Devoured by Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #7)(99)

Tane and Laylah shared a brief glance. It was common knowledge that the Dark Lord had commanded that true prophets be destroyed. Still, Laylah had never heard that it was because he’d learned of a foretelling he didn’t like.

Frowning, Tane swiftly came to the same conclusion. “He could have twisted it to make sure you remained faithful even during his banishment.” He continued to stroke Laylah’s back, his steady touch keeping her volatile temper in check. A good thing considering she was too weak to do more than get herself killed. “So long as there was hope he would eventually return to this world, he could be certain you would continue to search for a means to open the veil.”

The heat of Ariyal’s anger swirled around them, only to be swiftly countered by Tane’s blast of frigid power. The combination made the ground shift beneath them. Laylah grimaced. The mountain was unstable enough without adding the stress of two alpha demons flexing their muscles.

“The prophecy hasn’t been altered by the Dark Lord or anyone else,” the Sylvermyst said between clenched teeth.

Laylah shook her head at his stubborn refusal to accept he could be wrong. “How can you be so certain?” “Because it came from the lips of an Oracle.” Tane stiffened at her side. “What Oracle?” “Siljar.”

“Shit.” Tane’s hand gripped Laylah’s shoulder and she turned to study his grim expression. “She’s a prophet?”

Ariyal slowly nodded, easily reading Tane’s shock. “The rumors are that it was her one and only foretelling and that when she spoke the words it unleashed such fury in the world that whole civilizations tumbled into dust.”

Tane snorted, his hand shifting from Laylah to rub the tattoo marring the skin of his chest.

“Yeah, she does have a way of making her point,” he muttered.

Laylah sent him a frown of astonishment. “Was she the one …?” “She was.”

“Dammit.” Ariyal moved forward until the silent Jaelyn stepped directly in his path. With a hiss of frustration, he stabbed Laylah with a fierce frown. “Then you understand this isn’t a joke. You can save the world or destroy it.” His hands clenched at his side. “Your choice.”

“No.” Laylah didn’t even hesitate. “There is no choice.”

The Sylvermyst turned his frown toward Tane. “Can’t you control your female?” The words barely left his lips before he jerked in response to Laylah’s infuriated bolt of electricity. “Shit.”

Tane smirked in pleasure. “You want to try?”

Laylah ignored the byplay, just as she ignored the ball of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Okay, the prophecy hadn’t been concocted by the Dark Lord, but that didn’t mean it had anything to do with the children.

Dammit. She’d held Maluhia in her arms for years. She would know if he was evil.

Just as she’d known there was a second child? A ruthless voice whispered in the back of her mind. A child she still couldn’t sense despite being only a few feet apart.

With a shake of her head she dismissed the troubling suspicions.

“You’re taking an obscure prophecy and twisting it to suit your purpose,” she accused. “The words could mean anything. Or nothing.”

“You’re being willfully blind, and you know it.”

“You’ll say anything to get what you want.”

“I don’t need your help to get what I want, Jinn.” For some reason the Sylvermyst’s attention turned toward the female vampire. “I can take care of that all on my own.”

Jaelyn growled low in her throat. “Bring it on.”

Laylah lifted her brows. Odd. But then, what wasn’t odd about the entire encounter?

As if to add to the confusion, Sergei took a wary step forward.

“Dammit, why are you arguing with them?” he rasped. “Let’s go.”

Ariyal’s expression hardened, his eyes remaining trained on the female who blocked his path.

“Stand aside,” he commanded.

Jaelyn folded her arms over her chest. “No.”

“Jaelyn,” Tane warned softly, pointing a warning finger toward the mage who was chanting beneath his breath.

Laylah grasped Tane’s arm as she felt the stirring of black magic in the air.

“Tane, please,” she pleaded. “We can’t let him escape.”

Her mate lifted his sword, his beautiful face set in lethal lines.

“He won’t.”

Ariyal sidestepped toward Sergei, his arm held out as he clenched and unclenched his hand. Laylah braced herself, assuming he was conjuring a spell. Which just proved it was true about the whole “assume makes an ass out of you and me” thing.

Instead, a slender ash bow appeared in his hand, complete with a wooden arrow that she would bet her last nickel would be magically replaced the moment it was shot.

Hell of a trick.

And one he was swift to use to his advantage.

With one smooth motion the bastard had his weapon pointed at Tane.

“Stay back,” he warned, his gaze narrowing as Laylah stepped in front of her mate.

A wooden arrow would hurt like a bitch, but it wouldn’t be fatal. At least not to her.

“Laylah, be careful,” Tane muttered.

“He’s not leaving with my babies.”