well. Perhaps, in time, he would have the same faith in the others. He knew he had to win their loyalty completely before he could expect that kind of devoted allegiance.
“It’s beautiful, Isai,” she whispered. “And do you feel it?” Her body vibrated with something close to excitement.
Emotions weren’t his strong suit. He’d just rediscovered them and feeling was at times overwhelming, so he tended to push them to the back of his mind to distance himself from them. “Serenity. What else?”
“I don’t know.” She had already subsided against him, as if the burst of energy had depleted her completely. “I thought I caught something but it’s gone now. I must have imagined it.”
He nearly asked what it was, but he spotted what he’d been searching for. It was no more than a thin line that zigzagged through the granite up the length of the cliff. It wasn’t even a wide crack, not even a mere inch, but he had been judging such things for centuries. He knew this could open into a chamber, perhaps even a series of them. Sometimes such a crack hid a labyrinth of caves behind it.
He studied it carefully before approaching. He wasn’t the only one aware a crack in the rock that size could hide a maze of caves. Vampires and Carpathians alike would know. There was no sign that anyone had disturbed it, but then, there wouldn’t be. Carpathians didn’t leave traces of where they slept. Vampires were equally as careful.
He waved his hand, and with a groan of protest, the rock separated just a hair. Paper-thin. A couple of millimeters, no more. He waited. Nothing poured out from inside. The movement hadn’t triggered a safeguard.
“Press your face against my chest. We are going inside. I will shift both of us to get us through.” He gave her the warning but slipped into her mind almost simultaneously so there was no way for her to protest. He simply took her over.
If the opening was only two millimeters wide, they could only be one. He slipped his woman and the cats through the opening and closed the crack behind him. Inside, it should have been pitch-black and difficult to breathe. It wasn’t. A slight touch of cool air came from above and to his right. There were several small openings in the front chamber that told him cracks in the side of the cliff were wider near the top, allowing fresh air and light from the moon in. If the moon could shine in, that meant the sun could.
The chamber narrowed toward the back and seemed to curve. He walked easily upright. The sound of water beckoned him. Just around the corner was a narrow tunnel that branched out in three directions. He chose to follow the sound of water. His woman, although mage and Carpathian, followed the more human ways of washing. Water would comfort her.
The second chamber wasn’t nearly as spacious as the first and didn’t have the light, which he was grateful for. He lit it using sconces high up on the walls. There were crystals embedded on two sides of the granite and the light spilling over them sent out a rainbow of colors.
He waved toward the darkest corner to provide his woman with a bed. Knee to the middle, he gently deposited her right into the center. She rolled onto her side and curled up. He let her for the moment. He needed to thoroughly investigate before he committed to their resting place, and then he had to set safeguards. He left Belle and Blue on guard with his woman while he went to explore.
The caves went back even farther, right into the heart of the series of cliffs. It was cool, but very stuffy the farther he went in, not at all a good environment for his cats or Julija. They shared the first few chambers with bats. He hoped Julija didn’t mind them because there were thousands. He was careful not to disturb them and sent out a message to the cats, they weren’t to, either.
He found Julija asleep in the middle of the bed, right where he’d left her, but Belle had climbed onto the bed and wound her body around his lifemate’s in order to keep her warm. He thanked the cat even as he scooted her off the bed. Phaedra and Comet were already at the front of the chamber, lying intertwined but blocking the entrance. Phantom and Sable, the smallest and youngest of