“Seven seals for Seven Doors
Seven rooms and Seven Floors
Some lead to bliss and priceless treasure
Some to darker kinds of pleasure
Choose the one your heart desires
Choose the ice or choose the fire
Both will change you, time will tell
If chose you ill or chose you well
Now take your choice, for twain or cleft
Will life be chosen, or will death?”
After finishing this cryptic verse, the Celestial stood back from the still-closed door and motioned for Kate and Rone to come forward.
“Come,” he/she said in that soft, neutral voice. “It is not for this one to open this door for you. You must do it yourselves.”
“We must?” Kate frowned up at the tall being. “But what if we choose wrong? What did that weird poem you just recited mean?”
Azure only shook his/her head.
“This one cannot say for you will find out soon enough. All this one may tell you is that you must both place your right palms against the door at once.”
“Are we going to get stabbed again?” Rone demanded, glowering at the Celestial. “I won’t have my mate hurt like that for a second time.”
Kate didn’t really want the feeling of having her skin peeled off again either, although when she examined her thumb, it looked perfectly fine. There didn’t even seem to be a pin-prick or any sign that she’d bled at all.
“Fear not. This door is painless,” Azure assured them. “But it must be chosen by both of you.”
“I don’t like this,” Rone growled.
Kate sighed. “Neither do I but what choice do we have? I’m guessing we have to do this before I’m allowed in the pool?”
“All who come must choose,” the Celestial said, nodding. “None may abstain. For how else may Mistress Light and Madam Shadow know the true desires of your heart and how best to treat you?”
“Well, they could just let me take a dip in the damn pool which is all I’ve been trying to do from the minute I got here,” Kate said testily.
“I’m afraid they’re going to make us do things in what they consider the correct order before we’re allowed to use the bio-chelation pool,” Rone rumbled.
“In this, you are correct. Proper protocol must be followed at all times,” Azure murmured. “Simply open the door and enter. You will find yourselves where you are supposed to be.”
“All right then, if you say so. Are we ready?” Rone raised one large hand and looked at Kate.
“Wait,” she said, frowning. “Before we do this I have to tell you…”
“Tell me what?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Just…” She hesitated. Years of living with the Knowing had made her reluctant to talk about it, even when it had given her a very clear warning. Some people laughed or scoffed when she tried to pass on what she knew and others just thought she was crazy. But Rone knew about her gift, she reminded herself. He wouldn’t think she was weird or nuts if she tried to tell him something related to it—would he?
“Yes?” he asked. “What do you need to tell me, Kate?”
Kate took a deep breath. “Just that we need to be careful. And when we touch this door, both of us need to be concentrating on the light—on staying in the light.”
Even knowing that he knew about her gift, she half expected him to think she was crazy. But he only nodded.
“That’s something you got from your Knowing?” he murmured in a low voice. “A warning?”
Kate nodded, relieved that he believed her.
“Are we in danger?” Rone asked. “Are we headed into a storm, baby?”
“I don’t think so,” Kate said cautiously. “Not as long as we’re careful to stay in the light. I don’t know what that means—but it’s what I got just now when we touched Mistress Light.”
“All right.” He nodded gravely. “Let’s concentrate then, just like you said. Ready?” He held his big hand in front of the door again. “On three—you count.”
“One…two…three,” Kate counted aloud. They made contact with the door at the same time and it whooshed silently open, revealing a long hallway. The right half of the hallway was bathed in pure, brilliant sunlight. The left half was gloomy with shadows. And somehow, though the two halves were in the same hallway, the light and shadows didn’t mix. There was a very clear demarcation between them.
Rone barked an uneasy laugh.
“Guess we know which side of the hall to walk down.”
“I guess we do.” Kate started to step into the hallway but he put out a hand to stop her.
“Let me go first.”
“I can take care of myself,” Kate protested, feeling irritated. “Just because you’re so much bigger, doesn’t mean—”
“I know you can, baby,” he murmured. “But please, let me go first. I just got you back—I don’t want to take a chance on losing you again.”
The pleading in his deep voice and the raw look in those brilliant blue eyes made Kate bite her tongue. It was true she was usually extremely independent and unwilling to let anyone try to protect her. But the big Kindred looked at her as though she was the most precious thing in the world—as though he would die if he lost her again.
Reluctantly, she nodded.
“All right—you go first. Just stay in the light.”
“Of course.” He nodded and took a cautious step into the lighted side of the hallway. When nothing happened, he continued down the hallway a few steps before turning back to look at Kate. “Seems fine. Come on.”
“Coming.” Kate took a step but it was as though there was something there in the doorway—some invisible barrier she couldn’t see but also couldn’t avoid. Though she tried to step into the lighted side of the hallway, she found herself on the dark side instead.
Rone, who was watching her anxiously, frowned.
“Hey—what are you doing? I thought you said we had to stay in the light?”
“I’m…trying.” Kate tried to step over into the right side where the light was pouring down but the invisible barrier kept her out—kept her in the shadows. It was like there was a wall between her and the light—an obstruction keeping her in the dark and the shadows no matter how hard she tried to push through it.
Deciding that she should go back and try again, Kate turned and tried to get back into the purple dome with all the doors. But though she could see the Celestial, Azure, standing there, she couldn’t get out of the long hallway. She was trapped there, in the darkness, unable to go back or get into the light.
“Kate?” Rone frowned at her again. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. There seems to be some kind of invisible barrier keeping me from getting over to the light side or from going back into the other room to try again.” Kate tried to keep the rising panic she felt out of her voice but this was really freaking her out. “I don’t like this,” she whispered, her voice tight. “Don’t like it at all.”
“I don’t either. Hey!” Rone shouted at Azure, who was still standing there, just outside the doorway. “What in the Seven Hells is going on here? Why can’t Kate get out of this hallway or into the light?”
“You must take the fate you are dealt,” the Celestial said obliquely, raising his/her slender, pale blue shoulders. “Perhaps your mate is unable to enter the light because of the darkness residing within her which yet needs to be purged. I cannot say—I can only advise you to stay on the lighted half of the hall yourself. You may escape whatever torment lies in wait for her that way.”
“Torment? What the fuck are you talking about?” Rone looked really upset now. In fact, his tone was verging on enraged.
“I’m okay,” Kate told him, trying to make herself believe it was true. “I mean, it’s just a little dark, that’s all.” Although it was strange how the shadows seemed to blur her vision and make it difficult to see over into the lighted side. What was going on?
“You’re not al
l right.” Rone put up his big hands, searching for the invisible barrier that Kate had encountered. But his fingers passed right through, sliding easily into the shadowed part of the hallway.
“Do not!” Azure sounded so upset that Kate looked back. The Celestial was standing there, wringing his/her seven-fingered hands. “If you have been granted the safety of the light, you must not go into the shadows,” he/she said, sounding extremely anxious.
“Why not?” Rone growled. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t be with my mate.”
“It is not safe! The darkness…it grows within you. It eats your soul and then Madam Shadow has no choice but to punish you to release it. It is so much easier…so much better to stay in the light.”
“Fuck that.” In one swift move, Rone stepped into the shadowed side of the hallway and came to stand beside Kate. He wasn’t close enough to trigger the panic response and freak her out but he was close enough that she no longer felt alone in the darkness. It was nice and Kate felt the knot of panic that had been growing in her chest begin to loosen. Still, she felt she had to say something to him.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she murmured as he came to stand beside her. “If this side is so dangerous maybe you should have stayed in the light.”
“No.” Rone’s piercing blue eyes flashed. “My place is with you. Always.”
At the end of the hallway, they heard Azure make a sad sound. When she looked into the Celestial’s face, Kate saw that he/she was almost crying.
“Two more for the shadows,” he said mournfully. “Very well—I will inform Mistress Light…and Madam Shadow. Good bye—this one wishes you well.”
“Wait!” Kate called. “Where do we go from here?”
But the Celestial was already gliding away noiselessly on pale blue feet.
Rone shrugged. “I guess we just continue down the hallway.”
“Yeah, but what are we going to find when we get to the end?” Kate couldn’t keep the apprehension out of her voice.
“Whatever we find, we find it together,” the big Kindred said firmly. “Come on.”
He led the way forward, forging through the shadows like a tall man wading through high water. Kate was happy to follow him this time. Happy to let him go first and grateful that he had come to join her in the darkness, although she felt a little guilty about it. Now Rone was going to get a heaping helping of whatever she herself was slated to take—it hardly seemed fair. But it was nice that he was so loyal and brave.
For the first time since she’d seen him in the shopping mall, Kate began to feel something stirring in her heart for him. Not love—she didn’t know him well enough to love him. But admiration.
He’s tall and handsome and devoted and courageous—what’s not to admire? It sounded like Mimi’s voice in her brain—like something her roommate and friend would say. She almost felt that if the big Kindred hadn’t come to her with such high expectations and all those stories of a past she couldn’t remember, she might have been interested in him. Well, and if touching him hadn’t caused her to have panic attacks…there was that to consider too. And—
Her thoughts were cut off as they reached the end of the long corridor. When she’d been standing at the other end of it, Kate had been certain there was only one door at the end—now she saw two. One for the light side and one in the shadows.
“Try the light door,” she said quickly. “Let’s see if we can get through it somehow.”
Rone reached for the knob but his big hand wouldn’t pass through from the shadows into the light. He tried again but with the same result—he was feeling the effects of the invisible barrier that had kept Kate from passing into the light earlier.
“Hey,” he growled, frowning. “What in the Seven Hells?”
“I’m afraid you’re stuck over here with me now.” Kate felt guilty all over again. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay, baby.” Rone sighed and reached for the knob on the dark side of the hallway. “I suppose we’ll just have to go through this one instead.” He looked at her. “Do you feel anything? Are you getting any danger signals?”
Kate took a deep breath, waiting to see if her Knowing would tell her anything—give her any kind of warning. But her sixth sense was silent.
“Nothing so far,” she said. “Let’s go for it.”
“Agreed.” Rone twisted the doorknob and pushed open the door.
Chapter Fourteen
They stepped out of the shadowed half of the hallway into a vast, dimly lit chamber. Rone looked around warily, sniffing for any sign of danger. But the only thing his sensitive nose picked up was the faint hint of spicy peppers. Weird…
“What is this place?” Kate asked, coming up behind him. Rone noticed that while she was being careful not to touch him, she was also staying a little closer than she had before. Good, he was glad she was staying near—it would make it easier to protect her if the need arose.
“This place is the entrance to the lower levels of Frost and Flame,” a new voice murmured from the far side of the room. “To enter here, one must have been touched by the Shadow.”
“Who are you?” Rone immediately put himself between Kate and the possible threat. “And what do you want?”
“This one is only here to guide you.”
A long, thin shape detached itself from the shadows at the far side of the room and Rone saw that the being must be another Celestial, like Azure. Only this one had much darker coloring—deep blue skin and long blue hair that was difficult to see in the shadowed room.
“This one is named Cerulean,” said their new guide, coming forward. “Come —this one has been sent to lead you to the Pool of Purification.”
“Really? Finally!” Kate stepped out of Rone’s shadow, looking relieved.
“Wait.” Rone frowned. “Can you promise us that Kate will come to no harm if she goes into this pool?” he demanded. “Can you promise that it’s absolutely safe? I won’t risk her in any way.”
The Celestial raised one deep blue eyebrow at him.
“Even to allow her to regain her memory of you and your life together? Even to have her back as your mate?”
Rone took a deep breath. “No. Not even for that.”
“Hmm.” Cerulean nodded. “This is good to know. This one will inform the Mistress of Shadows as to the purity of your motives.”
“You still haven’t answered the question,” Rone pointed out. But the tall, thin alien had already turned and was gliding ahead of them, disappearing into the shadows at the far end of the room.
“Come on.” Kate gave him an impatient look. “We’re going to lose him! Or her—or whatever. We have to go. I have to get into that pool!”
“Even if it’s dangerous?” Rone asked, as they followed Cerulean out of the room and into another long, shadowy corridor.
“Even if it’s dangerous,” Kate said grimly.
Rone looked at her closely. He wished he could be sure that her intense determination to get into the bio-chelation pool had to do with her wanting to come back to him—to get back to their normal life. But somehow he doubted it. Kate was the type of female who didn’t like to be uncertain or out of control of her life or circumstances. Doubtless having a three year gap in her memory made her feel extremely out of control and she didn’t like that feeling.
He thought it was more probable that her need to regain order and certainty, rather than any wish to resume her life with him, was driving her now. Still, he felt uneasy about letting her take a risk—no matter how small—with her life.
“What if it’s really not safe?” he asked, frowning down at her. “Kate, I just don’t know about this. Now that we’re here I keep getting bad feelings about this place.”
“Look, Commander Sylvan sent us here specifically to use this pool,” she pointed out. “So it must be safe.” She threw Rone a glace. “I just want my memory back,” she said in a low voice. “I just want to know what the hell I’ve been doing for the past three years. I
don’t even know how my mother died, Rone. And no—” She held up a hand. “I don’t want you to tell me. I need to find out on my own.”
He shrugged helplessly. “All right, I understand.” He did, too. Kate was a very independent female—one who liked to do things for herself. Which was why it had been so special to him when she’d allowed herself to relax and let him do little things for her—like helping her down from a high spacecraft doorway or reaching things on a tall shelf for her. Or cradling her in his arms like a little girl when she needed to feel close to him…
A wave of longing so strong it nearly brought him to his knees passed over Rone. Gods, how he missed her—his beautiful mate! She was right here beside him and yet he couldn’t touch her—couldn’t take her in his arms and kiss and caress her the way he longed to do so desperately. Would a swim in the bio-chelation pool cure that? Or would she come out of it cleansed of the fear toxins and with a restored memory but with still no interest in him? Maybe she would decide to start fresh—to put him out of her life. Maybe he was never destined to hold her again…
The hunger stirred inside him at the thought and his Beast gave a low, warning growl.
“Here we are at last—the Chamber of Purification. And this is the Pool of Purification.” The Celestial’s soft voice cut into his troubled thoughts and the calling of the hunger.
Looking up, Rone saw that they had come out of the narrow hallway into another large, stone chamber which appeared to be underground. There were no windows but a diffuse, bluish light seemed to be coming from the walls. It did little to dispel the shadows. However, there was one brighter source of illumination—a harsh white spotlight of sorts came down from the ceiling to light up a rectangular hole in the floor. It was about seven feet deep by ten feet across and lined with the same gray flagstones that made up the rest of the floor, walls, and ceiling. But when Rone looked into it, it was completely empty.
“Behold,” murmured the Celestial, gesturing with his/her seven fingered hands. “The Pool of Purification.”
“It’s not much to look at, is it?” Kate sounded skeptical. “And where’s the water?”