Dark Guardian Page 0,134

information flooding to her immediately. She knew the way out instantly, unerringly. She knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. She sensed he was seeking the lair of the master vampire, that he was moving slowly, quartering an area he found suspect. As she moved swiftly through the mountain, working her way toward the top to the entrance, she cast her net into the skies to search also. Her body was like a tuning fork for something evil.

More toward your left, Lucian.

She relayed the information automatically without thinking about it. He would have known the moment she awakened, she was certain of it. He had probably aided her in stilling the chaos of her mind. She was grateful he hadn't interfered, allowing her to open the earth herself. Even as she moved ever upward through the massive bulk of the mountain, she frowned. Perhaps he had helped her even then.

You're close to the entrance. I can feel his loathing, his rage. He is very close to you, Lucian. I have it. What do you think you are doing?

As always Lucian's voice was gentle and calm. He was tranquil in the midst of extreme danger.

She caught a glimpse of a solid granite wall, seemingly undisturbed for centuries. As before when she "saw" through Lucian's eyes, it was disorienting. Jaxon stumbled and caught at the rock passageway for support.

Be careful, Lucian. He knows you're there. He's watching you somehow . He is locked in the earth until the sun sets. And the sun is very close to setting. You did not answer me. What are you doing? Coming to help you, of course. It's called backing up your partner.

She explained the concept sweetly, enunciating each word in her mind.

Perhaps you remember it. I seem to recall you worked with your brother, so you must have known how to work together. We're partners. It means you don't run off and leave without the other one's knowledge.

Soft laughter brushed at her mind. Lucian couldn't help himself. She filled him with warmth in any circumstance. He surveyed the cliff wall carefully. As you have the habit of doing ? He breathed the words in her mind even as he began to move in a peculiar pattern, his feet finding a rhythm centuries old. It was an ancient safeguard, not especially strong and set mainly as a delaying tactic. It required little effort but a great deal of time to unravel. He glanced skyward. He would never get to the evil one before the sun sank from the sky.

It didn't make any difference to him. His pace remained the same, steady so that he made no mistakes, a deliberate, precise set of movements designed to negate what the vampire had wrought. Lucian was not deceived by the primitive structure of the safeguard. He had infinite patience and even more confidence. The only worry he had was Jaxon. She would not stay idly by, safe somewhere, while he hunted and destroyed the undead. She was determined to aid him.

Don't worry, Lucian, I am learning quite a bit from your memories. All you have to do is direct my actions as you did your brother's. I am quite capable of doing what he did.

There was no hesitation in her voice. She considered it a duty, a responsibility. He had no doubt she meant what she said.

The first safeguard had been neutralized. He began the more complicated regimen of dismantling the trap set for unwary hunters. This pattern was a much more intricate and difficult one. He had not seen it used before, but that mattered little to him. It was an illusion hiding the entrance to the cave, an illusion using a deadfall and more to guard the opening. As he began to unravel it, the granite creaked and moaned in response. A shower of boulders fell from above him to crash in the spot where he was working. Lucian merely leaped to one side, the movements of his hands continuing despite the assault from above. As the avalanche showered down, increasing in strength and size, Lucian simply took a moment to provide himself with an invisible shelter to deflect the rocks.

Jaxon gasped, feeling the hatred and anger issuing in waves from beneath the earth. She was still some distance from the site, moving toward him, yet the malevolence the creature was projecting made her physically ill. She knew Lucian was in grave danger from the malicious monster, that it was bending its mind and