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grunted loudly in her ear, his shaft rippling and pulsing, her hips trying to gyrate around his thick flesh. Seconds went by, then minutes, before they slowed. At last, the harsh grunts and rasps subsided. Carefully, his arms loosened, and he slid out of her, making her moan. Breathing hard, she dangled for just a moment. Then her feet touched the floor.
    As though she’d been woken from a dream, she felt gravity on her body. But with dismay, she realized she couldn’t stand. Every muscle was quivering. Her knees buckled, and she dropped, stretched tight again.
    Shayne’s broad shoulder pressed into her midsection as the rope went completely slack. She doubled over onto him and felt him lift. Suddenly she lay on the blanket, still gasping. Dimly, she was aware he was untying the rope. Gentle fingers massaged her wrists. Then he lay down next to her and cradled her limp body to his side, holding her close. The warm flush of her final climax had yet to fade from her body, but she was completely spent. Her body was languid almost beyond feeling.
    Pillowed on his shoulder, she felt him tuck some strands of hair behind her ear.
    “Gillian?” he said quietly, worry brimming in his voice. “Are you all right?”
    Though she couldn’t open her eyes, she smiled dreamily and nodded. “Never better,” she murmured, and consciousness faded.

CHAPTER FOUR

    GILLIAN REALIZED SHE was dreaming almost immediately. But instead of being afraid, she was impatient and irritable. She was still in her own clothes, but she was sitting at one of the fountains that they had passed earlier that day. The calico carp came to nibble at her fingers when she trailed them in the water.
    It was night in Tenebris, and everyone was laughing, talking and singing, under the beautiful street lamps. There was a sense of festivity to the city that reminded Gillian of a cross between Halloween and Christmas. She wasn’t surprised when Mina emerged from the crowd and came to sit down next to her. The other woman didn’t speak, but she did offer Gillian a mug.
    “What’s this?” Gillian asked, looking down at it. “I usually don’t take drinks from women who are trying to kill me.”
    “It’s apple cider from the high mountains,” Mina said, ignoring the rest. “It was your favorite, once upon a time. It’s fine. I promise.”
    “You’ll understand if I decline,” Gillian said.
    Though Gillian couldn’t be sure, Mina looked hurt. As she set the mug down, Gillian felt a pang of regret. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her. When Mina looked up, there was a sweetness to her expression that Gillian could barely stand.
    “Sweetheart,” Mina said lowly, “please leave here. This place is poison. This place has always been poison. Leave here and go home.”
    This is why I loved her.
    When Mina looked at her with those dark, beautiful, and wounded eyes, it was hard to deny her anything.
    “We’re trying,” Gillian finally said. Then she remembered the underground lake. “Of course I don’t need Tenebris to poison me, when I have you trying to kill me with a sword.”
    Mina laughed, a sound that made Gillian’s skin crawl. There was something no longer sane about it.
    “Dear heaven above us. You really don’t remember do you?”
    “Why don’t you fill me in?”
    Mina shook her head and stood. “Get away from this place. I don’t care how you do it. Jump back through the water, or just kill yourselves. It would be kinder than anything you will find here.”
    The crowd behind her seemed to take notice. Though the single voice started quietly, it was soon joined by another, and then more.

    She died, she died, of love and pride.

    Gillian jumped to her feet. “What does that mean?” she demanded. “Mina, what does that mean?”
    But rather than answer, she kept moving toward the crowd, and motioned for Gillian to listen.

    She died, she died, of love and pride,
    The shining seer with guilt piled high.
    Who has the blade to bleed her