Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(67)

“Obviously,” Ariyal said dryly, wondering what game the mage was playing. “Lead, however, doesn’t keep a wizard from escaping if he wanted. Why do you need me?”

“Mage,” Sergei corrected, his voice thick with anger at the apparent insult. “And it isn’t lead that is keeping me here.”

“Then what is?”

There was a tense silence, as if Sergei was considering how much to reveal.

“When I got sucked through Tearloch’s portal I was dropped not far from here,” he finally rasped, a tiny shower of rocks warning his control over his magic wasn’t entirely perfect. “I’ve managed to keep myself hidden, but I’m not stupid. I know the moment I try to escape my presence will be noticed. I won’t make it out without help.”

“And you’re willing to leave behind the babe?” he demanded in suspicion. “I thought you were dead without it to offer you protection?”

“I have no choice.”

Ariyal’s humorless laugh bounced off the walls of the cavern.

“That didn’t stop you before. You nearly killed us all with your idiotic attempt to keep Tearloch from escaping from London. Tell me why you’re willing to risk leaving it behind now.”

The mage swore in Russian before reluctantly giving into Ariyal’s demands.

“Fine, I’ve used most of my powers just to keep myself hidden. Until I manage to rest and eat a decent meal I’m as helpless as a baby.”

Ariyal paused.

He didn’t possess Jaelyn’s ability to sense lies, but he could hear the throb of fear in Sergei’s voice.

A man didn’t fake that.

Not a man with Sergei’s enormous pride.

“I agree to your bargain.”

There was another pause. Clearly Ariyal wasn’t the only one with trust issues.

“Do I have your word?”

“For what it’s worth.”

“Actually I think it will be worth a great deal.” The mage struggled to bolster his flagging arrogance, perhaps sensing he’d revealed more than he intended. “I just happen to have information about a certain vampire that I will be willing to share once we’re safely clear of these caves.”

“Jaelyn?” His power blasted through the room as he glared at the ceiling of the cavern. Was this yet another trick? “Dammit. Tell me what you know.”

“Now, now, Ariyal,” the bastard drawled. “You give me what I want and I’ll give you what you want. Fair trade.”

“Someday very, very soon I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” Ariyal swore.

Chapter 16

The dreams came again.

But this time Jaelyn wasn’t in the Addonexus training facility.

Not that the dungeons of the slave-auction house on the outskirts of Chicago were any better.

She stood in the middle of a barren cell, the air thick with the stench of trolls and her skin still scorched from the silver manacles that had been removed while she’d been unconscious. But despite her discomfort, she felt a stab of satisfaction as she paced toward the silver bars and glanced down the narrow path that ran past the numerous cells to the thick door at the far end of the cavernous room.

This was her first job as a full-fledged Hunter and she’d been anxious to prove she was worthy of her Ruah’s trust.

Of course she hadn’t expected to be asked to play the role of a vampire whore in the hopes of discovering what idiot possessed the cojones to kidnap vampires in the middle of a crowded brothel. Or for it to take nearly three weeks of prowling the local demon dives before she’d at last hit pay dirt.

She’d been ready to chuck in her dog-collar necklace, her see-through top, and three-inch f**k-me pumps that were an open invitation for any and every demon to put their hands on her ass before she at last had been approached by an imp who had lured her to a seedy backroom and slapped the silver cuffs on her. Then, with equal speed she found herself being shoved into a tiny silver box that had sucked the energy from her at an alarming rate.

Now she could only hope that this slave-auction house would give her the information she needed.

With no option but to remain in her self-imposed role while she waited to see what would happen, Jaelyn turned back to investigate her cramped cell, cautiously reaching for the cheap goblet that had been left on a wooden table in the center of the floor.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” a soft voice whispered from the adjoining cell.

Jaelyn had already sensed the young nymph, as well as the harpy who was slumbering in the cell farther down the dungeon.

“Wouldn’t what?” she asked, glancing toward the golden-haired female, who had been stripped of her clothes to reveal her lush, perfect curves.

Nymphs were always beautiful; this one was drop-dead gorgeous.

“Drink the blood,” she clarified.

“Why not?”

“It’s laced with a drug that keeps a vampire unconscious. Sometimes for hours.”

Jaelyn set aside the goblet, her gaze never shifting from the female’s wide blue eyes.

She couldn’t detect any deception in the nymph, but that didn’t mean the young demon wasn’t an unwitting dupe to the villains who ran the nasty slave business.

“How long have you been here?”

“I’m not sure.” The female abruptly shuddered. “At least a couple of weeks.”