Darkness Eternal (Guardians of Eternity #7.5)(7)

“It wasn’t arrogance, it was strategy.” Yannah wagged a finger. “Tricky, tricky vampire.”

Kata sank onto the edge of the cot, her head aching and her stomach queasy.

Not surprising.

In the span of five minutes she’d been jolted out of a spell that had kept her imprisoned for centuries, she’d been violently stripped of her connection to her sister, and every muscle in her body was cramping as they came back to painful life.

“I feel like I am going to throw up,” she husked, “could you please speak clearly?”

Kata wasn’t looking for a plethora of sympathy, but she sure as hell didn’t expect Yannah to smack her on the back of the head.

“Use that brain in your pretty head. Marika was betrayed by Sergei. He was supposed to tell her the very second he discovered the location of your daughter and managed to kidnap her.”

“Yeah, I got that. She wasn’t a bit pleased when the bastard forced Laylah to steal the child of the Dark Lord and tried to keep the baby hidden from her. Do you think I was any happier? He tortured my poor girl.”

“What you felt is meaningless.”

Kata scowled at the tiny demon. Dammit. If Yannah was her guardian angel then she’d gotten ripped off.

Big time.

“What’s your point?”

“Marika realized her pet was a bad, bad boy,” Yannah said, as if Kata hadn’t been intensely aware of Marika’s fury when she’d discovered the mage had not only betrayed her, but had allowed Laylah and the baby to slip from her grasp.

“Yeah, her insane fury gave me a migraine for months.”

“It also made her realize that while she needed his magic for her evil plans, she had to make sure he didn’t decide that she was expendable. If he could get his hands on the child again, he might very well decide to keep the glory for himself.”

Kata snorted. “What’s that saying? ‘No honor among thieves’?”

“Precisely. And you were her . . .” Yannah narrowed her gaze, searching for the perfect words. “Ace in the hole.”

Kata shoved an unsteady hand through her tangle of dark curls. She didn’t have to be a psychic to know she wasn’t going to like what Yannah had to say.

“How?”

“When your daughter disappeared Marika forced the mage to cast a spell linking the two of you together.”

Well that seemed . . . redundant.

“Why?” She gave an impatient lift of her shoulder. “We’ve been linked together since our birth.”

Yannah nodded. “Yes, your minds, but not your souls.”

“Our souls?”

Yannah grimaced. “For lack of a better word.”

Kata froze, a sick dread forming in the pit of her stomach. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Marika wanted to make sure that Sergei couldn’t kill her without risking you as well.”

“So if she dies . . .” Kata couldn’t finish the sentence. It was too horrible.

Yannah, on the other hand, didn’t have a damned bit of trouble.

“You get sucked into the underworld with her.”

Kata surged to her feet, panic screaming through her body as she headed across the small cell.

“Blessed goddess.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have to get out of here,” she muttered, tugging at the handle of the lead-lined door.

“You can’t outrun the spell.”

“If I can find a witch she can break the spell.”

“There’s no time.” Yannah made a sound of impatience. “Where is that vampire?”

Swearing at the lock that refused to budge, Kata turned to glare at the tiny demon standing in the center of the sparse cell.

“Vampire?”

“He’s late. Really, I cannot be expected to take care of everything,” Yannah muttered, making Kata wonder at the woman’s sanity. That was all she needed. Yet another crazy demon interfering in her life. Then abruptly Yannah’s expression cleared. “Ah.”

Kata frowned, her non-demon hearing belatedly picking up the sound of shouts from the Sylvermyst guards and the unmistakable clank of swords slamming off one another.

“Fighting?” she whispered in confusion. Who the hell would know where she was? Let alone try and battle past the layers of protection Sergei had placed throughout her prison. “Someone is coming.”

“I would move away from the door,” Yannah warned.

“Why?”

The question had barely tumbled from her lips when there was the god-awful screech of twisting metal as the massive door was forced off its hinges. With a gasp, Kata managed to leap to the side, avoiding being squashed beneath the wreckage. She couldn’t, however, avoid the large man who charged into the cell directly behind the door.

With the force of a cement truck he slammed into her, sending them both crashing onto the hard floor.

“Oof.” The air was painfully knocked from her lungs and her head smacked against the floor.

It took a moment before the fog in her brain cleared enough to take stock of the heavy beast crushing her against the lead floor.

And even longer to convince herself that she wasn’t imagining the breathtakingly beautiful face that hovered a mere inch above her.