Read Online Dominion 4 - Ascendance by Lissa Kasey - Free Book Online

been easy. Somehow I’d hoped that with Gabe it would be just like breathing, since that’s how his touch felt most days, like a breeze tickling my skin. The pain in my head spread to my heart. I loved him too much to let go. Why did he let this happen if he was only going to leave?
    You left me, don’t you still love me? Tell me how to fix this. His voice in my head was filled with hurt and worry. Jealousy was such a vicious animal. It grew and raged, getting louder and larger until all you could hear was the screaming that ate away at your reasoning. I didn’t know how to answer him. He just felt so far away.
His lips pressed against my forehead, scratching my ears just so nicely.
    If I weren’t so shaken up from the fairy ring, I might have jumped him right there. Gabe leaned over and flicked the light on beside the bed. I shook out my fur, feeling the chill in the air, then a bit of sadness. Gabe wouldn’t be able to stay. We had no curtains yet. This house was like a death trap for vampires. The silence in my head was more than a little unnerving. He never invaded my mind much when I was in cat form, but I figured he’d feel less distant since he was in the same room as me, only he didn’t.
    “I found something while you were out. Want to see?” Gabe went to the closet that was filled with my things, shoved the clothes aside, and pressed on the wall in the back. The wall opened, revealing some sort of passage. “It’s pretty narrow.”
    I snuck up close to him and peered inside, looking with my sharp cat eyes but only seeing a tunnel of darkness. Did my father know this was here? Where did it lead to? Stepping inside, the first thing I noticed was that it was clean. Unlike the rest of the house, there seemed to be nothing but the barest of traces of dust. How odd.
    “Do you want a light? I can probably find a flashlight.” He saw just fine without it, and after my eyes adjusted, I’d be able to as well. Gabe followed me inside. He had to squeeze and duck through some areas. The inner walls were covered with vines like out of some Armageddon movie. They were comforting, a reminder that the earth had control of this house.
    The cracks in the walls from past settling or maybe even earthquakes seemed to be held together with long, winding green-and-brown limbs. It fascinated me enough that I had to shift back to human. It only took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and though I couldn’t see as clearly, I could still see the faint outlines of the walls. They seemed to glow with power. The cold air hit my still-damp skin, forcing me to shiver. Gabe pulled off his shirt and handed it to me. The warmth of it reminded me he’d need grave dirt to stay warm. Had he brought some? A warm vampire was so much better than a cold one.
    The tunnel led around, down, and back toward the front of the house. At the end was a door. Gabe insisted on going first, though I don’t know what he expected to be on the other side. Maybe some giant people-eating plant, or a deformed relative who’d been locked away, but it was just a room. Gabe flicked on the lamp to reveal more of the odd space.
    Like the hall, this room was clean, cluttered, but mostly free of dust. A cot sat off to the side, made up like a bed with blankets and pillows. A laptop computer sat on the desk, closed but plugged in. The walls were lined with books and odd statues. The room curved, shaped sort of like a large slice of a pie. It was then I realized it had to be above the sitting room, near the tree and the staircase. None of the other rooms accounted for that space.
    Gabe was already searching through the many books. I went to the desk, sat down, and opened the computer. It powered on, not password locked, and came up with a user ID for Charles. So this is where he’d hid himself away. I wondered if Timothy knew about this space. I already had a lot to speak to him about. The computer didn’t have much I thought might be important. Just some information