Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(83)

Ariyal tilted back his head, testing the air. “I smell Were.”

Styx lifted a brow, as if caught off guard by Ariyal’s ability to detect the distant scent.

“Salvatore is in the area searching for the curs who attacked you,” he admitted.

Ariyal wasn’t pleased. “Will he be joining us in the caves?”

“Not unless absolutely necessary.” Styx smiled without humor. “He was trapped down there not long ago. He’s in no hurry to repeat the performance.”

Jaelyn briefly wondered if the Were was responsible for the damage in the lower levels. Well, the initial damage. Ariyal had done his own share.

Then she was struck by a sudden thought.

“Did you warn him that the cur is a magic-user?” Styx nodded. “Yes, as well as the fact he’s traveling with what we suspect is a vampire that has unusual talents.”

Jaelyn very much wondered about the strange vampire and exactly what Styx was hiding, but before she could press for an answer Ariyal was speaking.

“You might also warn him that Sergei is still lurking around, along with that damned gargoyle.”

There was a rustle from the trees that lined the nearby graveyard before the unmistakable scent of granite wafted on the air.

“Hey,” Levet protested, waddling forward with a wounded expression. “I just rescued you from a fate worse than death.”

“You rescued me?” Ariyal made a sound of disgust. “Don’t you have that backwards?”

“Oh.” Levet blinked, coming to a halt next to Jaelyn. “Do I?”

Ignoring the rueful amusement of the vampires, Ariyal glared at the tiny demon.

“Where’s the mage?”

Levet cleared his throat, his tail twitching. “He might have escaped.”

“Might have?”

“Very well, he escaped.” Levet’s wings fluttered in a shimmer of color. “Is that what you desired to hear?”

“No, it’s damned well not what I wanted to hear.” Ariyal looked as if he could happily have turned the gargoyle into a teeny pile of rubble. “I specifically told you to keep an eye on him.”

“I could hardly keep an eye on him when it was daylight, could I? Gargoyles have needs.” With an offended sniff, Levet turned to offer Jaelyn a charming smile. “Ah, ma enfant, I see that you are unharmed. I was so concerned.”

“Not now, Levet,” Styx growled.

Levet blew a raspberry toward the towering vampire, but with an impatient curse Ariyal leaned down to grab the gargoyle by the horn and turn him back to meet his fierce glare.

“Did you try to track the mage?”

“Of course I did.”

“And?”

“And he must have an amulet to mask his scent.”

Ariyal hissed in frustration. “So you have no idea where he went?”

Levet wisely stepped out of reach of the Sylvermyst, waving a hand toward the entrance to the caves.

“His footsteps led in this direction.”

“Shit.” Ariyal sprinted toward the caves. “The baby.”

“Wait.” Styx muttered a curse when Ariyal ignored his command. “Fifteen minutes, Sylvermyst.”

Jaelyn was swiftly following Ariyal as he darted into the caverns and headed down the nearest tunnel. She understood his concern. If the mage actually managed to get his greedy hands on the child and escape they might never track him down.

At least not until it was too late.

And if he screwed up and got caught then the wizard and Tearloch would be on guard, making it almost impossible to locate Ariyal’s tribesmen without attracting unwanted attention.

They had reached the lower levels of the caverns when Ariyal came to a sudden halt, turning to face her.

Jaelyn frowned, her senses on full alert. “What is it? Do you sense something?”

The bronze eyes shimmered with an emotion that seared her to the tip of her toes.

“You’re my heart and my soul,” he breathed.

“As you are mine.” She lifted herself on tiptoe to press a tender kiss to his lips. “We’ll face whatever comes together.”

He wrapped her in his fragrant heat. “Together.”

Chapter 20

Tearloch leaned over the pool of water where Rafael had scryed the image of a half-dozen vampires currently hovering near the entrance to the caverns.

No, not just vampires, he silently corrected, a sick sensation twisting his gut into knots. It didn’t take a genius to recognize the towering Aztec and the lethal predators that stood at his side.

The Anasso and his Ravens.

“God dammit,” he breathed. “I told you that you were wasting too much time.”

The wizard ignored Tearloch’s complaints, waving his hand over the water to zoom in on a vampire with dark hair and silver eyes who looked like a pirate with a bad attitude.

“Dante, how exquisitely appropriate,” Rafael murmured, a disturbing smile curving his lips.

“You know the vampire?”

“He was responsible for my death.” An eerie chuckle filled the cavern. “Now I intend to return the favor.”

Tearloch clenched his hands, the sharp burst of fear slicing through the cobwebs in his mind.

“Are you insane?” he demanded. “We have to get out of here before we’re trapped.”