“Given enough time.” He looked at his watch, grimacing. “It’s more like feeling the waves coming off them, like reverse sonar. I didn’t want to move until I found them all. Thanks for being so quiet. You really are something, you know? I was serious when I said most people would react badly. Thanks for that.”

“Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been in a cage,” I said saucily. “Got any carrots?”

He chuckled at the reminder of his once keeping me in a ferret cage. “God, I was stupid,” he said, shaking his head, and I touched his face, liking the feel of his bristles.

“We both were.” Grinning, I leaned in for a kiss, jerking back when the lights went out. “Was that you?” I said, my flush of good feeling gone.

“No.” His fingers found mine, and we didn’t move. “I guess they figured it out.” He sighed, and I gave his hand a squeeze.

“They wouldn’t turn off the lights unless they wanted to get back at us, right?”

Trent made a small noise that wasn’t agreement or disagreement, and a thin sliver of doubt wedged itself under my short-lived satisfaction. Maybe they turned the lights off not to disorient us, but so they could burst in and do something nasty.

“Ah, can you make a light?” Trent asked, his voice eerie coming out of the dark.

I froze, my thoughts zinging back to the mystics. He knew I had no contact with the lines down here. It was impossible for me to make a light. “No,” I said quickly, my fear finding a closer home than vampires possibly attacking us.

“Rachel, please,” he said, his arm slipping around my back as we sat on the edge of the bed in the dark. “I saw what happened upstairs. I know you’re not happy about it, but this isn’t a bad thing, especially if Landon breaks the lines.”

“No, I can’t!” I exclaimed, but he knew I was lying, and he pulled me into him.

“Can you hear them?” he whispered.

“No.”

He was silent, then, “Are you lying to me?”

“Can’t you tell?” I said bitterly.

“Not in the dark,” he said, a hint of a laugh in his voice. “Make a light, and I’ll let you know.” His arm slowly fell from me, and I felt a moment of loss until he found my hands and cupped them in his. I felt our balance equalize, and then my breath caught when a faint glimmer within our cupped hands grew and blossomed.

“Ta na shay, su meera,” Trent whispered, and I shivered as I felt him siphon energy from me to him, and then into the charm, using me like a ley line.

“How ... ?,” I whispered, and the light became brighter, bright enough to see his expression pinched with worry and pride.