A sharp shake of his head. "You go alone."
She shoved a braid out of her face. "Oh, come on!" This mouse simply wasn't prepared to scurry into a clearing surrounded by trees, beneath a concealing fog.
And when that fog broke? What sight would greet her as she peered up at the sky? She called to mind the horrific image of a plummeting Vrekener. She imagined the rush of air from angry wings.
Win-win? She would look up and be met with either terror-or beauty.
Even with the vampire here, this would be a trial by fire.
Daciano eased closer to her, again muddling her mind with his mouthwatering scent. At her ear, he murmured, "Bett, I've dealt death in forests all over the Lore. Whenever I'm about to strike, animals, and even insects, go quiet. Listen."
She heard a cacophony of familiar sounds. Unperturbed owls, happily squeaking bats, the steady buzz of insects.
"You see so much," he said. "Now listen to these creatures and be assured: no predators await."
Everything out here was going on with business as usual. Everything but silly Bettina, standing frozen, too afraid to walk twenty-five feet while the impassive world marched on.
Screw-this.
As if he'd sensed her capitulation, Daciano wrapped his hand around hers and escorted her to the folly stairs. "I'll meet you out there."
Am I really going to do this? Sober?
He seemed to think so. Apparently, so did some part of her she scarcely recognized.
With Daciano holding her hand, she descended the first stair.
And the second.
After a deep breath, she conquered the final one-but she curled her fingers to keep hold of his until the last moment. . . .
Chapter 36
Just as her boot met the spongy ground, she lost that contact with the vampire and faltered, gazing back over her shoulder.
But pride lit Daciano's masculine face, his green eyes aglow with it, his chest bowed.
Great. Now I have to do this thing, if only for more of that addictive look.
The glade lay ahead. She swallowed. How had she not noticed that the trunks and roots of those trees were so monstrous, that the fog was so creepy?
But the sounds were still raucous. Seize it!
The twenty-five feet were the longest of her life. Her thoughts raced, keeping pace with her frantic heartbeat: Before the rain comes the clear. Terror or beauty? Daciano is nearby. He'll annihilate any Vrekeners. Nice picnic, nice picnic. Vrekener torture.
And then . . . she was in the glade, shoulders hunched-but still there.
"I-I made it," she tentatively called, half disbelieving. "Out to the middle."
"And so you did, love," he called back. He couldn't possibly sound prouder.
Within seconds, a break opened in the fog bank, just as she'd known it would. A downdraft of warm air dissipated the mist, as if in the eye of a hurricane. She was in the middle of a tunnel of clear.
She swallowed. Terror or beauty? With all the courage she could muster, she lifted her face.
Bettina didn't find attackers; she saw . . . a scene from dreams.
"Vampire, you're going to want to see-"