Eve opened her eyes, completely disoriented. She panicked a little when she couldn't see and kicked out at something around her legs. Someone yelled and rolled away.
She was scrambling to her feet when she remembered where she was and what was going on. As a soldier, she had trained herself to always be aware of her surroundings, and it was rare for her to wake up and not know where she was. Heat washed over her face as she realized she'd given Jacob a hard kick, and she hoped she hadn't hurt him.
"Jacob?"
"What was that for?"
"Sorry. I woke up and thought something was trying to grab me. Did I hurt you?"
"My ribs may never be the same, but I'll live."
"I wonder how long we were asleep."
Everything was still as black as pitch. She finished getting to her feet, noticing her clothes were still damp and clung to her skin as she moved.
"I don't know." He sounded groggy.
"Maybe we should get out of here."
She heard him get to his feet an instant before something hit her shoulder.
"Getting back at me?"
"Wondering where you were." The hand came back, but this time it settled and rested. "I don't want to lose you in the dark."
She accepted this without comment and shuffled sideways until her hand came in contact with the wall. Remembering her almost tumble into the pit, she moved cautiously, testing each step lightly with the front of her foot before putting her weight on it.
After a few minutes, just to break the silence and make the dark less oppressive, she said, "If we get out of this, I'm making a donation to The Braille Institute...and maybe Canine Companions for Independence."
"They do great work," he agreed, adding, "Have you ever been in periods of prolonged absolute darkness before?"
"No, and I can't say that I'm enjoying it."
He squeezed her shoulder, the simple gesture making her smile. "I just wanted to warn you that the light will be extra bright and could damage your eyes. It will take a few minutes for them to adjust, so keep them closed until you feel comfortable. If you don't, you'll be sorry."
"I'll keep that in mind."
They moved forward tentatively, Eve straining for any hint of light. Jacob was damp but hot beside her as his body repeatedly brushed hers. It was distracting, but in a pleasant way, and it gave her something to think about besides darkness.
Eve wasn't sure how long they'd been walking when her foot bumped into something. Because she was going slowly, it didn't hurt, but it did surprise her.
"Hold on."
"What's up?"
"I'm not sure yet."
She ran her toes up what felt like smooth wood. Almost a foot upwards, the object disappeared. Eve investigated further and found it gave way to a flat surface.
"Stairs. I think it's stairs.," she announced in excitement.
"Going up?"
"Yes."
"We may get out of this after all."
Carefully, she took the first step. He joined her, and they discovered the staircase was just big enough for the both of them to stand side by side. He dropped his hand, his shoulder brushing her arm, and his hip brushing her leg.
They were silent as they moved upwards. As she climbed, Eve thought about sunlight, warm on her face and smelling like spring time. It's warmth would dry her clothes and she'd finally be able to see again. Upwards meant closer and closer to the light.
It wasn't long until, instead of another step, Eve's foot encountered something straight and tall. It felt like a dead end.
"What is that?" Jacob echoed her thoughts, and she heard something that might have been skin rubbing against wood.
She stood still, listening intently. There was a small noise like wood on wood and then the smell of fresh air. Eve took a deep breath, pulling it eagerly into her lungs. It tasted so good, she took another.
"Jacob..."
"I smell it. Come on."
Eve felt his fingers trail down her arm, and then there was a tug at her hand. Suddenly she was following him instead of the other way around.
Since there was only one way to go, they followed the new corridor. As they did, Eve began to notice a faint echo of light. At first, she thought it was her imagination, wishful thinking after being so long in the dark.
"Do you see that?" Jacob asked suddenly.
"Do you?"
"I think so."
She picked up her pace, forgetting about being mindful for traps in her eagerness to see again.
Remembering Jacob's advice, she closed her eyes when the light started to get brighter. With one hand on the wall and one holding onto him, she hurried forward.
Even with her eyes closed, they hurt as she waited for them to adjust to the light. She was impatient to see something—anything-so she opened them before she probably should have. Light burned them, and she blinked rapidly to get rid of the sudden tears.
When she could see, she found herself on the edge of a large room. It looked like someone's personal library. There were shelves of books lining the walls. The shelves went from the floor up further than the eye could see. There were several moveable ladders scattered among them, raised to different heights. Two big windows flanked a large desk piled with even more books. Among the shelves on one wall was a large stone fireplace with an overstuffed armchair in front of it.
Jacob gave Eve's hand a brief squeeze before releasing it to go to the nearest window. "A garden."
"Do you think that's where we're supposed to go?"
"I don't see anywhere else. Do you?"
Eve searched the walls and was surprised to find the door they'd come in was the only one. "No."
He started running his hands over the window frame. "I'm not sure how we get out there."
"Does the window open?" She joined him in front of it.
"Not that I can see. Try the other one."
She went to the big window and looked it over. It seemed to be all of one piece, with no moving parts. "It doesn't look like this one opens, either."
When she turned to look at him, she saw him clearly for the first time since they'd entered the room. He was bathed in weak sunlight, and it showed all the wear off their journey. His face was streaked with dirt, and mud clung to his pants and his shirt, which was more rips than cloth. Immediately, she looked down at herself to see she was even dirtier than he was. Not only that, but the way her t-shirt clung to her breasts was almost indecent, and its hem was stained and tattered. Self consciously, she pinched the front of her shirt and pulled it from her body.
Using his ability to read her mind, he winked at her before turning his attention to the desk.
"If there are no doors leading out of the room, and the windows won't open, we've got to figure out another way to the garden."
"Break the windows?"
"We could try," he said absently, sifting through the books, "but I doubt the solution would be that easy. Everything we've run into so far has been about illusion and not trusting our eyes."
"Then what?"
"A secret passage, maybe. Something that triggers an opening. I don't know, but the answer's got to be here."
"As long as we don't have to go back down in the dark." She shivered at the thought. She'd probably have nightmares about being trapped down there. "You know," she continued, stepping away to study one of the bookshelves, "on TV or in the movies, there's always a copy of Great Expectations that opens the passage."
She ran her fingertips down the books, reading the titles she could. They were in a multitude of languages, some she'd never seen before and, while she wasn't a linguist like Jacob, she was familiar with the most common ones. She even knew a few words of Chinese.
"The trigger could be a book, but I doubt it's Great Expectations. Too easy and not logical."
"And nothing's ever that easy."
"Exactly."
She made a disgruntled noise and continued to peruse the titles. Jacob stayed at the desk. He was seated now, a look of concentration on his face. Eve glanced at him and watched him for almost a minute. It was intriguing how the active, physical Jacob blended with the intelligent, knowledgeable one.
He glanced up and caught her staring. "What?"
"Do you think the answer is in one of those books?" she asked, pretending this had been what was on her mind.
"Could be."
That was all the answer she got, so she turned back to the shelves. Everything was quiet except for the sound of rustling pages. Besides being in a multitude of languages, the books covered many different subjects, and there didn't seem to be any method to their organization. There was a book on trees of the Amazon rainforest next to one on the care and feeding of pigs. Calligraphy sat next to the art of war. Most of the books were old.
Eve took one out at random and opened the cover. 1953. Definitely not from a thousand years before. She flipped through it and found it full of beautiful, vibrant pictures. They were of different kinds of roses.
She slipped the book back into place and continued her investigation. When she came to a book titled The History of Merlin and his love for Niviane, she stopped. She glanced at Jacob, who was reading something intently. Not wanting to disturb him, she tentatively touched the book. It felt like the others. Curiously, she pressed on it, wondering if it could be the trigger. Nothing happened.
She sighed and grabbed the book. Hoping there might be clues inside, she pulled it out to look at. When she did, there was a loud scraping noise from one of the windows.
Jacob sprang backwards and barely kept his seat as the window to his right raised about three feet. Sweet scented air rushed into the library, dispelling gloom and dust.
With a steadying hand on the desk, he looked at Eve. "What...?"
"It was a book." She held it up. "Not Great Expectations, though."
She went over to the window, still holding onto the book. The garden beyond was inviting, with several types of pretty flowers that Eve had never seen before. The sunshine out there was somehow brighter than it was coming into the library, and a small, cool breeze made flowers and leaves alike dance.
She cautiously stuck the book through the gap in the window. She waited almost a minute, but nothing came crashing or slashing down, even when she dropped it and let it fall to the grass.
Carefully, she put one of her legs through, ready to haul it back at any indication of trouble. Her leg went through as easily as the book had, so she put her other leg through and sat on the windowsill.
"Anything?" Jacob asked quietly.
"There doesn't appear to be any danger. I still have all my limbs."
She ducked slightly so she could finish her journey through the window. Sunshine struck her face, bathing her in warmth and fighting to dispel the lingering chill of her wet clothes. It was affection and hope and comfort, and she tilted her head and closed her eyes, letting it sooth her rattled nerves.
Around her, she could hear life. Birds were singing and bees were buzzing. The scent of hundreds of different kinds of flowers surrounded her. In her joy at finally being wrapped up in heat and light after the chill of darkness, she almost forgot where she was and that there was still so much more to do.
Before opening her eyes, she took several deep, cleansing breaths. She might have lingered longer if Jacob hadn't leaned out the window and lightly pinched the back of her leg.
Eve spun around to see him smiling up at her. "Are you going to let me out?"
She smiled back, offering her hand. "I'm never going to take sunlight for granted again."
He took her hand and let her pull him to his feet. It was nice to feel his skin against hers again, so she let him go with some reluctance.
"It sure is a sight to see, isn't it?" he agreed.
They both stood a minute, taking the garden in. It looked well tended, but there were no signs of caretakers. There as a peace there, one that sank through skin and bone to settle in your chest. Eve almost didn't want to go further. It would have been so easy to just sit among the flowers let the peace take over.
Jacob's arm went around her, and she didn't know if he realized it. She didn't move away or say anything because it was nice, and she didn't want him to take it away.
After awhile, he said, "The sun's warm enough. It should dry our clothes out."
It was such a mundane thing to say in such an obviously magical garden that it broke the spell Eve was under. Feeling almost as if she were waking form a sweet dream, she glanced at him.
Unable to hide her amusement, she said dryly, "You really know how to ruin the moment."
"Were we having a moment?" he teased.
She smirked at him, but it dropped away as his face suddenly turned serious. His arm was still around her, and their bodies touched pleasantly. They were so close that his breath tickled her chin and ghosted across her jaw. His gaze dropped from her eyes to her lips and he leaned in closer.
"Don't," she said softly, putting her hand against his chest to stop him. His body seemed to burn her fingers.
"Eve."
His voice had deepened, and Eve had to swallow before she could continue. "I'm not the one you're in love with; I'm not the one you want. This is just going to hurt us both."
His eyes softened, and he raised his hand to brush hair from her face. "I know who you are, Eve."
"I don't think you do." She refused to be moved by the tender fingers on her cheek and the feelings it stirred in her. "You're hanging on to her through me, but we both deserve more."
"Listen to me." He put his free hand over hers, holding it against him, and directly meeting her gaze. "I've seen the differences between you. You've got scars she never had; I see them in your eyes. You've seen so much pain, and it's changed you. You're so serious. Your humour and fun are buried deep, but they are a joy to discover. She was more open than you are, but you've got a steadiness that she didn't have. I see her in you, of course I do, but you're not her, and I don't want you to be. I don't want you to be anyone but yourself. My heart is big enough for the both of you."
Her mouth dropped open in disbelief, and she couldn't pull away.
"Do you think I'm interchangeable with the Stone of your world?"
She thought about Stone, her abstract affection and attraction to him, and how those feelings differed from the sometimes sharp and sometimes overwhelming need and warmth she felt when she was with Jacob. In the past week, she'd come to admire his strength and confidence. She enjoyed his touch and had wondered several times how his lips would feel against her skin. Most of all, she was positive that, despite her best efforts, she'd been steadily falling for him.
"No," she admitted.
"Then give me the same courtesy. I know how I feel, and I know who I feel it for."
His gaze was so intense that she couldn't answer him, but she didn't protest when he pressed his lips to her cheek. Her hand, caught between them, felt his heart rate increase, and her stomach fluttered.
"Jacob," she whispered, finally opening herself to the possibilities she'd been fighting all week.
"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I shouldn't have. I was just tired of tiptoeing around how I feel. Let's go find Merlin."
He released her and her body felt cold and bereft. She wanted to grab him and pull him back, and more than anything she wanted to kiss him, but he was right, finding Merlin was their priority.
"Do you have a preference which path to take?" she asked a little shakily. The garden paths went in three different directions.
He shook his head, so she randomly started down the one on the left. She could hear him behind her, but she didn't glance back. She needed some time to process what had happened.
The delicate floral scent followed her down the path, and she passed both a carved stone bench and an elaborate fountain.
The path led deeper into the garden until it opened up to the largest tree Eve had ever seen. It wasn't overly tall, for a tree, but it was broad. The trunk was easily twenty feet in diameter, and the branches spread thick and wide in all directions. She stopped and stared at it, waiting for Jacob to join her.
"What kind of tree is that?" she asked.
"I don't know. My thing is art and history." He strode forward, studying it.
"I've never seen anything like it."
The branches were high enough off the ground that Jacob was able to go up and put his hand on the trunk. Obviously, he thought it was important.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Accounts of Merlin's prison vary," he told her absently. "Some say it's an actual cave—which is what I expected when we went underground; some say it's stone or glass. Others say it is a sacred tree."
Eve let her gaze go from the ground up, wondering if there were any way a man could be trapped inside.
"Most of those accounts say the sacred tree is an evergreen. I know enough about trees to know this isn't one."
"Maybe they were wrong."
He ran his hand gently over the bark. "It looks like it."
"How do we know for sure if this is where he is and, if it is, how do we get him out?"
"I'm not..." He stilled and turned to look at her. "Eve, what did you do with the book that let us out of the library?"
With what had happened afterward, she'd forgotten all about the book she'd dropped in the grass. "It's back there."
"Was it about Merlin?"
"Yes."
His face lit up. "I think that may be the answer."
"I'll go get it."
XXX
Jake sat on the ground reading The History of Merlin and his Love for Niviane with his back against the tree that could be holding Merlin captive. Eve sat beside him, as distracting as ever. He was glad that he'd had the courage to tell her how he felt about her, even if it never went any further.
She was leaning back against the trunk with her eyes closed. Her face was turned up to the sun, and she was smiling slightly. There were streaks of dirt on her cheeks and arms, and the shirt that had once been green was now mostly brown. She painted an almost sweet picture, despite her muscular body and filthy appearance. It was an odd but attractive look for someone who was usually so strong and hard.
"If you're dying to tell me there's dirt on my nose, I already know," she said casually, not even bothering to open her eyes.
Jake smiled because he knew she couldn't see it and turned back to the book. He'd been mostly flipping through the beginning, past where Merlin fell in love with a woman who couldn't love him because she was repulsed by his evil parentage. Though the story was a fascinating one, Jake was more interested in what happened after Niviane had learned all she could from the wizard.
The garden was timeless, as all the places on their journey so far had been, so he had no idea how long he'd been looking through the book when he came across the picture. He stiffened and sat up straight, studying the tree the author had drawn.
Feeling the change in his posture, Eve was immediately alert. "Did you find something?"
"Look at this." He shoved the book at her.
"That's definitely the tree."
"It's right after the description of Merlin being imprisoned by the Lady of the Lake."
"So that's it. He really is in here." She got to her feet, staring at the trunk warily. "Did it say how we get him out? Are you sure he's even alive in there?"
"I'm not even sure whether he's imprisoned in the tree or whether he's the tree itself."
"It's hard to believe a man could become a tree."
"I've seen stranger things."
"So have I," she admitted, slowly starting her way around the trunk.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking."
"For what?"
"I don't know, but I can't just sit there waiting."
"You want to punch something, don't you?"
She glanced at him and her eyes lit up. "I do. So bad."
Jake chuckled, his mood lightening. Eve gave him a quick wink before slipping around the trunk out of sight.
More warmed by Eve than he was by the sun, Jake went back to the book. Now that he was finally at Merlin's imprisonment, he wanted to read carefully so he wouldn't miss something important.
He was so deeply into the text that it was awhile before he realized that Eve hadn't come back around the trunk. Frowning, he closed the book and left his finger for a marker. Listening intently, he didn't hear anything but the chirping of birds and the buzzing of bees.
"Eve?" There was no answer except the wind moving through the leaves of the tree. "Eve?"
Jake suddenly felt cold. Quickly, he got to his feet, letting the book close completely. He hurried around the tree, hoping Eve was too distracted to answer.
There was as much garden behind the tree as there was in front, but all of it looked calm and undisturbed. There was no sign of Eve.
"Eve?" he yelled again. The silence that replied made his stomach clench. He tensed, ready to run, but he didn't know where to go. Eve had simply vanished.
