Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(31)

The leader’s soulless black gaze skimmed over her and Jaelyn prepared for his punishment. It didn’t matter that she had been lured from her rooms by Samuel. Or that he’d tried to kill her.

If the head of the Addonexus decided she’d broken the rules, then he’d make certain she lived to regret her mistake.

Instead he pointed toward the silver collar around her neck.

“The release is in the back.”

She lifted her hands to search the smooth metal, painful minutes passing until she at last located the hidden lever. There was a faint click before the heavy silver parted and she was tossing aside the torture device with a grimace.

“Are you permanently injured?”

She returned her wary attention to the elder vampire, already feeling the charred flesh of her neck beginning to heal.

Kostas looked like a Roman general with his large, muscular body, his finely hewed features, and black hair he kept slicked back into a short tail at his nape. But it wasn’t his physical strength that made him dangerous. Or even his considerable powers as a vampire.

It was the utter lack of conscience.

He was the perfect psychopath.

“I’ll be fine,” she muttered, her gaze dropping to the head that was swiftly turning to ash at his feet. “Samuel is dead.”

“So I see. A pity.”

He didn’t sound like it was a pity.

Actually he sounded ... satisfied.

Jaelyn wrapped her arms around her chilled body, desperately longing to strip off the soiled robe and spend the next few hours in a hot bath.

“I don’t know what happened to him. He ...” She struggled to keep the horror from her voice. “He attacked me. I had no choice but kill him.”

“Yes.” With the air of a teacher examining the work of a student, Kostas bent to study the disintegrating head.

“A clean cut despite the dullness of your weapon,” he at last concluded, straightening to meet her startled gaze. “Well done.”

“Well done?”

His lips stretched into the semblance of a smile. “Actually, I suppose I should say congratulations.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You have passed the last of your tests.” He offered a faint nod. “Tomorrow evening you will walk as an equal among the Addonexus.”

She tensed.

Did he just say what she thought he said?

“This was a test?” she rasped, the empty sense of shock being swiftly replaced with a white-hot fury.

“It was obvious from the beginning that you possessed all the skills necessary to become one of our finest Hunters. Indeed, it has been centuries since we have found a recruit with your potential.” His black gaze was without apology. “But there was concern that your tender heart might make you vulnerable. I am pleased to see that your instinct to survive is capable of overcoming any ridiculous attachment to another.”

“You sacrificed Samuel just to see if I would protect myself ?”

“You misunderstand.” He arched a brow, as if puzzled by her smoldering disbelief. “We sensed the envy that ate at Samuel and we knew it was only a matter of time before he attempted to be rid of you, but we did nothing to encourage his attack.”

Was that supposed to make her feel better?

Holy shit.

If she’d been a half a step slower. Or if she’d hesitated for even one second ...

“And it never occurred to you to warn me?” she hissed.

“Of course not.” A hint of annoyance touched his arrogant face. “This was a lesson you needed to learn.”

“Damn you.” She stumbled backward, disgust toward the Addonexus, toward Samuel, and most of all, toward herself flowing like acid through her veins. “Damn all of you.”

It had been several centuries since Ariyal had woken in a strange bedroom with a thick head and queasy stomach.

In fact, the last occasion had been after a two-year-long bender with a Lamia demon who had taught him the meaning of “party ’til you drop.”

Now he opened his eyes with a wary caution, not entirely surprised to find himself sprawled on the floor of a cramped chamber that smelled of old blood and sex. None of it his, thank the gods.

What he didn’t expect was the unmistakable scent of vampire.

Momentarily disoriented, Ariyal flowed to his feet, instinctively reaching for the dagger he kept at his lower back. Why the hell would he be in the room with a leech ... ?

Memories crashed through him with the force of a sledgehammer as he glanced toward the narrow bed to discover a female so beautiful she made his heart hurt.

Jaelyn.

They had been together at the mage’s townhouse along with Tearloch and his spooky spook. And then Sergei had lobbed a spell at the portal, causing a massive explosion of magic. Dumb-ass.

That’s all he remembered until waking in this nasty hellhole.

So the question was, had Jaelyn carried him away from the townhouse to protect him? Or was this just a brief layover before she handed him to the Oracles?

He forgot to care as she stirred on the narrow mattress, her hoarse cry of pain echoing through the room.

“Jaelyn,” he called softly. “Jaelyn, can you hear me?”

She continued to thrash about and he moved to perch on the edge of the bed. He wasn’t stupid enough to reach out and shake her awake. Poking a sleeping vampire was about as smart as pointing a loaded gun to his head. Instead he sucked in a deep breath; then with one smooth motion he stretched on top of her, grasping her wrists in his hands to tug her arms above her head. Then, using his superior weight, he pinned her lower body to the bed.