Serpent's Kiss (Elder Races #3)(104)

Rune worked one-handed to loosen the fastening of one of the armbands. His energy was still roused from what had happened earlier. He appeared calm but felt battle-ready, still burning with an edged anger at both Julian and Dragos. The sensation jumped along Carling’s nerve endings like an ungrounded electrical cord.

He said quietly, “I haven’t had a chance yet to ask you how the examination with Seremela went.”

She held open both empty hands to him, and he offered one forearm to her. “The exam itself wasn’t any surprise,” she told him as she worked to undo the armband fastenings. “The conversation proved useful. She’s really bright. I think she’s a talented pathologist, and you were right about her bringing a unique perspective to the whole thing. We may not find a cure, at least not right away. Our first priority has to be to buy some time.”

“Did you come up with any way how we can?” Rune asked. His head was bent close to hers, his gaze intent on her face.

Carling murmured to him, “I need to try to get in some form of remission. Seremela also took blood to run some tests—”

A sharp staccato knock sounded at the door. Grace threw up her hands in a “We’re done here” gesture at Khalil and turned away from him. Out of the corner of Carling’s eye, she saw Rune put a hand on one of his guns as Grace opened the door to reveal an unhappy, disheveled witch. The woman was middle-aged and comfortably rounded, and wore jeans, sneakers, a hooded University of Kentucky sweatshirt and a sour expression. Grace stood back and let her step into the house. The woman jerked to a halt, her sour expression fading and eyes widening when she took in Rune, Carling and the Djinn.

“You got here in record time,” Grace said to the woman. She sat on the opposite end of the couch from Carling to jam her feet into a battered pair of sneakers. “The kids are in bed where most sane people are right now, and you know how this goes, Janice—it’ll take however long it takes.”

Janice’s fascinated gaze bounced around the room. Then she focused all her attention on Grace. “I’ll make a pot of coffee.”

Khalil crossed his arms and informed Janice, “And we will both sit on the children to make sure they remain safe.”

The older human witch’s eyebrows went up. She stared at Grace, who said, “Pay no attention to anything this Djinn might say to you while we’re gone. I’ve never met him before tonight, and he has no authority to dictate anything here. I don’t think he understands that, so apparently he’s not a very bright one either.”

“And she is an impudent, disrespectful child,” said Khalil between his teeth. “Who does not understand the value of what she has been offered.”

Janice said to Grace with a bright, fixed smile, “In the meantime, you’ll hurry back as fast as you can, right?”

“Right,” Grace said. The bitterness was back in her voice. She turned to Carling and Rune. “Are you ready?”

Rune and Carling exchanged a glance then stood. “Of course,” Carling said. “What do we do now?”

“You come with me.” Grace turned and walked out, leaving the front door open for them to follow.

Rune scooped up their bags and gestured for Carling to precede him. They caught up with Grace, who was waiting for them in the front yard. She led the way around the house and along a well-worn footpath that cut through overgrown grass and a tangled line of trees and undergrowth. After twenty yards or so, the human’s gait turned uneven until she walked with a decided limp.

“How much land do you have?” Rune asked.

“About five acres,” Grace said as she slapped at a mosquito. “The Ohio River runs along the western border of the property. It’s been in the family ever since we came over from Europe in 1856. We couldn’t afford to buy anything like this now. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to pay property taxes when they come due.”

“There is a very old Power here,” Carling said. “Did it come with you to the States?”

Grace sent her a shadowed glance. “Yes,” said the human. She didn’t elaborate further.

She led them across a meadow to an old doorway that had been built into the side of a rocky incline. The sense of an ancient Power grew stronger as she took a small rusted coffee can from the top of the wooden lintel and withdrew a key that she fitted into the weathered wooden door to open it. Rune studied the structure. It looked like the opening to a mine shaft. It must have been constructed when the Andreas family originally settled on the property over a hundred and fifty years ago.

Grace said over her shoulder, “Your weapons are not welcome. You need to leave them here at the doorway.”

“Okay,” Rune said slowly.

Carling had been content to remain silent and study the land during the walk. She could tell by the aggressive spike in Rune’s emotions that he didn’t like the idea of disarming, but he set their two bags by the door then he stripped off his short sword and shoulder holsters with the guns and set them with care on the bags.

“Are we going into a cave?” Carling asked curiously.

“Yes,” Grace said. “There are cave systems all over the area, from Bluespring Caverns, Marengo Cave, and Squire Boone Caverns in southern Indiana to the Mammoth Cave system in central Kentucky. This is a very small system by comparison.”