Page 28 of The Void

“The entire room shook,” he said, shifting slightly.

“It did?” She opened her eyes and saw the chandelier swaying above them. Then she smiled and laughed. “I’ve never done that before.”

“That was you?” he asked.

“I think it was.” She frowned. “It wasn’t you, was it?”

He shook his head and smiled at her. “Do you think you’ll keep these powers when you return home?”

She frowned and felt her heart skip, then she nudged him away from her and sat up to collect her clothes.

“I’m not sure,” she said, feeling strange all of a sudden.

“You are returning home, aren’t you?” he asked.

She avoided his gaze and busied herself with dressing. Growing frustrated at the dress, she swiped her hand and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt instead.

“Mia.” He took her shoulders in his hands and turned her to face him. He’d only pulled on his jeans so far and looked damn sexy with his jet-black hair messy from her fingers.

“I don’t know yet.” She threw up her hands and marched back to the book and slammed it shut, feeling totally frustrated for some reason. She should be limber and relaxed after the mind-blowing sex they’d just had. “I can’t explain it, but I feel like I belong here.” She turned around and leaned on the table.

Lucas was frowning at her as he sat on the sofa.

“What if we’re trapped here?” he asked.

Her shoulders slumped. “Would it be so bad?”

He stood suddenly and walked over to take her shoulders in his hands.

“Whether you want to believe it or not, something big is coming. Back on Earth. Moros’s defeat was just temporary. Doom is coming for us all, in this realm and all others. The only way we can stop it is together, and we can’t do that if we’re stuck here, especially if I don’t have my powers.”

Mia felt her shoulders slump as Lucas pulled her closer and hugged her.

“We’ll figure this out. One thing at a time.” He leaned past her and opened the book again. “First, why don’t you conjure up some more coffee and sugary treats so that we can get back to work?”

She knew he was right. For most of her life she’d trained for this. Trained for the possibility that she would be needed. Now, there was no way she was going to hide and let her family down.

She rolled her shoulders and sat back at the table to get back to work.

Chapter Eight

While Mia went back to work with a fresh cup of coffee in hand and a bowl of potato chips and a brownie sitting next to her on the table, he strolled through the large space that she’d described as a cave.

It wasn’t a cave. At least none like he’d ever seen before. The ceilings were higher than a football field. The walls were light-colored sandstone, and the light from the huge chandeliers that hung all over the place made it extremely bright in there.

There were six enormous columns shaped like upside-down pyramids that were spaced evenly around the giant main room and held up the ceiling high above them.

There were several narrow pathways that led off in different directions from the main room. The bigger room held the majority of bookcases, which were filled with leather-bound books of all shapes and sizes. Each of the smaller rooms that he’d found were filled with old scrolls. Thousands of them.

There were tons of different pieces of furniture around the various spaces, arranged to allow for comfort while reading. Each piece was unique, very old, and well worn, except for the leather sofa and the table Mia sat at. Both of these items appeared much newer.

While Mia read, he explored the cave some more. If this was really a cave, there must be an entrance. Right? Mia hadn’t mentioned there was one, but then again, she wasn’t saying much since she was determined to figure out how to give him his abilities back.

He managed to find a long hallway with many rooms jutting in all different directions. He found a bedroom in one of the farthest spaces. It would accommodate one person easily but didn’t appear to be very comfortable.

Besides books, there were hundreds and hundreds of antiques littered throughout the caverns. Vases. Artwork. Things that probably would fetch a fair price back on Earth and no doubt had belonged to one of Mia’s ancestors at some point.

Was this how her family funded their lives?