Dark Descent (2 page)

He was seeing in color. After hundreds of years of a bleak, gray existence, living in a world without color or emotion, there she was. The other half of his soul. Staring down at him with curious eyes and an amused grin. There was blood on her shoulder and bruises on her face, a tear in the gown she wore.

“You seem a bit overdressed for a cave,” he pointed out.

She shrugged, her laughter soft and inviting. “Yes, well, a lady likes to know she looks her best when the cave crickets come calling.”

“You are hurt, too.”

“A small bit of trouble with some unpleasant fellows. What about you? And do you often go swimming in the mud with a gaping hole in your shoulder? You have heard of infection and gangrene, haven’t you?”

“How good of you to notice. A small run-in with a group of unsavory ruffians. I was uncharacteristically slow.”

“You have an incredibly sexy accent. Do women fall all over you just at the sound of your voice?” She was very good at placing people by their accents, but his was different; there was a rich turn to his words. As dreams went, this was a fun one.

“I have not noticed such a phenomenon, but I will watch for it in the future.”

“Nice cave. I love caves. This one looks like a wonderful place to explore.”

“I do not believe it has been discovered yet,” he replied pleasantly. Peace seeped into his body. His soul. Genuine laughter found its way into his heart.

“Really? You just sort of stumbled in blindfolded, did you? An interesting way to explore caves. Where am I? I’d like to come back here.”

It was his turn to arch his eyebrow. “You floated through the air blindfolded?”

She grinned at him. “I do that sometimes when I don’t want to be wherever I am. A bad habit.”

Her form shimmered and her smile faded. “They’re doing something nasty to me, I can’t hold the projection.”

He sat up, bit back a groan as the embers beneath his skin burned fiercely. “Do not go yet.”

“I’m sorry.” She looked down at her arm, looked back at him, tears swimming in her eyes. “They’re cleaning my wound. It hurts like a bear.”

And then she was gone. Just that fast. Vanishing without a trace. He sat there alone in the dark of the cave, astonished at how life could change in the blink of an eye. She was real. Her psychic abilities were strong. He had shared her space, shared her mind, and the path was imprinted on his brain. She would not escape him.

Traian lay back and waved his hand to close the soil over him, stilling his heart, his breath, allowing the song of the earth to send him into a deep, healing sleep.

Chapter Two

“You’re losing it, Joie, there’s nothing here.” Gabrielle Sanders sank gracefully to the ground and drew up her knees as she regarded her sister with cool gray eyes. “Stop making yourself crazy and enjoy the view. It’s breathtaking up here. You’ve been in a frenzy for hours now.” Tipping her head back, she stared up at the sky. “We’ve been climbing forever. If you were going to find anything, you would have done so by now.”

“I’m not losing my mind, Gabrielle,” Joie insisted. “I’ve already lost it.”

There was a sudden silence. The wind paused. A hawk screamed as it missed its prey. Gabrielle exchanged a long look with her brother, Jubal. They both stared at their younger sister. She seemed focused entirely on the rock surface she was studying. “Well, that’s a relief,” Gabrielle replied, laughing. “All this time I thought I was the abnormal one.”

Joie let her breath out slowly. She knew she was acting crazy, almost out of control. What was she going to tell Gabrielle and Jubal? That she really had lost her mind some weeks ago and this was a last-ditch effort to hold on to her sanity? That she wasn’t joking, and she belonged locked up somewhere on heavy medication?

What are you doing?
The voice came out of nowhere, unexpectedly as it always did, catching her by surprise. Masculine. Sometimes amused. Sometimes teasing. Always alluring. She tried not to hear it. Tried not to respond. But she could never help herself. She always talked to him. Laughed with him. Wanted him. In spite of the beauty of his voice, this time he sounded infinitely weary, strained, as if he were in pain.

“Come on, I’m so close to the entrance I should be able to see it. Jubal,” Joie appealed to her brother, “you know I’m right. I’m always right. There’s a network of caves, most of them unexplored, and we’re right on top of it.” Joie was certain she’d already begun her descent into madness. She’d rather be with that voice in her head than with any real person in the world. She lived to hear that voice. She thought about him day and night, was consumed by him. Joie lifted her chin.
I’m proving you don’t exist so I can get over you. I have a list of would-be lovers a mile long, and I’d like to have a little fun for a change.

Now is not the time. Get out of here. It is dangerous.

Of course you would say that. You don’t want me to know you aren’t real. Look, honey, it’s been fun, but we have to break up. I can’t have a mythical lover, even if you’re an awesome lover in my dreams. A girl wants to have the real thing once in a while. It isn’t like I can introduce you to my family. Hey, guys, this is my invisible pal, Traian. He has a name like a locomotive, but that’s my fantastic imagination.

Traian is a very old and respected name. Go away from here, Joie. I will not comment on your name, as it would be considered extremely rude.

Comment away, ‘Traian. You’re not real and neither is this conversation, so insult me all you want.

“You’re always looking down when you should be looking up, Joie,” Gabrielle said with a sigh. “If you reach straight up, you might be able to catch a cloud. Have you even noticed the flowers? They’re gorgeous. I wish I knew what they were called. For once in your life, think of something besides caves.” She waved her arms to encompass the countryside. “This is Dracula country. If you’d forget your obsession with caves, we might be able to explore the old castles for a change.”

The flowers that are pink with a yellow middle are called Tratina. The white daisies are Marguarete. I cannot remember offhand what the blue ones are called, but it will come to me.

Are you eavesdropping on our conversation?

You are thinking loudly. And denying my existence, which seems to be a habit of yours lately.

Joie gave a little sniff. He was a figment of her imagination and he knew the names of the flowers. “Gabrielle, the pink ones are Tratina, and the white daisies are Marguarete. I have no idea what the blue ones are called.”

“You’re a walking encyclopedia,” Gabrielle said, impressed.

Jubal stared at the wild countryside surrounding them, on either side and below. There were many deep gorges and several caves. Green valleys and plateaus made the view breathtaking. Below them, in the heavier depressions, water had soaked the ground, causing peat bogs. There were vivid green beds of moss and numerous shallow ponds winding their way around stands of birch and pine. It was magical, and yet Jubal was uneasy. The air was crisp and cold and the sky seemed clear, yet a strange mist covered the surfaces above them. At times he thought something moved in the mist, something alive and terrifying.

“Joie, give it up and let’s get out of here,” he said. “This place feels haunted to me. I don’t like the vibes.”

Gabrielle turned her head. “Really?” She arched a winged brow at him. “That’s strange, Jubal, I feel the same way. Like we shouldn’t be here, or that we’re intruding in some way. Do you suppose it’s all the vampire stories we were listening to at the inn last night? Normally, creepy stories are amusing, but I definitely feel apprehensive.” She raised her voice. “What about you, Joie? Does this place give you the creeps?”

“We came here to explore the caves,” Joie said firmly. “We’re always very respectful when we go spelunking, so there’s no reason to be nervous. I know the opening is here; I’m so close to it.” She walked carefully around an outcropping of the mountain, stepping over her brother’s outstretched legs without even glancing at him. “The entrance is here, I know it is,” she muttered.

The others feel the threat of the vampires. You must go, Joie.

Oh, now you’re going to tell me you believe in vampires. I just picked up that thought from Gabrielle. You aren’t real, so be quiet and stop trying to frighten me away. I’m not leaving until I know for certain.

You already know; you just cannot admit the truth. I am trapped and will not be able to rescue you should you come upon them.

“Rescue me?” Joie nearly shouted the words, her dark eyes flashing with indignation. She turned her head to smile in reassurance at her brother and sister.

Gabrielle and Jubal exchanged a long, amused glance, used to Joie and her ramblings when she was on the scent of a new cave. Few people were as adept as their sister at discovering magical worlds below the surface.

Rescue me?
She hissed it into his mind.
You can just bite me, Traian. Do you have any idea how annoying it is for someone like me to be treated like a ditzy little woman who can’t fend for herself?

I would not mind biting you.
This time his voice purred with sexual innuendo.
But another time would be better.

Joie shivered in spite of herself, yet heat curled deep inside her.
If you keep this up, my brother and sister are going to figure out I’m crazy and have me committed. Then where will you be?
Strands of dark hair blew across her face, hiding her expression from her siblings.
And just for your information, Sir Galahad, I am not the ‘in need of rescue’ type, so get over that one fast. Sheesh. First it’s vampires and now it’s rescuing. Will you just be quiet and let me figure this out? I don’t suppose you want to tell me, give me a hint or two, if you’re really down there and know where the opening is.

Jubal leaned back in the tall grass with his hands behind his head, studying the cloud formations. He didn’t want to look at the unusual tendrils of mist that seemed to wind around Joie’s legs as she walked carefully around the outcropping. “You’re like a hound dog on the scent of a criminal, Joie,” he said. “You would have made a great detective.”

“She would have,” Gabrielle agreed with a little grin. She concentrated on the bright blue flowers with their symmetric petals. The beautiful masses of flowers were unusual, yet something sinister seemed to lie beneath the ground, just inches from the soft petals, an obscene, malicious presence. Staring at the flowers, Gabrielle swore the ground rose up an inch or so as if something were tunneling beneath it. The wind rushed over the mountainside. She sat up quickly, blinking rapidly.

“What is it?” Jubal asked.

“I don’t know. For a moment I thought I saw something moving beneath the soil. This place gives me the creeps.”

“Joie, come on. We’re getting out of here,” Jubal decided, reaching a long arm to gather their gear. “The sun will be down in a couple of hours anyway.”

Joie examined every inch of the outcropping and the niche on either side. The rock was grown over with scrub and grasses. Wildflowers lifted their bright heads toward the sun. Joie narrowed her gaze and stepped up as close as possible, focusing completely on the jutting surface and every crack and shadow. “I’ve never felt so driven in my life. I don’t think I can leave without finding it,” she admitted honestly. “I’m sorry—if you two want to take off, go ahead. I’ll come along as soon as I can.”

Jubal and Gabrielle exchanged a long, knowing look. “Sure thing, sis, we’ll just leave you up here all by yourself. Knowing you, you’d disappear into a cave and mate with a troll,” Gabrielle said.

“Ha ha,” Joie answered.

“What’s the name of this mountain range?” Jubal asked idly, but his gaze was on Joie as she scanned the rock surface. “The bogs are even beautiful. If it wasn’t so freaky up here, I could live in this area.” When Gabrielle arched a black eyebrow at him, he laughed. “I could. I don’t need to live in a city. I’ve got the same genes as the two of you. I just like to have money, you know. I need it for the two of you, to bail you out of all the trouble you get into.”

“You idiot,” Joie said affectionately, although she didn’t look at him. “You have enough money to retire from that silly job of yours and do something useful with your life. Something
humanitarian.
There’s a small crack running the length of the rock here. There’s something funny about this, Jubal, Come look at it. It just isn’t right the way it is.”

“My
humanitarian
contribution to the world is looking after you two thrill seekers,” Jubal pointed out as he got lazily to his feet. “Without me to curb your antics, the world would be a frightening place.” He looked up at the strange, moving mist. “Rather like this place.” He sauntered slowly over to examine the surface of the outcrop.

“We’re in the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Carpathians, you heathen,” Gabrielle informed her brother. “If you paid even the slightest attention to anything we said, you’d know that. And you could no more give up your luxury condo and live in the mountains than you could swim the English Channel. And, I might add,
we
take care of
you.”

“Hey! I can swim,” Jubal objected. He ran his hand over the rocks, frowning as he did so. “Just because I don’t like to swim doesn’t mean I can’t. I wasn’t born with gills like the two of you. She’s found something, Gabrielle. This is a pattern, but it needs to be...” He trailed off, dug his fingers around several of the smaller rocks, and began to rearrange them.