Seth is poised to step onto the first stone, but I hang back. “They look slippery.”
“You’ll be fine. Mamo and I know what we’re doing.”
“You’ve named him?” I eye the foolish creature. “I have more faith in your ability to get us across the water than in his.”
“You’re mistaken. I’ll bet Mamo will skip across those steps without missing a beat. And have a little faith in yourself. You’re tougher than you think.”
My stomach flutters at his words but I shrug it off. It can’t get attached to Seth. Look what happened the last time. And I’m not just referring to him getting me pregnant. When he abandoned me to join Torin’s forces, he smashed my heart into smithereens.
As Seth predicted, Mamo bounds across to the other side of the river, then turns, panting, to watch our precarious traverse. Once, Seth almost slips. To my surprise, I manage the crossing without incident. Until the last stone. Over confident, I move too quickly, lose my footing, and would have landed in the water had Seth not grabbed my arm and hauled me onto dry land.
“Sorry,” I pant, catching my breath.
“No problem.” He doesn’t let go of my arm, and I feel that electric awareness that I experienced when he kissed me at the lodge. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Of course.”
He raises an eyebrow and shoves a water flask at me. “Drink. We have a tough climb ahead of us. And eat an energy bar.”
I obey. The bar tastes of sawdust and reminds me of the rations we’d been obliged to subsist on during the war. The water, in contrast, is cool and refreshing.
After we finish our snack, Seth shoulders his pack. “Let’s get moving. I want to reach first base before sunset. Mamo can’t see well in the dark.”
The mountain looms above us in all its majestic, snow-topped, glory. My heart lurches and I feel dizzy. I’ve never climbed a hill before, never mind a mountain.
“We’re not climbing far,” Seth says, reading my fear. “We should be up to first base and the Cave of Shadows in an hour. Most of the route consists of a winding trail with little actual climbing required.”
Just a sheer drop to our deaths if we slip…I shudder but get to my feet.
The mountain glitters an icy white in the afternoon sun. It is beautiful in a menacing sort of way. Seth hooks his climbing rope—or whatever the device is called—to mine, and tightens the knots. “Looks secure. Let’s get moving.”
As promised, the initial climb is easy enough. The path is wider than I expected, but I stay close to the wall of the mountain. Up and up the path winds, past the narrow vines and brightly colored flowers that grow directly out of the rock.
The sun beats down, yet the air remains crisp, growing cooler the higher we climb. When the air becomes thinner, my lungs burn. High altitude is hardly ideal after smoke inhalation and asthma, but I try not to dwell on this thought. I put one foot in front of the other and don’t look down to see how far we’ve ascended, or up to check how far we still have to climb. I’m clinging to the hope we’ll reach first base before I’m forced to scramble up the mountain face.
My wish doesn’t come true.
My heart is in my throat when Mamo scrambles up a steep rock face.
“What’s happening?” I hear the note of panic in my voice, feel pressure from the ringing in my ears.
“If Mamo wants us to go this way, we’d be smart to follow him. It probably means severe ice on the path ahead, or a risk of an avalanche. Watch where he puts his paws.” Seth points up to the animal. “See? He’s already at first base. Come on, Lia. You can do it. I’ll go first and can help you up if you have problems. It’s just a short climb.”
Just…I grit my teeth as he climbs up to the ledge with no difficulty. Swallowing hard, I place my trembling fingers into the first natural handgrip in the rock. My fingers tingle with fear but I force them to cooperate. One slow movement after another. All goes well until I reach the top of the ledge and grasp what I assume is solid rock. My stomach leaps when my fingers slip through snow. I scream and make a desperate grab for anything that will support me.
Strong arms grip beneath my shoulders and haul me up. On the ledge, I lie panting, my lungs burning.
“That was a close one. Whatever you do, don’t panic when climbing.”
“Easy for you to say,” I gasp. “You know what you’re doing.”
Seth hands me a thermos containing hot sweet tea. I drink greedily, not caring when the hot liquid dribbles down my chin.
Mamo comes over and nuzzles me. The stench off him is enough to jerk me back to my senses.
Seth sits beside me, munching on an energy bar. Despite the brightly colored avalanche hat, he’s drop-dead gorgeous, and the wrap-around sunglasses only add to his sex appeal. He doesn’t appear to be winded after our climb. My gaze drops to his full lips and the dark stubble grazing his cheeks. I take a gulp of hot tea in an effort to wash all erotic fantasies out of my mind. Clearly it’s been too long since I last had sex if I can’t stop fantasizing about Seth.
He gets to his feet and brushes crumbs from his climbing pants. “That’s the worst of the climbing until we reach the other side of the cave.”
“Not much of a comfort. After my encounter with your uncle’s Shadow Warriors, I can’t say I’m relishing the prospect of a stroll through their natural hunting ground. Speaking of which—” I peer around me, “—where is the entrance to the Cave of Shadows?”
“Just above us.” He points to a gap in the stone a couple of meters above the ledge upon which we are currently reposing. “I’ll hold you so you can clamber up, then I’ll climb up after you.”
“And Mamo?”
He flashes me a bone-melting grin. “Mamo can look after himself.”
This prediction proves accurate. Ignoring the gap in the stone, the mamolan scrambles up the mountain face and onto the ledge above. Seth pushes me up, and then hauls himself up to join me.
The entrance to the Cave of Shadows is wider than it looks from down below. It is hung with icicles that glitter with a purple hue. The cave is the perfect place to take refuge for the night. I know this but it doesn’t stop the cold dread snaking down my back at the thought of meeting a Shadow Warrior.
“Wait a sec.” Seth is staring at the map, frowning.
“Problem?”
He peers out the map, then rolls it up. “Much of this area is unchartered.”
“So?”
“So I have no idea what’s in that cave, its layout, or its potential dangers.”
“Apart from the Shadow Warriors?” I say dryly.
“I’m not worried about them. As I said last night, they have an agreement with the Fianna. I’m more concerned about whatever else this cave contains.” He removes his shades and squints. “The Shadow Warriors aren’t the only creatures to make this their home.”
“What a comforting thought.” The bitter wind chips at my bones. I shiver and burrow my gloved hands deep into the pockets of my new coat.
Seth jerks a thumb at the clouds. “Even if we don’t know what to expect inside, we have to go in. There’s a snow storm on the way, and I don’t want to be out on this ledge when it hits.”
I stare at the cave entrance in trepidation, my feet frozen to the ground.
“You’ll freeze if you don’t move, Lia.”
I unstick my feet and march into the cave with more bravado than genuine courage. Mamo bounds after me, making his peculiar happy noise. The entrance passage is reassuringly wide, but it soon forks into two narrower paths. I hesitate and shine my flashlight around to get a better sense of my options. Snow is blowing into the cave with force. Seth was right. It is too exposed to stay here, especially if a blizzard is due to hit. But if we take the wrong path, we run the risk of getting lost and not finding our way to the other side. I exhale sharply and square my shoulders. Stumbling about in the dark is preferable to becoming a human icicle. I plunge into the left passage, and Seth and Mamo follow close behind. The n
arrow path winds for about five minutes, growing ever narrower. If even I have to bend my head, Seth must be in considerable discomfort.
After a few minutes, the path opens onto a large cavern. I move my flashlight around to illuminate our surroundings.
“Beautiful,” I exclaim in wonder and take a step inside.
The cavern is replete with stalactites, stalagmites, and a thin rivulet of water running through the center. It has a stale, musty smell, and the temperature is cool but not freezing. The walls have the same lilac hue that I saw reflected in the icicles at the cave’s entrance. Carved into the stone are elaborate Celtic mandalas and other symbols I don’t recognize. My focus settles on an intricate knot with a dragon, a snake, and a lion coiled around one another. As if in a trance, I touch the wall and trace a finger over the symbol.
“Lia, don’t touch the symbols. They’re black magic.”
I hear his voice, even register the fear in his tone, but it is as if my body has a will of its own. I’m tracing over the symbol for the third time when Seth wrenches me away and shakes me by the shoulders.
“What the fuck? Didn’t you hear what I said?”
I open my mouth to respond but nothing comes out. My head is spinning and the walls appear to shake. And then I catch sight of Seth’s expression of horror. He’s staring at his hands. The fingertips are emitting sparks again, just as they did seconds before the bomb ripped through Voltage. And then I realize that the walls of the cavern don’t just appear to be shaking, they are shaking, as is the whole damn mountain.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LIA
“Get down.” Seth shoves me to the ground and we shield our heads from falling rocks. The quake lasts only a few seconds but it’s sufficient to cause total mayhem.
“Are you okay?” he asks when it’s over.
“I think so.” I push myself to my knees and scramble to my feet. “Is the mamolan okay?”
As if understanding that I’m expressing concern for his welfare, the smelly creature lets out a piercing screech and nuzzles its head into my stomach.
Dazed, I look around the cavern. The ground is littered with debris but the damage doesn’t appear too great. When the dizziness passes, I’m hyper alert. Without bothering to shake the dust off myself, I race out of the cavern and retrace our steps back to the place where the path forked into two. My heart leaps in my chest. The second path is blocked by fallen rock.
Seth comes up behind and swears beneath his breath. “The cavern is a dead end. This path was our only hope of getting through to the other side of the cave.”
“No,” I whisper, my limbs turning numb. “We can’t be trapped. Can’t you interpret one of the other symbols and reverse the damage?”
He shakes his head. “I know enough to recognize the carvings as black magic, but I have no idea what the symbols mean.”
Ignoring Seth’s shout to stay put, I scramble down the passage to the entrance of the cave. The wind is churning with such strength that I’m blown onto my back before I can reach the opening. I struggle to my feet and shield my eyes. The storm is in full force outside. I can see nothing but a swirling purple mist and hailstones as large as my fists.
Seth grabs my arm and pulls me deeper into the cave. “It’s hopeless,” he says in a voice raw with emotion. “We have to wait until the storm blows over.”
“You’re an experienced climber. Can’t you attempt to climb over the mountain? It’s you Adrian wants, not me.”
“Look outside, Lia. That’s no normal storm. The Pylians call it the Purple Death. It hits without warning and turns everything it touches to ice. I’d be dead before I took two steps.”
“Does that mean—?”
“It means we’re trapped. We can’t walk through the cave and we can’t leave it. We’ll have to wait out the storm and then climb to the top of the mountain. I’m pretty sure Langley hasn’t set up his headquarters in the Cave of Shadows—the Shadow Warriors would have informed the Fianna—but there’s a series of caves on the other side of Slieve Binnian. My guess is that’s where he is.”
Hot tears burn a path down my cheeks. “We’re not going to make it on time, are we?”
“No. I’m so sorry, Lia.”
The despair in his voice slices through my frayed nerves and dissolves the last of my fading hope. I sag against him, sobbing. He puts his arm around me and hugs me tight. I don’t know how long we stand there, shivering in the pervasive draft.
Eventually, Seth strokes my hair back from my tear-stained face and kisses my nose. “Let’s get back to the cavern. As long as we don’t touch the carvings, we’ll be safe. I’ll set up camp and prepare soup to warm us up.”
The idea of food makes me queasy, but I let him guide me back to the cavern and seat me on a warm rug. While Seth prepares a fire, I sit on the floor, cross-legged, staring into space and absently stroking Mamo’s wiry fur. The animal is soon snoring but I’m too numb to think straight. My emotions consume me, eating away at my insides like corrosive acid. This situation is my fault. If only I hadn’t touched that damn symbol…I swallow past the pain in my throat and focus on Seth. “How do you think he’ll do it? Kill her, I mean.”
Seth looks up from the flames. “Lia…”
“Do you think he’ll be gentle? Do you—”
He closes the space between us and drowns my morbid thoughts with a kiss. His lips are warm and supple and I let him run his hands down my sides and over my hips. Despite the heat of the fire, I’m ice cold from the elements and the shock. Seth draws me into his embrace and deepens the kiss.
This is the absolute last moment I should want to have sex with him. I’ve just fucked up the only chance we had of reaching Ash before the deadline, and thus as good as signed my daughter’s death warrant. My emotions are a churning quagmire, and I haven’t felt this broken since I began my detox program seven years ago.
Seth breaks the kiss and puts his arms around my shoulders. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
I rub my sore eyes. “So you finally believe I’m telling the truth about Ash and Adrian?”
“You’re a terrible actress, Lia. You’re not faking being upset. I figured your anger earlier was genuine, but you have many reasons to be mad at me.”
“I wish I was faking,” I say and my voice breaks on a sob. “I wish this whole situation were a lie. But it’s not. It’s real. And it’s my fault.”
His jaw tightens. “It’s Langley’s fault, not yours. Yeah, you should have told me you were pregnant with my child, but everything that happened over the last couple of days is on him.”
I run a fingertip over his jawline, relishing in the roughness of his unshaven skin. “I want you to make love to me.”
His eyes cloud with desire. “Lia,” he murmurs, “you’re feeling vulnerable. I can’t—”
“Shh.” I put my index finger to his lips. “I know exactly what I’m doing. I want you and I think you want me, too.”
“And how.” He places a palm at the back of my neck and lowers his mouth to mine. The kiss is soft and tender and might just prove my undoing.
I pull him on top of me until we’re in the position we were in the night the bomb blew up Voltage.
“I wanted you then, too,” he says, correctly interpreting my thoughts. “Until my head cleared and I realized we needed to get the fuck out of there.”
“And to think we’d love to get the fuck out of this cave but can’t.” My laugh comes out as hiccup.
“Lia, no.”
He smothers my bleak thoughts in kisses. My mind resists for a moment, but my body takes charge. I’ve hardly led a chaste life since I broke up with Seth, but most of my encounters were perfunctory one-night stands with men I picked up in bars. Both parties knew what to expect from the arrangement: a quick fuck with no expectations of a repeat performance. From what I’ve heard on the grapevine, Seth doesn’t do strings, either. Which is why his tenderness now surprises me. He’s touching me like I’m a precious object and we
haven’t even gotten naked.
I run my hands through his military short hair, carving shapes in its spikes. I trail my fingers over his back, massaging the muscles beneath his sweatshirt. When I reach his backside, I pinch one of his buttocks, making him growl.
He tugs at the hem of my top. “Off. I want you naked.”
“We’ll freeze,” I say, but he only laughs.
“It’s my job to warm you up.”
I grip both my T-shirt and sweatshirt and tug them over my head.
Seth sucks in a breath.
“Bowled over by the sight of my super sexy thermal bra?” I tease.
“Oh, yeah,” he replies in total sincerity. “I’m more used to girls who wear electricmail. This is hot.”
“Electricmail?” I squeak. “The women of the Fianna go in for that shit?
I’ve heard of the trend for underwear made out of electrified chainmail but I have never felt any desire to acquire some—even assuming I could afford to pay the hefty price tag.
“They do.” He runs a finger under the clasp of my bra and unhooks it. “But I prefer your underwear.”
I help him remove my bra and lie back, topless and breathing hard.
“Beautiful,” he whispers and caresses my nipples. They pebble under his touch and I suck in a breath.
“Your turn,” I say, tugging at his top.
He laughs but obliges me by removing his sweatshirt. Underneath, his chest is a hard mass of muscle. I slide my palms over his torso, pausing to feel the indent of his navel, and examining the dragon triskelion tattooed on his right bicep. It symbolizes everything I hate and yet it looks beautiful on him. I touch the head of the dragon and my eyes meet Seth’s.
“There’s more to me than this tattoo and what it represents, but they’re both part of who I am.”
“I know,” I whisper, “and right now, I don’t care. You’re a good man and I trust you to make the right decisions when the time comes.”
My hand slips between us and locates the zipper of his pants. I slide it over his erection, smiling when I hear his sharp intake of breath. Seconds later, my fingers are sliding down the silky smooth skin of his shaft.
Flight of Dragons Page 40
