Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(68)

Jaelyn’s suspicions deepened. “You weren’t brought here for the auction?”

“I was.”

“Then why haven’t you been sold?”

The nymph abruptly wrapped her arms around her waist, as if she were cold.

“The guards prefer to keep me here for their entertainment. I suppose they’ll eventually tire of me and I’ll be taken upstairs.”

Jaelyn grimaced, attacked by an unfamiliar stab of pity. The wretched creature had obviously suffered at the hands of her captors, even if she didn’t have the physical scars to show.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, so am I.” The nymph struggled to hide her misery behind a determined smile. “Oh, I’m Valla, by the way.”

A part of Jaelyn told her to turn away and ignore the chatty demon. She had a very specific agenda that didn’t include becoming BFFs with her fellow inmates. But her training warned that she couldn’t ignore such a potential source of information.

“I’m Jaelyn.”

“That’s pretty.” Valla tilted her head to the side, her glorious mane of hair tumbling over her shoulder. “Did you get to choose your own name?”

“No.” Jaelyn absently rubbed the raw skin of her wrists. She would need to feed before she could fully heal. “It was given to me by my maker.”

The nymph moved closer to the bars. “Are you injured?”

Jaelyn instantly dropped her hands. A Hunter never revealed weakness.

“I’ll recover.”

“If you need a drink I’ll share.” The female held her arm through the bars. “I’m not on drugs or anything.”

Jaelyn frowned, once again searching for some sign of deceit. Why would this female be so kind? For God’s sake, she was offering her vein to a complete stranger.

Surely there had to be an ulterior motive?

But no matter how deep Jaelyn searched she could find nothing but purity in the nymph’s soul.

Oddly disturbed, Jaelyn abruptly paced back toward the door of the cell to peer at the distant door.

“Are they all trolls?”

“Who?”

“The guards.”

“No.” The sharp scent of Valla’s fear filled the air. “There’s at least two imps and a pack of hellhounds who guard the exits. There’s no way out if that’s what you’re thinking. And if you try ... they’ll hurt you.”

“There’s always a way out.”

The nymph was momentarily speechless at Jaelyn’s cold confidence; then she gave a forced laugh.

“Yes well, I suppose a woman like you would think that way.”

Jaelyn turned to meet the faintly envious blue gaze. “A woman like me?”

Valla shrugged. “A warrior.”

“All women are warriors.”

Valla’s lips twisted. “Nice to think so.”

Jaelyn swallowed the urge to point out that the mere fact Valla had managed to survive two weeks in the dungeons of a slaver proved she was as tough as any soldier.

Focus, Jaelyn, focus.

“Who runs the place?”

“There’s a half-breed troll who is in charge of the auctions.”

“And?” Jaelyn prompted.

“There’s something ...” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Else.”

Something else?

That covered a lot of territory.

“What?”

Valla lowered her voice until it was barely a whisper. “A monster.”

Jaelyn moved closer to her new friend, sensing that she was coming close to discovering precisely what was making vampires disappear.

“A demon?” she pressed.

“I don’t know exactly what it is, but whenever they bring in a vampire it comes out of the cellars and drags them down there.”

Jaelyn followed the direction of Valla’s pointed finger, noticing the faint outline of a hidden door on the back wall of the cell.

“You don’t know what species it is?”

The nymph shrugged. “It’s something I’ve never seen before... .” Her eyes abruptly widened as the stench of old leather suddenly filled the air. “Oh no. That’s it.”

“Sssh.”

Motioning for the nymph to return to her narrow cot on the far side of her cell, Jaelyn moved to overturn the table, allowing the goblet and its nasty contents to drain into the dirt floor. Then, lowering herself to the floor, she stretched out as if she’d been struck unconscious, careful to make sure she could see the hidden door.

She had barely arranged herself to her satisfaction when the door slowly swung inward and a large form squeezed through the opening to step into the cell.

Peeping beneath her lowered lashes, Jaelyn barely repressed a shudder of disgust.

A vicious cross between a gargoyle and an ogre, the creature had dark, armor-like skin and a ridge of spines that ran from the base of its large, misshapen head down between its leathery wings to the tip of his long tail. Its short arms ended with clawed hands, as did his powerful legs, and when it turned toward Jaelyn she shuddered as she caught sight of its face.

Even by demon standards the thing was butt-ugly.

It had the grotesque features of gargoyles with beady crimson eyes and a snout with flaps over its nostrils. It also had a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth it proudly displayed.