Eddy sheathed DemonSlayer and leaned against the thick trunk of the redwood tree, sucking one deep breath after the next into her tortured lungs. Dax sat on the ground beside her with his head between his knees, breathing just as hard.

Even Bumper looked exhausted, standing with her feet spread wide and her head hanging low. Her curly blond coat was matted with twigs and other bits and pieces of the forest floor.

The air reeked of sulfur. A couple of dazed squirrels sat on the ground beside Bumper, oblivious to the small group of demon hunters.

Only moments ago, they’d sported rows of razor-sharp teeth and clawed talons. Now they were just typical gray squirrels suffering a demon-possession hangover.

Eddy finally caught her breath enough to nudge Dax with her toe. “Do you think we got all of them?”

“For now.” He rolled his head back against the tree and smiled up at her. The sight of his sexy grin was enough to make her heart stutter in her chest. “This is a small vortex with just the one portal from Abyss and the one linking us to Shasta. The one to Abyss is sealed tight. You did well.”

Eddy ran her fingers over the jeweled hilt of her sword. This was the first portal she’d ever sealed on her own, and she’d decided immediately it was a chore she’d never grow tired of. In fact, sealing the gateway to Abyss had given her an amazing sense of elation—and power. Wielding DemonSlayer made her feel like a warrior, but sealing the demons’ gateway had been something else altogether—something only a crystal sword could do. Now, instead of backing Dax up with a crowbar or a baseball bat, she was truly armed for battling demons.

What a rush.

Bumper barked and Willow’s voice blossomed in Eddy’s mind. There are no more demons nearby, but I’m worried about Alton and Ginny. We haven’t heard from them since Alton left for Sedona.

Eddy nodded. “I know, but we’ve been out of cell range since he left. I figure he can’t possibly get into too much trouble in just one day. Still, we need to head back.” She glanced at the two spaced-out-looking squirrels and laughed.

“At least no animals were injured in the making of this battle,” she said, mimicking the disclaimer for a television commercial. “I’m glad we figured out how to force the demons out without hurting their hosts.”

Dax nodded. He flicked his fingers toward the two dazed squirrels. “Get, you two. And don’t play with demons.” The squirrels ran up the closest tree, sat on a thick branch, and chattered indignantly at Dax as he slowly rose to his feet. “We need to contact Alton and see how he’s doing. When you last talked to Ginny, it sounded as if the demons were possessing animals in Sedona, too.”

Aching in every muscle and bone, Eddy shoved away from the tree. “We need to check on Dad and make certain all is okay in Evergreen first.”

“And sleep,” Dax said. “We’ve been awake for over twenty-four hours. We all need time to recharge.” He rubbed Bumper’s curly head. She butted his hand when he stopped, blatantly asking for more. Willow didn’t say a word.

Too tired to agree with Dax, Eddy merely nodded. They gathered up their packs and hiked quietly through the woods to the vortex. This one had long been a popular tourist attraction, but it was closed for the day. Luckily they’d arrived early, before the spot had opened, because the portal was in full view of the main attraction. Now, though, with the day growing late, it was easy to slip through the portal in the hillside that led to their gateway.

Once through, they’d still have to hike down the mountain to the road where Eddy’d parked her dad’s Jeep. Dax was right. They were exhausted. Even immortals needed a few hours’ sleep a night. Holding on to Dax’s hand, with Bumper following close behind, Eddy stepped through the gateway to Mount Shasta.

 

Alton took Ginny’s hand and walked down the steps from the dais to the stone floor of the great hall. Taron walked beside them. They didn’t look back at the eight senators or Chancellor Artigos.

Neither did the soldiers try to stop the man who had been brought before the Council of Nine in chains. What had just occurred was unprecedented. HellFire’s speech, Alton’s warning, and the Crone’s prophecy and death—and rebirth in the heart of a crystal sword—would be discussed, dissected, and argued for many years to come.

If they had that many years. Alton paused halfway across the room and turned to his friend. “I would give almost anything to have you come with me, Taron, but I believe your place is here. We have to convince them. You have to convince them. What happened today helped, but knowing the way they argue a point to death…” He shrugged helplessly. “It isn’t going to be enough.”

Taron nodded. “I agree. What are your plans? Will I see you again before you leave?”

Alton slapped Taron’s shoulder. “Definitely. We both need food and rest.” He tightened his arm around Ginny’s shoulders. “And I should speak with my mother. Come to my rooms for the evening meal. We’ll talk tonight, but Ginny and I must be away by daybreak.”

“I’ll be there.” Taron glanced toward the dais. “I think I should meet with the senators and your father now, while they’re too deeply in shock to argue.”

Alton laughed. “As if that ever happens. Later, my friend. Thank you for rescuing Ginny.”

She reached for Taron and laid her fingers on his forearm. “And for being Alton’s friend. That can’t be easy.” She laughed and winked at Alton. “In fact, I’ve already discovered just how difficult it can be.”

“Alton, have I told you how much I like this woman of yours? Thank you, Ginny. I agree. He’s a pain in the butt.” Laughing, Taron slipped their packs off his shoulder and handed them over, then he turned away and walked back toward the dais where the nine council members were already in heated discussion.

“Come with me.” Alton adjusted his pack on his shoulder, grabbed Ginny’s hand, and dragged her across the crowded floor of the plaza. Lemurians watched them pass, but no one tried to stop them or engage them in conversation. For all the questions people must have had, no one was willing to break protocol and ask.

Protocol. Alton glanced at Ginny and felt his heart twist deep in his chest. What was protocol when you’d suddenly discovered someone like Ginny? All of his obligations had changed from the first moment he saw her—yet his sense of duty had never been stronger or more clearly defined. What he did now, he did as much for her as for Lemuria.

Interesting thought, that. Ginny was Lemuria, in so many ways. The future of his world—a piece of its past.

Smiling with the surge of knowledge, he raised his head and caught the answering smile of a tall, fair, and breathtakingly beautiful woman waiting for him under a carved stone arch. Alton knew the resemblance between him and his mother was strong. He’d never been happier than he was at this moment, to know he favored her and not his father.

He stopped in front of her and tugged Ginny close. “Mother, I would like to present Ginny to you.” Still holding on to Ginny, he took his mother’s hand in his, connecting the women who mattered most in his life through his grasp. “Ginny, my mother, Gaia. I find it terribly apropos that she’s named after Mother Earth, since it appears that is where my destiny lies.”

Gaia leaned close and kissed Alton’s cheek. Then she took Ginny’s hand in hers. “It’s good to meet you, Ginny.” She sent a twinkling glance at Alton with eyes as green as his. “I have a feeling, my son, that your destiny lies more with this young woman than with the world that carries my name.”

Alton couldn’t have wiped the grin off his face for anything, nor did he want to. Ginny flashed a quick yet questioning look at him. He winked at her, and Ginny seemed to relax a little.

Smiling, she turned back to his mother. “It’s good to meet you, ma’am, though that destiny thing remains to be seen. Alton and I hardly know each other. We’ve been sort of busy since we met.”

“Fighting demons is rather time-consuming.” Alton wrapped a possessive arm around Ginny. She might not have figured it out yet, but he wanted his mother to know his feelings, even though he wasn’t all that sure of them himself. So much had happened in so little time.

“Will you be staying, my son?” From the look of sadness on her face, it was obvious his mother already knew his answer. She’d tried for years to make peace between him and his father. After today’s events, even she must know it would never happen.

He shook his head. “No, Mother. Ginny and I will be meeting with Taron tonight and leaving early in the morning. The threat to Lemuria is more dangerous and immediate than we realized. I need to be where the battles will be fought. I need your help as well. If there is any way you can convince Father…”

Gaia slowly shook her head. “Oh, Alton. There’s no changing that man’s mind.” She touched her fingers to his cheek. “When he was young, he was as open and idealistic as you are now, but he lost his idealism and his soul somewhere along the way. It was as if he changed overnight, but suddenly he was no longer the man I’d fallen in love with. Don’t ever let that happen to you, my son. Keep your mind open to the promises that exist in all our worlds.” She sighed. Her brilliant green eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Most important, beloved son, keep your heart open to love.”

Her fingers fell away from his face. “Your father forgot what love was long ago. He remembers only duty, and even that sense has become stale and perverted over time.”

She leaned close and kissed Ginny’s cheek. “Bless you both. Be safe. Come back to me soon and tell me how it goes in the worlds outside.” Then she stood up on tiptoe and kissed Alton’s cheek as well. “I love you, my son, and I am very, very proud of you. In spite of your father’s cruel pronouncement, never, ever doubt my love for you. You are always my son. Only a very brave man would have the courage to make the choices you have made.”

Before Alton could say anything at all, Gaia turned away. Her back was straight, her head high as she walked through the archway to the living quarters she shared with her mate.

Alton tried to imagine all the thousands of years his parents had been together. How lonely his mother must be. Yet even after all this time, she still remembered hope and love, still clung to promises made.

His father clung to nothing more than his sense of self-righteousness. What a miserable legacy for a man to leave. Shaking his head over all of life his mother had to live without, Alton drew Ginny into his arms and hugged her close.

 

Shock didn’t even come close to describing her state of mind. Not only was she clutching a crystal sword in her hand and hearing Alton’s voice in her head, but the fact was, Ginny felt different.

Was this how immortality felt? She couldn’t explain it. Wasn’t even certain she wanted to, but her steps felt lighter, her body stronger, and the hand holding the sword…Wow. Just wow.

She glanced for the millionth time at the way her fingers curled around the silver and jeweled hilt as if she’d carried a sword all her life, and wondered how it could possibly feel so right in her grasp. The grip, perfect. Balance, perfect.

Alton stepped through a swirling wall of light and Ginny followed without hesitation. Energy portals? No big deal. She’d been through them before.

But she’d never been to Alton’s home. She stopped dead in her tracks, aware of the sudden intimacy, the sense they were entirely alone. At least until she glanced at DarkFire in her hand and then at HellFire strapped to Alton’s back.

The giggles hit her without warning. Within seconds she was doubled over, laughing so hard she couldn’t catch her breath.

“Ginny? Are you okay?” Alton planted his big palms on her shoulders and his gaze was so serious she laughed even harder.

“I’m…I’m…” Tears streamed from her eyes and her legs felt like rubber. She did what any normal woman would do under similar circumstances—she sat on the floor, right in the middle of the room.

DarkFire shimmered in shades of lavender across her lap. Alton squatted down in front of her, concern in his eyes, in his body language, in every careful move he made.

He probably thought she was nuts. Well, wasn’t she? Ginny forced herself to take slow, even breaths. She scrubbed at her streaming eyes, sniffed, and bit back another wave of giggles before they escaped.

“Ginny?”

She flattened one hand over her eyes, waved him off with the other. “Just a minute.”

Another breath. Then another. Then one big, deep one that she held inside and slowly released. Alton handed her a glass of water and she smiled gratefully. She sipped slowly and finally got herself under control.

“Okay,” she said. “I think I’m okay. Just a minor melt-down. No big deal, considering.”

Alton plopped down beside her, leaned close, and kissed her cheek. “Actually, I think you’re handling everything quite well. It’s not every day that a human finds out she’s descended from Lemurian royalty, is granted immortality, and gets her own crystal sword.”

He laughed and stroked her damp hair back from her forehead. “Actually, the fact that two crystal swords have now been presented to women and a third to an ex-demon is totally unheard of.” He ran his fingers along DarkFire’s amethyst blade. “As is the color of your sword. I wonder what the color signifies? I also need to make certain our scholars know of the blades that went to Dax and Eddy. I imagine they’re already deep in discussion over yours. Maybe they understand the significance of the swords going to women.”

Ginny swallowed more water. “Maybe the significance is that there aren’t enough male Lemurian warriors. Dax obviously earned his sword, but so did Eddy. Maybe, in order to win this war, women need to take up arms.”

Alton shook his head. “I hate to think we’ve come to that. I was raised to believe women are the weaker sex. Eddy, and now you, are showing me differently. For whatever reason, if the spirits of ancient warriors inhabit the swords, those women in your swords had to come from somewhere. I need to learn more of the Crone’s history. Who she was and how old. I’ve never seen a Lemurian old enough to actually look old before.”

Ginny ran her fingers along the blade of her sword. “Are you in there, DarkFire? Can you tell me what your name was? I can’t imagine your mother naming you Crone.”

“Ginny!” Alton snorted. “You can’t ask your sword things like that!”

“Why shouldn’t she?”

The voice really did sound like the Crone’s.

Ginny flashed a cocky grin at Alton. “Thank you, DarkFire. Will you answer my question?”

The blade glowed brightly, then dimmed just a bit. The sword spoke. “I was called Daria in my youth. I fought alongside men during the DemonWars. In those days long ago, Lemurian women were expected to take up arms in the fight to save our way of life from demon rule. Many women warriors carried crystal, and many lost their lives in those horrible battles, but they fought bravely, though our numbers were sorely depleted when the wars finally ended. Then the dark times came and the women warriors were taken away. Only I, because I chose exile before the purge, remained free. I have waited all these years for the one who would fulfill the prophecy. The one who would call me DarkFire and carry me once more into battle. You are that woman. The DemonWars are upon us once again.”

The dark light in the blade dimmed. Ginny raised her head and looked into Alton’s serious gaze. “I think DarkFire just answered a few of my questions. The ‘dark times’ must refer to when Lemuria sank beneath the sea. What do you think?”

Alton shook his head. “I’ve never heard any of this, but crystal doesn’t lie. The Crone, Daria, must have been a fighter during the DemonWars. It’s hard to believe, but it explains so much. I wonder exactly what she meant by ‘the purge,’ and why this knowledge was kept from us?”

He stood and held his hand out for Ginny. “I have a scabbard that might work for DarkFire. I always wondered why my grandmother left me a scabbard that was too small for my sword. Now I wonder if it was hers.”

He opened a closet and rummaged through for a few moments before dragging a cloth bag out of the back. Then he lifted out a beautifully tooled leather scabbard and handed it to Ginny.

“It’s beautiful. Alton, are you sure you want to give this to me?” She ran her fingers over the leather, which felt as supple and fresh as if it were newly tanned. “Your grandmother’s? It must be ancient.”

He nodded. “She chose the spirit world shortly after I was born. I don’t remember her, but my mother gave that to me when I received my sword. My father insisted I use the scabbard from his father, and since this one was too small, I put it away.”

He ran his fingers over the leather. “I never dreamed I was saving it for you, Ginny, but that must be the way of it.” You are the woman warrior of the prophecy. I can think of no better demon fighter to carry this into battle.

Ginny blinked back the sudden rush of tears. Will I ever get used to your voice in my head?

I hope so. Come. I don’t know about you, but I could really use a long soak in a hot pool.

Ginny nodded. Carefully, she slipped DarkFire into the leather scabbard. The fit was perfect, as she knew it would be. Then she took Alton’s hand as he tugged her to her feet, grabbed her bag, and followed him down a dark hallway that led toward the back of his rooms.

She felt strangely disconnected, as if her feet moved independently of her mind. Was this her way of accepting and adjusting to so many changes? She clung to Alton’s strong hand, hating the weakness in herself that had her counting on him to guide her. She was not one to blindly follow, yet what choice did she have? Until she understood her new reality, she’d have to follow his lead.

They emerged in a naturally formed cavern with a small pool on one side. Candles burned in sconces along the wall. Their dim light reflected off spring-fed bubbles churning in the middle of the pool. Dark water overflowed and trickled out through a narrow crevice at the far end of the cavern. The air was hot and humid, the steam coming off the roiling water an invitation that was seductive beyond belief.

Ginny drew up short at the edge. There was only one problem. She hadn’t brought a suit and she wasn’t all that sure about getting naked with a guy she hardly knew.

Alton’s eyes twinkled. “You know me better than you think. Don’t worry. I may look, but I promise not to touch.” He cocked one eyebrow in her direction. “I was a good boy last night, wasn’t I?”

Ginny shook her head, laughing. “Yeah. You were a perfect gentleman. I’ll admit, such behavior was highly unexpected.” She glanced at him, unwilling to tell him the entire truth, the fact she couldn’t think of a single guy she’d ever known who would have been as well behaved. She’d never once felt threatened by him, even when they’d slept all curled up together.

Even though he’d obviously been aroused, he’d not pushed the issue at all. She’d trusted him then. She trusted him now, but as tightly strung as she felt, it was herself she was a little concerned about. She flashed him a cocky grin she was far from feeling. “Anyway, I’ll trust you, but you’d better be good. I’ve got a sword now, big boy.”

“And a fine sword it is,” he said, but she thought his laughter sounded forced. He stared at her for a long moment, but his thoughts were hidden from her. Then he set his sword and scabbard aside and pulled his shirt over his head, removed his boots and slipped his blue jeans over his long legs.

Ginny caught herself staring and quickly turned away. She gently placed DarkFire beside HellFire, slipped out of her shirt, sandals, and jeans, and with her back to the pool, unhooked her bra and removed it. She curled her fingers in the elastic waistband, closed her eyes, and quickly shoved her blue panties down over her hips.

She should have felt embarrassed, undressing like this in front of him. She didn’t. No, she felt powerful. Not merely feminine, but very, very powerful. After everything that had happened to her today, how could she not?

Turning with complete confidence, Ginny walked across the stone floor and sat on the edge of the pool. Not until she’d slipped into the warm, bubbling water did she raise her head and look into Alton’s eyes.

He watched her with a secretive little half smile on his lips. She frowned, more curious than she wanted to be. What?

You’re beautiful. More beautiful than any woman I’ve ever seen. Beautiful and strong and nothing like I first imagined.

Oh? She laughed, and glided across the pool until she stood directly in front of him. The water came just to the tops of her breasts. She figured her dark skin against the dark stone pool made her almost invisible and that helped her relax. She wondered if she was all teeth and reflecting eyes when she smiled at him, which made her smile even wider. “So,” she said, staring into his twinkling eyes, “are you going to tell me what you first imagined?”

Alton threw his head back and laughed. “If you like, but it’ll probably get me in trouble. I thought you were brave and beautiful and a complete pain in the ass. I remember thinking that Dax had chosen Eddy, which made her his problem. I wasn’t sure I wanted you to be my problem.”

She knew she was asking for it. Couldn’t help herself. Couldn’t stop the words, the body language, the unwelcome need rushing through her arms and legs and the very soul of her. She drifted closer. “So, what’s the problem now?”

“That I’ll never, ever get enough of you.” He reached for her. She shoved her worries aside. Forgot the promises she’d made herself. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t think about appropriate behavior or whether she should be the one to behave. Didn’t even worry about her longtime hands-off policy with men or the fact she’d once thought him arrogant and rude.

No, she did the only thing possible. She kicked off from the sandy bottom of the pool and floated into Alton’s waiting arms.

 

He was naked. Ginny was naked. The water was warm and bubbling with natural effervescence springing forth from deep within the world’s crust. Alton’s blood thundered through his veins, powered by a heart that couldn’t have beat faster or harder if it tried.

She slid against him like a wet seal, all sleek woman and perfect curves. When the taut, puckered points of her breasts connected with his chest he thought he might lose it altogether. He’d never felt so aroused, so terribly in need.

His intentions flashed from well behaved to wanting Ginny now in a heartbeat, and when she wrapped her gloriously long legs around his waist and settled her warm and perfect sex against his belly, he didn’t even try to bite back his groan.

Part pleasure, part pain, all need. Desperate, clawing need growing stronger each second, more powerful with every point of connection. Her long, strong arms around his shoulders, her fingers buried in his hair, muscular thighs clasping his waist, and the erotic tickle of dark pubic curls caressing his belly.

He searched for her thoughts and found only sensation. Her mind was spinning in a riot of color and light, of fire and ice and song without words. Pure sensation, pure desire and need.

She raised her head and found his mouth with hers. The warm, wet brush of her lips sucked him into everything Ginny was feeling, deeper into her mind, her thoughts without words. Their teeth clicked, tongues twisted and danced as Alton turned his head just so, as Ginny’s lips molded that way. He ran his hands along her spine, tracing each vertebra with flying fingers, cupped her firm bottom in the palm of his hand, and lifted her against him.

His cock strained hard and hot, trapped tightly between her body and his, but he didn’t try to force entry, didn’t shift his hips in search of that next step, that final thrust that would lead to penetration and that much-desired connection. Her sex felt swollen and hot against the underside of his erection, her body strained close against him, undulating with a slow, sensual rhythm that called to him, enticed him—took him to the edge.

He wanted her as he’d never wanted anything in his life.

But he’d promised and they were too new. They both understood their situation was too precarious, their worlds at risk and now was not the time, no matter how much his body argued he take her, that he make love to her.

Somehow he managed to hang on to that one point of sanity—the words they’d spoken, almost in jest, the promise he’d made to behave. That stupid, idiotic promise he’d give anything to break right now.

Ginny was the one who ended the kiss, the one to finally break their connection. Her chest heaved with each labored breath as she rested her forehead against his breastbone. He felt her shoulders shaking, her whole body trembling, and his breath caught.

“Ginny? Are you okay? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Gently he touched the line of her jaw with his fingers. Lifted her chin.

She raised her head. Tears streamed from her eyes.

Tears of laughter?

“Aarrrgggh!” He lifted her high, tossed her into the pond, and dove after her. They both came up laughing. Standing in front of him, Ginny shook her head like a wet dog. She sent water flying in all directions, took a deep breath, and grinned at him. Then she raised her arms and looped her hands over his shoulders.

She was still giggling. “I am so sorry, Alton. I really am. I tell you to behave and then I act like a damned hussy.”

He kissed her nose. “Hussy works for me.”

“Well, it doesn’t work for me.” She shook her head slowly, but at least she was smiling. “I don’t do sex with guys I hardly know.” She chuckled and glanced away, obviously embarrassed to say the words out loud. “I rarely have sex with guys I know. That’s not me and it’s not smart.”

“I agree, but there’s something about you…” He kissed her again, a mere meeting of lips that wasn’t nearly enough. Leaning his forehead against Ginny’s, he took a deep breath while he gave his heart a chance to find its normal cadence. “Like I said before, from the first time I saw you, I was interested.”

“I know the feeling.” She kissed him back, a gentle press of lips to lips that left him wanting so much more.

Obviously, Ginny felt the same way, as reluctantly as she pulled away. She shook her head. “Damn.” A short, sharp laugh punctuated her soft curse. “That’s not easy. Oh, Alton…I don’t want to rush into anything. So much has happened in the last day since you called me from Bell Rock…. I feel as if my life has been tossed into a vortex and it’s still spinning.”

“For what it’s worth, it’s really good to know that at least you’re interested.”

She snorted in a most unfeminine manner. “That’s probably the understatement of the year. Keep that thought in mind.”

Alton was the one laughing now as he tugged her toward the edge of the pool. “I’ll be lucky if there’s room to think of anything else. C’mon. Taron’s probably already drinking my beer.”

“Lemurians have beer?”

“Of course. We got it from the Atlanteans. Where do you think humans learned to make it?”

 

Taron wasn’t drinking Alton’s beer when they slipped in through the back door. No, he was pacing a hole in the floor.

He jerked to a stop when Alton opened the door and Ginny stepped into the room ahead of him.

“Where in the nine hells have you been?”

Alton kept his hand planted on Ginny’s shoulder. “Bathing. What’s up?”

“Your father. What else?” Taron flopped down on the long, low couch that stretched along the back wall. “He’s trying to convince the other members of the council that you staged everything, that the talking sword’s a fake and that thing where it cut your chains was all sleight of hand. He’s got them doubting their own minds, searching for records of the Crone to prove she’s only a myth, that she didn’t exist. And he’s still trying to get you arrested.”

Alton shook his head in obvious frustration. “What is with that man? He’s had it in for me for as long as I can recall.”

Ginny felt the tension in his body, sensed it in his mind, though his actual thoughts were a jumble of disconnected words.

She really needed to work on this telepathy thing.

Alton’s fingers tightened on her shoulder. “Taron, what about the soldiers you’ve talked to? What’s their feeling? Is anyone willing to join the fight?”

Taron shook his head and stared at his clasped hands hanging loosely between his knees. “Not yet. A couple, maybe, but most of them are afraid of the chancellor’s power and they all think he’s just a little bit insane. They saw how easily he wrote off his only son.” Taron waved his hand around the room. “You realize you’re going to lose your rooms here, don’t you? He’s having the eviction notice prepared. He’s talking total exile from Lemuria if he can’t get the death edict reinstated.”

“I should have figured as much. Damn.” Alton took a deep breath and his fingers tightened on Ginny’s shoulder. “I was hoping we could get some rest here tonight, but we probably need to get out while we can.” He let out an explosive breath and rubbed Ginny’s shoulder. “Now that you have my grandmother’s scabbard, there’s not a damned thing here I want to keep.” The look he gave her spoke volumes. “I’m sorry, Ginny.”

She covered his hand with hers. “It’s not your fault, Alton. You have nothing to be sorry for, but I agree with both you and Taron. We should leave while we can.”

“Do you want me to take you home? To Evergreen?” Alton ran his fingers over her shoulder and down her arm. He left a trail of shivers behind.

She’d never had a man affect her as he did. Never responded so quickly to any man’s touch, but as much as her body loved it, that thinking part of her wasn’t so sure.

She sighed. Attraction was one thing, demons another. They’d better keep their priorities straight. “Why would you want to do that? The demons are in Sedona. Isn’t that where we should go?”

Alton cupped her shoulders in his hands and stared into her eyes. Damn. His were so green they didn’t look real. More like those fake, glittery glass eyes in stuffed animals, the kind that seemed to look right through you.

The way Alton was looking through her right now. Seeing inside Ginny where she kept her most private thoughts, her deepest needs.

“It’s going to get really ugly when we go back, Ginny. There’s no doubt in my mind there are demons in Sedona. We’re going to be on our own unless we can reach Dax and Eddy and get them to join us. I brought you here hoping we’d find people willing to help, but we’re going back the way we came. Just the two of us.”

Ginny shook her head. “No, we’re not the same. Not at all. I’m going back with an entirely new identity. I’m Lemurian, Alton. Just like you. I’ve got DarkFire. You’ve got me. That makes us another team that didn’t exist before. I can be more than just moral support for you now.”

She flexed her arm and made a muscle. There wasn’t much of one, but it made him laugh. “See?” she said, pumping her muscle. “No demon’s gettin’ by me.”

Alton shook his head, but at least he was still grinning. “Taron, it looks like it’s up to you to convince the council. They can’t deny what happened out there, just as they can’t continue to deny the demon threat is real, that it’s going to affect the safety of Lemuria sooner rather than later.”

Taron took Alton’s hand and the two men grasped each other’s forearms. “Be safe, Alton. You’re the brother I wish I’d had. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You are my brother, Taron. You always have been. Always will be. I wish you luck with our hardheaded council.”

Taron laughed. “Wish me luck with the one who denies being your father. His is the hardest head I have to deal with. Take care, my friend. I promise to do my best.” He turned to Ginny. “You, too, Ginny. Be safe. Take care of Alton for me. I’m not at all worried about you, but that guy is something else altogether.”

Ginny rose up on her toes and surprised Taron with a kiss to his cheek. He blushed to the roots of his brilliant red hair.

“I promise, Taron. I just wish there was a way we could keep in touch.” She glanced at Alton. “Can we plan to meet in a few days? I think we need to know how things are going here. If there’s any change in the council’s decision.”

“Bell Rock?” Alton hugged Ginny close.

Taron nodded. “Bell Rock it is. Three days from today, at sunset. I’ll meet you at the portal within the vortex.” He held his vermillion braid in one hand. “I’d rather not risk exposure in human society.”

“Agreed.” Alton leaned over and kissed Ginny. “You’re already thinking like a warrior. Planning ahead. I like that.”

A soft chime rang—three crystal-clear tones. Alton glanced quickly toward the doorway. Taron looked at Alton. “Are you expecting anyone?”

He shook his head and grabbed Ginny’s arm. They both gathered up their things and slipped into the hallway that led to the pool, out of sight of the door. A moment later, Taron called to them. “It’s okay. Hurry.”

A large man in a blue robe stood uncomfortably in the front room. Ginny recognized him immediately as one of the soldiers who’d brought Alton to the great hall in chains. She squeezed Alton’s hand but kept her eyes on the guard.

Alton asked, “What’s going on?”

The guard nodded his head toward Ginny and Alton. “I am Roland of Kronus, Sergeant of the Guard. I’ve come to warn you. Chancellor Artigos has convinced the council to hold you under house arrest until they’ve had time to discuss the current situation.” He looked at Taron and shrugged. “We all know what that means. Months of discussion, no action while the demons gain a stronger foothold. You need to leave immediately, but the route to Sedona’s Bell Rock is guarded.”

“How about the one through Mount Shasta?” Alton was slipping his scabbard over his shoulders as he questioned the sergeant.

Grinning, the man nodded his head. “I’m covering that one. Hurry. Those charged with your arrest are on their way, though they promised to take their time. You’re going to have to get through the veil before my troops are in place. I’m not sure where all their loyalties lie.” He turned toward the swirl of light and color, poked his head through, and then popped back into the room. “It’s all clear.”

Ginny buckled her scabbard in place and grabbed her pack. Taron gave her a quick hug and propelled her toward the portal. Alton looped his pack over his shoulder and grabbed Ginny’s hand. Without another backward glance, they followed the sergeant of the guard into the tunnel.