Vicious barking drew three pairs of eyes toward the mine’s entrance. The hel hounds growled and spit and voiced their disapproval, but never once did they attempt to come into the mine. There was something about the dark interior that kept them at bay. At that moment, I didn’t care what it was. I was simply thankful for it.
Again, thoughts of God and angels and destiny drifted through my mind, but this time I was so consumed with Bo and the hel hounds, I gave them little thought other than to acknowledge the intense feeling of gratitude that flooded me.
Of course, Annika and Lucius were the first to recover.
“In al ma years, I’ve ne’er seen anathin’ like it,” Lucius said, his brogue thick in his awe. He stood and brushed the dust from his bare chest and shoulders. “The question is, lasses, how the devil are we goin’ ta get outta here?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What about Bo?” I asked, reaching out to gently brush a strand of hair from Bo’s scorched cheek.
“He should heal fairly quickly,” Lucius said as he walked to the mouth of the mine, inciting more vicious growls from the hounds.
Even as Lucius spoke, I could see the charred tissue around Bo’s left eye, the more burned of the two, beginning to give way to healthy pink skin. Our situation was stil too precarious for me to relax very much into the relief that I felt over his progress. We were in serious trouble and we al knew it.
“Why can’t they come into this mine?”
It was Annika who asked this question, but I looked to Lucius for an answer as wel .
Lucius paced to the dirt wal of the tube and dragged his fingers along it, bits of dirt and dust flaking off and fal ing silently to the mine floor. He sniffed his fingers and then leaned in to get a better look at the mineral composition of the shaft. Straightening, he sniffed his fingers once more and then touched the tip of his tongue to them.
“This is a salt mine,” he announced.
Annika glanced back at me and we both shrugged, neither of us having any idea why that would make a difference. Lucius must’ve figured that out that we were lost when neither of us spoke.
“Hel hounds can’t pass over a salt line. The mouth of the mine must stil have enough salt in the dirt to keep them out.”
“But why salt?”
Lucius shrugged.
“I don’t know. Something about the purity of the mineral, of the rock salt.”
“I guess that means Devon is here. I mean, why else would those things be guarding this mine?”
“No reason I can think of,” Lucius replied.
“My question is this: why would Sebastian put him in a mine like this?”
“Maybe he was afraid something would be able to get to him elsewhere.”
I looked down at Bo. His eyes were closed, but I could see his color improving, lightening from sooty to his normal pale pink. Despite the fact that he was on the mend, I stil didn’t want to leave him to go search the mine.
“Would you two mind walking a little farther in to see if you can locate Devon?”
They both agreed quickly. Obviously they didn’t mind being in each other’s company, which made me believe that if Annika was trying to make Bo jealous, it wasn’t her sole reason for being so attentive to Lucius. But, real y, who could blame her? It was Lucius after al . What’s not to like?
As they strol ed off into the inky blackness of the mine shaft, I turned my attention briefly to the hounds pacing at the boarded entrance and then back to Bo.
His eyes were open and he was watching me. One corner of his mouth lifted and he spoke in a dry, raspy voice.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said, reaching up to brush my cheek with his fingertips. My heart melted right inside my chest.
“Hi, handsome,” I responded, returning his grin. Looking into his healing face, hearing his familiar voice, feeling his incredible touch, I felt like al was right with the world and that we could take on anything, any one, and win. As long as Bo was near, no odds seemed too high to overcome.
“I’m sorry about al this,” he said, regret and the heaviness of responsibility shining in his eyes.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is. If I had stayed away from you, none—”
“I’d be miserable,” I interrupted quickly. “I wouldn’t trade you and the time we’ve spent together for anything.
Anything! Do you hear me?” I was adamant and I wanted to make sure he got the point.
Bo grinned.
“Me neither. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I would never tire of hearing him say things like that.
“I think we happened to each other.”
Bo opened his mouth to say something, but then snapped it shut as if he thought better of it.
“What?” I prompted.
“Nothing. I…” He trailed off, obviously having changed his mind about tel ing me. Unfortunately, that just made me al the more curious to know what it was.
“What, Bo? Tel me.”
He raised himself into a sitting position, bringing his face within an inch of mine. Even beneath the smoky odor of fire that clung to his hair and clothes, I could smel his clean, citrusy scent and it made my abdominals tighten in response.
Bo searched my eyes as he deliberated tel ing me. He was so close I could see the golden flecks that made the near-black of his eyes look so warm and chocolaty. His were the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen.
“I’ve been having dreams for a while now, more than just the one about the orphanage,” he confessed, holding my gaze.
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. The dream about the orphanage is when I’d first heard him say Annika’s name. Bo having other dreams couldn’t possibly be a good thing.
“How long has this been going on?”
“On and off for as long as I can remember, which is what?
A little over three years?”
I nodded, saying nothing as I wil ed panic away.
“At first I thought they were just dreams. Mostly anyway.
That’s why I wasn’t completely honest with you when I told you about the night I saw you, the night you and your sister wrecked.”
I hesitated. “What do you mean?”
“Wel , when I saw you that night, I think I’d seen you before. Several times in fact.”
“When? Where?”
“I think I’ve been dreaming about you on and off al my life.”
My chest swel ed with pleasure and relief at his words.
“Real y?”