Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

gingerly, half-expecting the light to explode. It came on, but it was a dim yel ow and made a strange humming sound. “What is that?”
    “I don’t know, but the fire marshal assured me it was safe in here.” She smiled at him. “Isn’t one of your brothers an electrician?”
    “It wil be a while before we need him,” Matt said, starting down the stairs. The staircase was solid enough, but he didn’t like the look of the wal .
    Several cracks spread out from the center of the wal in al directions like spiderwebs. He glanced at Kate, his eyebrow raised.
    She shook her head. “The earthquake must have damaged it. It wasn’t like that when I came down here with the Realtor. I actual y came down twice just to make certain the entire place wasn’t going to sink into the ocean. I know it’s in bad shape, but it’s such a perfect location. If I have to, I can pul down the mil and start from scratch. If you think that’s the best thing to do, I’l take your advice, but I real y want to save as much of the original building as possible.”
    “It’s going to cost more money than it might be worth, Kate,” he warned.
    Kate shivered as they went down the stairs to the dimly lit basement. It was far colder than she remembered. Always sensitive to energy, she felt an icy malevolence that hadn’t been there before. She looked around cautiously, moving closer to Matt for protection. The atmosphere vibrated with unrestrained malicious amusement. “Matthew, let’s leave.” She tugged at his arm.
    He looked down at her quickly. “What is it, Katie?” There was a caress to his voice, one that warmed her in spite of the icy chil in the basement.
    “You can wait upstairs while I look around.” He felt her shiver and took the jacket she was holding from her to help her into it. “It won’t take me very long.”
    He pul ed the edges of the jacket together and buttoned it up, his fingers lingering on the lapels, just holding her there, close to him.
    Kate shook her head. “It feels unhealthy down here. I don’t want to leave you alone. Matthew,” she hesitated, searching for the right words. “This doesn’t feel right to me, not the way it did before.”
    His silver eyes moved over her face. He suddenly winked, a quick sexy gesture that sent her heart thudding. “I’l make it quick, I promise.”

    Kate trailed after him, reluctant to be too far from him in the gloomy basement. It was long and wide and had a dirt floor. “I think this was used as the smugglers’ storehouse. There’s a stairway leading to the cove through a narrow tunnel. Part of the tunnel col apsed some years ago, but I read in my grandmother’s diary that the mil was used to store supplies and weapons and spices coming in off the boats.” She pressed her lips together, determined not to distract him as he studied the wal s and the floor of the basement.
    “What’s this?” Matt halted next to a strange covering in the dirt. It was at least two inches thick and looked almost like the lid of a coffin, except it was oval in shape. The surface was rough and covered with symbols, which were impossible to read with the dirt and grime over them. Running straight through the middle of the lid was a large crack.
    Kate frowned. “I didn’t notice it before. It must have been covered by the dirt. Could the earthquake have shifted that much dirt?” She moved closer to it reluctantly. The icy cold air was coming from the deep crack. “I don’t like this, Matthew.”
    “It isn’t a grave, Kate,” he pointed out, crouching beside it and brushing at the dirt along the edges. “It’s more like a seal of some kind.”
    She hunkered down beside him. A blast of cold air touched her palm as she passed it above the crumbling rock. She brushed the dirt away from the symbols, trying to decipher the old hieroglyphics. The language was an ancient one, but it was al too familiar to her. Her ancestors, generations of powerful witches, had used such symbols to communicate privately. Her mother had urged them to learn the language, and Kate knew a few of the symbols, but not al . “It says something about rage. The symbols are chipped and worn away. I can make out the words, ‘sealed until the day one is born’—” She broke off in frustration, leaning closer to try to figure out the meaning of the words.
    “Where did you learn those symbols? Are they Egyptian?” Matt asked.
    Kate shook her head. “No, it’s a family thing. We were al