My heart thumped, and I was overcome with curiosity. Before I could ask for more details, Kael started scaling the rock like a professional climber. Maybe he’d just been trying to distract me so he could go up ahead of me.
I followed after him and tried to put my hands and feet where he had, but he was taller and sometimes I had to compensate. Kael was patient, and a couple of times he reached down to give me a hand. I wished there were birds calling, or insects, anything that would help mask the sound of our breathing and scuffing of boots on rock, but there wasn’t. It was still eerily quiet, and I was certain we would be discovered at any moment. We only had a few feet to go before we reached the top. The sky above was a dull bluish-gray, as if it might rain. Kael stretched up to peek over the edge, then quickly ducked back down. He pointed. I rose up on my toes to have a look.
There was a young man standing guard at the top. He was leaning on a spear, and though he looked bored, I knew he could spring into action any second. I ducked back down and flattened against the rock to try to keep from being seen.
Kael made a hushed noise, and I turned to him. He wiggled his fingers at me.
What? I mouthed.
He jerked his head toward the spot where the young man stood. What did he want from me? Kael rolled his eyes. Then, his lips formed the word magic.
My breath faltered. He wanted me to use my magic to take down the guard. I clenched my teeth. I wasn’t ready to release my magic yet, and certainly not on a boy who looked to be eighteen at best. Biting my lip, I shook my head.
A muscle ticked in Kael’s jaw, and he bared his teeth in a quit fooling around and hurry up way.
I nodded. Kael was right. I had to do it. I could use my magic to subdue him, maybe just knock him out or something.
Just as my fingertips started to prickle with energy, I heard a commotion. The scuffle of footsteps sounded above, and I pressed my cheek against the rock, closing my eyes. I expected shouts of alarm, but then the footsteps faded.
I risked a peek.
The guard was gone.
I groaned as I looked over at Kael. “I’ll bet my life Vehrin has arrived.”
“Our lives are exactly what we’re betting.” He pulled himself up over the ledge and reached down for me. “Come on.”
We crouched together on top of the rock. There were trees around us that made it impossible to see below.
“Let’s hope the key is on the altar, and not around the chief’s neck.”
Kael and I started to make our way down the rock and toward the dwellings. We were in a race against time. If the chief had the key, it was likely too late. If it was on the altar, we may be able to get to it first.
Just then, a swirl of dark energy whispered across my skin.
“Vehrin is here.” I swallowed. “And I’m pretty sure he knows I’m here, too.”
Chapter 22
Kael and I started to make our way through the tangle of small trees crowning the rock the lion shifters called home. The dark mage’s power slithered over my skin like a viper. He was taunting me, letting me know he was aware I was present. I ground my teeth and glared down toward the base of the cliff. I hoped he could feel my searing stare.
I’m coming after you, Vehrin.
Fortunately, we didn’t run into any shifters, and it didn’t take long for the trees to grow sparse and our path to open up. The massive rock we were atop sloped steadily at our feet, the surface broken with thick ridges and jutting stone. The terrain would be easy to climb down, if we could stay unnoticed, though I assumed many of the unusual formations protruding from the main cliffs were the dwellings of the shifters.
“Look,” Kael whispered beside me. He pointed down.
Through a wedge-shaped crevice, I spotted Vehrin standing in front of the chief. My blood chilled. It would be so easy for him to kill the leader of the lion shifters. A part of me wanted to yell a warning, but that would do no good. The chief was likely still under the influence of Vehrin’s dark magic. Our only hope was to get the key. Then, maybe, Vehrin would release his mental hold on the pride chief.
The pair were talking. Vehrin stood casually, and though I couldn’t see his face, his robes shifted on a subtle breeze. He looked remarkably out of place and, admittedly, very powerful. Many of the other shifters stood near their leader, some in lion form, but none seemed overly protective like they had seemed when Kael and I had been down there. Were they under Vehrin’s spell, too, or were they perhaps afraid of the mage?
The chief shook his head and gestured behind him. Something about the way he had touched his chest, as if he were accustomed to something hanging there, then pointed, told me he was undoubtedly talking about the key.
“I think the relic is on the altar,” I said.
Kael shifted his stance where he crouched beside me. “What makes you say that?”
“Just the way he’s acting and, I don’t know, I just have a feeling he doesn’t have it on him. We need to make a move. Now.” I chewed on my lip as Vehrin conversed with the chief. Why didn’t he just kill him and steal the key? If my guess were true, and the chief had to give it to him willingly, would I really be able to take it from the altar?
My partner leaned toward me. “How are you going to get in his dwelling and to the altar without either of them noticing? Not to mention the other shifters.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.” A sense of urgency burned through me and tightened my muscles. I needed to get down there. “We have to go.”
Kael was silent for a moment. “I can go down as a distraction, and at least try to draw away any guards he may have. You can make your way to the altar.”
I blinked. “You want me to fetch the key by myself?”
A smile quirked at the corner of his lips. “Are you objecting?”
“No, just surprised.” Kael was usually a lot more protective. I knew it was in his shifter nature, and made stronger by the fact he was my guardian in our former, ancient life, so his willingness to let me sneak down into certain danger alone was a bit of a shocker.
He sighed. “It isn’t that I don’t want to be there for you, but I trust you. Livvie, I’ve never met anyone more capable of throwing themselves into peril with the certainty they’ll come through unscathed. You’ve proven yourself many times.” He squeezed my shoulder. “You’ve got this.”
“Wow,” I said. I smiled. “Kael, that really means a lot to me.”
“I’ll meet back up with you when I can. Just get that key and get out of there.”
I stared at Kael, his amber eyes sharp and fierce. Unease fluttered in my gut. So much could happen so quickly, especially with the dark mage around.
“Be careful,” I said. “Please.”
Kael took my face in his hands. The calluses on his skin were rough against my cheeks as he leaned in close. My heartbeats quickened. He was a hair's breadth away. The warmth of his skin melted against mine, and with each breath, I pulled in his rain-and-citrus scent, a welcome aroma in the dry, African heat. It would be so easy to lean forward and close the distance. What would his lips feel like on mine? What would he taste like?
I tried to move forward, but Kael held my face so tight between his palms, I couldn’t budge.
“When this is over, when you have that key and we are away from this place, we’re going to admit there is something here.” His breath drew me in, intoxicating me in a way it never had before. “Your lips will be mine, Livvie.”
My breath caught, and it took a second to get my lungs working again. “Why not just take them now?”
Kael’s mouth was so close to mine I could almost feel his smile. “Because I want something to look forward to, and something to fight for.”
“You better stay safe, then,” I whispered.
His fingers tickled behind my ear and drifted down the back of my neck. “Same goes for you.”
I started to move forward for a kiss, patience be damned, but his head whipped around.
&nb
sp; “Lions are coming.”
Kael cast me a searing look over his shoulder, branding me with the need and desire to stay safe, before he leaped in the air. His clothes ripped as his jaguar hit the ground and bolted. I stifled a laugh, staring at the shredded bits of his pants and shirt on the ground. He was going to have to walk back through the African wilderness naked. Those had been the last pair of clothing he had.
I shook off the amusement and got my mind back in the game as I made my way down the rock. There were a few trees clinging to the rough surface, and I tried my best to stay hidden in their scant shadows. I really hoped no one would catch my scent and come investigating, though it appeared as if most of the pride were crowded around the chief and Vehrin.
It didn’t take too long for me to reach the dwellings. They jutted from the rock, but also appeared to be part of the cliffs. Small, square holes had been chiseled for windows, and most of the narrow doorways had brightly colored beaded curtains hanging in them. I caught delicious smells of sizzling meats, roasting vegetables, and cooked rice. I pressed a hand to my stomach, trying to calm my sudden hunger. Kael would never let me live it down if my gurgling stomach gave me away.
I crouched in a shadow beneath a window and scanned the homes. The day before, the chief had come out of one at the very bottom of the cliffs, so I assumed that was likely his dwelling. I was about halfway down, but I still couldn’t tell where exactly his home would be. I couldn’t afford to get lost.
Leaning my shoulder against the rough stone at my side, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I reached into the front of my shirt and clutched the keys. They were warm in my fingers, and the one bound to my soul hummed with familiar energy. I concentrated on nothing else but finding the third key. A magnetic sense pulsed in me, and I peered down and to the right. I grinned. There was the relic.
I pushed away from the wall and stealthily followed the tugging sensation. Urgency pulled at me, and I had to force myself to slow my pace and be cautious. I tried to shove away the frantic need to get the key by thinking about Kael. I hadn’t heard any roars or commotion. Hopefully he was all right. His final words on top of the cliffs tingled through my mind, and butterflies filled my stomach.
Now isn’t the time to be thinking about kissing Kael.
Still, his promise to do so when this was over consumed me. Until he’d said those words, I hadn’t realized just how much I had fallen for the jaguar shifter. I had growing feelings for him, I knew that, but the sensation squeezing my heart when I thought of him was stronger. It had taken root, and there was no denying it now.
I was falling in love with Kael Rivera.
He was my partner. We’d bled together and fought together. Apparently, we had quite the history together, too, so maybe we’d been on this track from the moment he’d taken a swipe at me and I’d fallen in those rainforest ruins.
I was so caught up in my thoughts, I nearly ran into someone.
A gasp flew up my throat, and I stumbled back in surprise. “Sorry.”
The word came without a thought. Really? I chided myself. It wasn’t as if I had bumped into someone at the grocery store.
I studied the young man in front of me, who seemed just as surprised as myself. It was the same young man who had been on guard at the top of the small mountain, the one I had been on the verge of attacking with magic. His wide eyes narrowed. I raised my hand to tell him it was okay, but he opened his mouth.
I didn’t think. I raised my hand and flicked my fingers. A fraction of magic swirled forward. It whipped around his head like a halo before fading away into nothing.
The young man crumpled to the ground, and my gut clenched. I crouched beside him. His eyes were closed, but his chest steadily rose and fell. I let out a breath of relief. I wasn’t certain exactly how I’d managed it, but my quick reaction had merely rendered him unconscious. The last thing I wanted to do was kill an innocent.
I continued on my way, determined to be more careful as I crept between the buildings. Paths twisted in an impossible labyrinth. If I hadn’t been following the sensation of the relic, I would have become lost for sure. I made my way down several steps smoothed with age and padded onto flat ground.
Vehrin was close. His magic caressed my skin and brought forth goosebumps. His and the chief’s voices carried on the wind, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. At least that meant there was still some distance between us.
There was a dwelling on my right, slightly bigger than most I’d already passed. Magnetic energy pulsed through me. This was the chief’s home, and the key was inside. There was a window above where I crouched. With my gaze darting toward the voices, I carefully straightened and braced my hands on the lip of the chiseled opening. I hopped up, then slid through the window.
The chief’s home was one large room. The floor was scattered with rugs and woven mats. There was a low bed in one corner and a few tables. One of them held a plate of half-eaten food, as if he had left in a hurry. I swept my gaze through the space three times, but there was no altar, and no key.
I stepped into the center of the room and scanned every corner. I could still sense the key, but the dwelling was so permeated with its presence, I couldn’t get an accurate read on its location.
As my gaze swept past a corner with a large chest, something caught my attention. I hurried over. There, near the floor and carved into the rock, was a rune. It was small, and marked in an imperfection of the stone, making it difficult to find.
I knelt beside the tiny rune and traced it. My fingertips grew warm at the familiar marking against my skin. An ancient word rolled off my tongue, and I sat back as the sound of grinding stone shook beneath my feet.
A section of floor beneath the rune tipped downward to reveal a dark opening. I cast a quick glance over my shoulder, hoping no one had heard, before I shuffled forward and slipped in.
My feet hit steady ground. The floor shut above me with the scraping finality of the lid of a tomb being shoved into place, snuffing out the scant light the opening had provided.
I drew on my magic, and the soft fuchsia hugged my fingers. Ahead was a pathway leading to what I assumed would be the third key.
A grin touched my lips. Once again, I found myself in the dark arms of the earth, and I strode forward.
I was in my element, and I was going to get that relic.
Then, I would take Vehrin down.
Chapter 23
The sound of my footfalls soaked into the rough floor at my feet as I made my way down the narrow path. I strained to catch any sign of pursuit, but I heard nothing except the blood pounding in my ears.
I’d thought for certain the chief would have sent someone after me, and knew it was only a matter of time before I was found out. I just hoped Kael would be able to keep them distracted long enough for me to get the relic, if I was even able to take it from the altar.
I studied the walls of the tunnel as I walked. Every single tomb and ruin I had been in was vastly different, even if they had been made by the same people in the same country. It wasn’t solely appearance which made them different, either. It was a feeling. The ancient arms of civilizations had seen different histories, different joyful moments and terrible things. I’d always been able to sense it, like grasping the hand of a person. They all felt different.
My fingertips brushed along the rough wall to my left. It would have been utterly dark down here if not for my magic and the pearly, luminescent stones embedded in the wall. They were a trail of swirls along the surface, not following an exact pattern, but flowing as if they had spread there of their own accord. It was beautiful, and I wished I could snap a picture. My phone had been dead for three days. Perhaps, if this all didn’t end in violence with us being chased away, I could come back here someday and study it. Places like this didn’t deserve to be forgotten.
The farther I went beneath the mountain home of the shifters, the more energy pulsed from the pores in the stone walls. It pulled at me, beckonin
g me to hurry. It was so strong it was difficult for me to decipher where, exactly, it was coming from. I knew it was the key I was sensing, but with the sensation billowing all around me, I could only hope I’d be able to pinpoint the relic’s location when I grew near it.
I paused as a new sensation found me. Dark magic seeped in through the rock and spread like a stain of ink through the atmosphere around me. I rolled my shoulders in an attempt to free myself of Vehrin’s vile claws, but it persisted.
There was no denying it: Vehrin knew exactly where I was and what I was doing.
I had no choice but to continue. His magic wasn’t hurting me that I was aware of, merely following me. No doubt so he could keep an eye on what I was doing. I scowled. If he wanted to watch me take the key right out from under his nose, so be it.
I went on my way with nothing but Vehrin’s magic and the glowing stones on the wall to keep me company. Just as I was wondering if this tunnel would lead me straight to the key, my path suddenly branched out.
There were three open doorways. The one in the middle was the largest, tall and wide enough for Kael to walk through easily. There was a smaller one on the left. I would have to duck to walk through it, but it would be bearable. The opening on the right was about the size of a doggy door. I’d have to army crawl my way through.
I studied the doorways. It was obvious which one I wanted to go through. The one in front would by far be the easiest, which made me think it was likely not the correct way to go. People tended to take the path of least resistance.
Slowly, I walked past each doorway. I opened my senses further in an attempt to pinpoint the relic’s beckoning sensation. My cheeks puffed out in a sigh. It was no use. The feeling was too strong. It saturated the air, and with Vehrin’s power now mixing into it, there was no way I would be able to get a handle on it.
I glanced behind me. So far, it didn’t seem I was being pursued, but I couldn’t linger any longer. Letting out a frustrated growl that would have made Kael proud, I got down on my hands and knees in front of the smallest opening. I shifted my bag around so I could push it in front of me. There was no way I could crawl, the ceiling was too low, so I dropped to my belly and wiggled in.
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