She’d never been more proud of anyone than she was of Alton at this moment. He didn’t hesitate, even when faced with overthrowing his own father. Even though none of them had any idea where to begin.

Ginny reached over her shoulder and withdrew DarkFire. Alton’s eyes lit up and he reached for HellFire. They lay their crystal swords side by side on the rock outcropping. “DarkFire, are you aware of the women who toil in Lemuria’s caverns, the daughters of your fellow warriors?”

DarkFire pulsed a deep violet. “It is the shame of our people, that our women warriors were treated as criminals. Their daughters are the innocent victims of one man’s hubris.”

Ginny glanced at Taron first and then Alton. There was no doubt what man DarkFire spoke of.

Alton didn’t flinch. He touched HellFire’s blade. “What happened to the crystal swords the women once carried? Do they still exist?”

HellFire glowed with a soft blue light. “They were confiscated and destroyed by members of the Lemurian Guard loyal to the new council. Their sentient spirits were cast out.”

Taron stared at HellFire’s blade. “Do those spirits still exist? Could they inhabit other swords?”

HellFire pulsed blue. DarkFire’s violet glow flickered and sparked, and it was DarkFire who answered Taron’s question. “We believe they could. There are one hundred daughters laboring in the caverns. One hundred daughters of brave women warriors. The spirits who once inhabited the mother’s swords would welcome the daughters.”

Alton sat back on the outcropping beside the swords. He glanced from Taron to Ginny. “Where in nine hells are we going to get a hundred crystal swords?”

HellFire shimmered blue. “DarkFire and I are needed to battle demons on Earth. Taron, take your sword into the deepest caverns, those forged of crystal far beneath the mines where the women labor. Carry food and water for one week. Remain beside your weapon. Be prepared to do as it asks.”

DarkFire glowed violet and her voice sent shivers along Ginny’s spine. “Taron, your blade awaits you now. At the end of one week, you will carry the newly replicated crystal swords to the women. The blades will know their mates. When all are armed with crystal, your course of action will be clear.”

Alton rested his hand on Taron’s shoulder. “Can you do that? Spend a week in the crystal caverns by yourself?”

Taron smiled at Alton. “I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never been that deep before. If I can find them, I’ll do whatever it takes. HellFire said to be prepared to do what my sword asks. That means it’s going to speak to me.” He shook his head slowly, adding softly, “Finally, after all these years.”

Ginny shook her head, but she couldn’t quit grinning. “If we know we have an army of a hundred brave warriors coming to join us, I imagine we can hang on for another week. Eddy and Dax will be back in a day or two.”

She stood up and sheathed DarkFire.

Alton slipped HellFire back into the scabbard. Then he reached for Taron and the two men clasped hands. “This wasn’t the meeting I expected. It was so much more. I’m not sure how I’m going to get my father out of his council seat, but trust me when I say that I’ll do everything I can.”

“What of the Lemurian Guard?” Taron glanced from Alton to Ginny. “They’ve sworn a loyalty oath.”

“Exactly,” Ginny said. “An oath to Lemuria. I have no doubt they’ll realize, just as Roland and his men did, that Lemuria and the council are two separate things. I think the current council is headed for a change.”

Alton looked toward Taron. “We’ve learned that when Lemuria was relocated to Sedona during the last explosion of Mount Shasta, it was a totally unnecessary move. The members of the council were continuing to travel by a secret portal back and forth between Sedona and Lemuria. We have no idea why, but now that we know there were women laboring below all that time, women who remained behind unharmed by the eruption, it’s hard to trust any of our council members for anything.”

Taron shook his head in disgust. “They have a lot to answer for. Why would your father turn against his own people?”

“I have my suspicions,” Alton said. “When I know more, I’ll share everything with you.”

A scrape of feet on rock had everyone spinning toward the Lemurian portal. Roland of Kronus, the sergeant of the Lemurian Guard, stepped into the cavern. He saluted Taron and bowed his head to the others. “You must return now, before the watch changes. It’s easier to move you through when I’m sure of the men under my command.”

“Thank you, Roland.”

“Thank you, Taron. And good luck.” Ginny held Alton’s hand while the two Lemurians slipped through the portal. Then she glanced at the tall Lemurian standing by her side. “Wow,” she said. “Definitely not the meeting I expected.”

Alton slipped his arm around her waist. “Ginny, I had no idea. None at all, but the story of the enslaved women explains so much. Why we have no history of women warriors. Why there’s no obvious reason for our women to be so terribly subjugated in what should be a free society.” He bowed his head. “DarkFire blames it on one man’s hubris. She had to have been speaking of my father.”

“Probably.” She sighed. “I don’t know. We have as many questions as answers, at this point.” Ginny tugged him toward the portal leading out of the vortex. “Like what happened to your grandfather, and why your father would want to be rid of the women who were such brave warriors. And why he orchestrated the move to Sedona. That’s one I don’t get.”

“I know.” Alton paused at the gateway and took a deep breath. Then he let it out and sighed. “Ginny, there’s another question you asked me this morning, one that I wasn’t able to answer.”

Ginny glanced up at Alton, expecting a smile.

He was frowning. “What’s that?” she asked.

“Where demons go during daylight.” He shook his head. “I’m not certain, but I think I have an idea.”

Ginny was frowning as well when she followed him out of the vortex, into the Arizona night.

Alton used the light from HellFire to guide them down the trail skirting the flank of Bell Rock. Within fifteen minutes they’d made it back to the Yukon. Ginny held on to his hand the entire way, but neither of them spoke during their brief hike.

Alton opened the passenger door and Ginny climbed in without question. As he pulled out of the parking lot, Alton glanced her way. She stared straight ahead, frowning. Softly he asked her, “What are you thinking?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what to think. I’ve been so focused on the demon threat that it’s hard to switch gears and realize we have an issue that’s almost as big and every bit as important, waiting for us in Lemuria.”

He couldn’t help smiling. “We? It sounds as if you’re taking on the women’s fight as your own.”

“Well, of course I am.” She tilted her head and stared at him. Her eyes glinted in the darkness, reflecting the lights from the Yukon’s dash. “I’m Lemurian, I carry crystal, and I’m a woman. Why wouldn’t I feel it’s my fight?”

Her words, spoken with such frank conviction, settled warmly against his heart. “Thank you, Ginny.” He glanced at the dark road ahead, then looked her way once more. “I mean that. Thank you very much.”

“I don’t get it.” She leaned back against the seat with her arms folded across her chest. “Why are you thanking me? What for?” She was still frowning and she was absolutely beautiful.

Alton turned his attention to the road when he spoke. “For embracing your Lemurian heritage, even though it appears it’s not one you have any reason to be all that proud of. For seeing the women warriors’ fight as your own.” He glanced her way again. “For being exactly who you are. I love you. Never more than at this very moment.” He turned his eyes back to the road. “I’m very proud of you. Proud to know you stand beside me.”

“Always, Alton.” Her soft laughter sent shivers along his spine. “It may have taken me awhile to figure it out, but there are no doubts in my mind. Not anymore.”

Ginny unlocked the door to the casita and walked in ahead of Alton. She went straight to the refrigerator and grabbed two cold beers, popped the tops on both, and flopped down in a chair at the kitchen table. Her mind wouldn’t stop spinning—where should they begin? How in the hell were they going to get rid of the demon king and manage a coup in Lemuria on their own?

Who in the hell was she trying to fool? Ginny grabbed her cell phone and handed it and one of the beers to Alton as he walked into the kitchen. “Call Dax. Tell him what’s going on.”

Alton took the beer and the phone. “Good idea.” He took a big swallow of beer, hit the speed dial for Dax, turned on the speakerphone, and set the phone on the table between them.

Eddy answered. “What’s up?”

Alton sighed. “More than you want to know.” Then he explained all that they’d learned from Taron. “So…any suggestions?”

“Wow. That’s some story. And you’re right. There could be a connection between what’s happened in Lemuria and the demon threat on Earth. Dax actually has an interesting theory.”

Dax’s deep voice rumbled out of the speaker. “Hello, Alton. Eddy and I have talked about your father, how he came to power around the time the demon wars ended. Isn’t that when he took over?”

“Yeah. It was during that period when the wars were ending and we were evacuating to Mount Shasta. Why?”

“Why did you have to leave Lemuria?”

Alton flashed a quick “save me now” glance at Ginny. She had a feeling he was tired of explaining his father to everyone, especially himself.

“Your story,” she said, shaking her head. “You tell it.”

He sighed and began, but she realized how painful it must be for him. He was, after all, condemning his own father with each retelling.

“There was a series of devastating earthquakes,” he said. “Our scientists concluded the continent was sinking into the sea. The war was just ending, our civilization was foundering and everything was chaos. The move was made very quickly.”

“Could Abyss have been behind the earthquakes? Was there any hint these were not natural phenomena?” Dax’s question hung in the air between Ginny and Alton.

“Not that I know of,” Alton said. “But I was just a kid. I wasn’t aware of a lot of what was going on.”

“Wait a minute.” Dax’s and Eddy’s voices filtered through the phone, but they were obviously speaking to each other. Ginny thought she heard Eddy’s father make a comment. Then Eddy came on the line.

“Alton, this might sound way out there, but what if Abyss was behind the destruction of Lemuria? What if somehow the demons were able to infiltrate the council, maybe even affect your father’s decisions. Dax says there are all kinds of demons. If it’s a lesser demon, it might not exert full control, but it could influence the way decisions are made. It sounds as if there were a lot of drastic changes in Lemurian society, especially in respect to the treatment of the women warriors and the status of women. They were all made relatively quickly. This doesn’t sound like a natural progression.”

Alton took another swallow of his beer. “My mother said my father changed very quickly, from someone idealistic and loving to the man he is today.”

Ginny frowned, remembering Gaia’s comments. “Actually, she said he lost his soul. I remember thinking that was a strange way to describe her husband, but a wife would recognize a change like that before anyone else. She wouldn’t have had a reason to associate it with demon possession, but if that’s the case, how do we tell? Wouldn’t our swords have sensed the presence of demonkind in Artigos?”

“Not necessarily.” Dax sounded thoughtful, as if he pondered all the different aspects of demonkind. “Over time, if a demon remains within a corporeal host, it melds almost entirely with what is essentially its permanent avatar. The relationship becomes symbiotic—one can no longer exist without the other.”

“Which means that if we try and remove the demon, the host dies?” Alton’s question hung in the space between Evergreen and Sedona.

There was a jumble of conversation from the Evergreen group. Then Eddy answered. “Possibly true. If your father has been possessed long enough, it might require his death to destroy the demon.”

Dax interrupted. “But if you kill a man to free the demon inside, you’ve just given the demon a powerful life force to take with him when he possesses another. You could create an even stronger and unknown enemy by destroying the one you know. I would encourage attempting to remove it, or at the very least, imprisoning your father so he can do no more harm.”

“I will not kill my father.” Alton’s comment left no room for argument. “I’ll help remove him from his position of authority, but I won’t kill him.”

“That’s good.” Dax left little doubt either. “We’ll think of something, Alton. For now, concentrate on finding the demon king. Eddy and I will be back tomorrow around noon.”

Tomorrow? Ginny shot a quick look at Alton. “Dax, are you sure you’ll be okay by then?”

Eddy answered for him. “He’ll be fine. Dad’s been stuffing food down him since we got here and he’s beginning to fidget. Plus, he can’t keep his hands off me. I think he’s healed. We’ll see you around lunchtime.” She laughed.

Ginny heard Dax grunt. I think she punched him, she said to Alton.

He probably deserved it. Alton laughed. “We’ll see you tomorrow. Call when you want us to meet you at Bell Rock.”

Ginny ended the call and plugged the cell phone into the charger. “What now?”

“We walk down to the restaurant and get something to eat and then we get some rest. We’ll make sure the windows are tightly closed so we don’t have any visitors. From the lack of demon activity today, I’m wondering if the demon king is on his own, or close to it.”

“What about all the birds? There were hundreds of them circling you the other day.”

“We’ve destroyed hundreds of demons since then. At least two or three hundred last night when they attacked us here in the casita. We would have seen some hint of demon activity today if there’d been any still around. Remember, the portals are all sealed, so there aren’t any new ones coming in. I’m beginning to think there aren’t many demons left in Sedona at this point.”

“I prefer not to take chances.” Ginny stood up. “Unless he got sucked back into the void, which I doubt, we know the demon king is still hanging around. Look, I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I’m in desperate need of a bath. I want a shower and some clean clothes before we go down for dinner.” She kissed him briefly as she walked past him toward the bathroom. “And I want your promise we’re going to discuss anything but demons during dinner. Got it?”

He tried to catch her for another kiss, but she evaded his quick grab. Then she paused in the doorway, raised her eyebrows, and waited. He sighed dramatically. “Got it,” he said.

With a quick bump of her hips, Ginny left him sitting in the kitchen, nursing the end of his beer and wondering about the fate of Lemuria and Earth and everything in between.

Hand in hand, Alton and Ginny walked back to their casita after dinner. The restaurant had been less than half full this evening and their meal and service were both excellent. Ginny’d dressed in a flowing red skirt and a white camisole top with tiny little buttons down the front. She had her wild hair braided and tamed and tucked up on top of her head, and she’d finished off her outfit with some really high-heeled red sandals that made her long legs look even longer. Her full lips were painted the same deep red as her skirt.

He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her all evening. They’d had a quiet dinner and talked about everything but what lay ahead of them. Alton decided it was a pretty nice way to spend the evening—dinner with a beautiful woman who would most likely be sharing his bed in a very short time, and a conversation that did not include any life-or-death issues.

Now, though, with the dark desert night all around, he faced the fact they needed a course of action, sooner rather than later.

In one week, the daughters of the women warriors would rise up and expect to reclaim their place in Lemurian society. He tried to imagine how the people as a whole would react. Somehow he needed to prepare the citizens of Lemuria for the changes destined to come. You couldn’t just bring an entire army of angry young women armed with crystal into an established society ruled by men and turn them loose.

They had been treated terribly, as had their mothers. It was too late for the women warriors of old, but their daughters deserved their freedom—and so much more. Yet the introduction of all those young women was bound to cause a huge shift in their fragile civilization.

The balance of men to women, for one thing. So many men who’d not thought of marriage because there were so few women among them would suddenly be faced with an entirely new group of females, but these females were not going to be the typical subservient women Lemurian men had grown to expect.

No, they were going to be strong and tough and a lot more like Ginny.

“Nine hells.” Alton stopped dead in his tracks, looked at Ginny, and burst out laughing. When she returned his look with one brow raised, he laughed even harder.

“What?” she asked. At least her lips were twitching.

He took a deep breath and got control of himself before he started giggling like a schoolgirl. “It just came to me that when the women rise up, armed and angry and ready to claim their place in Lemurian society, it’s going to be like turning an entire army of Ginnys loose on my unsuspecting world.”

Ginny glared at him. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Explain yourself, bud!”

There was definitely a twinkle in her eye.

“Let’s just say it’s going to come as a shock to the average Lemurian male.”

Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him. “Are you still in shock?”

“I am,” he said. “And loving every minute of it. However, I am not your typical Lemurian male.”

“I know,” she said, standing on her toes to plant a kiss on his lips. “You’re so much more.” She nuzzled her cheek against his chest. “So how do we break it to those average Lemurian males that women have rights, too?” Backing away, she gazed at him with a more serious expression. “Actually, I hadn’t thought about what a huge shift in behavior this is going to require. American men have been faced with liberated women for over fifty years and they’re still not all that cool with it.”

“No one wants to change the power structure when they’re on the top. It’s going to take planning and a lot of diplomacy.”

They walked on to the casita. The evening clouds had blown through and the air was comfortable. Alton sat on the top step and pulled Ginny down beside him.

“So, what’s your plan?” she asked.

“We’ll wait until Dax and Eddy are back. In the meantime, we’ll watch out for demons and make sure things are okay here. I think it’s dangerous to divide our attention right now. First we need to concentrate on defeating the demon king. I think our fight with him will come sooner rather than later.” He stood up and tugged her hand. “Let’s go in. I’m beat.”

She blinked slowly and pulled her perfect lips down in a pout. “Oh. I was hoping you weren’t too tired.”

Alton tightened his grasp on her hand and pulled her slowly to her feet. “I’m never too tired for that,” he said. He tugged and she came into his arms, curled her long, lean body against his, and kissed him.

He leaned over, grabbed both their swords and scabbards, and followed Ginny inside.

Ginny checked the windows while Alton made certain the front door was securely locked. He left HellFire by the front door and Ginny set DarkFire by the back door. The sentience within the swords never slept, and they’d decided to try using them as an early alarm system.

Ginny swept her fingers over the softly oiled scabbard and thought of all the changes her life had gone through in just a few short days.

Of all of them, the most important was Alton. She glanced up and saw him standing in the doorway, watching her with a funny little half smile on his full lips. “What?”

“You’re beautiful.” He shook his head. “Every time I look at you, I see something else about you to love. You look absolutely gorgeous in red, did you know that? Your skin glows and your eyes sparkle.” He stepped closer, so close she had to raise her chin to see his face.

He was so much bigger than her, so much more powerful, and yet she’d never known a more gentle man. He reached out and ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek, down the side of her neck, and across her exposed collarbone.

When he reached her throat, his long fingers cupped her jaw and tilted her face perfectly so he could lean close and kiss her. His lips were soft and slick, and his tongue slipped between hers and brushed the sharp edges of her teeth, delved deeper, and stroked the sensitive roof of her mouth.

She moaned, and it was a sound of need and desire, of joy and even fear. There was so much ahead of them, so many things that could go wrong and sunder this perfect beginning to love.

A sense of desperation lanced along Ginny’s spine. She threw her arms around Alton’s neck and hugged him tight. He kissed her deeper, slipped his arm beneath her legs, and lifted her high against his chest. He kissed her again. Then he carried her down the hall to their room.

When he carefully laid her on the bed she looked up at him through eyes blurred with tears. Her emotions were churning tonight, but she and Alton hovered on the peak of great events—events that would affect them both for all time to come. Maybe tears were apropos, but she forced her fears away until they waited in the shadows, out of sight of the here and now.

Alton kicked off his boots and slipped off his shirt. He unbuttoned his jeans and slid them down his long legs. Then he stepped out of his pants and stood before her like a fair-skinned god. His hair hung loose in shimmering waves of pale gold and the muscles over his chest rippled with each breath.

She was still fully dressed, but it was so good, lying here and looking her fill at him. He was perfect, so tall and lean, with those long, strong muscles and the dusting of fine, golden hair across his chest and the tops of his thighs. The thicker growth over his groin was only a shade darker, a perfect setting for the absolutely beautiful erection thrusting high and hard against his belly.

He bent his knee and rested it on the bed beside her, reached for her skirt, and slowly tugged it down over her legs. Then he unbuttoned the tiny row of pearls holding the camisole top closed across her breasts. When the seam parted and bared her breasts, a hiss escaped from his parted lips.

She’d not worn a bra tonight. His emerald eyes sparkled at the discovery as he spread the top apart and then carefully slipped it over her arms.

She wore nothing now but the tiny scrap of red panties. Not quite a thong, but not much more, they skimmed low on her belly and barely covered her pubes. Alton crawled over her legs and nuzzled her belly with his lips, nipped at the elastic on her panties, and tugged at them with his teeth. She lifted her hips and it seemed to be all the invitation he needed to pull them down over her legs and toss them aside.

Then he sat back on his heels and stared at her.

Again she gave him some attitude, rose up on her elbows, and said, “What? Just what are you staring at?” She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

He cleared his throat, yet his voice still sounded gruff, almost as if he’d been overcome with emotion. “I’m staring at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.” He leaned close and kissed her mouth, then her throat, and finally her nipples—first one and then the other. He tightened his lips around the one over her heart and sucked hard, pressing the tip against the roof of his mouth with the flat of his tongue.

She felt the draw all the way to her toes. He sucked harder, licking and suckling until she was writhing on the bed, her body growing wet and ready from nothing more than the pull of his mouth against her breast. He switched to the other one, sucking and tugging until she wanted to scream.

Then he turned her loose, dipped his head lower, and put his mouth between her legs.

Ginny screamed. He laved her with long, slow strokes of his tongue, dipping between her soft folds with the very tip, stroking, nibbling, and licking as if he couldn’t get enough of her taste. Her body shuddered and jerked beneath his sensual assault. He slipped his warm hands beneath her buttocks and lifted her high. Her thighs rested on his forearms as he sat back on his heels and pleasured her, licking and nipping, using his tongue and teeth to take her higher, and higher yet again until she hovered there, crying out on the sharp edge of desire.

He raised his head and looked at her—she felt the heat of his gaze like a physical touch and opened her eyes. He hovered over her, his blond hair tangled over his shoulders, twisted around her legs and across her belly. His eyes smoldered with green fire and his lips and chin were shiny from her fluids. He licked his lips slowly, as if savoring her taste, held her gaze, and dipped his mouth closer to her. Then he sucked her clit between his lips and tightened down on that most sensitive bundle of nerves.

Fire sparked from his mouth to her spine and her heart stuttered in her chest. She arched her back, pressing herself against his mouth, sobbing with the power of the climax that continued to grow and expand with each thundering beat of her heart.

He lay her back down on the bed, sheathed himself to protect her, and slowly pressed the thick length of his erection between her legs. She was so sensitive she cried out, but she lifted for him, pressed her heels to the bed, and thrust against him as he slowly entered her.

Ginny wrapped her arms and legs around his long, lean body. She drew in his scent, the softness of his hair as it flowed over her shoulders and arms, the firm strength of his muscles rippling with each thrust of his hips. Physically it was all perfect, emotionally it was so right it scared her.

She’d never allowed herself to love like this; never had she been so vulnerable before. Loving Alton opened her to pain unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Their future was so terribly uncertain, she couldn’t allow herself to dwell on what might be.

She had to live for now, for the wonder of these few moments when everything was perfect—when the world wasn’t at risk, when their lives weren’t in danger. This moment when their plans weren’t hovering in the wings, waiting to ruin the perfection of this place in time.

She heard his heart pounding in his chest and knew it matched the rhythm of hers. She opened her heart and her mind and found herself there within the deepest part of his soul. She felt the coil of desire rising once again within her body and recognized its kindred spirit in Alton’s.

This time when she hurtled from the top, she didn’t fly alone. He was there with her, his heart and mind linked irrevocably to hers. And when it was over, when they lay on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, their chests heaving with each labored breath and hearts still pounding in a wild rhythm, Ginny realized she didn’t cry alone.

The tears in Alton’s eyes blended with hers. The sense that every moment stolen could be their last, tempered by the knowledge that no matter what was to come, they had now, tonight, together.