Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(66)

Turning, Ariyal studied his companion with a lift of his brows. “I notice you appear unharmed so it couldn’t have been that dangerous.”

“I happen to be a master of stealth,” Levet assured him with a sniff. “It is only one of my many skills.”

“You’re a master of annoyance. Do you have a point?”

“I followed them until they met up with a witch and vampire on the outskirts of Chicago.”

He narrowed his gaze.

So Jaelyn had been right to be concerned there was a mysterious leech involved.

“Vampire? You’re certain?”

“Oui. One I did not recognize.”

Ariyal waited for the gargoyle to continue. He already suspected he hadn’t heard the worse.

“And?” he at last prompted.

“And they disappeared.”

Ariyal frowned. “What do you mean, disappeared?”

“I mean poof.” Levet waved his hands. “Gone.”

“Magic?”

There was another wave of his tiny hands. “Je ne sais pas. They were there one minute and the next they had vanished into thin air.”

“Damn.” Ariyal scrubbed his face with his hands, frustration bubbling through him. “Just what I don’t need. Something else to worry about.” Reluctantly he returned his attention to his companion. “What happened next?”

“I had no means to follow the curs so I returned to the meadow and managed to track Jaelyn to these caves.” The gargoyle grimaced. “I was leaving when that ghastly wizard hit me with a spell that knocked me unconscious. Cochon.”

“For once we’re in perfect agreement,” Ariyal muttered. “Have you searched the cave for a way out?”

Levet stepped back, his ugly face rigid with outrage. “What do you imagine I have been doing for the past hour? Admiring your Sleeping Beauty impersonation?”

“Someday ...” Ariyal growled.

The gargoyle waved aside the warning. “Can you not make a portal?”

Ariyal shook his head. “There’s too much lead embedded behind the stone for even me to overcome.”

“Ah, so it falls upon my shoulders to release us. Very well.” With a dramatic motion, Levet moved to the center of the room and lifted his hands. “Stand aside.”

“Hold on,” Ariyal commanded. “What are you doing?”

“We need an escape tunnel.” Levet pointed toward the far wall. “Violà. I shall create one.”

“No.” Ariyal shuddered at the mere thought of being trapped in the enclosed space while Levet created havoc.

“Just because you are impotent does not mean that I am,” the gargoyle informed him with a sly smile. “Indeed, my magic is formidable.”

“What you are is a walking disaster and I don’t want you collapsing a ton of rocks on my head,” Ariyal snapped.

On cue a large rock tumbled from the ceiling, forcing the two of them to leap back or be smashed in the head.

“Hey!” Levet yelped.

“Dammit, gargoyle.”

“That was not me.”

Ariyal glared at his companion as another rock crashed onto the floor.

“Levet, I’m warning you ...”

Levet lifted his hands. “I swear.”

The words had barely left his lips when a male voice echoed through the air.

“Stand back, you fools.”

Ariyal hissed. He recognized that voice.

“Sergei?” He glanced around the gloomy cavern. “Where the hell are you?”

“I’m in a cave just above you,” the mage spoke through the hole he’d made in the floor. “I have a spell that will provide a large enough opening for you and the gargoyle to escape.”

Ariyal had promised himself that the next time he crossed paths with the mage he would fulfill his fantasy of slicing off the bastard’s head and using it to decorate his lair.

It didn’t improve his foul temper that he had to put his pledge on the back burner.

“Then do it.”

“Not until you’ve agreed to my price for your freedom.”

Ariyal rolled his eyes. He hadn’t expected the damned magic-user to actually free them.

This had to be yet another trap.

“Price?”

“You don’t think I’m going to rescue you out of the goodness of my heart, do you, Sylvermyst?” Sergei mocked.

“What if I promise not to rip out your intestines and use them as fertilizer?” he offered, ignoring Levet’s glare.

Did the tiny pest think that they could convince the mage to release them with sweet words and flattery?

“Charming,” Sergei snapped. “Did you learn your bartering skills from Morgana le Fay?”

Ariyal clenched his fists at the deliberate taunt. Oh yes. That head was absolutely going to be mounted over his fireplace.

“Just get us the hell out of here.”

“Only after you swear you will take us out of these cursed caves with a portal.”

“Dammit, how many times do I have to say this? There’s too much lead... .”

“Only in this section of the caverns,” the mage interrupted. “This particular cave was obviously built to hold fey as prisoners.”