Monday morning—day two

Waking up in her childhood bedroom was disorienting, to say the least, especially in the gunmetal gray predawn light after only four hours’ sleep. Eddy dragged herself out of bed and took a quick shower, found some clean bikini panties in her old dresser, and put on the same jeans and T-shirt she’d worn the night before.

She skipped a bra, opting for comfort over style. Then she dug around in the closet, found a soft sweatshirt from high school, fluffed her wet hair with her fingers, and wandered out to the kitchen, drawn by the rich scent of freshly brewed coffee.

Her father and Dax were already up, sipping coffee and studying a large topographic map of Mount Shasta that covered most of the kitchen table. Eddy got a cup for herself and leaned over Dax’s shoulder to look at the familiar map.

“Good morning, Eddy.” Dax slipped an arm around her waist. He glanced up at her as if they were a couple that had been together for ages, not merely accidental acquaintances that had known each other less than a day, brought together by a bizarre set of unbelievable events.

He’d shaved, and his hair was still wet from the shower. He wore what appeared to be an old pair of her dad’s Levi’s, though they’d certainly never looked this good on her father. Dax’s chest was still bare. The snake tattoo shimmered, as if alive.

Dax’s dark eyes, veiled behind thick lashes, seemed to look right inside her. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah.” She shivered, almost preternaturally aware of the light touch of his fingers spanning her hip, the weight of his muscular arm around her waist. “You?”

Dax nodded. “I’ve never slept in a bed before. I think I could grow used to such luxury.”

“Really?” Ed peered over his reading glasses. “Where do demons sleep?”

Dax shrugged. “Wherever they are when they grow too exhausted to stay awake: the ground, in a tree, a cave…. Sleep is a rarity on Abyss. One can’t afford such vulnerability.”

His offhand comment slammed Eddy back to Earth. He wasn’t just the most gorgeous guy she’d ever seen, who, for some unfathomable reason appeared to find her attractive. No, he was a demon, a mythical creature that, for all intents and purposes, didn’t really exist.

At least not as Eddy saw him.

Mist, scales, and claws. That’s how he’d described himself. Not tall, dark, and handsome.

More like scary, scaled, and dangerous.

She’d have to keep reminding herself that the man she saw wasn’t real. He was merely a sexy avatar.

A demon in human form.

One with a very short life span. In less than a week, he would be gone.

He shifted the weight of his arm around her waist and tightened his fingers against her hip. The heat from his warm body, so close against hers, seeped into her skin. A shiver of pure desire raced up her spine, spread low between her legs.

It settled with a delicious pulse of damp need, deep in her core.

With a sinking feeling, Eddy knew it was already too late. Gazing into Dax’s dark eyes, she felt her heart give a funny little flip, felt the rhythmic tightening in her womb, the damp flush to her skin.

Damn. She was in a whole shitload of trouble. Merely one morning after she’d whapped a killer garden gnome over the head, and here she’d gone and fallen in lust with a demon.

Of all the idiotic, lame-brained, stupid…

With a quick jerk, she pulled out of Dax’s grasp and stalked across the kitchen to gaze out the window above the sink. This was not good. Not good at all. She glanced back over her shoulder. Dax watched her with a small frown between his thick, dark eyebrows.

Quickly, Eddy turned away and stared at the shimmering, snow-capped peak of Mount Shasta, rising up out of the morning mist. An early snowstorm had left a blanket of white on the upper reaches of the fourteen-thousand-foot peak. Now, sunlight caught the southern shoulder of the mountain and turned the ice to fire. If she used her imagination, she could almost see the spires of temples and the mythical city of a forgotten race.

Almost. Except it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. None of this. Not the demons, not the Lemurians, not the feelings that made her heart pound and her womb ache.

Not the gorgeous man sitting at her father’s table, watching her so intently and probably wondering why she was acting like such a bitch. Eddy’s shoulders slumped. She blinked back the tears of self-pity that threatened to blind her, and slowly turned around.

At least it was lust, not love, that had her all twisted up inside. She wasn’t in love. Love took longer. It needed to build and grow.

It most assuredly did not smack one upside the head. Not in real life.

Of course, there weren’t demons and deadly garden gnomes in real life, either. She managed a smile and then quickly hid behind another sip of coffee. Her father, oblivious to the currents swirling around him, was pointing at the map, talking away about fire trails and road access. With a final look, Dax turned around in his chair to follow Ed’s pointing finger.

Willow buzzed across the room and hovered in front of Eddy’s nose, so close Eddy saw two of her.

He needs you.

What? Eddy blinked.

The tiny sprite moved back a bit, just far enough that Eddy could actually see her face, read her expressions. It was the first time she’d gotten a really close look at Willow. She was absolutely beautiful. Her tiny ears were pointed like an elf’s, and her body was dressed in a fitted tunic the brilliant blue of sapphires. Her eyes were the same bright blue, her tiny lips red, her long hair like spun gold. Her wings, fluttering as rapidly as a hummingbird’s, might have been made of crystal the way they shimmered and glowed with a reflected rainbow of light.

Don’t forsake him. We all need you.

She really had heard Willow! The sprite’s voice echoed in Eddy’s mind, each word as clear as the note of a flute.

Eddy straightened up and grinned at the sprite. Somehow she didn’t see herself arguing with a person no bigger than her pinky finger. I’m not quitting, she thought, wondering, at the same time, if this was the right way to converse with an honest to goodness will-o’-the-wisp.

Good.

Must be.

Willow turned and buzzed back to her place on the table beside Ed’s coffee cup. Even at this distance, Eddy was almost certain she saw the sprite smirk.

Before she could say a word, a shiver ran along her spine, that someone-walking-on-her-grave feeling. She jerked around to the window as a banshee cry overhead brought Dax and Ed to their feet. Bumper growled, Willow zipped across the room, and they all stared out the window.

The gargoyle, a black silhouette against the pale dawn sky, flew not twenty feet overhead, winging its way toward town. It didn’t look down, didn’t pay any attention to them.

A sense of pure evil followed in its wake.

“He’s probably returning to the building where the gargoyle belongs,” Dax said. “Demons are stronger at night. It takes less energy to bring the avatar to life. Once the sun is up and the demons are at rest, we need to leave.”

Eddy nodded. No matter her misgivings, this wasn’t the time for second thoughts. She had to believe the threat was real. Real, and terrifying beyond anything she’d ever known.

She plastered a smile on her face. “Got anything in the fridge, Dad? I’ll make us some breakfast.”

“I shopped yesterday. Help yourself.” Ed looked Dax up and down and then touched his shoulder. “Come with me, son. The jeans fit fine, so we know you’re about my size. You’ll need stout boots and a warm shirt. It can be cold on the mountain, even in September. After we get you outfitted, I want you to take a look at the model railroad layout in my shop. I’ve built a miniature of Mount Shasta, entirely to scale. It might help.”

Dax nodded. With one long, questioning look at Eddy, he followed her father out of the kitchen. Bumper trotted gleefully behind, with Willow perched in the curls between her ears.

 

Dax was totally aware of Eddy sitting behind him with Bumper while her father drove a fascinating little vehicle with huge tires, no top, and very little room in the backseat. Ed called it a Jeep. Eddy called it a piece of junk, but she smiled when she said it, so Dax figured she didn’t really mean what she said.

He was learning. There was so much about this world he found fascinating. He couldn’t imagine Eden being anywhere near as beautiful, or as filled with wonders. It certainly couldn’t have anyone as captivating as Eddy Marks. Knowing she sat behind him, close enough to touch should he so choose, gave him an unbelievable feeling of contentment.

She seemed more relaxed, now that they were actually on the road. He still hadn’t figured out what had upset her earlier. Of course, there was a lot he hadn’t figured out, but as knowledge seemed to be filling his brain quickly, he wasn’t going to worry about it. He’d understand her soon enough—or not at all.

Smiling, Dax settled back in his seat and watched the scenery fly by. Willow perched on the dashboard and stared out the windshield. She was as fascinated as Dax by how far and fast they were able to travel, by the tall trees and rugged terrain and the huge, snow-covered peak ahead.

She’d only known Eden. He’d never seen anyplace other than Abyss. Both of them were overwhelmed by the immense beauty around them.

Dax had no idea how he’d gotten to town the night before. He barely recalled the demon gargoyle’s attack near the portal. He still wasn’t sure how he’d ended up in Eddy’s potting shed, but thank goodness she’d been the one to find him.

She was such an amazing woman. Strong and unafraid, and she could cook too. He’d eaten so much at breakfast he figured he’d never have to feed this body again, but when he’d said as much to Eddy, she’d laughed and stuck four thick sandwiches in his backpack.

He guessed she knew what she was talking about.

They followed a narrow dirt road that wound up the northwestern flank of the mountain, and it was exactly as Ed had shown him on the model in his workshop. At one point, Ed got out and used a heavy tool to cut a thick chain blocking the road, but now even that track had grown impassable.

Ed parked the Jeep and turned off the motor. “I think this is as far as I can take you. I’d go with you if I could, but with my bad hip I’d just slow you down.”

Ed took Dax’s hand in his. His grip was firm, and somehow comforting, but Dax sensed a challenge in the older man’s grasp as well.

“Good luck, Dax. Take care of my baby girl. She’s all I have left, and I want her home in one piece.”

Dax nodded. “I would give my life to save her.” He squeezed Ed’s hand before turning loose, aware he’d made a powerful pact with Eddy’s father. One he could not fail.

“I know. That’s the only reason I’m going along with this harebrained scheme.” Ed’s eyes seemed to burn right through him before he turned around and looked at his daughter in the cramped backseat. Dax heard him sigh when he smiled at Eddy. “I love you, sweetie. Be careful.”

She threw her arms around her father’s neck and hugged him. “I will, Dad. I love you too.” She kissed his cheek and climbed out of the back with Bumper bouncing along behind her.

Dax grabbed his pack. Willow buzzed two circles around Ed and landed on Dax’s shoulder.

Ed turned the key, and the motor roared to life. “Follow that draw, and it should take you close enough to the area you described. This entire mountain is the vortex, and your portal shouldn’t be far. You said Willow can sense their presence, so I imagine she’ll find it before too long. Eddy? Have you got a signal on your cell?”

Cell phones. Another amazing thing on this world. They didn’t even need telepathy. They could call each other and actually speak. Eddy held up her cell phone. “I do, Dad. We’ll call you when we can. Hopefully we’ll be ready for you to come get us by tomorrow. Figure noon, okay?”

“If I don’t hear from you before noon, I’ll be right here waiting tomorrow night. Got that?”

“Yep. Now don’t forget to call Harlan. Tell him I won’t be in to work, at least for a couple days.”

“You know, you might lose your job, sweetie. He’s not going to like it.”

Eddy glanced at Dax and back at her father. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if we’re not successful, we all stand to lose a lot more.”

Ed nodded, but his smile was strained. “There is that. I’ll call him when I get home. I’ll let him know you might just have one hell of a story for him.” Ed backed up, turned the little Jeep around, and headed down the narrow dirt road.

Dax and Eddy stood there, staring, until Ed’s departure was nothing more than a wisp of red dust settling to earth. The magnitude of the mission ahead of them hit Dax hard and fast. He felt the snake tattoo shift under his flannel shirt, and he shuddered against the painful burn as his body fought the curse of the demon’s fire.

Only six more days. It was time to get moving. He caught Eddy staring at him. “Are you ready?”

“I hope so.” She grinned, slung her pack over her shoulder, and started up the draw her father had pointed out.

Dax followed with Bumper at his heels and Willow flitting alongside. The enormity of their task almost brought him to his knees. He wondered if he would have had the courage to make this journey alone, if not for the tall, slim girl leading the way.

Eddy glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled without breaking stride. “I’ve always loved any excuse to hike this mountain, but I have to admit, this is a first.”

Definitely a first. Everything he did on this world was a first, but Dax merely nodded. He hoped it wasn’t a last. His heart was full. He was thankful to whatever gods ruled Earth that he’d been granted Eddy Marks as a soldier to march beside him…or in front of him.

He watched the slight sway of her perfectly shaped behind encased in snug denim pants, and, for at least a short while, put the pain and worry out of his mind.

 

Eddy adjusted the pack on her shoulders and shoved sweaty strands of hair out of her eyes. They’d been hiking for a couple of hours, and before too long they’d be hitting the loose scree and volcanic rubble above the tree line that was totally impossible to walk on. This late in the season, even with the light snowfall they’d had, there wasn’t enough to cover the loose rock on the upper flanks of the mountain. It wasn’t just difficult—it was downright dangerous.

Like fighting demons wasn’t?

What in the hell have I gotten myself into?

Eddy stopped and took a drink from her water bottle. Dax did the same. Then he cupped his hand and poured water into his palm for Bumper.

The dog lapped it up and sat at Dax’s feet with a stupid grin on her face. “I think Bumper’s in love.” Eddy flashed a smile at Dax, but quickly turned away. No way did she want her mind—or his—shifting along those lines.

She’d tried love a time or two. It wasn’t at all what it was cracked up to be. If she’d learned anything in her twenty-nine years in this world, it was the fact she didn’t need another person to complete the woman she wanted to be.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the occasional relationship—as long as it came without strings. Eddy Marks was all about lust, not love, but what red-blooded girl wouldn’t fall in lust with a sexy guy like Dax?

He’s a demon, you idiot.

Yeah, but he’s still one of the good guys.

Right. Like you know this for certain?

Well, her libido could argue with her common sense all it wanted. They still needed to find the Lemurians and the portal in the vortex…if either actually existed.

Willow buzzed by her face, and Bumper growled. Even Eddy sensed a shift in the currents, a feeling of something not quite right.

“Shhh.” Dax tugged Eddy’s hand and slowly knelt behind a fallen tree alongside the trail. He held a finger to his lips and motioned toward a large tumble of dark rock. “Look closely, on the downhill side of the biggest boulder.”

Eddy held Bumper close to her side and crouched next to Dax. She stared over the top of the splintered trunk at the pile of rock. It was like every other pile of rock on the side of this ancient volcano, most likely left over from some monstrous cataclysm eons ago. She opened her senses, searching for whatever it was that had caught Dax’s attention.

Birds chirped, cicadas buzzed, and the sound of Bumper’s panting added a steady rhythm to the soft symphony of sound. As she stared, the rock seemed to shudder and swell.

Eddy shot a quick glance at Dax, but his focus on the boulder was absolute. She looked back just as a shadow along the downhill edge of one of the boulders seemed to detach itself and float away on the soft breeze.

Dax rose to his feet and held his hands out. A burst of icy air caught the shadow. Like the demons he’d stopped in Eddy’s living room, this one dropped to the ground in a pile of frozen shards. Dax leapt over the log, raced across the rocky ground with Bumper on his heels, and hit the icy bits with fire.

A burst of steam quickly dissipated until nothing remained beyond a scorch mark on the ground. Dax raised his head. The bloodthirsty look of feral satisfaction on his face set her back a step. Then he grinned as if nothing had happened. “I think we’ve found the portal,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“No. Of course not,” she muttered. But she adjusted her pack, climbed over the fallen tree, and carefully crossed the rock-strewn ground.

Dax walked slowly around the pile of boulders. Willow buzzed alongside, dipping down occasionally to check the ground, then flying up over the higher reaches, above their heads. The stink of sulfur, a smell Eddy had learned to associate with the demons, lingered.

It gave her goose bumps to realize they’d been so close to one as it made the crossover from Abyss to Earth. Dax paused near the downhill side of the largest boulder.

“It’s here,” he said. “I don’t recognize it, so I’m not even sure it’s the same one I came through, but this is definitely one of the portals.”

Eddy looked at the solid wall of rock. The boulder was the size of a small car. “I don’t see anything there.” She shrugged. “How do you get through it?”

Dax ran his hand over the rough surface. As Eddy watched, he pressed against the boulder. His hand disappeared up to his wrist. He pulled his hand out and continued to study the surface.

Wide-eyed, Eddy touched the hard surface. She pressed. Nothing happened. She pushed harder and then, frustrated, slapped the rock. Nothing. “I don’t get it.”

Dax put his hand next to hers. “You’re not actually trying to go through the rock. You’re moving from one dimension to another. Think of the journey. You have to see the pathway beyond the wall of rock. Picture a long tunnel and then push your hand into it.”

“What if it’s not really a tunnel. What if there’s a big lake or a small room on the other side? What if there’s fire?”

“That can’t happen, so it doesn’t matter. You can only pass through where a portal exists, and portals only go where they should. What matters is what you’re expecting. If you see this as a doorway instead of a solid wall of rock, you will find the opening. Try it.”

Eddy stared at the lichen-covered boulder. Patches of yellow, orange, and green grew across the rough surface. The rock was warm to the touch from the noonday sun. She made herself look beyond the colored surface, beyond the solid reality of the stone.

She pictured a tunnel. Cool and dark, it beckoned. She pressed her hand against the warm rock. Instead, she felt a cool draft of air from the tunnel as her hand disappeared all the way to her elbow.

She shrieked and tugged. Her hand slipped easily out of the stone. “Oh. My.” She stared at Dax. “That is just too weird.” She took a couple of deep breaths and shook off the shivers coursing down her spine. “Is it going to be dark in there? How do we know where we’re going? I really don’t want to end up in Abyss.”

Dax laughed and grabbed her hand. He felt so warm and solid, she immediately calmed down. “Neither do I. We need to think of the Lemurians. When we step through, I want you to hang on to Bumper’s leash and hold my hand so we’re not separated. I’ll recognize the dimension for Abyss and should be able to pick out the one for Eden. If there’s a third, we’ll know it’s the Lemurians.”

Eddy nodded. “What if there’s a fourth?”

Dax sighed. “Then I guess we’ll go to Plan B.”

“What’s that?”

He shook his head. “Haven’t got a clue, but we’ll figure something out.”

“Why doesn’t that give me a sense of confidence?”

“Probably because you’re hungry.” He walked a few steps down the hill and found a shady spot beneath a stunted pine with a few large rocks beside it. “I thought breakfast would last forever, but now I’m glad you made me bring sandwiches. I’m starving. This body needs a lot of fuel. Would you like to eat?”

“Sure. Why not?” Kill demons, find the portal, take a lunch break. Sheesh. Eddy found a spot on a smooth rock and sat. She noticed Dax kept his attention focused on the portal, even while he worked his way through two of the sandwiches. The last thing they needed was a demon joining them for lunch.

Except that’s exactly what I’m sitting beside. She took a deep breath and a bite of her sandwich, and put that thought out of her mind. Denial was easier. Not necessarily safer, but definitely easier.

The sun reflected off the dark scree, and it was warm here, even this high up on the mountain. Dax slipped his flannel shirt off and draped it over the rock. Eddy almost choked. She’d been trying so hard not to think about him, about the attraction she felt, but there was no denying her body’s response.

Demon or not, the man was gorgeous. He’d replaced the bandages on his chest and side after his shower, but they didn’t detract from the powerful muscles or the lean strength of him. Even the snake seemed to fit, glistening across his flat belly and winding up his chest. The head rested just above his nipple with jaws gaping wide, as if to swallow that perfect copper-colored disk whole.

Suddenly the snake writhed across his skin. Dax shuddered. His body curved forward, and he gasped, as if in terrible pain. Eddy reached out and grabbed his arm as he sat down, heavily, on the rock next to hers.

“Dax? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“A minute…” He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths. His face was chalky. Perspiration beaded his forehead. The snake tattoo glowed hotly against his skin. After a moment, he opened his eyes and slowly ran his fingers over the inked scales.

“What is that thing?” Eddy knelt in front of him with her hands resting on his knees. His body trembled; his breathing was ragged. Willow zipped between her and Dax, glowing like a tiny spotlight.

Her blue glow bathed his chest. Dax slowly straightened, took another deep breath, and let it out. “Thank you, Willow.” He placed his hands over Eddy’s. “I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

“What happened? I swear I saw that tattoo move across your skin, almost like it was trying to coil to strike. What is it?”

He looked down at his chest and ran his fingers along the colorful tattoo. “As I told you before, this holds my demon powers. The part of me that controls fire and ice, that keeps this body alive. When the Edenites gave me this avatar, they placed the tattoo on my body as a repository of all that made me demonkind. Locked away like this, the powers are mine to control.

“When I passed through the portal, the gargoyle caught me before I had full use of my avatar, this body. He hit me with cursed demonfire. The burn on my chest? It was charged with a curse that seems to be turning my powers against me. I’ve been fighting it, but it grows stronger by the hour.”

“What can we do?” Eddy pressed the flat of her palm against the tattoo. It rippled beneath her hand. She bit back a small scream and managed to hold her hand in place, but she hoped like hell the curse couldn’t harm her.

After a moment, Dax frowned and touched the back of her hand. “Your touch calms the pain. Thank you. Maybe you draw some of the power.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. This is new to me.” He stood up. “I should be able to keep it at bay for a couple more days, at the very least. Long enough to finish my mission. After that, it won’t matter anymore.”

Eddy folded her hands on her thighs and looked up at Dax, standing so tall in front of her. “It matters to me,” she said. “I don’t want to think of you hurting.”

Dax looked away without acknowledging her comment. Then he held his hand out. She grabbed it. He tugged her lightly to her feet and smiled as if he’d not been close to collapsing in agony only moments ago. “Are you ready to find the Lemurians?”

“I guess so.” She watched him out of the corner of her eye as she snapped the leash on Bumper. Dax cleared up the leftovers from their lunch, saved the extra sandwich, and tucked it and the trash into his pack. Then he slipped his shirt on and buttoned it, hiding the snake away behind soft flannel.

She wondered if he’d looked anything like the tattoo in his own world. He’d said he was a creature of scales and claws and sharp fangs. Snakes didn’t have claws.

Dax was no longer a demon. But, what made a creature a demon? Wasn’t it the powers he called upon? Dax had those powers. They were inked into his skin, crawling across his thigh, his belly…his groin. She thought of the way the colorful snake crossed from his upper thigh and passed just above the thick root of his penis. She hadn’t meant to look quite so closely, but she’d never forget what she saw.

He was beautiful everywhere. Absolutely beautiful.

With that thought in mind, she grabbed Bumper’s leash and followed Dax back uphill to the pile of dark boulders. It was time to go through the portal, into the vortex.

“Hold tightly to Bumper’s leash. She obeys you well and should be able to follow you through the portal. Don’t let go of my hand. I’ll need to choose the correct path as soon as we enter so we don’t end up in either Eden or Abyss.”

Eddy gulped. “What happens if we take the one to Abyss?”

“You would not survive the world’s atmosphere. I doubt I could either, not in this body. And if we go to Eden, we would be destroyed before we could set foot on their world.”

“I thought they were the good guys.” She slanted a glance at Dax and caught him frowning.

“That’s what they tell me. However, they protect their goodness by obliterating anyone foolish enough to try to enter without invitation.”

“I thought they couldn’t kill.”

“They don’t. The entrance to their world is warded with spells based on demon magic.”

Eddy shook her head. “Ya know, at least the demons are honest about their killing. The Edenites are hypocrites. They let demons do all their dirty work so they can stay pure.”

“It does seem that way, doesn’t it? C’mon. Let’s do it.”

Eddy laughed. “You’re even starting to sound human. What’s going on?”

He studied his hands a moment and then gazed solemnly at her. “The longer I’m in this body, the more I understand it and the more I seem to become like the person who once inhabited it.” He shrugged.

Eddy stared. Even that simple gesture was something she’d bet he’d never done as a demon.

He flashed a grin at Eddy. “I think my avatar belonged to a soldier, though I imagine his soul has gone on to its final rest. Whatever remains is impatient. It wants action. Let’s go.”

He slipped Willow into his shirt pocket. She poked her head out. Gently he shoved her back down again, caught Eddy’s hand in his, and stepped through the dark wall of stone.

Eddy wrapped Bumper’s leash a couple of turns around her hand, and the dog followed as they passed from Earth’s dimension into an area of shimmering light. She felt a low hum of power that seemed to come from all around them.

“Wow.” Eddy felt dizzy from the colors and glimmering light. Dax stood perfectly still, as if studying a subway map, but she spun around, gawking. “There’s definitely more than three choices,” she said. “Have you got Plan B figured out?”

Dax shook his head. “Not really.” Then he pointed to an area of dark red light that pulsed with a terrifying energy. “Abyss,” he said, and then turned and showed Eddy another area glowing in shades of gold and silver. “That’s the way to Eden.”

“Where’s that one go?” Eddy stared at a green and turquoise area of light that throbbed with the tempo of the sea.

“I’m not sure, but I’d guess it leads to Atlantis. Can’t you smell the brine in the air?”

Eddy sniffed and caught a faint whiff of ocean. “Oh.” Atlantis? Good Lord.

Bumper whined and tugged at the leash.

“Is that it?” Eddy looked in the direction Bumper seemed intent to lead. A steady golden glow ebbed and flowed with the same rhythm as the beat of her heart. She felt drawn to it, just as Bumper seemed drawn.

Dax nodded. “It is. I’m almost positive. Willow, what do you think? Does that one feel right?”

The sprite poked her head up out of his shirt pocket. Her light glowed brightly before she settled back down. Only a slight shimmer escaped.

“Willow agrees. Let’s go.”

He led the way, stepping into the glowing, rippling shimmer of color. Eddy felt a tug, as if something pulled her forward, as well as a sense of fear that tried to push her back. The walls of light seemed to close in about them; the air grew thick and hard to breathe. Bumper growled. Then she whined and wagged her curly tail. She pulled Eddy and Dax forward while golden light shimmered all around them.

Eddy was aware of sound growing louder and louder, a steady roar that pulsed and ebbed with the beat of her heart and filled her head, her ears, her entire body with noise. Dax kept moving forward, but his grip on her hand tightened.

They were stopped by a solid, flowing wave of gold that could have been molten metal. It fell like a waterfall from somewhere overhead. Dax reached forward. Eddy bit off a scream, expecting to see the flesh burned from his bones, but he parted the wave. It separated and flowed over and around his hand like golden quicksilver, without leaving a mark, though it didn’t part enough to let them see through to the other side.

Dax turned to look over his shoulder, gazing steadily at Eddy. “Can you do this?”

She nodded. She’d never felt so terrified, nor so sure of herself, in her life. They had no idea what lay on the other side. She glanced down at Bumper. The mutt tugged at her leash, anxious to race through the golden wall.

Dax leaned over and surprised Eddy with a kiss. He wrapped one arm around her waist and dragged her body close against his. His lips moved over hers; his tongue tested the seam between them.

She hesitated, but for only a moment. Then she opened for him. His breath was sweet and hot; his tongue licked at her lips and the soft recesses inside her mouth.

She whimpered, a small sound deep in her throat that seemed to vibrate against his soft groan of need. Her body trembled, and hot licks of sensation swept over her shivering skin. She pressed her hips against him, against the hard ridge of his erection, oblivious to their frightening, fascinating surroundings, to danger, to anything beyond the scent and touch and pure eroticism of Dax, of this moment, of the man who touched her so sweetly.

It was Dax who finally broke the kiss, licking her lips, nibbling along the line of her jaw, and then planting a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose before setting her back on her feet. He cupped her face in his big hands and looked into her eyes.

“Thank you, Eddy Marks. No matter what happens, you have shown me a world I never expected. One I didn’t dream existed. You’ve already given me my taste of Paradise.”

She bit her lips between her teeth, but there were no words. Everything she felt was in her eyes: excitement, fear, confusion, arousal. When Dax smiled, she knew he understood.

She only wished she did. He wasn’t real. He wasn’t even human.

He was everything she wanted, and more. And he couldn’t have been more wrong for her. More impossible. She tasted him on her lips, and all her feminine muscles clenched in need.

Desire trumped fear.

If he thought this was Paradise, what would he think if she showed him where that kiss of his might lead? She wasn’t willing to let it go—not the kiss, not Dax, not the feelings coursing through her body, flowing like the golden curtain guarding their way. She wanted more of it, more of Dax.

More of Paradise.

He said he had less than a week. She wanted more!

Much, much more.

Dax took her hand. Eddy grabbed Bumper’s leash and set aside everything but their mission. Lemurians. She had to focus on finding the Lemurians.

Dax squeezed her fingers. His smile was confident. Bold. Willow ducked down into his pocket. Eddy tightened her grip on Bumper’s leash, and together they stepped through the flowing veil of gold.