Demon from the Dark (Immortals After Dark #10)(103)

You will always lose.

No, he couldn’t. Not this time.

Concentrate. He closed his eyes, dragging up memories from his dreams. He didn’t want to go to the pulsing, screeching tavern. He needed to reach Andoain to alert her coven, to get their help in locating the vampire he’d soon rip limb from limb.

Focus, Slaine . . . . Malkom felt himself tracing once more. Having no idea where he would end up, he let himself go.

He appeared in a new land—at night. ’Twas warm here, even though the moon was high.

Before him stood a sprawling home with a shimmering blue pool and a grove of trees. He shook his head hard, astonished his tracing had worked. Could this be Andoain?

His brows drew together. This home was unoccupied. No lights burned. No food scents or movements came from within. It didn’t look like the Andoain of Carrow’s memories.

How to find her?

Emptiness. Wind blew through those trees, bringing a hint of rain. Lightning struck in the distance, nearing swiftly—

A woman’s yell sounded. Carrow’s!

He traced through the grove in that direction, disappearing and reappearing. Each time, he materialized ever closer to her. Soon he’d located the house she was in.

Every time the lightning blazed, he saw a different facet of the home. In the dark lulls, he perceived an imposing building surrounded by a black fence. During the strikes, he saw a timeworn structure with animals teeming around it. Snakes slithered in the yard. Insects and other reptiles abounded.

Malkom stalked closer. Small black animals—cats—swarmed outside, wrapping around his legs.

He could scent Carrow and the little one inside, among dozens of other beings. He didn’t smell that vampire from before, but other immortals were within.

Carrow’s voice was distinct now. She didn’t sound afraid; the witch sounded furious, railing at others. Was there no threat?

He traced inside, about to take her and Ruby from this place when he heard, “. . . you want your wife unharmed, then get me back to the island!”





47




When silence fell over the crowd, Carrow glanced up from her grappling—powers bound—catfight with Sabine. Immortals were backing away from her in a wave.

That’s right, I’m bringing the rain! “Rydstrom, damn you, just trace me to the island!”

“Rydstrom, stay out of this,” Sabine snapped, taking a cheap shot to Carrow’s kidney. Even with her exceptional powers bound, Sabine was still a fierce scrapper. But Carrow was fighting for the man she loved.

Another tag to Carrow’s kidney. “Bitch,” she hissed, driving her elbow into Sabine’s torso. Lucky break—Carrow had nailed her solar plexus!

Sabine gasped, robbed of breath. Carrow took the opportunity to dive for her sword and spring up behind her, placing it at her neck. “The blood of a Wendigo coats this sword.”

Rydstrom’s lips parted, his eyes sharply turning black. “Just . . . just calm yourself, witch.” He held up his hands as he eased closer. “Think about what you’re doing. You’d sacrifice our alliance?”

“Don’t you people get it? I’ll sacrifice anything!” Carrow cried. “Rydstrom, what wouldn’t you do for this woman right now?”

“There is nothing,” he rasped, “nothing I wouldn’t do to get her back. I will trace you.”

In a weird tone, Mari said, “So this Malkom guy—is he really big?”

“He’s Malkom Slaine, my husband. And it won’t matter how big he is if I don’t get to that goddamned island in time to save him from a horde of Wendigos!”

Without warning, Carrow felt a jolt of unfettered joy, just as she heard a male say, “ ‘Husband’?”

Over her shoulder, Carrow glared. “Yeah, that’s what I—” It was Malkom, directly behind her, emerging from the shadows. As he stepped into the light, her heart went to her throat. “How did you . . . who brought you?”

“I brought myself, witch,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Carrow was about to run to him, then she remembered the bristling sorceress she had at sword point. “I’m sorry for this, Sabine. But he’s my male, and you’d do the same for Rydstrom.” Carrow released her, tossing the sword away. “Truce. Or I won’t help you find your sister.”

Sabine whirled around, her lips thinned. “I demand a rematch with our powers.”

“Are you kidding?” Carrow scoffed. “You’d annihilate me.”

The only thing greater than Sabine’s powers was her vanity. She smoothed her red hair, clearly mollified. At length, she said, “Truce.”

With that, Carrow ran for Malkom, and he met her, opening his arms to her, clutching her tightly.

Holding his face, she rained kisses on his forehead, his cheeks, his lips. “Did you get scratched or bitten? Because I’ll keep you locked up until I can find a cure—”

“I am unscathed. I traced away from them.”

“How? How did you find me here?”

“I figured out how to trace and followed your memories. I told you I’d come for you. And for Ruby.” He surveyed the room. “Where is the little one?”

“She’s right upstairs, waiting for me to bring you back,” Carrow said dryly. “You have just arrived at a meeting with my allies. Wherein I was politely asking them to return me to the island.”