"You should be." Anna Leigh was poised to give Mary a smart push at the top of the stairs when she glimpsed Ryder's cold, taut expression.

She had no doubt that if she touched Mary he would kill her. It didn't matter that his uncle had a gun pointed at his back and was prepared to use it. Ryder had the look of a man who was prepared to accept that.

Anna Leigh let her hand drift back to her side.

She stepped out of the way to give Ryder room to follow. Mary raised her gown and began to descend the stairs carefully. The edge of each step was slightly damp and there was no rail for support. Ryder was right behind her, proceeding into the dark, yawning cavity with similar caution. Without warning there was a cry above them. Mary recognized Anna Leigh's high-pitched squeal, then Lieutenant River's guttural shout of surprise. Even though Mary knew what to expect, she froze on the stairs. Ryder grabbed her by the waist and lifted her, abandoning caution in favor of getting down the stairs as quickly as possible. He took them blindly, two and three at a time, moving only a heartbeat faster than the two bodies that came tumbling after them. Anna Leigh's long scream rose and fell in pitch as she was bounced and jolted and scraped by the hard edges of the steps. In contrast, after his first hoarse cry, the descent of Davis Rivers was eerily quiet.

Ryder lost his balance when his feet hit the cool brick floor of the wine cellar. He protected Mary from the worst of the fall by twisting so that he hit the floor first. For a moment he couldn't breathe. Mary was sprawled on top of him, her elbow planted solidly against his ribs.

She tried to scramble off but Anna Leigh somersaulted down the last three steps and landed hard on top of them both. Davis Rivers followed at a slower pace, his body slipping limply down the stairs as if it were a corrugated sliding board. Ryder had a glimpse of his uncle silhouetted at the top of the steps before the door was shut and the wine cellar returned to complete darkness. Mary raised her head slowly, trying to make out Ryder's features. She expected his silver eyes would glow in the dark. They didn't.

"If this is how your uncle gives tours of his wine cellar," she said, "I don't think I approve." Ryder managed to draw a rattling breath and to chuckle at the same time.

He had no difficulty finding her face. He patted her cheek lightly.

"You've gained some weight." She snorted.

"Anna Leigh's on top of me." Mary unceremoniously shifted her position and pushed the younger woman off her.

"Better?" she asked as Anna Leigh's landing caused the beauty to emit an unladylike grunt.

"Almost," Ryder said.

"If you would just take your elbow out of my ribs."

"Oh!" Mary pushed herself upright and off Ryder. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. It wasn't possible. The blackness around them was every bit as deep and penetrating as it had been in the Cavern of Lost Souls. That experience had prepared her for this. She didn't fight against what she couldn't change. Ryder sat up, drawing his legs toward his chest. He had some pain in his right knee, but nothing was broken.

"You're all right?" he asked Mary.

"A few bruises.

I'll be fine."

"Miss Hamilton?" There was a small groan in response.

"Not doing as well," said Mary. She reached out in the direction of Anna Leigh's whimpers, found the other woman's shoulder, and gave it a firm shake.

"Rise and shine, Miss Hamilton," she said sweetly.

"The senator's decided you're no better than the rest of us." Anna Leigh found enough strength to push Mary's hand off her shoulder.

"Get away from me." Mary was happy to oblige. She brushed her hands off smartly.

"She's as good as she ever was," she said to Ryder.

"Don't start a cat fight he warned her.

"I can't see to separate the two of you." Before Mary could take issue with that, Ryder asked, "What about Rivers?"

"I don't know where he is."

"I don't think he ever made it to the bottom." He held Mary back when he felt her start to move.

"I'll check on him," he said. Ryder got stiffly to his feet.

"Don't let me step on you." Mary pulled in her arms and legs, giving Ryder a wide berth as he searched for the stairs.

She heard him stub his foot on something. Anna Leigh's shrill expletive helped her identify what it was.

"Get out of his way, Miss Hamilton," said Mary.

"He's trying to help your friend."

Anna Leigh pushed herself upright, curling her legs under her.

"What's happened to Davis?" she demanded.

"Is he-" Ryder didn't let her finish.

"He's out cold. Not dead." He dragged Davis off the steps and laid him on the floor.

"He's right here, if you want to tend to him," he told her. Anna Leigh wasn't of a mind to minister to her unconscious lover. Going to the origin of Ryder's voice, she crawled to the steps and stood. Before Ryder knew her intentions she was scrambling up the stairs to the door.

She tried the handle first, and when it wouldn't turn she began pounding on the wooden panels.

"Wilson!" she cried.

"Let me out of here!

Wilson!" She paused long enough to listen for a response. When none was forthcoming she began again.

"You can hear me! I know you can! Let me out!" The pounding continued for several minutes. It was interspersed with strident demands to be released.

As Anna Leigh's banging became weaker, her demands turned to tearful pleas. Eventually she just slid down the length of the door and cried quietly. Ryder wasn't moved, and he didn't expect that his uncle was either.

"I don't think he cares much what happens to you," he said. Anna Leigh stayed where she was at the top of the steps.

"Shut up." Mary got to her feet and brushed herself off. The brick floor of the wine cellar was too cool for sitting on.

"Ryder?"

"Here, Mary." He held out his hand. After a few misses, she managed to find him. They sat down together on one of the lower steps.

"I suppose you want an explanation."

"I.

suppose I do," she said tartly.

"You seem to know a lot more about what's going on here than I do." He called up the stairs to Anna Leigh, "You'll be certain to correct any mistakes I make, won't you?" She sniffed.

"Go to hell, half-breed." Ryder felt Mary stiffen.