Excerpt Continued…

Mentally he wondered if Tasha was physically injured. The answer was clear. No.

Now that he knew she wasn’t injured he could wait a bit, give her a chance to cry it all out, whatever it was. A few minutes later the crying stopped.

Dominic, she called to him.

I’m here, Tasha. Where are you?

I don’t know. Hell, she sighed.

The bar in the basement of the resort? He would swear she was farther away than that.

What? You mean Demon Hell, she snorted. No, I’m sitting on a hill in the middle of some National Forest.

Why?

Tasha sighed. I was following a lead on a missing child. Not much of a lead really, more a hunch. Goddess! Sometimes I truly hate it when I’m right.

Did you find the child? Dom asked tentatively. He was afraid of where this was going.

I don’t know. But I found something bad. I threw up on my boots, Dominic. Now Dmitri and the lab geeks will show up and give me grief. And I hate that I would even worry about that after what I saw in the cave.

She must have thought about it then, what she’d discovered. Because the mental picture of the cave’s hidden horrors came through their mental path with absolute clarity.

Dominic sucked in a deep breath. His hand went to his chest and he rubbed the area over his heart. You’ve scanned? he asked carefully, needing to ensure that she was safe.

Yeah, every few minutes. There hasn’t been anything.

When will Dmitri get there?

I don’t know, she replied, what time is it?

Dominic thought she sounded tired, beaten down. Eight-thirty, it will be dark in a bit.

Yes. I so don’t want to be here alone when it gets dark. But Dmi should be here in about an hour. The chopper is faster than driving but he had to wait until it was dark enough for him to leave the building and go pick up the guys from the lab.

Is there water nearby? Dom asked.

Tasha frowned. Water?

Yes. Lake, stream, pond, water?

Shit. Now I’m thirsty.

He waited as she dug in her backpack for a bottle of water and took a few sips.

Yes, there is a stream and a lake. Fish Lake. She tried to laugh and failed.

Ah, there are only a hundred or so of those. Why don’t you walk to the lake or the stream and wash off your boots?

Tasha blinked. Hell, why didn’t I think of that? she mumbled. Thanks, I’m going. She quickly sprayed another of Andrea’s concoctions on the front of the cave. Sealing the entrance until the antidote spell was applied.

On the way to the stream, she used the marking spray to clearly establish the way. It would keep her from getting lost. She didn’t think that would happen but there was no sense in taking chances when she would come back in the dark.

The stream was beautiful. It looked so clean and refreshing. The water bubbled over rocks, creating a soothing natural melody. There was even a little four-foot waterfall that added to the beauty. “Perfect,” she murmured to herself.

Tasha sat down on a rock and unlaced her boots. She rinsed them in the freshwater and then set them in the fading sun to dry. The simple task helped calm her. Next, she took off her socks, wading into the water to rinse off her leathers.

She screamed when watery fingers grabbed her ankles and pulled. Tasha fell backward, landing in the very wet lap of Dominic. Only it wasn’t human Dominic, but a form he created from stream water.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded. She pushed against his chest.

“Comforting you.” He laughed. His body shimmered, the clear water moving to create the general shape and form that she would recognize. He hugged her close. “Are you comforted?”

Tasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The voice was Dom’s, overlaid with the cadence and tone of a gurgling brook. She shook her head no, then opened her eyes and met his iridescent gaze. Tasha bit her lip and nodded. “Well, yes. A little. I didn’t want to be here alone. You’re squishy,” she said poking at him. “And cold.”

With a thought, Dominic increased the temperature of the water that formed him.

“Better,” she said. “Thank you. How did you do this, find me?”

“I am the water,” Dom said. “As soon as you stepped in, I tasted you.”

“Geez—how am I supposed to take a bath anymore?”

Dom laughed. “I have to be searching for you, Tasha. It’s not like I taste everyone who touches the water.”

“Oh.” She yawned. “Good to know.” Tasha leaned into his embrace. He was warm. She took the comfort he offered her, just for a few minutes.

Dominic stroked her hair, loosening her braid and combing out the long red tresses. He could tell she had a headache from the sorrow and tears, from the tension. He rubbed her scalp and let the magic of his voice combine with the soothing sounds of the bubbling stream, to wash away her pain. He spoke of himself, giving her something besides the ugliness of the cave to think about. "Both human and supernatural bodies are more than sixty percent water, but I am so much more."

Natasha shifted in his arms. If she wasn't so drained, he knew she would have made a sarcastic comment. But this time she let it go and just listened to the soothing power in this voice.

"In a spiritual and magical sense, water runs through my veins and manifests as the flesh and bone of my body. I command this element. I am impervious to its cold or the ability of water to take oxygen from the lungs. I'm not human in any way. I mirror a human image." He worried about that a bit, that she would want someone with more humanity in their makeup. He grinned as she pressed her cheek to his chest and tried to get even closer. For now, that didn't seem to be an issue.

"I command the element," he whispered across the top of her head, holding her tight. "I can summon water when it is near. All I need is a single drop of moisture to use water's power. With every drop, my power expands...until oceans can be summoned."

Wonderful, she breathed into his mind, already half asleep.

Dominic grinned. "With every touch of water, I draw its essence within and spread the magic spark until it leaches into every pore and radiates from every cell."

"Don't say leeches," she mumbled. "Not when I'm sitting in a stream."

He raised his head and laughed. "Ah, Natasha. You are a wonderful treat for my tired soul. I tell you that I know your taste and promise that I will come anytime you call me to you. Just touch even the smallest body of running water... whether it is the ocean, a lake, or even a tiny babbling brook, and I will come to your side."