Dark Descent Read Free Page B

you. This time his voice purred with sexual innuendo. But another time would be better.
    Joie shivered in spite of herself, yet heat curled deep inside her. If you keep this up, my brother and sister are going to figure out I’m crazy and have me committed. Then where will you be? Strands of dark hair blew across her face, hiding her expression from her siblings. And just for your information, Sir Galahad, I am not the ‘in need of rescue’ type, so get over that one fast. Sheesh. First it’s vampires and now it’s rescuing. Will you just be quiet and let me figure this out? I don’t suppose you want to tell me, give me a hint or two, if you’re really down there and know where the opening is.
    Jubal leaned back in the tall grass with his hands behind his head, studying the cloud formations. He didn’t want to look at the unusual tendrils of mist that seemed to wind around Joie’s legs as she walked carefully around the outcropping. “You’re like a hound dog on the scent of a criminal, Joie,” he said. “You would have made a great detective.”
    “She would have,” Gabrielle agreed with a little grin. She concentrated on the bright blue flowers with their symmetric petals. The beautiful masses of flowers were unusual, yet something sinister seemed to lie beneath the ground, just inches from the soft petals, an obscene, malicious presence. Staring at the flowers, Gabrielle swore the ground rose up an inch or so as if something were tunneling beneath it. The wind rushed over the mountainside. She sat up quickly, blinking rapidly.
    “What is it?” Jubal asked.
    “I don’t know. For a moment I thought I saw something moving beneath the soil. This place gives me the creeps.”
    “Joie, come on. We’re getting out of here,” Jubal decided, reaching a long arm to gather their gear. “The sun will be down in a couple of hours anyway.”
    Joie examined every inch of the outcropping and the niche on either side. The rock was grown over with scrub and grasses. Wildflowers lifted their bright heads toward the sun. Joie narrowed her gaze and stepped up as close as possible, focusing completely on the jutting surface and every crack and shadow. “I’ve never felt so driven in my life. I don’t think I can leave without finding it,” she admitted honestly. “I’m sorry—if you two want to take off, go ahead. I’ll come along as soon as I can.”
    Jubal and Gabrielle exchanged a long, knowing look. “Sure thing, sis, we’ll just leave you up here all by yourself. Knowing you, you’d disappear into a cave and mate with a troll,” Gabrielle said.
    “Ha ha,” Joie answered.
    “What’s the name of this mountain range?” Jubal asked idly, but his gaze was on Joie as she scanned the rock surface. “The bogs are even beautiful. If it wasn’t so freaky up here, I could live in this area.” When Gabrielle arched a black eyebrow at him, he laughed. “I could. I don’t need to live in a city. I’ve got the same genes as the two of you. I just like to have money, you know. I need it for the two of you, to bail you out of all the trouble you get into.”
    “You idiot,” Joie said affectionately, although she didn’t look at him. “You have enough money to retire from that silly job of yours and do something useful with your life. Something humanitarian. There’s a small crack running the length of the rock here. There’s something funny about this, Jubal, Come look at it. It just isn’t right the way it is.”
    “My humanitarian contribution to the world is looking after you two thrill seekers,” Jubal pointed out as he got lazily to his feet. “Without me to curb your antics, the world would be a frightening place.” He looked up at the strange, moving mist. “Rather like this place.” He sauntered slowly over to examine the surface of the outcrop.
    “We’re in the Apuseni Mountains, part of the Carpathians, you heathen,” Gabrielle informed her brother. “If you paid even the slightest