She felt it in each joint and sinew as she stopped and breathed deeply. She had to keep control or let the panic swell and burst. Running and screaming was an alternative, but not dignified. Since she didn't plan on letting Mr. Skeptic see her freak out.

Jim stood at the bottom of the hill. "This is weird. The meter is going nuts. I'm getting extreme readings right here."

Why doesn't that surprise me?

She gestured at him. "Come on up and see what you can find."

Ignoring her nervousness, she stepped inside the crypt and stood at the top step. She would need three more steps down to reach in the interior.

She whispered to herself, "Come on, girl, don't wuss out on me now."

One step. Two. She wished she'd brought a flashlight, and then wondered if Jim brought one. She started to turn back when the floor broke away under her.

A gasping scream left her throat as she fell straight down.

Chapter Five

The drip, drip of water landed on Clarissa's forehead like Chinese water torture. A jumble of impressions bombarded her. She only knew she must flee the darkness and the horrible choking sensation that clawed at her throat and stole her air.

Succubus? Incubus? A demon of unfathomable hate?

Jumbled words floated through her mind.

Must get out of the darkness. Must.

How much time passed she couldn't be sure. A dull pain in her head persisted.

Impressions returned with distressing slowness as she realized she lay flat on her back.

She reached up for her camera and discovered when she'd tumbled into the abyss she'd lost it somewhere.

Her mouth tasted like it had been stuffed with cotton and she licked her dry lips. She trembled as cold seeped through her parka. As she opened her eyes she couldn't see much in the gloom.

Light shimmered down from the hole she'd fallen through. Instead of full sun the light was watery. She wondered if Jim had gone for help; if she'd been unconscious for long assistance might be on the way.

"Jim!" She waited, hoping for an answer. Nothing. "Jim, I'm down here!"

Again, nothing.

As full consciousness returned so did pain. She felt battered and bruised. She groaned and touched her temples with her fingers. Her skull might fall off and then she'd be a ghost like Anne Boleyn, wandering this subterranean hell moaning and looking for her head.

Now I know I'm okay. I have my sense of humor.

She groped in the semi-darkness for her fanny pack and rummaged for her cell phone.

She turned it on but when she tried dialing 9-1-1, static buzzed in her ear. She tried two more times, but the phone wouldn't cooperate. The display lit up, so maybe the signal didn't reach down here. If the walls acted like a cave, she doubted anyone could hear her unless she kept shouting.Glancing into the blackness around her, she realized light disappeared, swallowed up not far in either direction.

"Drat."

After stuffing the phone back in the pack, Clarissa shifted her fanny pack from around her stomach to around her back.

"Stay calm and everything will be all right." She tried once more. "Jim, can you hear me? Jim!"

Nothing.

Sighing, she decided she couldn't sit there and wait for rescue. There had to be something she could do. She stood and leaned against the rocky wall. Refusing to panic would keep her alive and kickin' one way or the other.

"See if I ever go into another crypt without a flashlight."

Seconds later she heard a strange noise, something like an exhale, but not quite. She waited, her hearing zeroing in on the sound lingering in the air. An echo? She took a shuddering breath.Keep calm. The way to make it out of here is to stay tough. Anything less is foolish. Drawing a cleansing breath, she tried to think about what she could do to get the hell out of there. Damp, dark, and smelling like earth, the chamber was cold.Glad for her long parka, gloves and stocking hat, she decided standing would be preferable to lying or sitting on the hard packed earth.

Rather than leaning against the wall, she stood within the circle of pale light streaming down from the hole above. Clarissa paused, searching her intuition for answers. While no one in their right mind would like this place, she felt vulnerable here. As if something or someone watched her from a spot too dark for human eyes to detect. This place seemed odd, out of sync.

Come on. It's just a hole.

A dungeon.

No. A strange crawling sensation heralded rushing emotions that didn't belong to her. A few whispers touched her ears.

Then she felt it. People had been down here before, searching for someone else, though she couldn't say how long ago. With reluctance she allowed her senses to accept and catalog, to discoverwhat resided here in the blackness. For no one would ever stay here, if they valued sanity. She didn't dare close her eyes while experiencing the heavy emotions caressing the edge of her senses. Like a lead weight negative feelings touched her, starting first with panic, despair and disbelief.

It made sense in the grand scheme of things. Anyone who'd been trapped here for long might know all these thoughts. She didn't have to worry about approaching any of these emotions. Jim wouldn't leave her down here to die. Seconds later came a wave of repulsion. This time she couldn't say if the feeling came from her or from another soul that had once trod this dark corridor.

No matter what happened, she wouldn't allow insecurity to take over. Drawing another breath deep into her lungs, she plotted how to escape this nasty place and pushed away the disturbing feelings.

After she shivered she realized her hands felt cold. She located her gloves in her coat pockets and slipped into them.

She heard a strange popping noise not that far away from her, and she jerked in surprise and alarm. The same sound she'd heard in the graveyard last night when-

Ronan stepped out of the blackness, his eyes ablaze with yellow fire.

Her mouth opened, but she couldn't say a word, her surprise more than profound. She didn't have to respond, he moved forward with purpose, his gaze filled with fury. His unhappy expression made her shrink back against the rock. Her fanny pack jabbed into her back.

For an unguarded moment she thought he meant to harm her.

"Are you hurt?" When he spoke his voice sounded rough with worry, strained by emotion, taking her by surprise.

Trust took a backseat to fear, though, and when he took another step toward her she inhaled quickly.

"You." Her voice warbled and trembling suddenly racked her body.

His brows creased together. Faster than a blink he stood directly in front of her. Shocked by the lightning-quick move, she let out a small cry.

Radiating warmth and tenderness, his eyes held her captive. He clasped her head gently between his palms. "You're hurt."

"I'm...no, I'm fine."

"Never mind the headache?"

"How did you know-?"