Jayne Castle [Jayne Ann Krentz] (44 page)

touch of humor lacing his words.

Neither of them mentioned the uniquely sensual experience that had taken place between them in the

chamber. Kalena wanted to ask Ridge if he had felt everything she had felt; she was almost certain he

had. But somehow this didn't seem like the appropriate time. She also longed to ask him if he had

actually sensed the presence of their babe within her, but that, too, didn't seem like a good topic of

conversation at the moment.

Kalena was suddenly aware of a deep coldness invading her. She paused, trying to orient herself.

"What is it, Kalena?" Ridge held the lamp higher so that he could see her face.

"Nothing, I thought I felt a little colder, but I think it was just my imagination. These passages seem

endless. I'm not sure we're making any real progress, Ridge. Maybe we should work our way back and

start over again from the corridor outside that glass room."

He regarded her quietly for a long moment, his eyes unreadable in the lamplight. "Does the Key case feel

any different?" She glanced down at it. "No, not really."

"Still warm?"

"I think so."

"Then we'll keep going."

"But Ridge, I'm trying to tell you that I'm no longer sure I'm sensing anything at all from it."

"What's wrong, Kalena? You've been fairly certain of yourself ever since we started. Why the sudden

loss of nerve?"

"I'm not losing my nerve! I'm just trying to explain that I'm not sure we can trust this case to lead us out

of here." Anger flooded back into her bloodstream, driving off some of the cold. The case in her hands

seemed warmer again. "Very well, if you don't want to listen to a rational discussion of the matter, let's go

on." She stepped past him.

Ridge fell into step beside her. He had been wrong to goad her into continuing, but the truth was, he was

certain they couldn't turn back. He didn't know why they had to keep going, he only knew that, in spite

of the trail markers he had left, there was no hope for them if they had to turn around.

He had learned to trust his instincts a long time ago on the streets of Countervail. They had kept him

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alive during the dangerous years of working for Quintel. Deep down, he knew that the senses he had

relied on in the past weren't just functioning on instinct. They operated on a subtle process of

interpretation and analysis, a matter of filtering through tiny clues and coming to conclusions that would

have been impossible to explain in words.

But calling them survival instincts was easier. Ridge was a great believer in choosing the simplest

explanation. Kalena was right. He was a straightforward sort of thinker.

He wasn't certain exactly what had happened in the chamber of black glass, but he knew what the

results of the confrontation were. He had fought a battle, the most desperate, dangerous battle of his life,

but the prize had been worth any price. And he had won. Kalena was his. He would not let her be taken

from him by anything, anyone or any power, regardless of which end of the Spectrum that power was

from.

Torn between fire and ice, he had learned something else back in the black chamber. Kalena had fought

the same savage battle to hold on to him. He was hers. She had confronted the fiercest power of her end

of the Spectrum to protect him. Ridge was aware of a violent joy at the knowledge. They were bound

together.

Perhaps she didn't think of the bond between them in such simple, straightforward terms. He was sure

Kalena's thought processes were far more convoluted and erratic than his own. Far more feminine.

Polarity Advisors traditionally warned men that it was useless to try to understand how a woman's mind

worked, and Ridge was inclined to agree. But it didn't matter as long as she had reached the same

conclusion. He frowned suddenly.

"Kalena?"

She glanced at him worriedly. "What is it?"

"I think you may be right."

Her eyes reflected her dismay. "About going in the wrong direction?"

"No, about the cold. It is getting colder. The temperature in these corridors has always seemed the same

to me, but now there's definitely a cold draft coming from someplace."

"A draft. Ridge, maybe it's fresh air from outside!"

"How does the case feel?"

She looked down at it. "All right. I mean, it feels the way it has all along. Warm."

He nodded. "Let's keep moving."

Kalena led the way along the passage, her step quickening as she became convinced that she was really

feeling cold, fresh air from outside the caves. The floor of the passage began to tilt upward slightly and

the corridor narrowed so that there was only room enough to move single file.

Ridge took the lead with the lamp. "Tell me if there's any change in the feel of the case."

"I will."

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The passage grew narrower. Ridge was forced to stoop in order to keep from hitting his head on the

low ceiling. The closed in feeling began to bother Kalena.

"Ridge, if this corridor gets any narrower, I think we should turn back."

"I can see moonlight, Kalena!"

Her sense of claustrophobia vanished. Kalena hurried forward, rounded a bend behind Ridge, and then

she, too, could see moonlight and a handful of stars in the night sky ahead. Fresh, cold air filled her lungs

and she wanted to laugh with relief.

"We're free. Ridge, we did it. We're safe!"

"I'm not sure where we are, but any place is better than where we've been." Ridge ducked his head to

squeeze his way out of the cave and automatically reached back to grab Kalena's hand. Instantly he

yanked his fingers back out of reach.

"Stones! Why do I keep forgetting?" he growled.

"I'm sorry, Ridge."

"Never mind. It's not your fault. It's that damned Key. Just give me a chance to figure out where we

are."

They stood on the pebble strewn ledge and gazed around them. The scattered stars shone brilliantly in

the night sky overhead. There was snow on the ground around them. Kalena knew they were still

somewhere in the mountains, but beyond that she was totally lost.

"With any luck we're just a little west of the trail," Ridge announced.

"How can you tell?"

"Brilliant, masculine logic and luck. Mostly luck." His grin flashed briefly in the light of the lamp. "Plus a

lot of years figuring out how to read the night sky. Watch your step."

Kalena followed Ridge down the short incline below the ledge where they had emerged from the cave.

The night air was cold, but it was a reassuring, fresh, natural cold that Kalena didn't really mind. Red

Symmetra was a shining beacon in the sky.

"If we don't find the trail fairly soon, we'll have to camp out in the open," Ridge said over his shoulder.

"Not a major disaster since we've got some firegel, but I'd prefer to find the shelter."

"I'm not sure I want to stay in that shelter again," Kalena muttered.

"We'll be safe enough. We'll have the Key with us."

"You're right. Besides, I don't think very many escaped from that glass chamber." She shuddered. "Griss

didn't, that's for sure."

"No," Ridge agreed, his voice hard. "Griss didn't. He was a dead man from the moment he called you

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whore."

Kalena shivered again but said nothing. Half an hour later they found the main trail. Ridge oriented

himself almost immediately. He started upward instead of heading down the path. In a short time they

found the shelter. The two creets and their loads of Sand were still safe inside.

The cheerful, welcoming chirps of the birds warmed Kalena as much as the fire Ridge set about building

on the hearth.

Kalena sat on the pallet, her knees drawn up so that she could rest her chin on her arms as she watched

Ridge feed another log to the flames. The case that held the Light Key lay on the floor near the door.

Kalena was certain that its presence was a guarantee against being taken by surprise by more of the cold,

black mist. Not that the possibility seemed likely. She had a feeling the destruction in the black glass

chamber had been very thorough.

Her thoughts had been running through her head, loose and disorganized ever since she and Ridge had

finished the evening meal. In the darkened stables that connected to the main room, the creets stamped

contentedly a few times in their stalls as they settled down for the night. There had been plenty of food

available to them during the past few days of captivity, and they had made the best of the situation, just as

Ridge had predicted. The shelter's stores were going to have to be replenished before another caravan

came through the mountains.

Ridge had said very little since he had finished eating. He busied himself with checking the condition of

the creets, going through the packs to make certain his supplies and the Sand were still safe, and he kept

the fire going strong. Kalena had quietly prepared the meal and cleaned up afterward. They were both

tired. Sometimes there was an advantage to accepting the customary division of labor, she decided

ruefully.

Now it was time to go to bed, and Kalena was feeling unexpectedly uncertain and nervous. Her anxiety

must have shown in her face, because Ridge got slowly to his feet and said without any emotion, "You

can stop worrying about it. I'm not going to rape you.,,

She flinched as if he had struck her. "I know that."

He scowled, unbuttoning his shirt. "You've been sitting there for the past half hour thinking of what

almost happened here last time, haven't you?"

"No, Ridge," she said gently, realizing he had misinterpreted her silence.

"Don't lie to me, Kalena." He flung his shirt aside in a gesture of annoyance and self-disgust. "I know

exactly what's going through that head of yours, and I'm telling you that you don't have to worry" He sat

down on a low stool near the fire and concentrated on tugging off his boots. "I think it was the mist that

got to me last time. I know that's not an acceptable excuse, but it's the only one I've got."

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"I understand, Ridge."

His head came up abruptly. "Don't be so damn understanding about it! I had no right to frighten you the

way I did that night." "You wouldn't have gone through with it."

"How do you know?"

"Don't you remember how you reacted when I reminded you that I wore your lock and key? Even

though you were under the influence of whatever was surrounding this shelter, you stopped. And when

Griss came through the door, you wouldn't let him touch me."

"Of course I wouldn't have let him touch you." There was a grim arrogance behind the words. The

second boot hit the floor. "You're my wife."

"You would have died trying to defend me," Kalena said in soft wonder.

"I would have
killed
trying to defend you," he corrected her wryly.

"A more useful approach," she admitted, hiding a smile.

He threw her a sharp glance. "Are you laughing at me, woman?"

"Never."

He stood up again, thumbs hooked in his belt, and sauntered slowly toward her. The flames of the fire

gleamed on the strong contours of his bare shoulders. There was a wary, speculative look in his eyes, a

heated intimacy that slid along Kalena's nerve endings.

"As it happens," he said deliberately, "we wound up saving each other's lives."

"Yes."

Ridge hesitated. "It was a little shaky there for a while, but when the crunch came we worked well

together, didn't we?"

Kalena studied the floor in front of her. "Yes," she said again. "We did." Trust a man to phrase it like

that. Passion and power, life and death had all been on the line back in that chamber. She and Ridge had

survived and he termed it working well together. Well, perhaps that was one way of putting it, she

thought in amusement.

He sat down beside her on the pallet, not touching her. "I know you never wanted to be married," he

said with a kind of quiet gruffness. "At least, you didn't want anything more than a trade marriage."

Kalena said nothing. She was afraid to open her mouth. "You've told me often enough about your

dreams of being a freewoman."

Kalena tensed inside.

"I can't offer you complete freedom, Kalena," Ridge finally said softly. "I'd be lying if I said I could. The

only consolation I can give is to tell you that I don't consider myself free, either. There are things I want to

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do, things that have to be done. No man who wants to build something lasting for himself and his family is

free. I know I haven't any proud House name to offer you. But I swear on my honor that I'll take care of

you. Better care than I seem to have taken on this journey, I trust. Someday I'll give you a House name

you can be proud of. In the meantime, you won't go cold or hungry, I'll see to that. And I give you my

oath that I will not dishonor you by being unfaithful. I want you very badly, Kalena. I need you. I think