Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(93)

He didn’t add that sculpting the box had his been his means to mourn the brutal loss of Gaius’s mate. He had poured his grief into each tiny engraving, attempting to capture the beauty she had added to his life.

“He obviously has treasured it,” she said gently.

Why?

Why would Gaius have taken such care of this gift and at the same time dismiss the son who had created it for him?

With a shake of his head, Santiago opened the box, his brows lifting at the sight of a heavy, old-fashioned key that was hidden inside.

“Now I wonder what this might open.”

“I haven’t the least notion.”

Tossing the box onto the cot, Santiago began searching for a hidden door. If there was a key, there had to be a lock, didn’t there?

Finding nothing in the closet, he searched the floor and then moved to the walls, his hands skimming over the smooth marble.

At last forced to accept he was at a stalemate, he turned his attention to the beautiful woman standing near the door, watching him with obvious displeasure.

So what was new?

“A little help?”

Her lips thinned. “I do not approve of invading another’s privacy.”

“No?” He shifted to stand directly before her, his expression hard with warning. “Do you approve of the end of the world?”

Their gazes clashed in a silent battle of wills before Nefri hissed in resignation.

“I should never have allowed you through the Veil,” she muttered.

“Too late.” He stroked a hand over her alabaster cheek, relishing the feel of her satin skin. “Now you will never get rid of me.”

“Is that a threat?”

She met his burning gaze with cool indifference, but she couldn’t hide her tiny shiver of pleasure at his touch.

“A promise,” he said huskily.

There it was again.

That small, tantalizing shiver.

Then she was brushing past him to wave a slender hand through the air.

“There.”

Fully aroused, it took Santiago a second to realize that she was pointing toward a door that had seemingly appeared like magic in the wall beside the cot.

He studied her with a suspicious frown. She’d done the same voodoo magic in Salvatore’s wine cellar to reveal Cassandra’s presence there. At the time he’d been too busy making sure they didn’t get eaten by the King of Weres and his sidekick to question her unexpected powers.

Not this time.

“What did you do?”

She shrugged. “I nullified any magic in the room.”

Her tone was offhand. As if it was perfectly normal for a vampire to be capable of destroying a magical illusion.

Hell, most of his brothers would kill for such a gift.

“Dios,” he growled. “A nice trick.”

“It only works for the space directly around me,” she qualified. “And only if the magic-user is not actively casting the spell.”

“Can all of your clan do that?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Only me.”

He prowled forward, holding her dark gaze. “Because you’re special?”

She stepped back, then hastily tried to cover the revealing movement by moving toward the cot.

“Shall we continue?”

Normally Santiago would have pounced on the hint of weakness.

Hey, it was a vampire-eat-vampire kind of world.

But, while Nefri might aggravate the hell out of him, and he couldn’t resist attempting to crack through that cool composure, he never wanted her to feel anything but strong and proud when she was with him.

Grabbing the end of the cot, he pulled it out of the way, his gaze on the wooden door.

“Why do suppose Gaius would want to keep this door hidden?”

“No doubt you intend to open it and find out,” she said dryly.

He flashed her a wicked smile as he stepped forward and pushed the key into the brass lock.

“You’re beginning to know me so well.”

“Unfortunately.”

Turning the key, Santiago was unprepared for the door to swing open with surprising force, revealing the hidden room beyond.

“Stand back,” he commanded, instinctively shifting to protect his companion.

Who knew what might lurk in the darkness?

Then, when nothing leaped out to attack them, he cautiously stepped through the narrow doorway and promptly came to an incredulous halt.

He was ... speechless.

The room was barely larger than the closet and built of the same marble as everything else. But there was nothing barren in the life-size mural of a beautiful Egyptian female with long, ebony hair and dark, oblong eyes who was painted standing in front of the Great Pyramids.

It was so lifelike that Santiago half expected her to step off the wall and pull him into her welcoming embrace.

His gaze shifted to the wide shelf where a line of candles burned before moving on to the ivory satin gown that was neatly folded on top of a pair of gold embroidered pumps. Next to them were several wide gold bracelets and a matching necklace that glowed in the flickering candlelight.

Entering behind him, Nefri made a soft sound of shock. “Oh my.”

“Dara,” he said, an age-old sorrow twisting his heart.

“You recognize her?”