Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(52)

Styx studied her in silence, weighing the truth of her words.

“Tell me about the child,” he at last said abruptly. She swallowed a sigh. The King of Vampires was nothing if not relentless. Like Chinese water torture.

“There’s nothing to tell. The baby’s wrapped in a stasis spell that I can’t penetrate. I’m not even truly sure if it’s a boy or a girl.”

Tane tilted her chin back to study her with an unreadable expression.

“Are you sure it’s alive?”

Ah, he thought her loneliness had driven her to carrying around the magical equivalent of an empty shell.

She might have been insulted if there wasn’t a real possibility she would have gone stark raving mad without the baby to concentrate on instead of her miserable existence.

“I can sense its essence, but it’s not conscious,” she said, her tone firm enough to warn she wasn’t going to debate what she knew in her heart.

The child was alive and it belonged to her.

Styx stepped forward. “And it hasn’t altered over the years?”

“No.”

“Where is the child now?”

The abrupt question came without warning, but Laylah was prepared. Folding her arms over her chest, she met Styx’s dark gaze without flinching.

“Safely hidden.”

“You must …”

“No.”

“Perhaps it would be better if I spoke with Laylah in private,” Tane interrupted, wisely preventing Laylah from provoking the most dangerous demon on the face of the earth.

Tane waited until Styx had left the room and closed the door behind him before turning to meet Laylah’s mulish expression.

She lifted a hand and pointed a finger in his face. “Don’t even think it.” “Think what?”

“That just because you’ve gotten into my pants you can manipulate me.”

A flare of anger seared through him. Gotten into her pants?

She made him sound like a frat boy anxious for an easy lay. The truth of the matter was that he’d had the most beautiful and powerful women in the world beg to share his bed.

But it wasn’t male pride that made him yank her hard against his body, or glare down at her wide eyes.

“Don’t ever dismiss what burns between us,” he rasped.

Her pulse hammered at the base of her throat, but she stubbornly refused to yield.

“Nothing burns between us. We had sex. End of story.”

He leaned down, scraping a fully extended fang down the line of her jugular, his gut twisting with a primitive need to taste the rich nectar of her blood.

“If I truly thought you believed that I would take you right here and prove just how wrong you are,” he said, his lips moving against the satin of her skin.

“Tane.” She shivered, the scent of her excitement teasing at his senses, but her hands lifted to press against his chest. “Stop.”

He pulled back to study the flush of arousal staining her cheeks with smug satisfaction.

“You belong to me.”

Her eyes flashed, but she was wise enough not to try and continue the ridiculous argument.

“I thought you wanted to discuss the baby?”

His lips twitched. “And I thought you didn’t.”

Without warning, she twisted out of his arms, shaking her head as she backed away.

“You’re not going to trick me.”

Ignoring the urge to tug her back into his embrace, Tane instead allowed his gaze to skim over her pale face and stiffly held body.

She was as beautiful as ever.

The crimson hair that shimmered like fire in the overhead light. The ivory features carved with a delicate perfection. The slender body that was a tantalizing combination of hard muscles and feminine curves.

But, his searching eyes didn’t miss the shadows in the dark eyes and the tension that hummed around her.

She was anxious to return to her child and suspicious he intended to halt her.

A well-founded suspicion, unfortunately.

Every damned demon in the world would soon be on the hunt for the latest, greatest hope to return the Dark Lord. Either for the glory of returning their god, or to destroy the potential threat.

Tane wouldn’t allow Laylah to be standing in the firing line.

“Trick you?” he said with a stab at innocence.

Her chin jutted, not buying his pretense for a minute. “I’m not handing over the child.”

He swore in frustration. He’d hoped to avoid an outright confrontation.

“What choice do you have, Laylah?” He planted his hands on his hips. “You aren’t a fool.”

“That’s open to debate.”

He ignored her muttered sidebar.

“You’ve been outed, my sweet. Far too many demons now know that there’s a mongrel Jinn on the loose with a child that has the potential to resurrect the Dark Lord.” He cupped her face in his hands, holding her gaze as he sought to make his point. No matter how ruthless he had to be. “There’s nowhere you can hide the baby that it will be safe.”

Fear flashed through her eyes before she was stubbornly hiding it behind her ready temper.

“If there’s nowhere safe then why would the vampires want to get involved? Or can I guess?” Her eyes narrowed. “As soon as I’m stupid enough to reveal where the baby is hidden you’ll turn the both of us over to the Commission. Tell me, Tane, do you get a bonus for a package deal?”