Levet scowled. “What a silly question. I am a gargoyle, of course. Do you not see my horns and my lovely wings?”
“Um…right. A gargoyle.” She cleared her throat. “Forgive me. I meant to ask, who are you?”
Levet clicked his tongue. That was an even sillier question. How was it possible she did not recognize him? He was famous.
“I am Levet.” He performed a dashing bow, spreading his wings so she could admire the brilliant colors. “Knight in shining armor and savior of the world. More than once.”
She tilted her head to the side. “That is quite a title for such a small creature.”
Levet straightened. “Size is all relative.”
“True.” She drifted closer. “I am Sparkle.”
Levet nodded. It was a name that suited the tiny creature. “What are you?”
“A frost fairy.”
“Frost?” Ah. That explained the shimmer that coated her pale skin, and her dry, crisp scent. But as far as Levet knew, they never left their lairs in the Arctic. Had she wandered into the caverns? “Are you lost?”
She shook her head. “I was kidnapped from my home. Now I am trapped here.”
“Oh.” That made more sense. “Who trapped you?”
“Vynom.”
Levet wrinkled his snout. He had never met Javad’s sire, but he already disliked the leech. Any creatures who ran fighting pits or slave markets were… What did his friend Shay call them? Bottom breeders? Non. Bottom feeders.
“Why did he trap you?” he asked.
Her sparkly wings drooped. “He uses me as bait.”
“Bait for what?”
“To excite the crowds,” she said, her voice trembling. “He has a maze he created at the other end of the caverns. Before the main battles begin, he places me in the maze and releases a pack of hellhounds. The crowd can wager on whether I’ll reach the end before the hellhounds eat me.”
It wasn’t often that Levet was speechless.
He’d started his life with his dear mother trying to kill him, followed by being sold into the slave pens. And just a few years ago, he’d confronted the ultimate evil trying to destroy the world.
Hard to be shocked after that.
But the mere thought of this fragile creature being used to incite the bloodlust of a pack of savage demons made his tummy feel icky.
“That is horrid,” he muttered.
Her wings drooped another inch. “Yes.”
Levet glanced around the cave. He couldn’t sense any guards. Or any spells that might keep the female trapped.
“Why do you not escape?”
“These caverns are surrounded by magic,” she told him. “You can easily enter, but you can’t leave. Not without the permission of Vynom.”
Levet frowned. He hadn’t considered the possibility that he might be stuck down here.
“That is not good. I have business elsewhere. I cannot wait around for some nasty leech to open a doorway.”
Sparkle glanced around as if making sure they were alone, then she leaned toward Levet to speak in a soft voice.
“There might be a way.”
“A way to what?”
“Escape.”
Levet’s spidey senses started to tingle. “If you had the means to escape, why are you not already gone?”
She did another of those look-arounds. Then she stepped closer to Levet. “There is a collapsed tunnel at the end of the maze. The magic is weakest there,” she told him. “If we could dig through the rocks, I believe we could escape. I don’t have the strength by myself.”
Levet remained skeptical. A beautiful fairy suddenly appearing to offer him the opportunity to escape seemed like a plot twist from one of those cheesy late-night movies he adored. He’d learned the hard way that if something seemed too good to be true, it was always a trick. Usually, a nasty one.
“Hmm,” he murmured.
“Do you want to get out of here?” she asked, a hint of impatience in her gray eyes.
Levet hesitated. Of course, he wanted out. He did not like dark, dusty holes in the ground. More importantly, he had a number of tasks on his to-do list.
A dinner date with Shay while she was visiting Vegas.
A standing poker game with a pack of curs who had more money than brains.
And an appointment for a seaweed facial scrub along with a Brazilian wax.
He wanted to look his best when he returned to the merfolk castle.
But he wasn’t in the mood to waltz into a trap. And a niggling voice in the back of his head kept telling him that he should go and look for Javad. Not that it was his duty to rescue the leech, but he was a knight in shining armor. It was his duty to help others.
Heaving a resigned sigh, he at last decided that he had no choice but to follow the frost fairy and discover if she was telling the truth. If she was right and there was a way to get out of the caverns, then he would search for Javad. They might need the male’s brute strength to clear the passage.
“Lead the way.”
Chapter 4
Terra blinked away the darkness that clogged her mind. What had happened? One minute she’d been stepping through a portal. And the next, she’d been knocked out.
Cautiously, she took in her surroundings. She was lying on a hard floor that felt like stone. Heavy darkness pressed against her and indicated that she was in some sort of underground space. But a cool power also brushed over her like a breeze.
Terra stiffened, and the familiar scent of saffron and raw male desire teased her nose. She turned her head to discover the vampire kneeling over her.
“Javad,” she breathed, tingles of pleasure exploding through her.
She hadn’t forgotten her physical reaction whenever she caught sight of the lean, perfect face. Of how those dark, smoldering eyes made her blood heat and her stomach twist with anticipation. But she’d told herself that it had more to do with the emotional trauma of being held hostage in the fighting pits. Everything was more intense when she was in a constant state of terror.
Now, she realized she’d only been fooling herself.
The sparks and flutters and breathless excitement were just as acute as ever. No, even more so, she realized as she forced herself into a sitting position.
She didn’t know where she was, or if they were in danger, or even if Javad was injured. But every instinct she had screamed at her to wrap her arms around him and never let go.
Instead, she contented herself with devouring him with her gaze, taking in every delicious inch of him. From the top of his glossy, dark hair and down the hard body covered by his familiar silk tunic and pants. Her mouth went dry, and her heartbeat thundered by the time her gaze returned to his face, sweeping over the starkly chiseled features.
“Where are we?” she finally managed to croak.
“In a cavern beneath the Mojave Desert,” he told her. “How did you get here?”
She frowned. Why would they be in the Mojave Desert? And why was Javad staring at her as if he were troubled by her arrival?
“I used a portal.”
“Yes, but why?”
Her frown deepened. Had Javad taken a blow to the head?
“You called to me, don’t you remember?”
He slowly shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
“With this.”
Terra grabbed the chain around her neck, pulling it up to reveal the medallion hidden beneath her robe.
With a muttered curse, Javad jerked his hand up to touch his neck as if searching for something that wasn’t there.
“How did you get that?”
Terra moved so she was kneeling, directly facing Javad. She couldn’t heal a vampire, but she might be able to clear the obvious confusion from his mind.
“It arrived at the temple this morning.”
He hissed in anger. “Someone must have taken it off me while I was laying here unconscious. The same time they stole my dagger.”
“Impossible. Only you could have used the magi
c to return the medallion to me.”
“Me?” He sent her a fierce glare. “I would never have done that.”
Terra flinched, shockingly hurt by his response. Not only his insistence that he hadn’t used the medallion but also the seeming horror at the mere thought of seeing her again.
“I…see.” She bowed her head, hiding the stupid tears that filled her eyes. “Sorry. My mistake.”
There was silence, then she felt the soft brush of Javad’s fingers over her hair. “Terra, do you want to know how many times I’ve held that medallion in my hand and longed to speak your name?” His voice was low and harsh with unexpected emotion. “Just to see your face. Or hear your voice.”
She shivered. “You don’t have to make excuses.”
His fingers moved to cup her chin. “Look at me, Terra. Please.” He waited for her to reluctantly lift her head and meet his steady gaze. “Surely you remember my arrogance?”
She did. She used to watch Javad, amazed by the crowds of demons who scampered to get out of his path whenever he strolled through the club. His confidence had vibrated the air around him, containing enough power to make the earth shake. Terra had instinctively remained in the shadows, but astonishingly, he always sensed her presence, pausing to offer her a mysterious smile.
More than once their gazes had met and held. And held. For what seemed like an eternity, they would simply stare at each other, a strange sense of awareness settling in the center of Terra’s soul. She’d accepted that wasn’t just another frightening warrior who inhabited the pits. He was fascinating and exotic and so sexy, her knees had gone weak.
A wistful smile touched her mouth. “It’s hard to forget.”
His thumb absently brushed her lower lip, his eyes dark with memories. Were they the same as hers? The thought made her muscles clench with a hunger she’d tried so hard to forget.
“Then you know that I say exactly what I think,” he murmured. “I’ve never stopped thinking about you. Just as I’ve never stopped rejoicing in the knowledge that you were safe in your temple, performing the healing you were born to do.”
“I…”
Terra’s words died on her lips. For centuries, she’d complained that the Serafs were failing in their duties. She was convinced that her sense of restlessness had been caused by the knowledge that they should be opening their doors to anyone in need of their skills, not just those who could offer some sort of reward.
Now, she felt a niggling fear that a portion of her agitation was a direct result of missing this male. Could her devout desire to spread their healing around the world have been inspired by her gnawing hunger to return to Javad?
So much for the purity of my cause, she wryly acknowledged.
With effort she thrust away her unwelcomed insight. Now wasn’t the time to be distracted.
“So how could the medallion have gotten to the temple?”
Javad started to shake his head, only to stiffen as if he’d been struck by sudden inspiration.
“Vynom.”
Terra wrinkled her nose in disgust. Even after all this time, she still had nightmares about the brutal vampire who’d held her captive.
“I thought I could smell him.”
“These are his fighting pits.” Javad’s voice held an edge of ancient bitterness. “He said he’d been expecting me. Not surprising since he deliberately intruded on my territory. It was easy to assume that I would show up to shut down his business since I’ve outlawed fights.”
An unexpected jolt of joy raced through Terra as she realized what he was saying. She’d spent all this time terrified that Javad was still in Vynom’s clutches, enduring one punishing battle after another until he simply couldn’t recover. Then she glanced around, really taking in her surroundings, and a portion of her joy dimmed. She’d initially assumed they were in Javad’s private quarters. A closer inspection revealed the heavy silver door across the cramped space.
A cell.
“This is your territory?”
His lips twisted at her hesitant question. “Not the fighting pits. I manage a demon club in Vegas. We fulfill demon fantasies without violence.”
Ah. Terra nodded. She could easily imagine Javad in command of an elegant establishment like that. He’d always possessed an instinctive sophistication that was out of place in the pits.
“Does it make you happy?”
“I’ve found…” He paused as if searching for the right word. “Peace. Something I never expected.”
“I’m glad.” Unable to resist temptation, she leaned forward and touched his face.
A mistake. Instant, ruthless need sizzled through her. As hot and molten as lava. Which was ironic really, considering his skin felt like cool silk beneath the tips of her fingers. Icy and smooth, and dangerously addictive. A growl was wrenched from her throat. She wanted to run her hands over his entire body. To explore every hard inch…
Javad’s eyes shimmered a stunning bronze, his snowy white fangs lengthening as he reacted to the scent of her desire. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips down the length of her jaw before nuzzling the corner of her mouth.
“You are very distracting,” he murmured.
Terra shuddered, her stomach cramping with intense pleasure. It’d been so long since a male had touched her. Not since Javad had kissed her goodbye in the sewers beneath Athens.
Now, her entire body was going up in flames.
“Am I?”
He scraped the tip of one fang over her lower lip. “Yes.” His arms started to wrap around her, only to freeze when a distant scream of pain sliced through the silence. “Damn. The fall must have cracked my skull,” he muttered in self-disgust, leaning back. “Now isn’t the time to indulge in fantasies.”
Terra wanted to do a little screaming herself. She wanted to indulge in fantasies. After spending endless nights dreaming of being in Javad’s arms, his fangs sinking deep into her throat, she ached for his touch.
Unfortunately, he was right.
She didn’t know why they were there, but it couldn’t be good. Kidnappings didn’t usually involve fun and games. More like pain and torture.
“So, Vynom brought you here?” she asked, once again glancing around the cell.
“Yes. Just as he brought you here.”
She returned her attention to Javad’s grim expression. “I told you, that’s impossible. The medallion is directly bonded to you.”
“Impossible or not, Vynom knew you were about to enter the cell.”
Terra parted her lips to argue, then grimaced. As she’d matured, she no longer assumed that she knew everything. A rare benefit of aging.
“If that’s true, he must have some means of perverting our magic,” she said.
“He’s good at perverting things,” Javad reminded her in dry tones.
Terra tucked the medallion and chain back beneath her gown and rose to her feet. She didn’t have the answers. And for now, she had more pressing matters that needed her attention.
“I’ll have the Matron see if she can determine how he used the medallion.”
Javad straightened, standing next to her. “Can you get us out of here?”
“Of course.” She lifted her hand, intending to form a portal to take them to the temple. From there, she would find a means to return Javad to his home.
The magic tingled through her, but as soon as it hit the heavy air, it sputtered and died. Like a flame being smothered.
What the heck?
She tried again. And again. And again. Her heart sank at the familiar sense of impotence. She’d been caught in this snare before.
Javad lightly touched her shoulder. “Terra?”
She sent him a worried glance. “The portal forms, but it won’t open on the other end. Just like the first time I was trapped by Vynom.”
* * * *
“The bastard,” Javad growled. “He must have a witch who created a mire spell.”
“Is it the same spell he used in Athens?”
&
nbsp; “No. That was a dampening spell that prevented any magic inside the lair. Vynom didn’t allow his fighters to use spells or incantations. This is targeted to keep anyone from leaving. It’s easy to get in. Impossible to get out.” Javad clenched his hands at his sides. He’d been infuriated to be led into a trap as easily as a drunken ZuZu demon. But now that Terra was stuck in this cell—not to mention, in danger–-his rage was incandescent. Only the knowledge that he’d collapse the entire cavern complex if he didn’t keep his emotions in check allowed him to stay in control. “Like a quagmire.”
“So we’re stuck here?”
He grimaced. “Momentarily.”
Terra slowly nodded. Her lavender eyes were dark with concern, but just like in the past, her expression remained calm. He’d always been amazed by her ability to maintain her serenity even when surrounded by chaotic violence.
“Why would he bring us here?”
“He needs money,” Javad said without hesitation. In some ways, Vynom was a simple creature. Nothing mattered but cold hard treasure.
Terra furrowed her brow. “Does he think the temple will pay a ransom for my return?”
“No. He knows he can’t force me to fight. Not without leverage.”
“What leverage?” Terra’s eyes widened with sudden horror. “Me?”
There was no use trying to deny it. “Yes.”
Terra considered his explanation. “That doesn’t make any sense,” she finally announced. “We haven’t seen each other for centuries. Why would he assume you even remember me?”
Javad swallowed the urge to laugh. Not remember her? Each and every second he’s spent with her was seared into his brain. The way the torchlight had danced over her honey hair. The mysterious beauty of her lavender eyes. Her soft, aloe vera scent. The memories had haunted his dreams.
And he didn’t doubt that Vynom had sensed Javad’s fascination with the fragile young Seraf. Perhaps even realized that it was more than just the lust of a male for a beautiful female.
Not something Javad wanted to discuss with Terra when they were stuck in a filthy cell at the bottom of a cavern.
“I finally found the backbone to walk away from Vynom a few decades after you returned to the temple,” he said, knowing exactly how to distract her. “He must realize that you’re the only one I would risk everything for to rescue.”
Sacrifice of Darkness: A Guardians of Eternity Novella Page 5
