Free The Phoenix Charm by Helen Scott Taylor

thundering into the pool below.
    “How the heck do we get behind it ?” Thorn asked.
    “There’s a path behind the cascade. ’Tis obviously not visible from this angle.” Michael took a step forward and paused for Cordelia to move aside so he could squeeze past on the slippery rocks. Her cat poked its head out of her bag, whiskers twitching, eyes wide with curiosity.
    “Shame you’re not a sniffer dog, fur ball.” He rubbed a knuckle behind Tamsy’s ear. “You could sniff out the door for us.”
    “She’s not frightened of water like ordinary cats. I’ll ask her to take a look.” Cordelia crouched, scooped the cat out of the bag, and gently set the creature on its feet. After a delicate shake, the cat turned to lick the fur on its shoulder. Michael waited, curious to see how Cordelia would give the cat instructions. She crouched and rested her hand lightly on its back. Then she straightened and watched the cat pick its way along the path toward the falls.
    In profile, Cordelia’s small nose tilted up at the tip. Her lips glimmered temptingly with a trace of pearly lip gloss.She watched her cat, her tongue pressed to the corner of her mouth in concentration.
    Whenever he saw her at Trevelion Manor, she gave the impression of being self-contained, aloof. Yet when she let her guard down, she was warm, vulnerable, and strangely alluring. Something about the quality of her touch mystified him: soothing, yet arousing at the same time.
    With a wave of certainty that stilled his breath, he wanted to kiss her. When Fin was safe and they returned to Cornwall, he’d take her away somewhere quiet. He’d kiss her for hours until she melted in his arms and begged him to live the image they’d seen in her divining mirror.
    He cleared his throat, gave himself a shake. Best concentrate on what the cat was doing.
    Tamsy stopped near the waterfall to lap at a puddle. Her little pink tongue curled at the edges like a rose petal. The cat glanced back at Cordelia, then disappeared behind the waterfall.
    “Tread quietly so we don’t startle her,” Cordelia said as she moved forward.
    Michael followed, his gaze sliding down to her neat, heart-shaped bottom. The instinctive stir of need low in his belly made him groan inwardly. He ran a hand over his face.
    Behind the falling sheet of water, they discovered an uneven rocky path leading to the woods on the other side of the river. Cordelia crouched at the edge of the tumbling water, just clear of the misty spray, and watched Tamsy sniff along the moss-covered rock wall behind the falls.
    When Michael stopped, Nightshade’s hand landed on his shoulder. He had to make a conscious effort to relax and accept the touch. Now wasn’t the time to break his bond with Nightshade and start the inevitable arguments and bad feeling.
    For five minutes, the cat wandered back and forth, sniffing and scratching at the ground. Michael thought this had more to do with the smell of rats and voles than searchingfor the door to the Underworld. But he was proved wrong when she stood on her hind legs, scratched at the moss, and mewed.
    “What have you found, poppet?” Cordelia stepped forward and traced her fingers over the wall by Tamsy’s paws. Michael followed her through the cool cloud of spray onto the path behind the waterfall. He bent to examine the wet, mossy rock face, dotted with clumps of ferns. A whisper of breeze brushed his face. He was almost sure the draft came through the wall.
    “There’s a crack.” Cordelia used a sharp stone to scrape the moss away, then ran her fingers up and down a fissure in the rock. “Look.” She pointed to a symbol carved in the stone. “The sign of the maze represents the Underworld. That’s promising.”
    Michael took the stone from her hand and cleared away the moss higher up where she couldn’t reach. He felt beneath the shadowy overhang of a rocky outcrop. “There’s a hole, but I can’t get me finger in.” Looking down, he tapped the base