"i promise i won't hurt her," gabriel said.

ari kept walking without comment. he didn't have to explain he was referring to claris, but ari was hesitant to get into this conversation. andreas had rather strongly hinted it was none of her business. he might be right, but it didn't change the worry she felt.

"you remember how i once told you about miss charity worthington and the london spring ball?" he asked.

"the girl you admired but never had a chance to dance with."

"yes, that's the one. claris is very like her. when i look at your friend, she reminds me of a different life." he fell silent.

so that was the regret she had seen in the kitchen. nostalgia for 1815, the year andreas and gabriel became vampires. their carefree lives of parties and dances as young aristocrats during england's regency period had been ended by the same vampiress, transforming them only two months apart. ari couldn't imagine how traumatic that event must have been, but surely andreas's acceptance was healthier than holding on to all this angst.

"claris's life is different than ours too," ari said softly. "she may live and work among otherworlders, but she's not one of us. she's human. she's gentle. inside, very deep where it counts, and i want to keep her that way."

"i understand...and i agree." he shifted the box in his arms, and they walked in silence. when he spoke again, he turned the conversation to the missing bloodstone. "so, tell me more about your visit to the caves and what's going on."

ari frowned over his abrupt change of subject but decided to let it go. after all, what more was there to say? she filled him in on the other events as they walked, including the autopsy and the search for the bloodstone.

gabriel's normally smiling face was solemn by the time she finished. "how are you going to find this psychic killer? or the artifact?"

"if we find the bloodstone, the killer may find us. i'll see what i can learn about blackhawk online, but i don't expect to discover anything there to interpret the cave drawing."

"have you considered that you're over thinking this? surely this indian chief wouldn't have made it that complicated. he didn't have precision instruments, did he?"

"not likely. the tigers and i talked about whether it was something obvious. simple and obvious." she stopped and turned to look at him, her voice eager. "at the time we didn't know what the symbol was, but andreas pointed out it could be lightning. but if he's right, there's an extra arm. what if it's a simple pointer? we searched the floor around the symbol, but maybe we should have been following the direction of that line instead."

"no time like the present to test the theory." gabriel's face lit as he caught her enthusiasm. "i'll drop edmund off, so he can start getting used to my place, and i'll meet you at the entrance. i haven't been on a good treasure hunt since...never."

as ari crossed the road that led to the cliffs and rounded the trees concealing the opening to the cave, she was still thinking about claris and gabriel. in spite of this distraction, she noticed it immediately. the stench of sulfur. her witch senses began to race, and she came to a stop, staring ahead in shock. the tunnel entrance was totally blocked by large boulders, as if the earth had heaved up and crumbled in upon itself. nearby trees and brush had been uprooted. a black fog hung over the scene.

black magic. and recent.

she punched in andreas's number, in this case, the equivalent of dialing 911. she told him what she'd found. the vampires could open this faster than anyone else. the tunnel guards could be crushed or trapped inside. at this hour of night, it should have been protected by vampires, and yet there was no evidence of them. she heard nothing. felt no trace of vampiric life.

what she did feel was like worms crawling up her arms and legs. ari shivered as she waited.

andreas and gabriel arrived together with a group of vampires and staff from the club. they began pulling at the boulders, tossing trees, bushes, and rocks aside as they worked to free anyone who might be trapped. ari had also called ryan, and the human crew soon set up spotlights on the area. gabriel took four vampires and shimmied over the cliff edge to enter the caverns from the riverside. he planned to backtrack to the chamber of ages, check the ley tunnel and eventually reach the collapsed tunnel entrance from the inside.

"this goes deep." andreas emerged from between the mounds of rock and debris they were creating. "we are already in fifteen feet, and it is still a dense mass. no sign of our guards." ari felt his smoldering anger, a gnawing presence against her witch senses. "i cannot sense their life forces. black magic or not, someone is going to suffer for this."

she laid a hand on his arm. "don't give up. perhaps they were taken captive."

he waved an impatient hand. "unlikely. they are of no value to a conjurer. consider what he did to barron. do you really think he would spare a couple of vampires?"

ari watched his angry steps as andreas strode back to the excavation. he might be right about his vampire guards, but he was wrong about one thing. she'd gathered her own impressions by walking around the area, and whoever had done this wasn't merely a conjurer. too many separate traces of energy lit up the immediate area. it was a group of conjurers, most likely a witches' coven-a coven invoking the dark arts.

chapter nine

ordered to stay out of the way by the frantically digging vampires, ari bit her nails and paced circles around the debris until she heard gabriel's voice coming from the other side. she ran over to tug on the last boulder. as andreas rolled it to one side, gabriel stuck his head through the opening. like everyone else in or near the digging, rock dust streaked his face and clothes.

"no sign of the guards." he smeared the grime with one hand as he attempted to clear his face. "but the intruders were inside. spirit cave is barricaded by a field of fire. i couldn't get close enough to see if there was anyone or any damage inside."

clever witches. fire was the one element vampires feared. if it touched them, they would ignite and burn to cinders in less than a minute or two. a quick but very painful death. not even the bravest vampire would consider testing a fire barrier.

clever, yes, but not nearly as clever as they thought. ari tapped her right-hand fingers against her leg and smiled grimly at their mistake. fire held no terror for a witch who could shoot flames from her fingertips and command the ancient fire spirits.

"let's take a look." she glanced at ryan, who had stayed with her throughout the rescue attempt. "can you finish things up out here?" in order for the area to be safe again, more excavation and cleanup needed to be done.

"can do, but sometime soon i'd like to see this secret cave. it might help me understand why finding this artifact is so tough." he pulled up the collar of his jacket. "so far, i don't get it. how many places are there to look in a room made of rock?"

"you'll understand when you see it." she darted a look at andreas. "if he has permission to go."

andreas nodded. "granted. as long as he is with you, no one will question it."

"ok. soon," she promised ryan. "but not tonight. you're needed out here."

the cop nodded and got back to work. andreas and ari squeezed through the newly dug entrance and followed gabriel into the caverns.

dust from the cave-in hung in the air and tickled ari's throat. she covered her nose and mouth with part of her jacket until they were more than five minutes from the collapse.

it was mostly a silent trip. while the vampires tried to smell or sense their missing vampire comrades, ari stayed quiet so she wouldn't interfere with their concentration. she reached out with tendrils of her own magic but gave up after the first moments. too much vampiric activity in and around the caves. if there was trace to find, andreas and gabriel had a better chance of distinguishing the missing vamps from the other magics.

they stopped briefly in the chamber of ages. the room was empty and eerily quiet.

"two guards were assigned," andreas said. "one here, one just inside the entrance. i had hoped the entrance guard had retreated here when the collapse occurred." he turned around, scanning the room, although they already knew no one was there. no bones. not even a pile of bone dust. it was like the vampires had never been there. "i want every tunnel searched."

"it's already being done." gabriel shrugged at andreas's sharp look. "i knew you'd expect it. we have to be sure."

andreas turned toward spirit cave. "i want to see the fire barrier."

ari and gabriel followed his lead. she immediately saw the glow of the fire flickering against the rocky walls. andreas stopped six feet from the flames, and ari moved up beside him. she studied the firewall a moment, using her magical senses to assess the danger, before stepping forward. heat seemed to scorch her face. she closed her mind to what she was seeing and thrust one hand into the flames. the feeling of heat dissipated.

"it's not real. only an illusion." she looked back at her vampire companions. "they counted on the fact you'd never approach it." she raised a cautionary hand to delay their questions and closed her lashes. reaching out with witch power, she searched for traces of the spellmaker. she found the same multiple threads folded into one that she'd felt before.

and a face. time-worn, harsh, eyes glittering at her with anger.

ari gasped, and her eyes popped open.

"what did you see?" andreas stepped close beside her, smart enough not to touch her when her witch blood was so energized.

"the high priestess."

"what high priestess?" gabriel asked. "i hadn't heard about any priestess. is this some indian thing again?"

"a witch thing. i hadn't seen her face until now, but i was pretty sure at the cave-in that a black magic witches' coven was involved. the high priestess is their leader." ari lifted her chin. "the priestess knows i'm here now, and she's not happy about it." ari's fingertips sparked, and she clenched them into fists. "that makes two of us. i won't have her practicing her dark craft in my territory." ari took two cleansing breaths to calm herself before turning her concentration inward. she muttered a short incantation and snapped her fingers. the fire in the cave entrance vanished. as she looked up, she responded to the astonished look on the vampires' faces. "it wasn't a very complicated spell. its only purpose was to keep vampires away. let's see if they did any damage to the cave."