Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(54)

“So I’m supposed to wait here like a good girl while you decide my future?”

“It’s much more likely that this has nothing to do with you, Laylah.”

Her hands clenched at her sides. “Yeah, right.”

“Have you forgotten that Styx is the King of Vampires and I’m his Charon?” He held her gaze, his painfully beautiful face impossible to read. “Stay here.”

Her heart forgot to beat.

Shit. Did he think that made things better?

“Tane,” she said as he headed toward the door.

He halted and turned to meet her worried gaze. “Yes?”

“What if this is vampire business?”

He shrugged. “Then I’ll do my duty.”

She was standing directly in front of him without knowing how she got there.

“A Charon’s duty?”

Another shrug. “Yes.”

Let him go, a voice whispered in the back of her mind.

With Styx and Tane distracted she would have the perfect opportunity to escape. Perhaps the only opportunity.

But instead she grabbed his arm, her gaze glued to his face as if she were desperate to memorize every elegant line and curve.

“What does that mean?”

“Now is not the time …”

“Please, I need to know.” She tightened her grip until her nails dug into his flesh, already suspecting that his position among vampires not only was one of power, but of intense danger. “What exactly does a Charon do?”

She felt him tense, as if he were startled by her fierce reaction.

Hell, he couldn’t be any more startled than she was.

Minutes ticked by until at last he brushed his fingers through her spiked hair.

“It’s not common knowledge, but there are vampires who become addicted to the blood of alcoholics and drug users,” he said, his voice instinctively lowering as he shared the private weakness of vampires. “It eventually drives them mad. If I don’t track them down and kill them before it’s too late they will go into complete bloodlust.”

A ball of ice formed in the pit of her stomach. “What happens?”

“They will go on a mindless rampage and they will destroy everything and everyone in their path.” She sucked in a shocked breath. She was prepared for dangerous. Not for mindless rampages.

“And it’s your job to stop them?” Her voice was thick.

“There’s no choice.” His fingers absently outlined the shell of her ear. “Once a vampire’s crossed the threshold into madness they won’t stop the massacre until they run out of victims or they’re decapitated.”

His touch held its usual magic, sending tiny jolts of pleasure through her, but she was consumed by the terror at the insane risks this vampire took with his life.

“Why you?”

His honey gaze bored deep into her wide eyes, seeming to seek the truth of her tangled emotions. Yeah, good luck on that. “Me?” he rasped.

“Why do you have to be the one to hunt down the mass-murdering psychos?” “Because I’m a Charon.”

Her breath hissed through her clenched teeth. He was being deliberately evasive.

Which meant he was hiding something. “Were you drafted or was it a volunteer program?” “Styx approached me about the position and I accepted.” “Just like that?”

“Why do you sound so skeptical?”

“Because I don’t think anyone would willingly put themselves in a position of being an executioner.”

He dropped his hand, his expression closing up like the proverbial clam.

“It has to be done.”

Her dread deepened at his flat statement. It was the sort of thing a man said when he didn’t intend to be reasonable.

“I’m not arguing the legitimacy of the job, just why you would choose to do it.”

“Why not?” The honey gaze shifted to somewhere over her shoulder. “Every vampire loves the thrill of the hunt. Styx has tried his best to civilize us, so it’s a rare treat to pit my skills against a worthy opponent.”

She snorted. Only an idiot would doubt that Tane was aggressive enough to enjoy ripping the throat out of an enemy. But there was no way she could be convinced that he would take pleasure in putting down a brother who was crazed with bloodlust.

Besides, no one would deliberately take a position that would have them shunned by their own family.

“You love the hunt so much you’re willing to be feared and ostracized by your family?” she challenged.

His brows lifted. “What makes you think I’m an outcast?”

“I’m not stupid, Tane.” She folded her arms around her waist, a familiar ache settling in the center of her heart. She knew all about shunning. And the pain of always being seen as a threat, no matter how hard she tried to prove herself. “I could see how Victor’s clan treated you. Half of them looked like they wanted to crawl in the nearest hole when you walked into the room and the other half looked like they wanted to plant a stake in your back.”

With a smooth motion he turned to pace toward the heavy desk, but not before Laylah glimpsed the wounds that darkened the beautiful honey eyes.

Wounds so raw she shuddered in horror.

“My power is great enough I’ll always be feared regardless if I’m a Charon or not.” He kept his back turned, his voice stripped of the emotions that festered deep inside him. “And to be honest, I don’t give a shit about the ass**les who want to see me dead. I’m not here to win friends and influence vampires.”