When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity #1)(83)

Slowly he turned his attention back to the silent girl in the chair.

'Tell me your name," he demanded. His tone was low and flowing. A golden voice that seemed to shimmer in the air.

The girl leaned forward with an eager need to please the man holding her so easily captive.

"Kristy."

"Kristy, how long have you been with the coven?"

"Not long." Her brow wrinkled as if she feared she might disappoint the vampire. "Just a few weeks."

Dante's gaze remained firmly locked with the witch. "You know of the Phoenix?"

"Of course. It is the reason the coven exists. It is the salvation of us all."

Dante arched a brow. "Salvation?"

A fervent glow touched the young face. "With the beloved Goddess, we will bring an end to the darkness. The light will shine for an eternity."

Abby crept closer. She didn't understand what the girl was babbling about. Eternal light, banish the darkness, yaddayadda.

But she did sense Dante's sudden tension. And that was enough to send up the proverbial red flag.

Ignoring Abby's approach, Dante leaned until he was nearly nose-to-nose with the witch.

"How will you bring an end to the darkness?"

'There is a spell. A spell to bring an end to the demon world forever."

'It must be very powerful."

"Yes." The girl gave a shudder. "Only the most talented witch can hope to perform the ritual. It killed… the last one to try."

"Who was the last one to try, Existy?" Dante's hands tightened on the arms of the chair. "Was it Selena who attempted to cast the spell?"

"I…"

"And that's what killed her?" His voice held a lethal edge.

Abby's breath caught. Her thoughts flashed back to Selena's broken body and then leaped to the spell books that they had discovered in the mansion.

Damn. She had opened the safe and revealed them. God, she had even attempted to use them.

Now they were gone. If something bad was going to happen, it would be her fault.

A distressed expression rippled over the youthful face. "I… I am not to say her name. She betrayed the coven and was punished as she should have been. The mistress forbade us to speak of her."

"Sssh. All is well." Dante eased the girl's worry. "Is Edra planning to attempt the spell?"

The girl's expression cleared in relief. A question she could answer.

'Yes, she will use the Phoenix to battle the dark lord and bring an end to demons."

The tension in Dante became almost painful. "What demons?"

"All demons." The witch smiled with a near-sickening joy. "At last the world will be pure."

Abby frowned, rubbing her arms as Dante's flare of fury charged through her.

"Bloody hell," he breathed.

With a jerky motion the witch rose to her feet. Something that might have been pain twisted her lips.

"She calls me. I must go."

Smoothly Dante was on his feet, his hands framing her face. "Kristy, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Even Abby shivered as his power pulsed through the air.

"The blood has been tainted with silver," the witch whispered.

Abby gasped but Dante merely nodded his head. It was precisely what he had suspected.

"You will go to Edra. You will not remember speaking with me. You brought the tray into the room and left. Do you understand?" he murmured.

"I brought the tray in and left," she parroted.

"Very good." Dante stepped back. "Now go."

The witch was walking woodenly from the room. With a shake of her head, Abby held out a hand.

Good God, there were so many questions that had to be answered. She had to know what was going on.

"Wait…"

Dante grasped her shoulder and kept her from running after the disappearing form.

"Let her go, lover. Edra will become suspicious if she does not answer her summons."

Abby whirled to meet his steady gaze. "What did she mean?"

"Wholesale slaughter," he rasped. "I didn't think even Edra could be quite so bloodthirsty."

"Could the witches really kill all the demons?"

"They seem to think so."

Abby struggled to breathe. She couldn't count how many times she had been terrified out of her mind over the past few days. How many times she thought some nasty creature might rip her limb from limb. But as horrible as it had been, she had discovered that not all demons were monsters.

My God, Dante was a demon. And Viper. And the beautiful fairies. And Troy, the ridiculous Prince of Imps. And the Shalott who was tortured rather than handing her over to the witches.

She would do whatever necessary to put a halt to the genocide.

"Shit. We have to stop her," she muttered without a clue as to how to accomplish such a lofty goal.

Half-expecting Dante to charge from the room like a raging madman, she was startled when he merely regarded her with a searching gaze.

"Is that what you want? To stop her?"

"What?"

His fingers touched her cheek. "Abby, if we battle Edra, you might never be able to rid yourself of the Phoenix."