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the last person who’d built this room. It was large enough. That was a morbid thought, and highly unlikely. Nonsense. Maybe the only way back was the way they came.
    The best she could tell, they had fallen from the ceiling. Had she activated a trapdoor? She couldn’t see any sign of an opening from here. Giving up for the moment, she went back to check on Nathan. He was still hot, heartbeat still too fast. Alternating between checking on him and searching every stone for a way out, she finally grew exhausted. Her head felt strange, from the portal, she guessed.
    Nathan was calmer and not quite as warm now, but still unconscious. Kendall sat down beside him, and when her eyes grew too heavy, she lay down, listening to him breathe. She thought about Jake. He would wonder where they were and come looking for them. But would he find them? She concentrated on his face, his steel-gray eyes and those dark lashes, as if trying to conjure him. Help us, Jake.
    Her scent filled his head, the sweetness of Kendall’s warm, female flesh. Since his curse had come into effect, Nathan’s sense of smell had intensified, making nearness to her sometimes like torture. It was all he could do to keep his hands off her. Through the pleasant drowsiness, he realized her scent was very close and there was a firm bum pressed against his groin.
    Nathan opened his eyes. Kendall was lying in his arms, her blond hair tickling his nose. He couldn’t recall how they’d gotten in this position. The last thing he remembered was seeing Kendall fall and him reaching for her. Then that awful light-headed heaviness, as if his head were being separated from his body. They must have fallen through another portal. Damn the Protettori.
    “Kendall?” He touched her shoulder.
    She sat up with a start and turned, her startled eyes soft with sleep. “Nathan. Are you OK?” she asked.
    He sat up beside her. “You?”
    “I think so. You scared me. You got stuck in your adrenaline mode.”
    He felt a shiver of fear. “Did I . . .”
    “No. You weren’t dangerous. I was just worried for you. You felt so hot.” A blush started creeping across her cheeks. “Warm, your skin felt too warm.”
    “The monster was trying to come out.” What if it had? What if he’d hurt her?
    “You’re not a monster. Raphael is like you. He’s not a monster.”
    “We don’t know much about what Raphael is or isn’t, and whatever he is, he’s had a long time to learn to control it. Where are we?”
    “I don’t know. Under the temple, maybe. I touched the wheel.” Kendall said. “Maybe I accidentally opened a trapdoor. Remember the rumors about a labyrinth underneath the Tor? It would make sense for the Protettori to have something to stop a person if they got too close to the fountain.”
    “My head feels like it did when Jake and I fell through the portal in the maze.”
    Kendall looked dismayed but nodded. “Mine too. I would rather it be a booby trap.”
    Nathan stood and helped Kendall to her feet. “How long was I out?”
    She glanced at her watch. “It’s not working. A couple of hours, I think.”
    Nathan glanced at his beat-up watch. He could afford a thousand Rolexes, but he couldn’t part with this watch. It was the only link to his father. It wasn’t working either. “Blimey.”
    “Are you sure you’re feeling OK? I’ve never seen you like that before. I was afraid I would lose you . . . again.”
    A thrill went through him to know she cared, that Jake didn’t consume her thoughts. “I feel OK, other than my head. But we do need to find a way out. Raphael needs water.”
    Kendall touched her pocket. “The vial’s gone. I must have lost it when I fell.”
    “Or else it’s floating around in some kind of time warp.” Nathan pulled his cell phone out and cursed. “No signal.”
    “I already checked.”
    He put it back in his pocket. “There has to be a door out of here.”
    “I checked that too. I couldn’t find one.”
    “There’s