The men shifted restlessly on their feet.
“They’re not doing a damn thing,” Connor said.
She held her tongue, but as the minutes stretched out she finally asked, “Is something happening that I’m not seeing?”
“Nothing’s happening,” Philip muttered. “That’s the problem.”
She shouldered her way into getting a little better view. “Huh.” It was hard for her to reconcile the wake-up-in-a-cold-sweat nightmares with these wispy puffs of smoke. She leaned closer. “Boo!”
They slithered back swiftly.
“Shit.” Connor stared at her with wide, wary eyes.
She made a face. “Sorry.”
Then she noted how all the men were gaping at her. She blew out her breath and retreated back to the center. Great. Her childish moment was witnessed by all.
“They’re attracted to her,” Connor said with awe in his tone, “but they’re afraid of her, too. I wouldn’t believe it if I weren’t seeing it myself.”
“We really need to figure out what the hell she’s supposed to be capable of.” Philip turned to the side so he could watch her and the Nightmares at the same time. “I thought her presence would scare the Elders enough to give us a slight advantage. No way would I have guessed this would happen. In fact, I’d been worried about the opposite happening.”
“Did you learn anything in the control room?” Connor asked.
“Can we talk about this on the way to rescuing Aidan?” Lyssa’s foot tapped impatiently. “At this particular moment, I don’t care what it is I’m prophesied to do.”
“It’s extremely important to us,” Connor said, his Nordic blue eyes studying her carefully.
She sighed, chastened. “I know it is. Aidan told me he’d spent centuries looking for me, trying to figure out what it is I’m supposed to do. I appreciate what this legend means to you, and I promise, if you help me get Aidan back, I’ll help you figure out how I fit into all of this.”
“We need the captain here,” one of the men said, his gaze remaining trained on the Nightmares. “We’ve never been defeated while he’s in command. What good will he be to us if he’s in your world?”
A murmur of agreement moved through the soldiers.
“I accept the likelihood of him remaining with you,” she assured them with her chin lifted stoically. She refused to cry in front of Aidan’s men. “But not like this—with half of him here, the other half with me.”
“Perhaps that’s it.” Connor stepped closer. “Maybe the gate you’ll open is not the one to the Nightmares, who clearly don’t know what to make of you. Maybe it’s the gate between the Twilight and your world.”
“No way.” Her arms crossed her chest. “Aidan told me your entire Elite force was created to prevent the spreading of Nightmares into my world. I would never jeopardize that.”
“Actually,” Philip said softly, “The Elite were created to kill you.”
She had no idea what to say to that.
“Let’s see if they’ll allow us to leave without a fight.” Connor sheathed his sword and withdrew the smaller blade at his thigh, before coming up behind her and wrapping a brawny arm around her waist. He pushed off gently, slowly levitating them. Lyssa clung to his arm with a death grip.
The Nightmares writhed in frenzy, the noises they made rising in volume, but they made no effort to attack them.
Philip rose, too, as did the men under his command. They continued to hold their swords at the ready until they were some distance in the air. Then Philip gave a command she couldn’t understand, and they all returned their blades to their scabbards. “Just beyond the rise, there’s a lake.”
She felt Connor’s nod. “I know where it is. Let’s go.”
As they glided rapidly through the misty evening, Lyssa studied the landscape beneath them. This beautiful place was Aidan’s world. He had spent centuries defending it at great risk to his life. Here he was nearly immortal and he had the power to make things happen simply because he thought of them. Her eyes burned with tears. Earth was not the place for a man like Aidan, she realized. He would find a way back here, and he had warned her—once he left, he would not come back.
Connor’s voice was loud in her ear, “If Cross is being kept beneath the lake, there will be no way to approach the area cautiously.”
Philip glanced aside at Connor. “You’ve been there?”
“Not completely. I didn’t surface within the cavern. I couldn’t. From what I could tell, there’s only one entrance and no way to enter with any sort of stealth.”