Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(35)

“Oh, my darling daughter.” Kata’s expression softened and Laylah would have sworn she could feel a warmth settle deep in her heart. “I knew you were destined for greatness from the first moment I held you in my arms.”

Yeah, right.

Laylah knew she could be gullible, but she wasn’t stupid.

“Then why did you throw me away?”

The dark eyes softened with distress. “Never, kicsim. It broke my heart to leave you in the care of Sadira.”

Laylah frowned. Sadira was her foster mother. A gentle witch with a messy thatch of silver curls and round face that was pretty in a grandmotherly sort of way.

She was the one person in the entire world she truly trusted.

Now she was supposed to believe that she’d lied to her?

“How do you know about Sadira?”

“She was my dearest friend when we were both just children in the old country.”

Laylah didn’t know or care what the hell the ‘old country’ meant. She was far more interested in the implication that she hadn’t been tossed out like rotting trash.

“But …” Laylah was forced to clear her throat. “She told me that she found me abandoned in the sewers of London and that she knew nothing about me or my parents.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for that,” the woman said, her voice thick with regret. “I made her swear never to tell you anything about your past.”

“Why?”

“I could not risk having you come in search of me. I had to keep Marika and her pet mage from using you to bring evil into the world.”

Laylah jerked in pain. Even accustomed to people assuming she was a cross between the boogieman and Rosemary’s Baby, it hurt.

“I’m not evil.”

“No, of course you are not. Anyone can sense your heart is pure,” her supposed mother protested. “But you are blessed with the ability to enter the mists.”

“Oh.” Comprehension slammed into her. “The babe.”

“Yes.”

She stiffened, a wave of emotions zigzagging through her. Fear, possession, and a shockingly maternal need to protect.

“But he’s an innocent. I swear to you.” “He possesses the blood of the Dark Lord.” Oh … shit. “His son?” “His vessel.”

Levet leaned forward. “Vessel? Are you certain?” Laylah shot him a suspicious glance. “Do you know something?”

“I know you never want to be a vessel for an evil god,” the gargoyle stated the obvious. “Very bad karma.” Laylah tilted her chin.

She didn’t care what blood might flow through her baby. Or why he’d been created.

She would kill to keep him safe.

“The babe is trapped in a spell, but I refuse to believe he’s evil,” she said. “I can sense his purity.”

The woman hesitated, as if troubled by Laylah’s obvious concern for the child.

“Not evil, but … empty.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He has been created by magic to be filled with the soul of another.”

Laylah bit back her words of protest. She didn’t intend to share her intimate knowledge of the child.

Not with anyone.

“The Dark Lord’s soul?” she instead asked.

“Yes.” Despite the invisible bonds that held her, Kata shivered in horror. “A genuine rebirth that will shred the veils between worlds and allow hell to spew forth.”

“Mon Dieu.” Levet poked her on the leg. “I particularly dislike hell spewing forth. Laylah, you must do something.”

“I’m working on it.” Her gaze never wavered from the vision of her mother. Gods. She’d always sensed the child was important. Perhaps even dangerous. But she’d never thought he was an apocalypse waiting to happen. “What can I do?”

The woman stared toward Laylah with a desperation that was nearly tangible.

“You must keep the child out of the hands of Marika,” she said, her eyes flashing with a fierce intensity. “She will use him for her own vile purpose.”

“Really, Kata, is that any way to speak of your only sister?” a cold, horrifyingly familiar voice sliced through the chamber.

Laylah stumbled to her feet, turning to watch the elegant vampire cross the room to peer at the water. “Laylah …” Kata cried out.

With a terrifying laugh, Marika used the toe of her Manolo to stir the water, dissolving the vision of Kata. “Toodles, dear sister.”

There was the scrape of footsteps and Laylah turned to watch the mage stroll to join the vampire. She reminded herself to breathe as her gut clenched with an age-old fury.

The bastard had caged her like an animal and forced her to enter the frozen Siberian cave without giving a damn if the spell that protected the entrance would kill her.

Thankfully her stark, raving fear overcame any ridiculous urge to seek vengeance on the man who’d caused her such misery.

“I told you that I sensed a rat spying from the shadows,” Sergei drawled, his pale blue gaze lingering on the gargoyle at her side.

“A rat?” Levet sputtered. “Sacrebleu. I shall turn you into …”

Laylah hastily grabbed a delicate wing to keep her companion from becoming a pile of gravel. “Levet, no.”