Through Ancient Eyes (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 11

  “Probably a lot like the look I had on my face, huh.”

  “I assure you, those young lads could learn a thing or two from your brave and determined countenance,” he answered her with respect in his voice, pulling a trusty Coleman Camping Lantern from the interior.

  Her heart swelled with pride at his appraisal, and she did everything she could to keep the look of relief from springing across her features when the reliable, battery powered light came on at his touch.

  “As much as I’d like to linger here with you, we are going to have to work hard to cover the distance I have in mind. Now that I am aware of the doubly valuable nature of my cargo, we’ll be forced to travel by very unconventional means to avoid detection.”

  “Okay, I’ve never been called cargo in my life and I’m not going to start anytime soon.” Danielle sprang through the doorway after Jake, who had slipped out in a hurry after his comment.

  Even with the electric lamp, the darkness closed in on them, but that wasn’t about to dissuade her from making her point, and she strode toward the stationary illumination at the center of the passage only to find herself alone in the soft arc of light.

  “You are truly beautiful,” a deep, rich voice came from the darkness at her back and she knew she’d fallen for Jake’s trap. “If only you had a sense of humor, too!”

  “I have a fabulous sense of humor, I’ll have you know,” she responded sweetly, turning to face him. “But I’m afraid you’ll have to say something that’s actually funny before I laugh. It’s okay though, I still like you.”

  “I still like you, too.” He came closer, and as he did her own shadow fell across his face and obscured his beautiful hazel eyes.

  “I promise I’ll work on my delivery. It may take time, though.”

  “I think I have a couple of free days, let me check my calendar,” she whispered as he leaned in close.

  With careful determination, Jake kissed the very corner of her mouth, and her lips parted in anticipation. She loved the warmth of his skin on the delicate surface of her face. He slowly placed his rugged jaw against her cheek. She could feel the sexy stubble which had already begun to take over his clean-shaven appearance and she was instantly reminded of her daydream when she’d held the picture inside the cedar frame from her garden.

  Nothing she could have imagined might have lived up to her encounter with the actual man, and even if her mind couldn’t reconcile the strange events that surrounded their meeting, her heart knew without question that she belonged with him, right then and there.

  “I want this so badly, but I don’t know what kind of danger I could be putting you in if we go too far. There’s a lot of legend and lore surrounding my situation. I don’t know whether or not you believe in magic, but if there’s a chance destiny might pull us apart…I don’t want to hurt you.” He spoke softly into her ear as his right hand cradled the back of her head with restrained passion.

  “We’ll be careful, then” Danielle answered instantly and came in close against him, fully pressing her soft form against the length of his toned and tightly wound frame.

  “This could be important, Danielle,” he struggled to explain his meaning, but his desire for her threatened to overwhelm any reason he might still possess.

  “It is important. It’s the most important thing in the world.”

  There, she had said it, and it was exactly how she felt, but her confession didn’t appear to have the desired effect on her paramour.

  “The last thing I want is to be unfair to you.” Jake reluctantly broke away from their embrace, exhibiting behavior completely unfair to her.

  “You’re going to have to explain a little more to me, and I already know you don’t want to divulge any dark secrets or whatever so, don’t go there. But if I can’t buy a vowel or something, I could seriously lose the game!”

  “Seti was right to question my motives with you. I’m sure he was doing his best to protect you from me, though you resisted any opportunity I gave you to run away.”

  “I really don’t think your friend liked me very much, so I doubt he was looking out for my best interests.” Danielle tried her best to respond without sarcasm before she continued.

  “At any rate, what could a nice Professor of Ancient Civilizations do to harm me?”

  He looked at her for a moment in the dim light before he turned away, and without a reply she knew a dozen things had crossed his mind before his eyes could shelter her from the reality of her situation.

  “This is where Britton Majers and I differ, you know,” he answered her with a completely different reference. “He specializes in artifacts, while I study the people who made them. He can only see the magic of the object, where I can discern its nature, its reason for being.”

  “If you had used a French phrase right there, it would have been over between us, you know.”

  “I certainly hope so.”

  He acknowledged her sense of humor that time. She caught his smile as he pulled the duffel bags off the ground, and without a word of encouragement she slung the extra backpack over her shoulder.

  “I am sure, by now, you realize this is a long and interesting tale to say the least,” he spoke over his shoulder and took her hand as she lingered behind him.

  “If what you say is true and you are an innocent party in this entire fracas, you are far more rare a find than any ancient treasure could provide. I only hope Majers has not fully realized the significance of your discovery, as I have.”

  “You know, I’d like to say I’m all that and a bag of chips,” Danielle gratefully accepted his hand as he guided her through the obviously neglected regions of the catacombs. She noticed with admiration he didn’t kick the loose bones from their path as they proceeded, but stepped over them respectfully as they went along.

  “The truth is, I’m just a city girl who flew the coop to look for a calmer and much quieter life… Not that I’ve found it, or anything. Still, I didn’t have any world-altering plans when I bought your farmhouse.”

  Jake whirled on her with surprising intensity and took both her hands up in his for a moment.

  “Never say such a thing. Never sell yourself short, Danielle. You are lovely beyond description, creative, intelligent, kind and funny… Well, that last part hangs in the balance, but you get my meaning.”

  “I just don’t think anyone has ever really seen me in that light before.” She looked down at her delicate hands in his grasp, nervously tempted to fidget.

  “I have seen things you wouldn’t believe, Danielle.” Jake looked at her with a type of naked honesty that made her a little dizzy, because she was well able to see the fear and wonder his eyes expressed.

  “All the magic, the life and mystery of our world has left its mark on my soul. If you stay with me for very long, I think there’s a good chance you will be able to see me differently, too.”

  “I like what I see right now,” she said behind his back as he made his way through the buckling arch of the seldom used passage. “I just wouldn’t mind seeing more of it, you know.”

  * * * *

  “Do you think its morning, yet?” Danielle asked tentatively, releasing Jake’s hand as she stopped in front of an ancient, crumbling stone bench that wouldn’t have appeared inviting at any other time in her life. Deep in the catacombs, however, it looked like a cushioned throne to her weary and aching body after what seemed like an eternity of climbing over collapsed walls, crouching underneath sagging arches and avoiding piles of bones that became nothing more significant than worn driftwood in her eyes.

  Her left hand rubbed the place on her wrist where she had regrettably neglected to place her watch before their impromptu departure. Even though she didn’t suppose the actual time mattered much where they were, she still had the habit of checking when her mind began to wander.

  It wasn’t even the fact their subterranean hike was strenuous, because it was just a matter of carefully picking their way through the endless lengths of crypts,
but there was a lingering chill in the passage that seeped into a person’s bones, and it caused her muscles to draw inward with tension that never released.

  Jake took a few steps down the corridor after she let go, and even that short distance left her in an alarming amount of darkness.

  “Hello?”

  Danielle tried her best to keep the panic from her voice as she called out to the retreating light, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he turned and made his way back to her position. Her reprieve was short-lived, however. When he got near enough for the lamp to envelope them both, she noticed the distracted, unfocused look in his eyes.

  “Here I was, all worried about resting my feet, but maybe you are the one who should have a seat for a minute.” She tried to keep her tone lighthearted as she slipped the bags off his shoulders and took the lantern from his stiff fingers.

  “Don’t just stand there like a bump on a log.” She gestured toward the stone slab. “Sit down and rest for a minute. We’ve been going for days now, probably.”

  She saw him wipe a thin layer of sweat from his brow as he lowered his gaze to the bench and wondered how he could possibly be warm enough to perspire in those conditions.

  “This is a relic. It was probably put here around the time England started to colonize the Americas, and I really don’t think it looks like it can take one more tourist’s bottom end.”

  “Funny, that’s just how you are acting at the moment. And I don’t mean like a tourist, either.” She smirked as she grabbed his shoulders and guided him down onto the dark marble. It didn’t collapse under his weight, and she figured if it had lasted as many years as Jake said, it could hold out a few more and she carefully slid in next to him.

  “You’re very funny, you know.” He covered his eyes with his hands as she sat the lantern on the floor at their feet.

  “I’m glad you can finally recognize my good qualities.”

  “Funny as in, ‘We had to put poor Aunt Mildred in the hospital on the hill for special people,’ sort of way.”

  “Hey, I had an Aunt Mildred who was never quite right. I have no idea what happened to her, but I don’t find your little comment very amusing.” Danielle crossed her arms, giving him her most devastated look.

  “Oh, God, I’m sorry.” Jake looked horrified, immediately reaching out to take her in his arms. “I have a terrible headache right now and I can’t believe I said such an inconsiderate thing to you. Please forgive me.”

  She felt an overwhelming pang of guilt since she really didn’t have an Aunt Mildred. Here he was cradling her head against his chest, and so tenderly at that, though he obviously didn’t feel well himself.

  “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m such a jerk.” She struggled to keep the tears from springing to her eyes as she apologized. “I never had an Aunt Mildred. I was just trying to get you back for teasing me.”

  She expected him to release her at once, to stop stroking her hair and pull away to leave her in the cold again, but he continued to hold her. His lips brushed her forehead, and even with that slight contact she could feel how hot and dry they were against her skin. He kissed her temple and slid his rugged cheek alongside hers so that she was able to gauge the full effect of the feverish heat coming off his body.

  “I know,” he whispered in her ear. “I just needed an excuse to wrap my arms around you while we rested on this tiny bench.”

  Danielle stiffened with embarrassment and pulled away, easily removing herself from his embrace as she stood on her feet once more.

  “Have you ever thought about asking me instead of trying to trick me?” She placed her hands on her hips as her shadow from the lantern fell across his figure. “Or did you just bring me along as a toy to play with so you wouldn’t be alone on another one of your crazy journeys?”

  “Danielle, I really am so sorry.” He looked up at her angry face, and she was alarmed to see the waxy tone of his normally tanned skin. Two red splotches stood high on his cheekbones, and the pain he had been covering up before was clearly evident now.

  “I would never toy with your heart in such a way. I brought you because I wanted to be near you. And now I find I need you very much right now.”

  Her fiery reaction evaporated into a cold, sinking pool of fear that seemed to run from the pit of her stomach to the tips of her toes. Jake Wilde was sick. He was very sick, and she was alone with him in the bowels of an underground graveyard which could be her final resting place as well if she couldn’t find a way to get them both to the top.

  “How close are we to an exit?” she asked him firmly, resolved to see them both out of the catacombs safely so he could get medical help.

  She knew perfectly well this wasn’t the best time to be angry with him. As long as she could find a doctor to save his life right now, she could always strangle him later when he was feeling better.

  “We’re actually very near the place I had intended to emerge. I’m having a hard time focusing on our surroundings, though. It’s becoming more and more difficult to recognize the markings I’ve placed along the way to let me know we’re on the right path.”

  “Do you think you can walk with your arm around my shoulders and tell me what the next marker will be if we go slowly?” She took the leather bags onto her own shoulders and considered how far she could progress with all that weight in her exhausted state. They hadn’t taken more than a handful of quick naps during their time in the tunnels, but had lost track of the number quite a few rest periods ago.

  “When I brought you down here, Danielle, I thought this was just another headache. You inspired such euphoric feelings when you were near that I didn’t realize the severity of my situation or even consider the idea it could be a relapse. I felt so…wonderful. I felt so alive.”

  “We can talk about it when we get out of here.” She used a stern tone to dissuade him from any further comment. The temptation to rest a little while longer was almost irresistible, and if they didn’t move soon, she thought she just might lie down on the floor of the crypt herself and sleep forever.

  * * * *

  It was so heavy. There was no way she could possibly slide the huge, rectangular marble slab over her head from its place and she seriously doubted that half a dozen men could either. Sure, the roughly hewn stairs led up to a dead end above them, but for all she knew they were pressing up against a floor somewhere and all her efforts were useless.

  She left Jake at the bottom of the steps with all the gear, and when she finally relieved herself of the weighty duffel bags and handsome professor she felt so light she nearly floated to the top of the stairs.

  Helpless frustration rolled off her body in waves, and she was so disappointed to have come so far, only to be defeated at the end. Drawing a few deep breaths to think clearly, she climbed back down the stairway and realized Jake was watching her. He had been largely non-responsive for the last part of their trek, and when he did manage to say something, it didn’t make much sense.

  “There’s a spring,” he stated almost coherently this time.

  “Yes. There’s a spring, a summer, a winter and a fall. I think we tried to talk about this a couple of minutes ago,” she answered him patiently, looking around the small space for something she might use as a lever.

  “Listen, Danielle,” he said so clearly that she immediately turned her full attention to him. “There’s a spring behind a brick…near the top. Try that.”

  She gave him a suspicious look. Could it be that easy? Why did he watch her struggle for a minute before he said something? She could have kicked herself for the thought. He had been trying to tell her for a while, but he wasn’t able to be clear enough until they stopped at the foot of the steps and he had rested for a few minutes.

  “I’m going to take the lantern up here with me, so I can see better,” she warned him before grasping the warm handle. There really wasn’t a point, because his eyes were closed again and he had lapsed into a shallow breathing pattern.

  She
had to force her fingers to move slowly over the bricks. She wanted to rush through it, cover as much ground as possible because Jake wasn’t looking too good at the moment. She had to remind herself over and over again that if she passed it up she would have to start at the beginning and that would take much more time.

  Even with that thought in mind she nearly missed the loose piece near the right corner and went back to it just make sure it wasn’t her imagination. She squarely pressed in at the middle and was met with solid resistance. Even with careful inspection, the shadows from the lamp light made any type of difference in depth perception difficult to spot.

  Danielle balled up her fist in frustration and popped the stone a good one for letting her down. The base of her hand slid off to the side and before she could react, the brick in question swiveled inward on a center hinge.

  A black space appeared, just large enough to put her hand inside. She picked up the lamp and held it as close as possible to the opening, but she might as well have attempted to peer into a black hole because the light didn’t carry past the break.

  The crypt was cold, but if it was possible, the dark crevice beyond the brickwork was even colder. Nevertheless, she bravely stuck her hand inside. Even though she squeezed her eyes tightly closed, visions of skeletal zombie hands and plague rats formed in her mind as her fingers groped reluctantly for some kind of switch.

  Something unidentifiable scampered along the wall and brushed her exploring fingertips. She was forced to mentally choose between a stealthy mouse and a tarantula as she halfway managed to stifle a scream which would have sounded eerie to anyone who heard it.

  Whatever she touched while she was withdrawing her hand must have been the trigger because a deep, resonating sound began to turn in a rhythm just above her head. It was the sound of ancient stone grinding against stone, and the rumble that vibrated deep inside her bones had the same feel as heavy thunder did before an ominous storm.

  Danielle retreated a few steps and watched with fascination as a small slit appeared in the large slab she had futilely waged war against just a short time ago.