Keri Arthur - Hearts In Darkness

It's safer that way—for him and for us. I'll wrap Rachel in shadows and take her over to Doyle. You wait here.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw the small plane taxiing to a halt at the far end of the runway. Will

Seline be able to help her?

His shrug was something she felt rather than saw. Probably not. But it's Rachel's only chance.

And killing Cordell might be the flame imps' only chance. She shivered and rubbed her arms. Don't be long.

I won't.Night crawled across Rachel's form, stealing her from sight. Nikki sat back down on the ground, picking bits of grass from her hair and watching the approach of the emergency vehicles.

Five minutes passed. The plane lifted off again as the firemen clambered out of their truck and put the fire out. The police began to make noises about sending someone after Michael—at which point, he reappeared, running towards her, his face a mask of fear. He knelt beside her, frantically touching her, kissing her, as if they were true newlyweds and he was assuring himself she was all right.

You should have been a damn actor.She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close.

Not for the sake of the watching police, but because she simply wanted to hold him.

"I was." His breath brushed warmth past her ear as he whispered, "Remind me to show you the posters one day. I was a Broadway sensation for all of, oh, two weeks."

She buried her face against his neck to hide her grin. Rachel?

Safe with Doyle. He'll take her back to Seline and see what can be done.

One of the police officers cleared his throat, and the questions began again. It was another twenty minutes before they were able to order a cab and leave.

They headed straight back to the hotel. After explaining what had happened to the rental car—and horrifying the concierge in the process—they headed up to their room.

She grabbed her cell phone and called Mary. Jake was still in intensive care, but he was stronger. The doctors were hopeful. Relief coursed through her. She hung up, then flopped back onto the bed and closed her eyes.

"Jake's okay?" Michael asked from near the bar.

"Getting better." Only time would tell for certain. "Are we safe here, now? If Cordell is behind the kidnappings, he'd have to know we're staying here."

The bed dipped slightly as Michael sat next to her. She opened her eyes and accepted the drink he held out.

"We have no other choice. We can't get on the hotel grounds unless we're guests." He took a drink, dark eyes thoughtful. "I doubt he'd make a direct assault, not here in the hotel, anyway. But he's forewarned now, and that will make it more dangerous when we head into the caverns."

"He might even leave." She raised up on one elbow and sipped the drink. She grimaced. Too much bourbon for her taste buds.

"He has a very nice setup here, and I doubt he'd leave unless he thought it was absolutely necessary. As yet, we haven't provided much of a threat."

True. And he had the safety of numbers on his side as well. "What are we going to do, then?"

He leaned forward and picked grass from her hair. "Do you feel up to entering the caverns tonight?"

She licked her lips. After witnessing what Cordell was capable of, she sure as hell didn't want to go anywhere near him. "What about your burns? Shouldn't you rest?"

His smile made her heart do strange things again. "You have to stop thinking of me in human terms."

He undid his shirt and showed her. The blisters had already disappeared, and his skin was only slightly pink.

"Amazing," she said, running her fingers lightly across his chest. "You're not even going to scar."

"No. One of the few advantages of being a vampire." He caught her hand and brushed a kiss across her fingers. "I can go into the caverns alone, if you wish."

"It'll take you too long to pinpoint Matthew." Besides, his ex was prowling around down there somewhere. Alone was the one thing he was not going to be the next time he met her. Trusting him was one thing, trusting her was another matter entirely. "But won't Cordell be expecting such a move?"

"I doubt whether he'd expect it so soon. If we wait, we give him the chance to fortify his defenses."

"I wish I had my knives with me." She might be able to protect herself with kinetic energy, but she still felt a whole lot safer with the weight of a knife in her hand. Which was no doubt a hang-up from her days on the streets, when the obvious protection of a knife did more for her safety than the unseen threat of energy. She gulped down the rest of the bourbon and shuddered. "Ready when you are."

He rose from the bed and offered his hand. She accepted his help and found herself pulled into his embrace. "You will do as I ask down there, won't you?" His expression was a mix of amusement and worry. "You're not going to wander off alone, are you?"

She grinned. "I always do what I'm told. You know that."

"That's exactly why I'm asking." His voice was dry.

Grin widening, she raised on her toes and wrapped her hands around his neck. His eyes were dark jewels that sparkled with caring, his mouth a breath away, warm and inviting. Too inviting to resist—so she didn't. His arms tightened around her waist, and the kiss deepened, sending ripples of pleasure pulsating through her until her need for him became an ache so fierce she wanted to scream.

But her timing, as ever, was wrong.

He pulled away, his breath ragged, brushing heat across her skin. "If I wasn't what I am," he said softly.

"If I didn't do what I do for a living—"

He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. "If you weren't a vampire and hadn't come to Lyndhurst, I would be dead. But you saved my life and made me a part of you forever." She cupped a hand against his cheek, staring into the dark eyes that she loved. "I want to share your life, Michael, and I'm not going to give up the hope that one day I will. No matter what you say or do."

He sighed, his thoughts as troubled as his expression. "Nikki—"

She pressed a finger against his lips. "Just think about it. That's all I'm asking."

"I have spent the last six months thinking about nothing else."

"Then think about the fact that my life is also filled with danger and death. Think about Jake, lying in the hospital, and how easily it could have been me. The woman in the warehouse sensed your life force in me and, no doubt, knew how to kill me. The danger in my life won't stop just because you're not a part of it."

"Maybe," he murmured. He brushed the hair from her eyes then kissed her forehead and stepped away.

"But I know for a certainty it will increase should you become a part of my world. You mean too much to me to take such a risk."

Then they were at an impasse—again. Yet the flame of hope flared brighter in her soul. The more they talked about it, the more she could make him see she knew and accepted the risks that were such a major part of his life.

She walked over to her bag and dug out the small flashlight she'd packed, then picked up Matthew's watch. Images teased the outer reaches of her mind, flashes of color and emotions that sent chills running down her spine. There was something very wrong in the taste of those images—something dark and deadly. She licked her lips and glanced at Michael. "Ready when you are."

"Keep close," he warned again, and offered his hand.

Right now, she had no intention of doing anything else. She wrapped her fingers in the safety of his and followed him from the room.

They entered the tunnels from the ledge entrance they'd discovered earlier. Nikki eyed the darkness warily, fear stirring in the pit of her stomach. With no sunlight to warm or guide them, and the heat of the day still seeping from the rocks, they might have been entering hell itself.