Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #9)(64)

“Fine.” He glanced toward the silent vampire at her side. “I suppose you intend to go as well?”

There was no compromise in the eyes the precise shade of honey. “Yes.”

“Take Jagr,” Styx said, reluctantly realizing his place was here, organizing additional search parties to look for the babe. “He’s the best tracker we have.”

“We’ll also need the gargoyle,” Jaelyn startled them all by announcing.

“Levet?” Styx scowled. The tiny demon was a walking disaster.

“He can see through illusions,” Jaelyn said.

Tane’s growl trickled through the room. “Then why didn’t he sense Kostas when he entered the lair?”

The Hunter shrugged. “I think he has to be searching for the illusion to actually see it.”

Styx rolled his eyes. It was a sad day when the damned gargoyle was their best hope for halting the end of the world. “Fine, take him.”

“What about Gaius?” Jagr demanded from the doorway.

Styx slammed his sword back into its sheath. “He’s mine.”

Kostas’s lair

Once again fully dressed, Gaius easily found the opening to Kostas’s lair, and with an impatient knock on the heavy metal door, he waited for the surly vampire to lead him down the stairs and through a series of cement tunnels. Eventually, they entered an eight-by-eight box of a room with a chair in one corner that was surrounded by a pile of sharp weapons. Nearer at hand was a shelf of tattered books that were focused on the histories of various demon species. No doubt they revealed all the strengths and weaknesses that a Hunter would need to know.

“All the better to kill you with, my dear . . .”

He grimaced. Not so much at the barren lack of comfort. He’d lived as sparsely as a monk beyond the Veil. But rather at the heavy sense of impending death that filled the room.

Was it because Kostas had devoted his existence to killing? Or a premonition?

“This is your lair?” he demanded.

Kostas glanced around the cement box. “Why?”

“It’s . ..”

“It’s functional.”

“I suppose.” Gaius shook his head, dismissing his strange imaginings. He had enough troubles without inventing new ones. “Where’s the child?”

Kostas planted his hands on his hips, his bulky body consuming a large chunk of the room. “What about my reward?”

Gaius made a sound of impatience. “I told you, that’s between you and the Dark Lord.”

“Not good enough,” the Hunter snapped. “No reward, no child.”

Gaius clenched his hands. It wasn’t that he didn’t sympathize with the man’s need to get his payment up front. Merda, he was desperate to be given his own rewards. But he wasn’t in the mood to play the role of diplomat.

Not only had he seen up close and in person just what happened to a servant who questioned the Dark Lord’s ability to fulfill her promises. But, he was still raw from his encounter with the King of Vampires and the reminder of his duty to Santiago.

He never allowed himself to think of the son he’d been forced to abandon.

Never.

“Don’t be an idiot,” he warned his companion. “The last creature to challenge the Dark Lord was eaten alive by a black mist. Do you think you’ll fare any better?”

“I won’t be denied my revenge.”

Gaius rolled his eyes, wondering how a man could sell his soul for mere revenge. “Once the Dark Lord has returned, you will be able to torture and torment whoever you want,” he promised dryly.

“And if he doesn’t return?”

“Then we’re both screwed.”

The blunt words hung in the air as they both considered the heinous consequences of failure. Then, with an angry shake of his head, Kostas turned to kick aside the chair, revealing a small lever built in the floor.

Gaius watched as the vampire tripped the lever and stood back while the hidden door slid open to reveal a small room beyond. Instantly, the sound of a crying baby filled the air.

“In there.” Kostas waved a beefy hand toward the dark room. “How do you intend to get it to the Dark Lord?”

Gaius pointed for the Hunter to enter the room ahead of him. Not only because he feared a hidden spell, but because he didn’t want the powerful demon at his back.

“I’m a vampire of many talents.”

Kostas glanced over his shoulder, a sudden cunning in his dark eyes. “I’ve heard the Immortal Ones have weird powers.”

“Weird?”

“Shape-shifting, mist-walking,” he named them off. “Enthralling other vampires.”

Gaius would never have answered if Kostas was still the leader of the Hunters. Whatever Styx’s accusation, he wasn’t indifferent to the debt he owed Nefri and her clan for taking him in.

But Kostas had been tossed out of the Addonexus. And more importantly, it was highly unlikely the brash idiot would survive his current tenure with the Dark Lord. Why not give him the answers he wanted?

“Shape-shifting is a talent that only a rare few vampires possess,” he admitted. “Although it’s impossible to fully develop the skill without traveling beyond the Veil.”

“And the others?” the man pressed.