Her frown deepened. But you have talents I'm not developing. And vice-versa True. But we haven't been together all that long. It could take years for the assimilation to be fully complete.
And years before we know which talents we can share, and which we can't?
He nodded. Right now, he was wishing that they could share all their talents. He had a feeling it would come in handy when they were finally battling Dunleavy.
They turned the corner and headed up the hill towards the old mine. The wind was colder here, fiercer. Yet through it he could hear a heartbeat. Many heartbeats, in fact. The men were waiting up ahead.
He scanned the horizon, but he couldn't see anything, which meant they were probably underground. Maybe they were waiting near the pentagram. Maybe Dunleavy expected them to do precisely what they were doing.
He stopped. “I think we should try getting to the Standard Mine pentagram through the shaft near the ranger's house."
Her gaze searched his. “You sense something?"
"Those men are waiting up ahead."
Her gaze jumped to the top of the hill then back to his. “Where?"
"I don't know. I can hear the beat of their hearts, but I can't see them with vampire sight. If we're in that smaller shaft, we're at least coming from a direction they might not be expecting. Plus, there's less room for them to come at us."
She nodded, and he changed direction, heading back down the street and across to the house. The wind had blown off a lot of the dirt covering the mine shaft's hatch, making it hard to tell whether the shaft had been used recently or not.
He flung back the door and peered inside. No sound. Nothing to indicate anyone or anything waited inside the dank blackness. He met Nikki's gaze.
"When I give you the all clear, come down."
She nodded and crossed her arms, her determined stance at odds with the fear lurking in her eyes. That determination was part of the reason he'd fallen in love with her. Part of the reason he would always love her.
She'd become part of the Circle simply because she was determined to share his life—determined to share everything—good and bad.
And for the briefest of moments, he wished he could simply give it all up, just walk away and enjoy an eternity of being with her, loving her. But he couldn't. He'd vowed on Patrick's grave that from there on in, he would hunt and kill the evil that preyed on good. That vow was the reason he'd made into a reality Seline's half-formed desire of a paranormal army to battle evil. The reason why he was still financing the Circle today. He knew that evil would always be around. But if he had any say in the matter, the Circle would always be there to battle it.
And though he now had more to lose than ever, he finally had something more than a vow to fight for. Live for.
He leaned forward, briefly, fiercely, kissed the love of his life, and then dropped into the hole. Nikki shifted her position so she could see him a little more clearly. Power surged through the link, and after a moment or two, Michael looked up. His eyes were as forbidding as the black shadows crowding the edges of the puddle of afternoon sunlight in which he stood.
"Come down."
She bit her lip, but she eased over the edge and into the tunnel. He helped her down, then twined his fingers through hers and led the way forward. The darkness leapt into focus as her eyes adjusted, but she felt no easier now than she had before. It still felt like there was a ton of earth above her, just waiting for the chance to bury her again.
She shivered and pushed the memories away. That wasn't going to happen here, simply because this time, the madman they were chasing needed her alive.
They reached the cross tunnel again. Water flowed past their feet, trickling down the right-hand tunnel for several feet before sweeping sideways.
"Obviously there's another tunnel down there,” she commented. He nodded, his expression remote as he listened to the silence.
"You hear anything?"
"Yes.” He glanced at her. “The heartbeats are stronger. They're moving towards us."
"Dunleavy doesn't want us to destroy that pentagram."
"Maybe.” He lightly squeezed her fingers. “I'll try to find a way around them." While she hoped that was possible, she suspected they'd have no choice but to confront the oncoming mini-army. Dunleavy had planned his revenge to the nth degree, and it was doubtful they'd be able to slip past his net this late in the game.
Which meant there was no getting around the fact that the final confrontation would occur during the ceremony tonight.
Goose bumps trembled across her skin. She could only hope that Seline had been right in her assumption that the ceremony couldn't be completed simply because she wasn't Seline. Because if she and Michael failed, that was the only thing stopping Emmett's evil from being unleashed on the world yet again.
We won't fail, Michael commented, his mind voice calm, almost soothing. I have every intention of getting you to that alter and officially making you mine.