Chains of Darkness (Men in Chains 2)
Page 15He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “Sorry, I have a short fuse.”
“You’re allowed.”
He glanced at her. Once more the woman had surprised him. “I’m allowed?”
“Lucian, you’ve been in hell for over a year. If the least negative response you exhibit is a certain level of impatience, I’m impressed beyond words.”
Rumy punched his arm and smiled. “She sees you like I do. You’ve never given yourself enough credit.”
Lucian thought they’d both lost their minds. He knew what he was. He lived with Daniel’s genes always threatening to take him over and to destroy the good he tried to do in his world. In part, he blamed Daniel’s Ancestral genetics for making him the man he was. Daniel had taken all that power and turned it into something evil.
If Lucian ever embraced his Ancestral calling—and he knew he had it within him—what would keep him from becoming just like his father? That much power would tempt anyone.
“All right, fine, think of me as you will, but let’s get back to figuring out this damn tracking thing.”
“Fair enough.”
* * *
Once more Lucian took her hands as Claire closed her eyes. She relaxed as much as she could, focusing on the extinction weapon. She had no visual representation for the weapon, so she kept her thoughts trained on what it could do, its potential for annihilation.
As before, an image would arrive at the periphery of her consciousness, trying to break through, then fade away. She centered her mind more carefully on that image. She felt Lucian’s power flowing through her now, a sensation she was gradually getting used to. She tapped into that power.
Finally, the image began to take shape, in bits and pieces, sitting in a rough-looking cavern, smallish in size. In the center was a large gray metallic box with vents on the side. Without opening her eyes, she relayed what she saw.
“Got it.” But the edges beyond the weapon were wavy, as though the rest of the space was hidden behind a disguise. “Wait. Something’s not right here. I think there’s a disguising shield in place.” She opened her eyes and met Lucian’s gaze. “Is it possible Daniel is behind this?”
Lucian shrugged, frowning. “I don’t know.” He turned to Rumy. “Daniel could be here, couldn’t he, without your security system knowing it?”
“In some of the more remote regions of the Como system, yes, of course. There are a lot of miles that I haven’t explored. Don’t really need to.”
Lucian frowned. “So this could be some kind of trap.”
Claire nodded. “It doesn’t feel right to me at all.”
“We’ll go with your instincts, and cruise the area first to get a good look at the object and the cave. I think we’ll know more then.”
Claire gulped. “You’re talking altered flight.”
“I know, but I can take it slow. We won’t be exposed like we were earlier in the open air. Mostly we’ll be traveling through solid rock and not in a location where other vampires in flight could see us.”
She supposed his words were reasonable, but her previous headache still lingered, though not nearly as severe as it had been when she’d first arrived. “Okay.”
His lips curved. “You sound doubtful.”
She rubbed her temple. “What else would you expect?”
“Point taken.” He glanced first at his bare feet, then hers.
Lucian laughed. “Shoe up?”
She shrugged. “It made you laugh, didn’t it?”
His expression held for a moment. “Yeah, it did. I can’t remember doing that in a long time. All right, Claire, let’s shoe up.”
Once she had her socks and jogging shoes on and he’d donned some serious steel-toed boots, he held his arm wide for her. As his arm tightened around her waist, she stepped onto his right foot. To feel secure, she slid her arm around his neck, but the sudden physical proximity brought another wave of desire flowing through her.
She became aware of just how male he was, and how much his scent appealed to her. She swallowed hard and focused once more on the task at hand. Knowing they’d be in flight, she switched to telepathy. So how do we do this? I mean, what do I do?
Just stay centered on the image and I think you’ll be able to direct me. His rich voice pierced her mind, adding another layer of sensation, which she worked to suppress. Rumy had warned her that the chain-bond would enhance all her responses to Lucian, but she hadn’t thought she’d be so drawn to him.
She closed her eyes. This time the image came to her quickly, a metallic-looking box, sitting on the floor of a rough-looking cavern. Got it.
Now concentrate on finding a path from this point to there.
After a long moment, she suddenly knew where to start. There’s a tunnel straight ahead.
And just like that, he put them in flight. He took it slow, which helped her headache problem. However, when the first solid wall of rock came at her, she screamed.
He slowed to a stop in a cavern tunnel. Close your eyes. You should be able to direct me without having to look.
Really?
Happily.
She closed her eyes and much to her relief, the pathway seemed written on her mind. She continued to direct him down one tunnel after another, a trip that took a long time. We’re covering miles, aren’t we?
Yes, we are.
Finally they drew close to the end point. Claire, I want you to wrap us up in your best disguise. Can you do that?
Absolutely.
Claire didn’t hesitate. She focused on building the preternatural shield that still hardly made sense to her. But she was definitely growing more comfortable with the process.
Well done, he murmured. I can feel the strength of it. So how much farther?
Actually, we’re here. The machine is just beyond this wall of rock.
Lucian made a slow pass through the small cavern. There it is, but I don’t see anything else. Do you still detect a disguise?
A very powerful one. I feel like I could see through it if we dropped out of altered flight.
I’m not going to take that chance.
The next moment Daniel emerged from behind what was indeed a serious disguise. He wore a black leather jacket and tailored slacks, a silk shirt—more of his casual look, she supposed.