The stone beneath her hand rippled. Actually rippled, the solid rock moving like water disturbed by a dropped stone, concentric circles spreading outward from her palm in waves that turned black obsidian translucent, then gold, then gone.
An entry formed in the wall.
It opened like a wound in the mountain, a narrow archway carved from nothing, edges still glowing with the gold residue of whatever language she'd spoken. Warm air rushed through the gap, humid and dense, carrying the mineral smell of heated water and ancient stone.
The vampires were ten feet away. Both sides. Closing fast.
Gavriel didn't hesitate.
He hooked his arm around Serena's waist, yanked her off her feet, and dove through the opening.
SPLASH.
They hit water on the other side.
Warm water. Bath-warm. The kind of heat that swallowed them whole on impact, closing over their heads for one disorienting second before Gavriel's hand found the back of her skull and hauled her face above the surface.
