanned the area. No sign of Clarissa. Normally it wouldn’t have bothered him too much, but he felt it deep in his immortal soul that she needed him.
He opened his mind to her. Clarissa. Where are you? Are you all right?
He waited for an answer but nothing came. Something was horribly wrong.
“Clarissa?” Nothing. He didn’t feel her in the house or anywhere. Fear snapped him like a whip. “Damn it! Shit, shit, shit!”
Using vampire speed he jumped into his clothes and then transported instantly into the living room.
Lachlan stood at the back door near the dining area, his eyes glowing like hot coals. His face looked stricken, as if he’d been kicked in the gut. “She’s gone, Ronan. Erin’s gone.”
Ronan stiffened, his heart doing a stutter. “So is Clarissa.” Ronan’s mind tried to wrap around the concept a moment and failed. Then anger at himself and Lachlan exploded in his mind. “I can’t believe I didn’t hear anything. Son-of-a-bitch!”
Lachlan’s words came strong and steady. “Aye, but there’s time for recriminations later. Right now we need to find them.”
Self-disgust wrenched at Ronan’s insides. “I’m sorry.”
Lachlan shook his head. “I don’t sense them anywhere around in the neighborhood and they wouldn’t leave voluntarily.”
Ronan heard a sound and sensed Micky and Jared coming down the hall.
“What’s going on?” Jared asked, trepidation hardening his eyes. “We both woke up at the same time and knew something was wrong.”
Ronan jammed both hands through his hair in frustration. “Erin and Clarissa are gone. We’ve got to go after them now.”
Jared grabbed his arm. “I’ll go with you and so will Micky. I’m not leaving here without her.”
Lachlan moved nearer his friends. “No. There’s no reason to take her into harm’s way.”
“I want to go.” Micky stood straight and her mouth had a stubborn set to it that Ronan knew didn’t bode well. Her eyes glowed. “You need our help. What if the ancient one or that other dark evil has taken them into another dimension? I’ve been in that place before, so if they’re lost there, I can bring them back.”
Ronan looked at Lachlan and the Scot nodded. He also understood that Jared wouldn’t be any use to them if he worried about Micky being left behind and vulnerable.
Micky’s logic eased a little of Ronan’s panic and she said, “We’ll find them. My guess is the ancient one probably took them to the tunnels. Can we form a psychic circle and join hands to get her location?”
In the short time since Micky had become a not-quite-mortal, she’d read as much literature on the subject as she could. Ronan admired her bravery. “I think your first intuition is right. He’s taken them to the tunnels.”
“We could waste valuable time if we don’t do a preliminary recon,” Jared said.
Lachlan nodded. “He’s right.”
Ronan’s eagerness to find his woman made him crazy with worry and he couldn’t think with the logic required. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Let’s do it.”
A few moments later, the group gathered in the center of the living room and joined hands. Ronan thanked them in his heart, grateful down to his boots he didn’t have to fight this alone. As they linked minds he knew it would deplete their energies for a short time after doing the connection. They’d have to make sure they didn’t stay joined for too long.
“Remember the white light, the aura around you,” Ronan said. “We can’t afford to be vulnerable.”
They became a collective of energy more powerful than one individual. Almost right away a vivid flash of color came to his mind, disjointed and harsh. Pink ran into blue ran into red and as black spilled over his mind, he jerked out of the trance.
“Holy crap,” Lachlan said, blinking rapidly. “What was that?”
Everyone broke contact and unlinked hands.
“The colors are a barrier. The ancient one knows we’ll come looking for Erin and Clarissa and he put up defenses,” Ronan said.
Pain flickered through his head and Ronan couldn’t keep back the groan. Instinctively, he what knew what caused the pain. Anger pierced him like a sword.
Micky touched his forearm. “What’s wrong?”
Ronan felt the tension rising and didn’t think he could stop it. He couldn’t remember the last time a vampire rage this strong had come upon him.
Yes, I can. After I was changed…and before that, after Fenella was killed.
He knew his eyes turned hell-red and that his fangs had grown. He didn’t care. He wanted his woman safe and he would do anything to get her back into his arms.
Ronan stalked to the windows and looked out. His throat felt tight and raw as he spoke. “The pain in my head belongs to Clarissa.”
“Oh, no,” Micky said, tears swimming in her eyes. “What are we going to do?”
Ronan frowned and tried to ignore the throbbing in his temples. “We’ll have to search for them the mortal way. Do you think Gilda and Tom would help?”
Micky went for the phone. “I’ll call them now.”
For the third time in a month they pursued the ancient one. Concern about Erin and Clarissa and even Sorley invaded his thoughts as his friends put out heavy-duty emotional thought forms. Lachlan’s emotions ran higher, his concern for Erin eating away at his guts. Ronan knew the reaction too well; he couldn’t wait to put his arms around Clarissa and beg her forgiveness for not protecting her.
“I suggest you drive to the Gunn Inn first while I do a quick scan of the tunnels near the crypt in the graveyard,” Ronan said. “We can cover more ground that way.”
“Aye,” Lachlan said.
Vampire rage stirred Ronan’s blood. “We are going to find them. Starting now.”
* * * * *
Clarissa’s head pounded as she opened her eyes and she tried to put her fingers to her temples. Her arms and hands wouldn’t move an inch. Alarmed, she tried moving her legs and found she couldn’t.
Other than turning her head from side to side, she was paralyzed. A shimmering silver essence covered her from head to foot, perhaps the same substance that kept her from moving an inch. She struggled against the force field that pinned her to the ground but it didn’t help.
She heard a moan, then realized it came from her. Cold seeped into her skin like an insidious drug. She turned her head to the left and saw a broken wooden coffin tilted against a wall like a mummy’s sarcophagus in a museum. Muzzy-headed and hurting to the bone, she couldn’t be sure of her location. Nothing seemed quite right; her thought processes refused to run at one hundred percent.
She remembered with a jolt.
Attacked. She and Erin…they’d been attacked on the porch by two of the last people she would have expected would hurt them. Sorley, how could you? And Jim. She never expected Jim to hurt her.
She glanced around her prison once again. I can see in the dark. Horror returned.
“Oh, God. I can see in the dark and—”<
br />
Her heart started to thud, pounding in her chest. Sweat broke out over her skin despite the wintry interior. Fear swelled and threatened to overtake her good sense.
Sounds seemed to be louder. Dread crawled over her skin like spiders and she was grateful that at least she wore a thick sweater. Though she could see in the dark, the visuals didn’t come as clear as day, but more like the time between sunset and complete oblivion of light. Her breath puffed out in the frosted air.
Even if the stinging pain in her neck didn’t tell the truth, she would have known by other evidence. She’d probably been bitten.
No. Oh no. Tears welled up. Someone had bitten her. No, not someone. Either Sorley or Jim or the ancient one had taken her blood but they hadn’t drained her to death. That meant one thing. Like her friends, she stayed trapped between the mortal world and the immortal. Her mind whirled around the idea, uncertain whether to accept the truth and move on or scream into the night. She wanted to deny the facts, imagine a nightmare took hold of her and wouldn’t let go. This couldn’t be real.
Evidence showed her otherwise.
As the sounds of night again intruded on her ears, a sense of wonder overcame her. This must be a little of what Ronan felt and saw as a vampire. Excitement threatened to edge out the horror that erupted like a geyser inside her. She took a deep breath. Taking action rather then reacting to what happened would be her best course. Down the path of reaction lies death.
Erin. How could I forget Erin?
Another chaotic thought intruded.
Since her surroundings told Clarissa she hadn’t been dumped in the crypt over the tunnels, then where had they taken her? Nearby the wooden coffin lid was cracked open enough she could see inside. No one, thank God, living or dead was there. A stone stand held another coffin, this one also wood, but dark and far more expensive. Dusty and cracked, the mahogany wood looked antique.
She looked around as bewilderment wrestled with fright. She must put a noose on her emotions and concentrate on what to do. Wherever Jim and Sorley had gone, she would leave before they came back.
Ronan. She closed her eyes. Ronan can you hear me? I need you. I’m in a crypt. Not the one I fell through, but another crypt. I’m going to try and escape.
When she received no confirmation, when his beloved voice didn’t form in her mind, she tried again. Ronan, I love you.
And she did love him. Thinking about how much he meant to her warmed the cold, dark place inside that feared for her life and what would come.
Ronan, please hear me.
The nagging ache in her head increased.
A soft moan caught her sensitive ears. “Erin?”
“Clarissa?”
Thank the heavens.
“We’re being pinned down by something, aren’t we?” Erin’s testy voice assured Clarissa her friend was alive and kicking mad.
“Yes. Can you break loose?”
“I’ve tried. It isn’t working. But if we concentrate mentally maybe we can get free.”
Clarissa would try anything at this point. “How?”
“Close your eyes and try visualizing the barrier around you dissolving.”
Clarissa had her doubts.
“Come on, Clarissa, I know you can do it.”
“Are you reading my mind?”
“No, but I can feel your hesitation.”
“All right. I’ll try it.”
She closed her eyes and concentrated, allowing her body to relax despite the tremendous cold. Easier than she anticipated, the barrier started to fade in her mind. As the barrier became weaker she could see through it more clearly. With a soft whoosh, the murky white stuff around Clarissa dissolved within less than four minutes.
Clarissa let out a whoop.
Erin’s chuckle sounded half sincere. “Mine’s gone, too. Maybe the big bad ancient one isn’t so bad after all.”
“Or maybe he let one of his minions help him.” Clarissa remembered Sorley and Jim with disappointment.
Clarissa staggered to her feet. Her fingers gripped the rotting wood coffin on the pedestal, and she yanked her hand away in disgust. Her sense of touch seemed hyper and almost painful she could feel so much. Another deep breath stilled the frantic pace of her heart. She would regain control or fail escaping. The crypt door had a significant crack in the side of the stonework wide enough for a big man to slip through, but the door was obscured with trailing vines. Could this be the crypt the ancient one had slept in since his last encounter with Ronan and his friends?
Shoving aside those thoughts, she moved around the pedestal and coffin and found Erin lying on the ground.
Erin sat upright. “Ouch. I feel like someone has been stomping on me with a big shoe.”
“I feel the same way.” Clarissa gave her theory on their location and explained her attempt to connect with Ronan failed. “We’re not in the crypt I fell through. But we need to get out of here before Sorley and Jim come back.”
Erin’s gaze, already glowing in the dark like a cat’s, turned hot. She wondered if her own eyes reflected the new, more animal side she possessed. “How could they do this to us?”
“Ronan told us about the mind invasion with the ancient one. Sorley’s psyche was too weak and that’s how the ancient one got through.”
Erin’s eyes widened a little as she gazed at Clarissa. “Your throat.” She reached up and touched her own puncture wounds. “They bit us.”
“I’m not going to dwell on it right now or the consequences.” Clarissa smiled weakly. “I’m hoping some of those supernatural powers come to me very quickly. Right now I’m just feeling weak.”
Erin touched her shoulder and pressed. “You’ve lost blood and who knows how much.”
Shivering with renewed cold and fear, Clarissa said, “Why didn’t they just kill us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Sorley and Jim still have some humanity and resisted the temptation to kill or bring us across.”
“Bring us across? As in turn us into full-fledged vampires?”
“Yes. Come on, let’s try to connect with Lachlan and Ronan again and if we can’t, we’ll get out of here.”
They tried and failed to connect with their men.
“The ancient one wants to use us for bait,” Erin said. “He’d like nothing more than to kill Lachlan and Ronan. You know they’ll come for us.”
Clarissa’s heart ached at the thought they’d be in danger. “We’ve got to find a way back to town and warn them not to come looking for us.”
Erin started for the crack in the crypt. Wedging through the crack one by one, they shoved through the stiff trailing fronds of a plant that grew out of the side of the rock.
“We aren’t going to survive this cold much longer.” Erin rubbed her arms as they surveyed the dark landscape.
When Clarissa looked at the big crypt from the outside she could barely see it for the tangle of bushes surrounding the entrance. More than that, the crypt didn’t stand alone like the one in the graveyard did. Carved straight from an enormous ridge of rock, the crypt melded with the hillside in perfect harmony. A person could walk right by this spot and never see the burial chamber at all.
“Where are we?” Clarissa asked.
Erin shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Their dire circumstances overwhelmed Clarissa in one horrible thought. “We’re in the middle of who knows where in the freezing cold without coats. If we stay here we’ll die of hypothermia. If we leave, we may die of hypothermia.”
Erin’s eyes flamed with a golden light, a dance of red and sun yellow that would frighten most people with one glance. “I think I’d rather die trying to find a way out of here, don’t you?”
Understanding the truth when she heard it, Clarissa said, “If we keep moving, we just might stay warm enough to make it out of this alive.”
A popping noise near the entrance to the tomb made them both jump. Before they could move or speak Jim appeared near the crypt entry.
C
larissa and Erin both stepped back. Clarissa’s heart pumped like crazy.
Jim smiled and his pointed canines showed. He, too, stood in the cold with nothing but a sweater and jeans. She knew he didn’t feel the chill of winter. If it weren’t for his pointed teeth and an eerie look in his eyes, she’d never guess he’d been turned into a vampire.
“Clarissa, I see you’re planning on escaping. I don’t think so,” he said.
Her mind raced for something to say, but her brain felt like cottage cheese. Struggling with fatigue, she leaned back against the crypt. “Why did you do this, Jim?”
“I didn’t decide to do this. It was done to me.” His words sounded angry, almost petulant, his smile turning into a frown.
“No, why did you hurt us and take us to this place?” Erin asked.
He continued to frown, his eyes shining with an ethereal glow like a full moon. He took a deep breath. “The old one commands it.”
“Did you bite me?” Clarissa asked suddenly.
“I didn’t want Sorley to do it because you’re mine.”
Erin asked, “What about me?”
Jim’s eyes took on a confused appearance, as if he couldn’t quite remember what happened. “The old one said I needed blood to survive. And I…I…”
He stopped, his voice cracking a little.
Clarissa wondered if he could see around the haze of becoming a vampire to understand what he’d done. “Yes?”
“I couldn’t let the old one or Sorley take your blood.” His hands went out. “They’re…they would have killed you both.”
Withering emotional pain made Clarissa’s eyes well up with tears. “So you took our blood to save us from them.”
“Of course.” Jim staggered a little and leaned back against the rocks near the crypt opening. “I’m sorry I hit you. I had to make it look good. The ancient one attacked me after the last time I saw you, Clarissa. He’s had me sequestered in those damned tunnels all this time. When I woke up and he explained what he’d done and what he plans to do, I couldn’t let him take complete control of me. He’s still inside me. I can feel him.”
Jim reeled around and slammed his fist against the rock. A loud cracking noise hurt Clarissa’s ears and a nine-inch gash opened in the stone.
