Chains of Darkness (29 page)

No, she needed to face the hard truth that Zoey was dead. “When you’re ready, Claire, I’ll take you home. Just say the word.”

She frowned as she met his gaze. “I won’t leave yet, Lucian, not until we’ve found the weapon.”

He seemed genuinely surprised. “No, you only needed to stay long enough to find out what happened to Zoey, and now that you have, you can go home, which is where I know you want to be. I can keep hunting for the weapon, or I can find some other means of trapping Daniel and ending his reign of terror.” He rose to his feet, mug in hand. “But you don’t need to stay. In fact, I wish you wouldn’t. I’m living with enough guilt as it is that you were hurt last night.”

Claire leaned back against the pillows once more. Lucian looked worried, and she could feel the level of his distress through the chains. “I survived just fine.”

“Yes. You did. But there’s no reason why you have to keep being thrown in harm’s way. You’ve helped me so much, but you’ve done enough. I think we should get your chain off and get you home.”

She could feel that he’d made his decision, and the truth was that without Zoey alive, she didn’t have a reason to stay. Not a real one. Just a powerful, absurd desire to stick close to a vampire.

She nodded. “You’re right. I should be going.” But her throat constricted all over again.

She looked anywhere but at Lucian. She didn’t want him to know exactly why she was feeling this way.

Her gaze fell on her iPhone. She picked it up. Setting her mug on the end table, she opened up the video from the hidden cavern and let it play.

The distraction helped the tightness in her throat to ease up, then the video caught her attention. “Lucian, look at this pattern on the stone floor in the cavern.”

He approached her side of the bed. She handed her phone to him while keeping the sheet pressed against her chest. She wished she at least had a shirt to put on.

As Lucian watched the video, he moved to a nearby chair, turned, and handed her a black T-shirt. One of his. He must have felt her need; the chains were amazing. And Lucian was thoughtful. The man really didn’t understand who he was.

She held the shirt in her hands, and since he’d once more turned away from her, maybe to give her a little privacy, she pressed it to her nose. The fabric held his smell, a deep, rich scent that she’d come to associate with him and especially with sex.

Her body trembled head-to-foot with a sudden, overwhelming wash of pure desire.

He whirled toward her and stared at her. “You sure you want to go there?” But he smiled.

She shook her head and held the shirt up. “You have a scent that gets to me every time, and it’s in your shirt. But thank you for this.”

“Okay, but as you told me during the photo shoot, if you could dial it down a little, it would help.”

She remembered. “I will.” She unfurled the T-shirt, then slid it over her head, not caring that the sheet dropped to her waist first and she’d therefore just flashed him. The chains at her throat vibrated once more, this time as his desire prickled her skin. But he said nothing as he continued to watch the video.

She swam in the T-shirt, but she loved it. She even thought that if she was very smart, she’d take it home with her to Santa Fe.

Glancing at the iPhone still in his hand, she dipped her chin. “What do you make of that? The pattern on the floor.”

He slid his finger over the front of the phone, backing up the video, and played the floor portion once more. “It’s a very old pattern.”

She glanced at her cup, at the four diamonds. “All except one, which has the same pattern but turned sideways so that it looks like four diamonds, like this.” She gestured to the mug on the bedside table, turning it slightly in his direction so he could see the pattern better.

He narrowed his gaze and focused on the video once more. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“What is it?” She picked up her cup. “Did this mug come from someplace in particular?”

“A collection of four volcanic islands in the Pacific, owned by a consortium and protected by an intricate Ancestral disguise. On one of the islands is the Four Diamond Casino Resort.”

“And you think the weapon is there?”

He ran the video again. “Not at the casino, exactly. I think whoever chose to put the weapon in this location chose extremely well.” He brought the phone close. “Do you see how the diamond in the upper-right quadrant is larger?”

“Sure?”

“That’s the largest island in the northeast. It has a very active volcano as well as a cavern system that was used at one time as a penal colony for our kind, designed for torture.”

“Let me guess. Your father ran it.”

Lucian drew in a deep breath. “Worse. My grandfather.”

She sank back against the pillows. “Oh, Lucian, no. Please don’t tell me there are two of them, father and son.”

He shook his head. “No, not anymore. Grandpa suffered a terrible accident at the penal colony, going headfirst into the volcano.”

“Let me guess. Your father happened to be visiting.”

“Bingo. However, I would have to say on that particular day, my father did a service to our world.”

“That would only be true if he’d jumped in after.”

Lucian chuckled. “Way too much to have hoped for.”

She slid from bed to stand next to him. From her bare feet, he was even taller. She took the phone and looked at the picture of the diamonds again. “Okay, so when do we go?”

“You’re not going, remember?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Do you want to get this weapon, or not?”

“I don’t understand. What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that if we just figured it out, there’s a good chance Daniel will, too, if he hasn’t already, and we ought to move fast.”

His jaw tightened. “I’m going to take you home first.”

“But didn’t you just say this whole section of your world exists under a heavy disguise? Then you’ll probably need me. Whoever it was that created the layered disguises in the Siberian cavern must have done the same here, at the Four Diamonds system, right?”

Lucian ground his teeth. “Oh, shit, you’re probably right.”

“Then you’ll need me. Besides, together we have a magnified tracking ability. Even if it’s not really strong, it might be enough to get a fix on the weapon. I’m sure a facility like this would have been huge in its day.”

“It was. I was only there once, but it covered several miles of caverns underground.”

She turned into him and grabbed the front of his pajama bottoms, at the waist, and gave a tug. “Then you do need me.”

His lips parted as he stared down at her. She felt the chain at her neck vibrate again. Once more, she felt his desire for her, which sharpened her own. Between the T-shirt she wore and his really thin PJ bottoms, too little fabric separated them.

“You should get dressed.” His voice was hoarse.

She nodded then sighed. “What I’d really like is a shower, but my guess is that I don’t have anything to wear. My clothes must have been a mess.”

“They were, but I had Rumy send over your things from The Erotic Passage. I’ll get them.” She still hadn’t let go of his bottoms, and he hadn’t even blinked or moved. “Damn, Claire, I was so worried.”

She tossed the phone on the bed, and he caught her up in his arms, kissing her hard, his tongue deep in her mouth.

Lucian.

She kissed him back.

You feel so good in my arms.

Back atcha.
She loved telepathy while kissing. But when his hands slid down to cup her bare ass, she drew back and huffed a breath.
Maybe we’d better set this aside for now.

The left side of his mouth curved, and he looked so adorable. Imagine a monster-of-a-vampire looking adorable? She put a big smacking kiss on his lips.

“I’m getting in the shower now, and you can go find my clothes.”

He nodded and left the room.

Within twenty minutes, Claire was dressed, and though her hair was half damp she pronounced herself ready to head to the Four Diamonds.

*   *   *

Lucian held Claire next to him, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, but not because he needed to anymore. She shared enough power with him right now that linking pinkie fingers would have sufficed. But it felt damn good to hold her close, and the knowledge that his time with her was about up made him take the trip to Four Diamonds slower than maybe he should have.

She didn’t seem to mind. She must have been on the same page, because she nuzzled his throat and sighed heavily about half a dozen times.

Soon enough he arrived at their destination high above the four islands. The smoky disguise came into view so he slowed to a crawl to get a good look. Though he had no problem seeing the disguise, he couldn’t see through it. Claire’s comment told him all he needed to know about her powers.

The islands are beautiful, and they form what looks like a lake between them.

You can see through the disguise then.

And you can’t?

No, but then the consortium that owns the casino designed it this way, to have control over who entered and left their system, timing, everything. But they definitely had Ancestral help to set this up. Anyone arriving to enjoy the casino would have to contact their communication center. Okay, guide us in.

Just stay on this trajectory. You’re about a thousand feet out, but the disguise isn’t deep—maybe fifty feet, no more.

He trusted her and shot through the gray veil, using regular flight. Two seconds later there they were, all four islands.

The largest island, in the northwest, billowed volcanic smoke. He approached from the south. It was daylight in this part of the world.
We may have to wait, if the weapon is where I think it is.

What do you mean?

A section of the penal colony that will be a bitch to navigate.

He slowed his flight to approach the large cavern entrance, then dropped them just outside, where the mountainside created a long patch of shade. Even then, the shade helped only a little bit; his skin felt like it was on fire.

“Lucian, doesn’t this hurt? The sun’s out.”

“Like hell, but I didn’t want to just fly straight in without checking it out first.”

“Good thinking, because who knows what’s inside.”

“Exactly.”

He drew her close. Claire stepped off his foot. He set all his senses on alert to the presence of any other vampires, but nothing came back.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re alone.”

“Oh, thank God.” Claire nodded, but slipped her hand in his. “I’m not liking this place at all given its history.” She shuddered. “So which way do we go? Down?”

“My guess is that we’ll find the weapon in the worst possible place, but let’s give our combined tracking ability a try.”

She glanced up at him. “What do I do?”

“Just focus.”

“On what in particular?”

He waved an arm to encompass what would be the high, northeastern portion of the island, near the volcano. “There’s a series of caves up there, open at dozens of places to the sky above. Those openings were part of the torture process—the prisoners would be exposed to sunlight, pinned there to the point of death. They’d be hauled back to their cells, though often too late to be saved. Think being burned by a welding torch.”

Claire shivered. “Got it. You’d have to be a sadist to work here.”

“Pretty much. This same stretch, which goes on for half a mile and covers a portion of the base of the volcano, also draws near a lava flow so the heat can become unbearable. And as I recall, electrical grids could be tripped anywhere along the way to give a hefty jolt or two. It was said that as many vampires died by torture as by execution.”

“A few days ago, I would have said that made no sense, but then I met Daniel. He strikes me as the kind of man who never really needs a reason to kill. If he has to invent one, his imagination is fertile enough for that.”

“You’re exactly right.” He glanced at her. “Okay, try focusing on the weapon now, and think
northeast.
”

He felt the chains at his neck vibrate softly, the response weak. He supported her as best he could, but nothing much happened. However, Claire stayed with it, which might have just been what defined her best, and after about a minute, her voice moved through his mind.
I’m getting an end point. It’s growing stronger. I can see it now. A large metal piece of equipment similar to the one Daniel showed us at The Erotic Passage. Can you picture it?

Yes.
A jolt of adrenaline went through him, firing up the muscles of his thighs and arms, because right now he could see the same image within his own mind.

“We found it, didn’t we?”