Darkness Avenged (Guardians of Eternity #10)(46)

“The one where it’s a rift in time and space that sucked you and your people through?” he asked. “Or the one where you ascended godlike to a higher plane of existence?”

She grimaced. “The Commission circulated a dozen different stories after they created the Veil.”

So the Oracles had been responsible for the wild tales. Interesting. “Why?”

“So no one would guess their true purpose.”

“And that was?”

“To trap a creature on the other side.”

Santiago took a minute to consider her startling confession. Of all the stories that had circulated over the centuries, he’d never heard even a whisper that the Veil was some sort of cosmic prison.

“What creature?”

“I’m not entirely sure.”

He snorted. Did she think he was stupid?

“How can you not know?”

She paused—not like she was going to refuse to answer, but as if she was carefully considering her words. “From what I was told, it’s more a spirit than an actual creature.”

He frowned. Spirit was a broad term. It could mean anything from a genuine ghost to a hundred different species that had no corporeal form in this dimension.

“So what made this spirit so dangerous that they would cage it behind a magical curtain?”

“They didn’t share that information with me.”

He studied her pale, perfect face. He couldn’t sense a lie, but that didn’t mean anything. This female was a master at disguising her true emotions.

“You agreed to live in the same prison as a spirit that was so dangerous the Oracles had to create a rip in space to protect the world from it and you didn’t even ask what it could do to you?” he drawled in disbelief.

She shrugged, her gaze steady and her expression unreadable. “The spirit had been in hibernation for centuries and most assumed that it would never awaken,” she said. “I was merely there to be an early warning if it began to stir.”

“How were you supposed to know it was”—he deliberately paused—“stirring?”

She shrugged. “The Oracles claimed that the peace my people sought would be disturbed.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

So, the Oracles create a rift to protect the world from some mysterious evil. Then, instead of letting sleeping evil spirits rest in solitude, they eventually sent Nefri and her clan to the other side.

There was something missing. Hell, there was a whole lot missing.

“Why you?” he abruptly demanded.

Nefri clenched her hands. Was this vampire never satisfied?

She’d revealed far more than she should have. Certainly enough to get her in trouble with the Commission.

Never a good thing.

But was he satisfied?

No.

He had to poke and prod and—

“Nefri,” he repeated, his expression predictably stubborn.

She absently toyed with a lock of hair that had fallen on her cheek and sternly reminded herself that Santiago was risking his life to assist her in finding Gaius.

He deserved the truth.

The whole truth.

“The Commission was aware that I sought asylum for myself and my clan.”

He stepped forward, gently brushing her fingers aside so he could tuck the lock of hair behind her ear. “Asylum from what?”

Her lashes lowered to hide her eyes. “It’s a long and boring story.”

“It might be long, but I seriously doubt that it’s boring,” he said dryly. “Tell me.”

A tiny shiver of pleasure raced through her body. “As you’ve so kindly pointed out, I’m ancient even by vampire standards.”

“You can’t make me believe you’re sensitive about your age, cara,” he protested, his fingers tracing the line of her cheek before moving to outline her lips. “Not when the years have given you the regal beauty of a queen and the powers of a goddess.”

She pulled away from his touch. How could she concentrate when his lightest caress was sending distracting jolts of arousal through her body?

“Very pretty, but not entirely accurate.”

A knowing smile curved his lips at her revealing retreat.

Aggravating vampire.

“No?”

“My powers haven’t come with age,” she corrected him. “They were a part of me from the night I was made into a vampire.”

His smile disappeared as his eyes darkened with astonishment.

Not surprising.

Most vampires gained their powers in a slow evolution over their foundling years. Some gained more than others, but it was a fairly predictable progression.

She, on the other hand, had been blessed with a profound excess of power from the night she’d been “turned.”

At least she was told she’d been blessed.

It had felt more like a curse.

“Dios,” he murmured. “That must have been a shock to your sire. Always assuming he stayed around.”

It had happened so long ago Nefri barely recalled awakening alone and naked on the banks of the Euphrates River. She had a vague memory of roaming alone and disoriented, unable to recall her former life, before a man had appeared in the cave where she was hiding and carried her away.