When Darkness Ends (Guardians of Eternity #12)(100)

With her eyes closed, it was easy for Fallon to imagine the tiny gargoyle with his brilliant wings and stunted horns.

“For now,” she reassured him, then gave a sudden shiver. It felt as if an eternity had passed since she’d first awoken in Cyn’s caves. Not surprising. In a few short days she’d become a pawn for the Oracles, had her engagement broken, taken a vampire lover, battled a hellhound, killed a druid, and now had a gargoyle speaking in her head. Yep. A pretty eventful few days. “The spell has started.”

“Oui, I know,” Levet said.

Fallon felt a surge of hope. If the gargoyle knew about the spell, he had to be near.

Surely he could help end the magic.

“Where are you?” she demanded.

“At the druid’s lair in Ireland.”

“Oh.” She sighed in disappointment. With the portals closed he was too far away to be of any assistance. “The druid is dead.” She felt her stomach clench, the memory of feeling the human disintegrate beneath her fingertips something she was never going to forget. “I killed him.”

“Bon,” Levet said with fierce satisfaction. “He was an evil man.”

He had been.

And while Fallon would always feel guilty for killing a human, she wasn’t sorry he was dead.

She was, however, growingly terrified that his untimely demise might have made it impossible to halt the magic that would soon kill off the demons.

“But now we have no way to stop the spell,” she said.

“The druids here believe—”

“Druids?” she interrupted. Oh God. The last thing they needed were more enemies.

“They are the brothers of Anthony, but nothing at all like him,” Levet hastily assured her. “They have been imprisoned since they refused to participate in his crazy scheme.”

“Oh.” She ignored the sensation of Cyn moving to stand directly behind her. “Can they help?”

“They say that the magic can be halted if you destroy the focus he used to cast the spell.”

“Of course,” she breathed, feeling like an idiot for not having thought of such a simple solution.

Cyn’s hand touched her shoulder, his patience clearly at an end.

“Fallon?”

Opening her eyes, she turned to meet his searching gaze. “We need to destroy the object that is the focus of the spell.”

He arched a brow. “Like an amulet?”

“Yes.”

“Damn.” Cyn gave an exasperated shake of his head.

“That’s what Phyla was trying to tell me.”

Without hesitation the vampires were moving through the cave, turning over every stone in the search for an amulet.

“I don’t see anything,” the silver-haired vampire at last muttered.

Cyn turned to glance at Fallon. “Do you know how we can find it?”

She closed her eyes, repeating the question to Levet.

There was an unexpected pause before Levet was clearing his throat, as if embarrassed.

“The druids will cast a spell that will make any druid object hum,” he at last said.

“Hum?”

“Oui, you should be able to follow the sound.”

“Okay.” She grimaced. The thought of trying to find one small humming object in the miles of tunnels and caverns was more than a little daunting. Still, it was better than nothing. “Anything else?”

“Hurry, ma belle.” Levet’s voice was suddenly filled with a tangible urgency. “The lesser demons will begin to die within an hour.”

Fallon snapped open her eyes, a shudder wracking her body.

She didn’t need the reminder that the demons would soon run out of magic.

It was a sick ball of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Cyn moved to stand directly in front of her, brushing the back of his fingers over her cheek in a gesture of sweet affection.

She briefly studied his strong, beautiful face and clear jade eyes. Her heart slammed against her ribs.

She didn’t know when or how this man had become the most important thing in her life, but the thought that she might lose him . . .

No. She fiercely squashed the surge of terror.

Time was running out, but it wasn’t over.

As if sensing her grim resolve, he leaned down to brush a light kiss over her lips before straightening.

“What did the gargoyle say?” he demanded in gentle tones.

“We have to follow the hum.”

He blinked. “Hum?”

Fallon shrugged. “That’s what he said.”

The Anasso reached over his shoulder to pull the big sword free of its scabbard.

“We should spread out and—”

“I hear it,” the silver-haired vampire abruptly interrupted, headed toward the edge of the cave. “This way.”

Fallon moved to follow, only to be halted as Cyn wrapped an arm around her waist and regarded her with a somber expression.

“Fallon—”

She reached up to press a finger to his lips. “We’re in this together, vampire.”

“You’ve done enough,” he growled. “It’s time for you to leave the caves.”

“And go where?” she demanded softly, reaching up to run one thin braid through her fingers. “Unless we find the amulet nowhere will be safe.”