Embrace The Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #2)(23)

Forcing herself to study the nightmare, her disbelieving gaze at last halted on the black marble mantle and the head of the mountain troll that had been stuck there like a trophy.

The red eyes were open and a snarl revealing his open teem, as if he were damning the soul of his killer.

Whatever he had been doing it hadn't saved him or the other bodyguards. They had been butchered with violent ease.

The nausea rolled through her stomach once again.

"Blessed saints. This is impossible."

Taking her arm Viper gently pulled her from the room and closed the door. Then, as if sensing her weakness, he pressed her into a chair and crouched down before her.

"There are few things that can kill trolls with such savagery, but there is no doubt they have been well and truly slaughtered." He studied her face with a searching gaze. "Do you sense anything that might give a clue to what or who was responsible?"

With an effort, she battled back her crawling horror and forced herself to think with what logic she could muster.

"It wasn't a human. They wouldn't have the strength to rip apart a troll with their bare hands."

"Was it a spell?" Viper demanded.

"No." She took in a deep breath. "There is no magic in the air."

Viper gave a nod of his head. As a vampire he had no ability to sense magic. Which was no doubt one of the reasons why he wanted her along.

"So it had to be a demon that possesses incredible strength, and the ability to mask their presence from a vampire," Viper murmured. "That narrows the list but leaves far too many suspects."

Shay shivered as she wrapped her arms about her. The shock was beginning to recede and the full impact of the savage attack hit her with an alarming force.

"Oh, my God " she whispered.

Viper reached out to grasp her shoulders. His touch was cool but surprisingly comforting.

Perhaps because it had been so incredibly long since anyone had touched her in anything but anger.

"I should not have brought you to see this. Forgive me."

She gave a shake of her head. "No, it's not that. It's Evor."

"Evor? Why... ah." Viper slowly nodded. "He's not among the dead."

She gave a short, unsteady laugh. "Obviously not. I think I would know if I had suddenly become a corpse."

"Yes, it's rather hard to miss," he said dryly.

She grimaced, struggling to regain control of her raw nerves. Holy crap, but it had been a close call.

Too close.

"If Evor had been in that room..." she breathed.

His fingers tightened. "He's alive, pet, and so are you."

"Yes, but it was a near thing," she rasped. "Too near."

"On that we agree." He glanced toward the door of the blood-drenched room. "We need to discover who did this, and just as importantly where Evor has disappeared to."

Shay grimaced at the thought of the slimy little troll. "No doubt he crawled beneath some rock the moment the trouble started. He's always happy to sacrifice his servants to save his own hide."

"He was here." His gaze was somber as it returned to her face. "His blood is mixed among the others "

"His blood?"

He gave a lift of his shoulder. "Only a small amount, but enough to reveal he was here during the attack."

She pulled from his touch. Of course he could smell Evor's blood. He was a vampire.

Blood was his specialty.

"So someone, or something, came here tonight, killed the mountain trolls and injured Evor?" She gave a shake of her head. "Why?"

"It's possible that it was a demon in search of valuables that was caught off guard by the trolls. Or even one seeking vengeance. Evor is hardly the sort to endear himself to others, and there are many who find the slave trade a disgusting business."

She met his gaze squarely. "It's possible, but you don't think it was a housebreaker or someone seeking vengeance."

"No." His beautiful features were hard in the dim moonlight "The timing of the attack is too much of a coincidence. I think whoever is hunting you returned to this auction house."

Her throat went dry. "To kill Evor?"

A frown touched his brow. "If they wanted Evor dead, he would already be dead. Either he managed to escape during the battle or they came to take him alive."

"But why?"

"To use as bait." Levet's unexpected voice had both Shay and Viper turning in astonishment.

"What?" Viper demanded.

The gargoyle gave a nervous flutter of his wings. "If they hold the troll then they can threaten to slice his throat open and kill both of them. Shay will have no choice but to do what they want."

Shay felt her heart stutter to a halt. Shit, it was bad enough to be in the power of Evor. Now she had to worry about some mysterious enemy who could rip apart trolls with his bare hands.

Not good.

Not good at all.

"Do you think that's what they want?" she rasped.

"I think it would be foolish to leap to any conclusions until we have more facts," Viper retorted, reaching down to easily scoop her into his arms. "We need to leave here."

It was a testament of just how troubled Shay was by the latest turn of events that she didn't struggle once as Viper carried her from the blood-drenched auction house.