Darkness Eternal (Guardians of Eternity #7.5)(8)

An angel . . .

What other creature possessed such pale, exquisite features? Or dark eyes as soft as velvet? Or a halo of burnished brown curls?

Her heart forgot to beat as she became lost in those beautiful eyes, her breath once again squeezed from her lungs.

He was just so . . . beautiful.

Straight out of a fantasy, how-do-I-get-him-in-my-bed-this-second gorgeous.

Desire, raw and demanding, pulsed through her. Dear goddess. His hard body fit against her with tantalizing perfection. And his scent. A rich musk that made her blood heat with a potent hunger that was as shocking as it was unfamiliar.

Kata knew that she had only to close her eyes to become lost in his dark enchantment.

Then the cold blast of his power filled the room and her insane thoughts were shattered.

A vampire.

A damned vampire.

It was no wonder he could melt a heart at a hundred paces.

The evil creatures used their beauty as a lethal weapon.

She pressed her hands against his hard chest, too late realizing her danger. But oddly he didn’t strike, despite the terrifying flash of his huge fangs. Instead he regarded her with a horror that matched her own.

“You,” he breathed, looking as if he’d seen a ghost. “Bloody hell.”

“Who did you expect to land on top of?” she snapped, her terror of vampires overwhelmed by a bizarre annoyance that her first reaction had been “oh-my-God-please-take-me-now” while his had been pure male disappointment. “Lady GaGa?”

He blinked, clearly startled by her grip on the modern world and pop culture.

“I was told you were caught in a mage’s spell.”

“Who told you?”

“Your supposed daughter.”

“Laylah.” An instant warmth curled through the center of her heart. She had known that Laylah was in the company of a vampire before she’d lost contact with her, but she hadn’t expected her daughter to send a bloodsucker to rescue her. It was . . . touching. “I should have known that she would . . .” Her brows abruptly snapped together as his words truly sunk in. “What do you mean supposed?”

He stared down at her with a predictable arrogance. Vampires had I’m superior to you stamped into their DNA.

“We have no proof beyond the word of a treacherous vampire, a psychopathic mage, and a female who magically appeared in a vision at a suspiciously opportune moment to reveal she is Laylah’s mother and being held hostage by her evil twin sister.” His lips twisted to a sneer. “It’s like a bad fairy tale.”

Kata slammed her hands against his chest. She loved her daughter, but Laylah obviously had piss poor taste in choosing a Knight in Shining Armor.

“Get off me, you oaf.”

“Not until I’m certain this isn’t a trap.”

She shifted beneath his heavy body, futilely trying to wiggle away from him. If the brute thought he could knock her to the ground and then insult her, then he was in for an unpleasant surprise. She might not possess the strength of a demon, but she wasn’t entirely helpless.

“Do you know what I am?” she hissed.

Concentrating on her efforts to escape, Kata missed the sudden stiffening of the vampire’s body and his muffled groan.

“Is that an invitation for further exploration?” he demanded, his low voice suddenly thick with awareness. “A little blatant for my taste, but I’m willing to play.”

She told herself that it was shock that made her stomach clench and her heart race. And as for the sizzle of excitement that shot through her . . . well, that had to be anger.

Anything else would be sheer insanity.

“It’s a warning that unless you get off of me this instant I will curse your most prized possession,” she said between gritted teeth. “And I’m not talking about your sword.”

Chapter 4

Uriel glared at the woman pinned beneath him.

Nothing had gone right from the minute he’d left Victor’s lair.

He’d journeyed directly to Stonehenge only to run headlong into a brick wall.

Literally.

The damned mage had left a dozen different snares to trap the unwary. Twice Uriel had been dropped into hidden pits. The first one had been lined with bricks embedded with silver spikes that had seared away the flesh of his palms and feet before he’d managed to climb his way out. The second pit had been filled with rabid hellhounds he’d been forced to fight through to get to the door that led to the cell he could sense deep below ground.

It had taken days to heal his wounds and gather enough strength to continue his trek downward. It had taken even more days to dodge the Sylvermyst who patrolled the tunnels and then, at last, barrel his way through the heavy door.

Was it any wonder he wasn’t in the mood for surprises?

And Kata was a surprise, he grudgingly admitted.

He’d expected her beauty. She was a twin to Marika, after all, and as much as he might detest the cold-blooded bitch, no one could deny she was stunning.

But while Kata shared Marika’s glossy curls and midnight eyes set in a pale, perfect face, they had nothing in common.

Marika was cold arrogance edged with the promise of pain.

Kata was . . .

Heat and passion and the promise of endless pleasure.

He bit back another groan as she wiggled her lush, sexy body beneath him.