Jayne Castle [Jayne Ann Krentz] (27 page)

her own imagination as well as the very real darkness that had surrounded her. The truth was, he didn't

believe it himself. But none of the other possibilities offered much comfort. He thought it would be easier

on both of them if he could convince her that the coincidence of all the lamps fading simultaneously had

probably been a natural accident.

Ridge was relieved when Kalena didn't argue. Her fingers gripped his with an intensity that made him feel

keenly protective. The thought of Kalena actually seeking his protection was deeply satisfying. It was the

way things were supposed to be. He kept a tight hold on her hand as they made their way out of the

tunnel.

Anger simmered in him at the thought of what she had been through. He would make damn certain the

Village Council was aware that Trade Baron Quintel would learn of tonight's incident. Ridge's chief regret

at the moment was that there wasn't any one person he could blame for what had happened. He would

have enjoyed taking someone apart for this night's work. Soon, he promised himself, before this journey

was finished, he would learn the truth of what had happened. And then he would take his revenge.

Kalena didn't release her grip on his hand until they were inside the inn. The innkeeper and his wife

inquired anxiously about what had happened, and Ridge responded with a controlled ferocity that cowed

everyone within hearing distance.

"My wife," he began in a voice that was far too soft, "is all right, no thanks to whoever is in charge of

maintaining those cavern lights. In the morning I want to know just who is responsible for those lamps."

"Ridge . . ." Kalena tugged at his hand, trying to urge him toward the stairway.

Ignoring her, Ridge took a step toward the innkeeper, who backed hastily out of reach. "Furthermore, I

want to talk to someone on the Village Council. Someone who cares about maintaining the trade route

contract with Trade Baron Quintel. Lord Quintel is not going to like hearing about what happened

tonight."

Kalena tugged again on his hand. "Please, Ridge. Don't yell at them. They had nothing to do with what

happened. It was no one's fault. I don't want to hear any more about it. Let's go upstairs."

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He hesitated, torn between his desire to please Kalena and an equally strong wish to make someone pay

for what had happened to her. In the end Ridge found himself surrendering to the pleading look in his

wife's eyes. Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be led toward the staircase. The sigh of relief from the

innkeeper and the other villagers was audible.

With one booted foot on the bottom step, Ridge paused to glance back at the innkeeper, reluctant to let

his only available prey escape completely unscathed. Pinning the hapless man with his gaze, Ridge said

again, "Remember. I want to talk to someone in charge tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Trade Master. I will contact a member of the council," the innkeeper assured him, grateful not to

have to bear the brunt of Ridge's attack.

Kalena was still pulling on his arm, Ridge realized. He finally gave in to the gentle tug. When they

reached the landing, Kalena turned down the hall to their room. She stood waiting silently while Ridge

thrust the key into the lock.

As soon as he had the door open Kalena slipped past him, moving across the room to sink wearily onto

the stool beside the hearth. She sat looking forlorn and withdrawn, her hands resting in her lap as she

stared blankly at. the wall on the other side of the room. Ridge started to close the door.

Kalena's head came up quickly. "The light," she whispered as the glow from the hallway started to fade

behind the closing door, leaving the sleeping chamber in shadow.

He realized what she was trying to say. "I'll turn on the lamps." He did so before he closed the door and

then he knelt to start a fire on the stone hearth. It was going to be cold this evening.

He took his time with the fire, aware of Kalena's too-silent figure huddled on the stool. It occurred to

Ridge that he didn't know what to do next. He had gotten her out of the cave and she was safe. There

was nothing more he could do to solve the mystery tonight. He was good at dealing with a crisis that

demanded action, but he had very little experience offering comfort to a woman who had suffered what

must have been a terrifying experience.

Kneeling on the hearth as the blaze caught and flared, Ridge covertly studied Kalena's withdrawn

expression. She was very quiet. Perhaps she was in shock. He knew some of the Healers' tricks for

dealing with physical shock, but he knew nothing about soothing a woman after an emotional trauma.

The nagging sense of masculine helplessness began to irritate Ridge. He sought to counter it the only way

he knew; he got angry again. He had a general rule on the trail: When someone screwed up, you made

damn sure he or she didn't do it twice.

Getting to his feet, he ran a blunt-fingered hand through his dark hair and frowned at Kalena. "You

should never have gone to the pools tonight. I should never have let you talk me into it. The local people

know their way around in that damn cave, but outsiders don't. You could have panicked and run down

any one of those side caverns that feed into the main pool chamber. I would never have found you. This

is what comes of indulging females. Every time I give you your head, you get into trouble. As your

husband it's my responsibility to keep you out of mischief, so from now on I'm going to keep a tight rein

on you."

Her brooding eyes swung to his. "Responsibility, duty, obligation. Is that the only way you know how to

define a relationship, even a marriage?"

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"Those are the fundamental elements of any relationship, especially a marriage," he shot back, gratified to

have finally gotten some response from her. Any reaction was better than the silence that had gripped her

while he was preparing the fire.

"I have lived most of my life with an embittered woman who felt obliged to instruct me in my duties and

House responsibilities. As soon as I'm free of her, I turn around and find myself married to a man who

devotes himself to the same kind of lectures. One of these days I shall be free of both you and Olara.

When that day arrives, I'm never going to look back."

Ridge's back teeth clenched with sudden tension. "Perhaps if you didn't spend so much time dreaming of

freedom, you wouldn't get yourself into trouble so frequently. And don't compare my lectures on duty

and responsibility to those of that crazy aunt who raised you. She brought you up with the sole purpose

of using you."

Kalena smiled thinly. "Didn't you marry me with the sole purpose of using me?"

Ridge felt the fragile hold on his temper slackening. "Our marriage was equally undertaken as a business

arrangement." "It was never that."

"No, because you signed the contract merely as a way of getting yourself into Quintel's house. Talk

about using someone. You fully intended to use me, didn't you? You were more than willing to drag my

honor and reputation through the mud while you got yourself arrested for murder."

"I think we've already had this discussion. Let's skip it and go to bed. I'm very tired, Ridge." She got to

her feet and picked up her travel bag.

Frustrated at finding the argument terminated before he could release his pent-up anger, Ridge watched

her disappear into the small privacy chamber off the main room. When she closed the door he swore

softly and went to check the locks on the shutters.

He had handled her all wrong. He knew that now. Back in the cavern she had been overjoyed to see

him. She had clung to his hand so trustingly . . . For a while she had turned to him the way a wife was

supposed to turn to her husband when she needed his strength and protection. But he had managed to

sever the delicate bond with the sharp edge of his temper. He had never meant to start yelling at her,

Ridge told himself bleakly. He had wanted—no, needed—to yell at someone for what had happened this

evening, and she had deprived him of any other likely target.

If he were honest with himself, he would admit that he should be blaming no one but himself. He should

never have 'allowed her to go off alone to the cavern pools.

Ridge sat down on the edge of the pallet and yanked off his boots as he listened for small sounds of

movement from the little chamber. She was too quiet in there, he decided. Probably brooding. He

finished undressing and dimmed the lamps until only the glow from the fireplace lit the room. Still he heard

no sound from the small room. He slid under the covers, his arms crooked behind his head and stared up

at the shadowed ceiling. He had definitely handled her badly this evening. The trouble was, he didn't

know how to go about rectifying the situation.

A long time later, the door to the small privacy chamber finally opened with a faint creak and Kalena

stepped back into the main room. She was wearing her demure, high-collared sleeping shift, and as she

made her way over to the pallet, Ridge decided she looked very lost and alone. She managed to crawl

into the pallet beside him without touching him.

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She had perfected the technique, Ridge told himself grimly. Kalena rarely touched him of her own

initiative. He could pull her into his arms and coax a passionate response from her, but never had she

initiated the passion.

He lay for a long while thinking of the few times Kalena had touched him spontaneously. There had been

the time when he had fetched her and her so-called friends from the arms of the Crosspurposes Town

Patrol. And then tonight when she had run to him in the dark cavern. In both instances she had been

grateful to him. Neither case constituted what might be called a passionate plea from a woman who

longed for her lover's touch. Ridge wondered what it would be like to just once have Kalena beg him to

hold her.

"You don't believe me, do you, Ridge?"

Her question took him by surprise. "Believe you about what?"

"About that dark mist that filled the cavern tonight."

"I think you had a good reason to be terrified, Kalena. Anyone would have been panicked at the thought

of being trapped in an underground cavern."

"Do you really think it was just a freak accident that all the lamps went out at once?" she challenged

softly.

He hesitated and then admitted, "No. But I don't have any other convenient explanation for what

happened in those caves tonight, Kalena. Not yet."

"It could be connected with the Sand trade trouble, couldn't it?" she pressed.

"That's a possibility. But none of it makes any sense. The Healers have cut off the trade, but they

wouldn't pull a stunt like this. Why should they do such a thing in the first place?"

"There were those two men who attacked us back in Adverse," she reminded him.

"I know"

"Those black glass pendants ..."

"I know,"he repeated. "But I don'thave any answers."

"You don't believe that there was something strange about the darkness, do you?" She sounded sadly

resigned. "I don't blame you. It must have been gone when you came through the passage. If I hadn't

seen it myself, I wouldn'thave believed it either."

"Kalena ..."

"I wishyou good night, Ridge," she said very formally. "Thank you for coming after me this evening."

Her cool, distant words made Ridge groan silently. He turned on his sideand found himself confronted

with Kalena's slender back. Tentatively, he put hishand on her shoulder and felt the stiff tension that

gripped her.

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"You're still frightened, aren't you?" he asked with concern. "It's all right, Kalena. You're safe now.

You're here with me and I won't let anything or anyone hurt you." When she didn't respond, Ridge edged

closer, stroking his hand a little awkwardly over her shoulder. Making love to a woman was one thing;

comforting her was another. He didn't know what to do. But he thought she relaxed slightly as he ran his

palm back and forth along her arm.

For several minutes, they were both silent. Kalena didn't move, but the tight muscles of her shoulders

began to loosen as Ridge continued his stroking.

Then, without any warning, Kalena turned to face him, burrowing into his arms as she sought the warmth

and strength of his body. Startled, Ridge hesitated momentarily, and then resumed his slow, massaging

touch.

There was nothing overtly sexual about the way she was cuddling with him, Ridge realized. Kalena

wanted to be comforted and she had turned to him for that comfort. It was only right, he told himself. He

was her husband. He fell asleep with that thought.

Ridge awoke shortly before dawn the next morning to find the pallet beside him empty. A small clattering

sound in the corner of the chamber near the hearth made him open his eyes. Kalena was dressed to

travel and she had a steaming mug of yant tea in her hand. Apparently, she had just finished making it on