Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(63)

Marika waved aside his words. Why should she care that her plans had been revealed to the Anasso? There was no point in being superior to those who claimed positions of power if no one appreciated her brilliance.

“It was bound to be revealed eventually.”

The pale blue eyes glittered with annoyance. “Not until we had the Jinn and babe in our possession. A task that now will be considerably more difficult if we are being hunted by your brethren.”

“I do not fear the fools,” she said, scorn dripping from her words. “But there is something else.”

“Something worse than the Anasso?”

“Yes.”

“Lovely.” The mage reached to grasp the crystal hung about his neck. Marika sneered at the instinctive reaction. His human magic would be worthless against the demon inside the mansion. “What is it?”

“An Oracle.”

Sergei backed away from the fence with a string of Russian curses.

“Then this is the end.” He halted at the edge of the tree line, perhaps stupid enough to believe the shadows could hide him from the danger. “If the Commission knows of the female then they’ll kill her.”

Marika turned, taking a malicious pleasure in her companion’s fear.

“That would have been my assumption and yet you claim Laylah escaped.”

He scowled. “She did, unless they have managed to lay a false trail.”

It was the same thought that had crossed her mind.

Rumor was that Styx wasn’t the Anasso simply because he was the strongest vampire. He was just as infamous for his cunning.

“A trail leading to a trap,” she murmured. “It is something to be considered.”

“Something to be considered?” Sergei shook his head in incredulity. “Nyet. The only thing to be considered is the fastest means to return to London.”

“We are not leaving without Laylah and the child.”

“You might consider the glorious return of the Dark Lord worthy of a few thousand years of torture in the hands of the Commission, but I do not.”

Marika flowed forward, grabbing him by the hair and bending him backward.

She could forgive his treachery.

But never his cowardice.

“I have not come this far to have your lack of guts ruin this for me.”

His eyes bulged in pain. “Marika.”

She leaned close to whisper directly in his ear. “If you have no use for your spine I can snap it in two.”

“No …” he panted. “Please. You have made your point. Release me.”

Marika pursed her lips.

The desire to break Sergei in half was nearly overwhelming.

She had sated her hunger for blood before leaving London, but it had been too long since she’d indulged her lust for pain.

For a moment she reveled in his pulsing agony, then recalling she needed the cretin to track Laylah, she loosened her grip. He fell heavily to the ground. With a smile, she bent over his sprawled body.

“Don’t test my patience again, Sergei.” The words were a deadly whisper. “You won’t like the consequences.”

“I am, as always, your humble servant,” he choked out, waiting until she stepped back before he cautiously rose to his feet. “What do you desire of me?”

She turned back toward the mansion, dismissing her brief distraction. Instead she coldly calculated their options.

“There’s no means to discover why the Oracle allowed Laylah to escape,” she finally decided. “We have no choice but to follow the trail.”

“Even if it leads us into a trap?”

“I am not so easily caught.” Marika waved a distant hand toward the woods where her tiny army was hidden. “And I do have my new allies.”

Sergei shuddered. He wasn’t nearly so fond of her servants.

“Do not remind me.”

“They have proved quite useful,” she reminded the mage. “We could never have followed Laylah so swiftly without their skill with portals. And they are exquisitely beautiful.” Without warning she was hit by a wave of dizziness, the image of her sister dancing before her eyes. “Damn.”

Sergei stepped forward. “What’s wrong?”

“Kata.” She furiously pressed a hand to her forehead. Why would the bitch not leave her in peace? “She is … troubled.”

“Is she awakening?”

Reluctantly, Marika forced herself to concentrate on her bond with Kata. She could sense a strange fluttering, as if her sister was being disturbed by an outside force, but the fog of unconsciousness was intact.

“No.” She tried to shake off the tug of awareness. “You are certain no one can find her?”

“Even if they could locate her there is no way that they could penetrate the layers of protection I’ve set around the tomb.”

Her icy power swirled through the air. “Pray you are right, mage.”

Chapter 15

They arrived at the hidden copse of trees south of Hannibal only a few hours after they left the outskirts of Chicago.

The benefit of Tane’s indifference to the laws of traffic. And occasionally those of physics.

Climbing out of the vehicle, Laylah breathed a sigh of relief. Jeez. Those people who mocked women drivers had never ridden with a vampire in a hurry.