He made a distinctly male sound deep in his chest that rumbled against hers. She sighed into his mouth as he gently pulled away. Their eyes met, his that deep, arresting blue that always hastened her pulse. She wondered how he’d describe hers. They were also blue, although lighter than his, just like her father’s. Her aunt had once said she had ghost eyes. The woman had found them eerie against her pale skin and midnight-black hair. If he thought them strange, Orpheus didn’t say so. There was nothing but desire in his expression.
“I forgive you.”
“All it took was a kiss?” he said softly. “I would have done that sooner had I known and if I could have gotten close enough to you.” His large hands stroked along her waist, and he lowered his forehead to rest against hers.
“I suppose you needed only to offer me a ride across town on your back.”
“The secret to the heart.”
Her gaze dropped to the pathway. “I don’t want to spend my last hours on earth hating you. And, honestly, if we ever get out of this alive, I want to kiss you like that for many hours.”
“Hours…,” he repeated, his lips brushing her cheek. “Indeed, I could kiss you for hours.”
Lightning cracked across the sky, and they both looked up.
“A warning from the gods.” He scowled.
She released him and turned back toward the wall. “There’s only one way we’re getting out of this alive. We have to find that grimoire and bring it to Cleopatra.”
Chapter Six
Orpheus tried to understand what had just happened. When he’d kissed Alena, a piece of his heart had somehow passed through his throat to his lips and into her, and now it was walking away from him, sashaying toward an ominous door in a wall that looked to be constructed out of solid stone by the gods themselves.
It made him nervous. He respected Alena and found himself disconcertingly invested in the welfare of the sorceress. He needed more time. Time to woo her. To worship her. To wed her, if that’s where this was going. The wall was a reminder that their time was short. She was right though: the only way out was to face what was ahead of them. They must find the grimoire.
“Wait,” he called. He caught up to her before she could try the door. “It could be dangerous.”
“I’m sure it is dangerous, but the path leads here. This is where we must go.” Without hesitation, she pushed against the door and groaned. “It’s locked.”
He shook his head, beguiled by her bravery and determination. He desperately hoped that tenacity wouldn’t cross into foolishness. He took a closer look at the door, running his hands along the edges. “It’s not locked. It’s a false entrance. Look here. There are no hinges. This is solid stone only carved to look like a door.”
“How do we get inside?”
“There are symbols here.” The way the door was designed, Orpheus had to stand with his back against it to read the strange markings on his right and left. He reached out and placed his fingers on the symbols on either side of his body.
“Orpheus!”
Alena’s scream cut off, and he was transported to the other side of the wall, to a strange interior room lit by burning torches. “Alena? Put your hands against—”
She arrived where he had, right in front of him. “The tricks you teach me,” she said around a smile.
He shook his head and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’d like to teach you a few more.”
“How about teaching me what this place is and what we’re supposed to do next?”
Orpheus scratched the back of his head and took a closer look at his surroundings. There was nothing here but a couple of torches and a dark, narrow entrance that led to the gods knew where.
“Only one possibility.” He pointed toward a dark doorway.
Alena removed a torch from the wall and handed it to him. “Might as well be able to see what’s going to kill us.” She took a second torch for herself.
Orpheus led the way. The narrow corridor stretched on until they reached a fork. “Left or right?”
Alena stared at the symbols in the stone for a moment. “Left is marked by the symbol for the underworld, right by the symbol for the god of war.
“How do you know that? These symbols are gibberish to me.”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. The symbols aren’t anything I’ve ever seen, but I can understand them.”
