Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(87)

“Elwin.”

The Sylvermyst snapped to attention at Ariyal’s commanding tone. Some things were just instinct.

“Yes, sire?”

“Take the men and get the hell out of here.”

The man wavered, concern etched on his slender face. “What about the vampires?”

He reached to grab his brother’s arm, holding his gaze. “You have my word they won’t harm you so long as you don’t do anything to provoke them. Will you trust me?”

Elwin paused, then gave a slow nod of agreement. “Yes.”

“Good.”

There was a collective surge of relief from the gathered Sylvermyst, as well as a barely leashed yearning to rush from the dark caves to breathe the fresh air. But Elwin didn’t immediately leave the cavern. Instead he regarded Ariyal with a frown.

“What of you?”

“I have to get Tearloch and the child.”

Elwin gave a shake of his head. “He won’t listen to you. He’s under the thrall of the wizard.”

Ariyal shrugged. “No one gets left behind.”

Something shimmered in the pewter eyes before Elwin was abruptly dropping to his knees, his head bent in regret. In less than a heartbeat the rest of the tribe were also kneeling, their swords being drawn and tossed onto the stone floor in a gesture of surrender.

“My lord,” Toras breathed. “Forgive us.”

“We have all made mistakes,” Ariyal assured them. “Now we must hope that we can learn from them.”

Elwin lifted his head. “If we survive this, I pledge that I will do whatever you ask of me to return to our tribe.”

Reaching out, Ariyal firmly pulled the Sylvermyst to his feet, his expression somber.

“All I ask is that you take care of our brothers.”

“You have my word.”

Elwin placed a hand on Ariyal’s shoulder in a silent pledge. Then with a sharp whistle he had the rest of the tribe on their feet and racing silently from the cavern.

With a silent prayer that they would make it out safely, Ariyal turned toward his mate, knowing better than to even suggest she join his tribesmen in their flight from the darkness.

He might not be Einstein, but he wasn’t stupid.

“Are you ready?”

She held her sword in her hand, her fangs fully exposed. “Let’s do this thing.”

Chapter 21

Jaelyn bit back her protests as Ariyal led them through the increasingly narrow tunnels that reeked of ambush.

A fighter never allowed herself to be cornered in cramped spaces. It was too difficult to maneuver for even the best trained warrior.

Unfortunately, while she couldn’t sense the magical battle that must be happening ahead of them, she could feel Ariyal’s pulsing urgency, which meant that haste had to overcome caution for now.

Not that it had to make her happy.

Concentrating on her duty to make certain nothing approached them from behind, Jaelyn was unprepared for Ariyal’s abrupt halt.

Ramming into his hard back, she swiftly regained her balance, rubbing her nose as he turned to face her with a tense frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“Listen,” he said softly.

Distantly she could hear the sound of Sergei and Rafael in a heated argument, the occasional shake of the tunnel warning her that they were doing far worse than merely throwing punches at one another.

If they weren’t careful they would bring several tons of rock plummeting onto their heads.

Not the most pleasant thought.

But even as the image of being buried alive flashed through her mind, Ariyal’s eyes were widening with a fear that had nothing to do with a cave-in.

“Ariyal?”

“The wizard,” he managed to rasp between clenched teeth.

“What about him?”

“He’s started the ceremony.”

“Shit. We have to stop him.”

Ariyal shook his head. “It’s too late.”

“No, it can’t be.”

She moved to dart around him, only to be stymied as he caught her in his arms and began pushing her back down the tunnel.

“We have to get the hell out of here.”

“But ...”

“Dammit, Jaelyn, those idiots have created a rift between dimensions.”

“What does that mean?”

The question had barely tumbled from her lips when she caught sight of the white mist that was boiling through the tunnel, heading directly toward them.

“Hold on,” Ariyal commanded, pressing her head against his chest as the mist surrounded them, seeming to suck them forward with a ruthless force.

She focused on the feel of her mate’s hard body pressed against her as the world melted away. It would be terrifyingly easy to become lost and disoriented in the thick fog.

After what might have been a few minutes or an eternity, the sense of movement came to a halt. Tentatively, Jaelyn pushed away from Ariyal, studying the walls of mist that appeared to go on forever.

“This isn’t good.” She pointed out the obvious.

“No.”

Ariyal pulled his sword as Jaelyn sent out her senses to probe the fog.

She wasn’t an expert on alien dimensions. Her varied training had included many things, but vampires weren’t intended to travel from world to world. Not unless they happened to be ancient Immortal Ones.