Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(103)

The Dark Lord brushed aside the pellets with a wave of her hand, but it at least had distracted her from Ariyal.

“Surely you don’t mind sharing?”

“As a matter of fact I do.”

With a blur of motion Jaelyn had her shotgun reloaded and was firing.

Again the Dark Lord brushed aside the projectiles, stepping toward Jaelyn with a smile of anticipation.

She was enjoying Jaelyn’s fury. Perhaps even feeding off of it.

“But he’s been such a bad, bad boy. He should never have tried to hide from me.” The creature shook her head. “And to leave me for Morgana le Fey? He hurt my feelings.”

“Somehow I doubt you have any feelings to hurt,” Jaelyn muttered.

“Perhaps not. But I do get hungry. And Sylvermysts are so tasty good,” she taunted, licking her lips.

Jaelyn lifted her gun, as if preparing to shoot; then hoping to catch her opponent by surprise, she leapt forward to slash her claws through the female’s throat.

“Drop dead,” she hissed, darting backward.

Briefly baffled, the girl lifted a hand to her neck, pulling it back to study the blood on her fingers.

“Now look what you’ve done.”

“I intend to do far worse,” Jaelyn warned, flashing her fangs.

She didn’t actually think she could defeat the creature, but she had to admit she was shocked that she managed to draw blood.

Maybe Ariyal was right.

Until she’d gained her full strength her body was vulnerable to injury.

Clearly pissed off, the Dark Lord allowed the air to thicken with an excruciating heat, as if they were surrounded by the fiery pits of hell.

Jaelyn groaned in agony, afraid her bones might actually melt.

“How dare you strike me?” The sweet voice sent a thousand pinpricks of pain into Jaelyn’s brain. “I am your master. You will bow before me.”

Jaelyn was willing to bow if it would stop the unseen flames that were searing through her.

Hell, she’d crawl on her knees and kiss the creature’s feet. Before she was reduced to begging, however, Ariyal lifted his bow and with a blinding flurry he filled the girl’s back with a dozen arrows.

The blue eyes widened as the creature stumbled forward, and Jaelyn groaned in relief as the heat was gone as swiftly as it arrived. Obviously the Dark Lord hadn’t truly considered the idea that she might not be as immortal as she thought.

At least not yet.

With a frustrated curse she turned to concentrate her powers on Ariyal, her hand lifting to send the Sylvermyst flying through the air.

Jaelyn grimly ignored the audible crunch of broken bones and Ariyal’s muffled shout of pain. She had to concentrate on the Dark Lord if she was to help her mate.

Not giving herself time to consider the wisdom of a direct attack, Jaelyn launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around the girl’s shoulder and sinking her teeth into the side of her throat.

The blood hit her tongue like a punch, burning a path down her throat and making her stomach cramp in misery. Still she held on tight, fiercely draining the blood as the female clawed at her arm and face.

“You ... bitch,” the Dark Lord muttered. “I will make you suffer untold torment.”

Jaelyn believed her.

Despite her numerous injuries the female remained as strong as ever. It wouldn’t take long for Jaelyn and Ariyal to run out of tricks.

Then they would be at her mercy.

A fate worse than death.

Still she continued her desperate attempt to drain the bitch, swallowing the poisonous blood until the Dark Lord reached up to grasp her by the ponytail, yanking her away despite the fangs that ripped through her flesh. Then, with a contemptuous motion, the Dark Lord was tossing Jaelyn through the air.

She landed next to Ariyal, who was making a heroic effort to rise to his feet, a sharp pain drilling through her heart as the Dark Lord pointed a finger directly at her.

Oh ... gods.

Lifting a hand, Jaelyn pressed it to her chest. It felt like someone had reached inside her and was attempting to rip her unbeating heart in half.

She couldn’t bear it.

Lost in the searing pain, Jaelyn dismissed the faint sound of her name being called. It seemed reasonable that she would be going mad.

No one could survive such torture with their sanity intact.

Then it came again. This time with all the arrogant command of the King of Vampires.

“Jaelyn.” There was the sound of muted curses. “Dammit, hurry up, mage. Jaelyn, can you hear me?”

At her side, Ariyal went rigid in shock. “What the hell?”

“Styx,” she choked out, barely able to speak past the sensation of her heart being slowly shredded. “Hold on.”

Wrapping her arms around her, Ariyal angled his body to shield her from the Dark Lord just as the mists behind them thinned.

There was the strange sensation of the world melting around her before there was a female shriek of fury and the feel of a hand reaching to grasp her arm.

“No. You’ll never escape me.”

Ariyal cursed, reaching for his sword and swinging it to slice deep into the slender arm. Jaelyn wasn’t sure if the Dark Lord could feel the wound, but the fingers digging into her arm abruptly released and they were tumbling backward.

For a disorienting moment it felt as though they were falling through the air, the pain in her heart thankfully easing, although there remained enough pressure to warn they weren’t completely free of the psycho bitch.