Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(60)

Accepting that being alone wasn’t doing a damned thing to help, Jaelyn was relieved when Ariyal’s voice cut through her dark broodings.

“You can come out now.”

She moved to the door, scanning the darkness. “It’s gone? I mean gone, gone?”

Ariyal’s lips twitched, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Those remained guarded, unreadable.

“Yes, he’s been returned to the underworld.”

“Good.”

“I can’t believe a vampire could be squeamish about a spirit,” he said, folding his arms over his chest as he watched her descend the wooden steps and cross the yard to join him.

She shrugged. “The dead should be allowed to rest in peace.”

“Moving on to the afterlife doesn’t guarantee peace, poppet. It’s a rare spirit who rests easy in their grave.”

Well, wasn’t he a bundle of joy?

“Have you considered the possibility that they might be perfectly content until you start messing with them?” she asked wryly. “Anyone would be cranky at being jerked out of the underworld and forced to become a slave to a fairy.”

There was a fleeting heat in the bronzed gaze as it skimmed down her body.

“There are some who are positively giddy to be my slave. I have that effect on women,” he murmured, as if she needed a reminder of his potent sexuality. Hell, he literally screamed sex. “And a surprising number of men.”

“Conceited ass.”

“Confident,” he corrected, a fleeting heat flaring through his bronzed eyes before he lowered his head to kiss her with a harsh frustration.

For a crazed moment Jaelyn returned his ferocious kiss, her hands grasping his shoulders as she went on tiptoe to arch against the addictive heat of his bare chest.

Then reality slammed back into her and she was pushing him away with a low, pained growl.

“No, Ariyal.”

He stiffly stepped backward, his expression once again indecipherable.

“We should go.”

“Did you discover what you needed?”

“The spirit was able to locate Tearloch and the babe.”

“Where?”

He tilted his head toward the north, his hands fisted at his side.

“A series of caverns less than three miles north of here.”

So close?

For no reason at all a chill inched down her spine.

“Why do I sense this is a good-news/bad-news kind of deal?” she asked.

“The good news is the child is currently alone in one of the caves.”

“And the bad news?”

“Besides Tearloch there are half-dozen Sylvermyst as well as the wizard.”

She frowned, studying the arrogant perfection of his face. She could sense the emotions that churned beneath that careful mask, and she hated the knowledge he wanted to keep them hidden from her.

“That was more or less what you expected, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

He silently debated her question before he at last heaved a sigh.

“I don’t know.”

She arched a brow. “Maybe you can be a little more vague?”

“I think you should stay... .”

“ No.”

His eyes blazed with a bronzed fury. “Dammit, Jaelyn, there’s a very good possibility that this is a trap.”

“All the more reason you need me to go with you.”

“You were trained better than that, Hunter,” he rasped. “If I don’t return then you must alert your Oracles that I have failed and that Tearloch will soon use the child to resurrect the Dark Lord.”

He was right.

If her current task was to retrieve the child and save the world from the Dark Lord, then she would have to concede that it was preferable for one of them to sneak into the caverns while the other waited to determine if it was a trap.

But she had been charged with staying near Ariyal and keeping track of his movements.

Which in this moment suited her just fine.

“They aren’t my Oracles,” she denied.

“We aren’t going to argue about this.” He slashed a hand through the air, looking every inch a prince. “The only sensible plan is for me to try and rescue the child while you find a sun-proof location to wait out the approaching day.”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Can’t? Don’t you mean won’t?”

The air smoldered with the force of his barely restrained power.

Jaelyn stood her ground. “No, I mean I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I have to remain with you.” She met his gaze squarely. “That’s all I can say.”

She braced herself for Ariyal’s explosion of anger. Even a threat to lock her in the cellar and leave her to rot.

Instead he held on to his grim control, taking a deliberate step backward.

Not that he needed to.

Jaelyn could feel the mental barriers he was erecting between them without the physical demonstration.

“And you accuse me of being vague.”

She wanted to ... what? Plead for his understanding? Demand to know if he thought this was fun and games for her?

She hadn’t asked to become a pawn for the Oracles, had she? Or to become entangled with the one male in the entire world who treated her as if she was something more than a killing machine.