Darkness Avenged (Guardians of Eternity #10)(110)

Santiago instantly moved to wrap his arms around Nefri, realizing it was going to be impossible to convince Roke not to do his best to kill Nefri.

The male vampire’s mate was in danger.

There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.

Just as there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Nefri.

Trapping her arms against her slender body while Styx looped his arm around her waist, they pulled her away from the infuriated Roke.

It was a struggle, but the fact that they’d managed to contain Nefri at all was yet another sign that the spirit’s resources were being rapidly drained.

“Sally, finish this,” Styx commanded between clenched teeth.

The witch tried to step past her bristling mate only to be halted when he grabbed her arm and growled low in his throat.

“Roke,” she murmured, her expression pleading. “You have to let me go.”

He bared his fangs, any sanity lost beneath the primitive instinct to protect his mate. “No.”

“We have to end this now,” she said softly.

“She’s right,” a female voice said as a jolt of electric energy penetrated, and then smothered, the power surging from the vampires.

No one had to turn to know who had so unexpectedly crashed the party.

Siljar was the only one who could make such a spectacular entrance and overwhelm even the most dominant vampires.

Slowly the tiny demon moved to stand at Sally’s side, her black almond eyes unblinking and her heart-shaped face somber. Wearing her traditional white robe and her silver hair pulled into a braid, she had the regal bearing of a queen.

“Let her go, vampire,” she commanded.

“Shit.”

With a glare that should have made the Oracle spontaneously combust, Roke grudgingly released his hold on the witch. Even lost in primordial instincts, a demon understood there was no fighting one of the Commission.

“I’ll be fine.” Lifting her hand, Sally gently touched his cheek before turning back to Nefri with a bleak resolution.

As expected, Nefri went wild as the witch moved forward.

Styx cursed, grunting as one of Nefri’s arms came free so she could rake her claws down his face.

“Dammit, Santiago, hold on to her.”

Santiago’s knee shattered beneath the impact of Nefri’s kick, and a rib cracked from the swinging elbow.

“I’m trying,” he muttered, regaining control of her arms only to have her jerk her head backward to bust Styx’s nose.

“Try harder,” the king gritted, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Together they slowly halted her struggles, her screams of frustration becoming whimpers of fear as Sally pressed the book against her stomach.

“If I die, she dies,” the spirit warned, the glowing gaze turning toward Santiago. “Do you hear me, Santiago? This host will die just as Gaius did.”

Siljar stepped forward. “Don’t listen.”

Yeah, easy for her to say.

Already he could begin to detect the damage being done to her exquisite face. Not that he gave a shit what she looked like. His love for Nefri wasn’t about flesh and bone. But the fear that she would be destroyed along with the spirit threatened to tip him over the edge.

“You have a minute to do what you have to do,” he hissed. “After that . . . I make no promises.”

Siljar rolled her eyes, muttering something about leeches beneath her breath. Then she shifted her attention to Sally.

“I will need your assistance, witch.”

Sally grimaced, her face drenched in sweat and her slender body trembling as she continued to hold the strange book against Nefri. “I don’t know anything about sorcery,” she said, her voice strained.

“I will start the weave; I just need you to help hold the threads.”

It all sounded like gibberish to Santiago, but Sally gave a hesitant nod. “Okay.”

Siljar closed her eyes and held out her tiny hands. “Let’s begin.”

Santiago was vaguely aware of Roke moving to support Sally’s swaying body and Styx’s hiss of pain as Nefri gave him another head butt, but his sole focus was on the woman wrapped in his arms.

He felt her shudder, her skin turning ashen as the witch and Oracle performed their mystical voodoo.

“Don’t leave me, Nefri,” he husked. “Don’t you dare leave me again.”

The glow began to fade from her eyes and for a horrified moment, Santiago thought he was truly losing her.

No.

He tightened his arms, silently willing her to survive.

At first he could feel nothing. As if she’d already slipped away from him. Then, as he stubbornly refused to concede defeat, he felt a . . . spark. The tiniest awareness of the female he adored beyond all bearing.

A relief so vast it threatened to send him to his knees flooded through him, and ignoring the crowd watching their every move, he gently cupped her face.

“Hey there, beautiful.”

Her brows drew together as she struggled to focus on his face. “Santiago.”

“I’m here.”

She gave a slow, painful nod. “I need . . .”

“Yes, my love?”

“I need you to promise me.”

He leaned closer despite Styx’s growl of warning, trying to catch her soft words. “Promise you what?”