Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(50)

“There must be something you remember,” Styx prompted.

“I remember the mage entering the cell one morning and then the world went black.” She rubbed her hands over her bare arms, as if she were suddenly cold. “When I woke up I was in a dark, frozen cave.”

“A cave?” Styx frowned. “Where?”

Laylah lifted a shoulder. “I think it was north of where we were staying, but I can’t say how far. I could probably find it if I shadow walked.”

Styx and Tane exchanged silent glances. No one would leave a child that was rumored to possess a part of the Dark Lord lying around a cave.

No matter how remote.

“Were there any markings in the cave?” Styx asked.

She shook her head. “No, nothing but the mist.”

Tane absently stroked the hilt of his dagger. “The same mist you used to take us to London?”

“In a way. When I enter the mists I sense a …” She halted, wrinkling her brow as she struggled for the right word. “Corridor. Like a highway at the edge of different worlds. This was more a bubble.”

“As if it was self-contained?” Styx demanded.

“Exactly,” Laylah agreed, clearly surprised by Styx’s accurate description.

Tane didn’t blame her.

Styx was so good at flexing his brawn that it was easy to forget he had a brain. He did it on purpose, of course. He liked for others to underestimate him. Tane turned toward Styx. “Do you know where it is?” “No, but I suspect I know what it is.” “Are you going to share?”

Styx shrugged. “I’ve only heard rumors, but it’s said that full-blooded Jinn are capable of creating small fissures between worlds to hide their treasures.”

Chapter 11

Laylah pressed a hand to her churning stomach. She didn’t want to discuss the child. Especially not with a vampire who had yet to prove he wasn’t preparing to hand her over to the Oracles.

Still, she had to admit that she needed information if she were going to protect the baby.

“It would explain why they needed a Jinn mongrel,” Tane said, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

Styx nodded, his gaze never wavering from Laylah. Did the Anasso suspect she would disappear the moment she had the strength to shadow walk?

If he didn’t he was an idiot.

“Was there anything but the child in the mist?”

She forced herself to think back to her time in the cave. She remembered the cold. The sort of cold that made her lungs ache. And the sense of barren emptiness, as if they were a great distance from the nearest town.

Then the mage had shoved her forward and she had tumbled into the swirling mist.

At the time she’d been terrified. She’d only shadow walked a handful of times and she’d briefly thought he had shoved her through the corridor and into another world.

“No.” She shuddered, knowing that it probably would have been best if she’d left the baby where it had been hidden.

But how could she?

Even now she was convinced the child had reached out to touch her heart. Either that or she was a raving lunatic. A distinct possibility.

“Pity,” Styx murmured, his brow furrowed. “It would have been nice if we had a clue to who stashed the child in the fissure.”

“Surely it was a Jinn?” Tane challenged.

“Not necessarily.” Styx held Laylah’s gaze. “The Dark Lord …”

“The child is not evil,” she interrupted, her hands clenched at her side. “How can you be so certain?” “I just know.”

Styx didn’t roll his eyes, but then again, he looked far from convinced. Big shocker there. “I just know “ wasn’t exactly a foolproof guarantee.

Thankfully he didn’t press.

“So you took the babe from the mists.” He picked up the previous thread of conversation. “Then what happened?”

“Sergei returned us to his home and locked me back in my cell with the child.”

Styx pushed from the desk, not seeming to notice how he towered over her.

At least she assumed the looming was unintentional. Who knew with vampires?

“After going to such an effort to get his hands on the babe why would he leave it with you?” he rasped.

Laylah hesitated before grudgingly revealing the truth. “Because he’s afraid of the stasis spell that’s wrapped around the baby. As far as I know I’m the only one who can touch it.”

Tane moved to stand next to Styx. Laylah’s breath tangled in her throat.

Talk about an overabundance of riches.

Even furious with the vampires for their interfering, she was female enough to appreciate the sight of two of the finest beefcakes to ever walk the earth.

The tall Aztec with his forbidding beauty and unnerving power. And the bronzed, honey-eyed hunk who made a woman think of hot, tropical nights and exotic sex.

Lots and lots and lots of sex.

Tane shot her a knowing glance, but he was smart enough to keep any smartass comments to himself. “It could have been a trigger,” he said instead. “Yes,” Styx agreed.

Laylah shook off her strange fascination. “What’s a trigger?”

“The most powerful demons can twist a spell to either recognize a specific person or a specific occurrence,” Tane explained. “It could be that the spell was woven to bind the child to the first person to enter the mists.”