“There are other magic-users who could do the task just as well, if not better.”
“No.” Tearloch pressed a hand to his forehead. “We’re too close.”
Ariyal took a stealthy step forward. Tearloch was weary. Unfocused.
If he could just get close enough, he could strike.
“What happened to Sergei?” he asked, hoping to keep Tearloch off balance.
“I don’t know.”
“You could no doubt track him down and let him perform the ceremony.”
“Haven’t you heard me?” Tearloch lowered his hand, his face flushed. “It’s too late.”
“No, it’s not.” Ariyal took another step forward. “Let me help you.”
“You should really listen to your brother,” a voice mocked from behind him.
“Wizard,” Ariyal hissed, spinning around to fire two arrows directly in the center of Rafael’s chest. Predictably, the arrows passed directly through the bastard, but Ariyal noticed that the spirit briefly flickered, as if he’d been injured.
Something to remember.
“Don’t be hasty, Sylvermyst,” Rafael drawled.
“Hasty?” Ariyal curled his lips in disgust. “I should have destroyed you the moment I realized your power over Tearloch.”
Flames smoldered in his sunken eyes. “Ah, but I have something you want.”
Ariyal snorted. “You have nothing ...”
His words died on his lips as the wizard gave a wave of his skeleton hand and pointed toward the wall of the tunnel. There was an odd glow; then a strange mist formed on the rock, revealing the image of a beautiful vampire in black spandex trapped in a small cave.
It was almost like watching her on a television with fuzzy reception, but there was no mistaking her identity or the fact that she was currently trapped in the cave where he’d told her the child was located.
“Jaelyn,” he breathed, his gut clenching with a sick dread as he watched her trying to claw her way out of the trap.
“I will say you have excellent taste,” Rafael taunted. “She is exquisite.”
“Damn you,” he rasped. “Release her.”
“If you insist.”
The wizard’s sinister laugh was like something out of a cheesy horror flick, but Ariyal wasn’t amused. Not when the bastard gave another wave of his hand and he watched in helpless horror as Jaelyn abruptly glanced upward, her eyes wide as the rock above her slowly parted and the early morning sunlight poured through the cave.
“ No.”
Pulling his sword from the leather scabbard, he launched himself at the wizard. Not that he truly believed he could hurt the spirit. As long as Tearloch allowed him to draw so deeply on his powers he was all but indestructible.
But any lingering sanity that he might have once claimed had been savagely stripped away as he watched Jaelyn being exposed to the dawn, and his black rage had no room for logical thinking.
Swinging his sword over his head, he was preparing to ram it through the wizard’s dead heart when Rafael muttered a harsh word of power and the magic slammed into Ariyal with shattering force.
One moment he was screaming for blood and the next a wave of darkness had swallowed him whole.
Chapter 15
Ariyal had always known he had a one-way ticket to Hell when he died. After all, it wasn’t as if he’d done anything to earn his way into a more luxurious afterlife.
But he hadn’t expected Hell to include a throbbing head and the sensation of sharp rocks digging into his back.
And he sure the crap hadn’t expected to be tormented by a stunted gargoyle who was leaning over him and smacking him in the face.
“Hello,” the damned demon screeched in his ear, slapping his cheek. “Are you in there?”
Hell or no Hell, Ariyal wasn’t going to endure being pummeled by Levet. At least not lying down.
Surging to his feet, he grasped the pest by his horn and dangled him high enough to meet his furious glare.
“Are you out of your mind?” he roared. “You hit me again and I’ll turn you into a bowling ball.”
“Sacrebleu.” With a flap of his wings, Levet broke free of Ariyal’s grip and was floating to land on the stony ground. “I thought you were going to sleep away the entire night.”
“Night?” Ariyal scowled as he glanced around the dark, barren cavern. “It was dawn... .” The sudden memory of dawn and what that meant to him drove Ariyal to his knees as the weight of his grief threatened to crush him. “Shit.”
Levet moved to his side. “What is wrong?”
“Jaelyn,” he rasped in raw pain, pressing his hand to the center of his chest where he could still feel her presence.
Seemingly oblivious to his pain, Levet gave a small shrug.
“She’s not in the caves. Trust me, I searched everywhere. She seems to just have disappeared.”
He shuddered. “Not disappeared.”
At last sensing Ariyal’s distress, Levet gave a sharp shake of his head.
“Non. Impossible.”
Ariyal lifted his head at the gargoyle’s absolute certainty, a dangerous flare of hope flickering deep in his heart.
“I watched as the wizard opened a trap door to expose her to the dawn,” he said, rubbing that spot in his chest that whispered his beautiful vampire still lived.
The demon remained stoically unconvinced. “You were there?”
“No.” Ariyal gave a slow shake of his head. “He showed me a vision.”
“And you believed him? Imbecile.”
“Careful, Levet.”
“Do you not see? It had to be a trick.”
A trick?
But the vision had appeared all too real, the voice of common sense whispered in the back of his mind. And the gargoyle had admitted himself he hadn’t been able to find the Hunter.
Still ... the wizard was capable of all sorts of nasty deceptions.
How hard would it be to conjure a vision revealing what he wanted Ariyal to believe?
Yes, of course.
That had to be it.
Ariyal eagerly shoved aside the knowledge that he was grasping at straws.
No matter how illogical, he desperately needed to cling to the gargoyle’s assurance that Jaelyn had survived.
Because if he truly accepted that Jaelyn was dead, then he might as well curl in the nearest corner and wait for his own death.
He had no choice but to believe in miracles.
Yep, he truly was an imbecile.
“How did you get in here?” he demanded, fiercely forcing himself to concentrate on the one thing he could control for the moment.
Escaping from the cavern.
Slowly, like a man coming out of a nightmare, he straightened, his hand instinctively reaching to make certain his sword was still strapped to his back.
When he felt the familiar hilt that had been crafted specifically for his hand, he didn’t know whether to be relieved to have his weapon or insulted that Tearloch assumed he could be so easily defeated.
“Ah.” Levet’s expression brightened as he gave a flap of his gossamer wings. “It is truly quite an amazing story. I have had such adventures.”
Ariyal held up a silencing hand. “Just the facts, gargoyle.”
The tiny demon responded with a raspberry. “And I thought vampires were rude.”
“Don’t press me.”
“Fine.” His tail twitched in outrage. “If you will recall I was in pursuit of the curs who attacked Jaelyn.”
“Not really.”
Ariyal shrugged, crossing the floor to run his hands over the smooth stone of the cavern.
Only to flinch back in pain.
Shit. Behind the thin layer of stone was a wall of pure lead that was sucking his power with a ruthless speed.
“Well, I was,” Levet continued, predictably indifferent to Ariyal’s discomfort. “And at considerable risk to myself, I might add. One of those curs was a mage.”
Turning, Ariyal studied hi
s companion with a lift of his brows. “I notice you appear unharmed so it couldn’t have been that dangerous.”
“I happen to be a master of stealth,” Levet assured him with a sniff. “It is only one of my many skills.”
“You’re a master of annoyance. Do you have a point?”
“I followed them until they met up with a witch and vampire on the outskirts of Chicago.”
He narrowed his gaze.
So Jaelyn had been right to be concerned there was a mysterious leech involved.
“Vampire? You’re certain?”
“Oui. One I did not recognize.”
Ariyal waited for the gargoyle to continue. He already suspected he hadn’t heard the worse.
“And?” he at last prompted.
“And they disappeared.”
Ariyal frowned. “What do you mean, disappeared?”
“I mean poof.” Levet waved his hands. “Gone.”
“Magic?”
There was another wave of his tiny hands. “Je ne sais pas. They were there one minute and the next they had vanished into thin air.”
“Damn.” Ariyal scrubbed his face with his hands, frustration bubbling through him. “Just what I don’t need. Something else to worry about.” Reluctantly he returned his attention to his companion. “What happened next?”
“I had no means to follow the curs so I returned to the meadow and managed to track Jaelyn to these caves.” The gargoyle grimaced. “I was leaving when that ghastly wizard hit me with a spell that knocked me unconscious. Cochon.”
“For once we’re in perfect agreement,” Ariyal muttered. “Have you searched the cave for a way out?”
Levet stepped back, his ugly face rigid with outrage. “What do you imagine I have been doing for the past hour? Admiring your Sleeping Beauty impersonation?”
“Someday ...” Ariyal growled.
The gargoyle waved aside the warning. “Can you not make a portal?”
Ariyal shook his head. “There’s too much lead embedded behind the stone for even me to overcome.”
“Ah, so it falls upon my shoulders to release us. Very well.” With a dramatic motion, Levet moved to the center of the room and lifted his hands. “Stand aside.”
“Hold on,” Ariyal commanded. “What are you doing?”
“We need an escape tunnel.” Levet pointed toward the far wall. “Violà. I shall create one.”
“No.” Ariyal shuddered at the mere thought of being trapped in the enclosed space while Levet created havoc.
“Just because you are impotent does not mean that I am,” the gargoyle informed him with a sly smile. “Indeed, my magic is formidable.”
“What you are is a walking disaster and I don’t want you collapsing a ton of rocks on my head,” Ariyal snapped.
On cue a large rock tumbled from the ceiling, forcing the two of them to leap back or be smashed in the head.
“Hey!” Levet yelped.
“Dammit, gargoyle.”
“That was not me.”
Ariyal glared at his companion as another rock crashed onto the floor.
“Levet, I’m warning you ...”
Levet lifted his hands. “I swear.”
The words had barely left his lips when a male voice echoed through the air.
“Stand back, you fools.”
Ariyal hissed. He recognized that voice.
“Sergei?” He glanced around the gloomy cavern. “Where the hell are you?”
“I’m in a cave just above you,” the mage spoke through the hole he’d made in the floor. “I have a spell that will provide a large enough opening for you and the gargoyle to escape.”
Ariyal had promised himself that the next time he crossed paths with the mage he would fulfill his fantasy of slicing off the bastard’s head and using it to decorate his lair.
It didn’t improve his foul temper that he had to put his pledge on the back burner.
“Then do it.”
“Not until you’ve agreed to my price for your freedom.”
Ariyal rolled his eyes. He hadn’t expected the damned magic-user to actually free them.
This had to be yet another trap.
“Price?”
“You don’t think I’m going to rescue you out of the goodness of my heart, do you, Sylvermyst?” Sergei mocked.
“What if I promise not to rip out your intestines and use them as fertilizer?” he offered, ignoring Levet’s glare.
Did the tiny pest think that they could convince the mage to release them with sweet words and flattery?
“Charming,” Sergei snapped. “Did you learn your bartering skills from Morgana le Fay?”
Ariyal clenched his fists at the deliberate taunt. Oh yes. That head was absolutely going to be mounted over his fireplace.
“Just get us the hell out of here.”
“Only after you swear you will take us out of these cursed caves with a portal.”
“Dammit, how many times do I have to say this? There’s too much lead... .”
“Only in this section of the caverns,” the mage interrupted. “This particular cave was obviously built to hold fey as prisoners.”
“Obviously,” Ariyal said dryly, wondering what game the mage was playing. “Lead, however, doesn’t keep a wizard from escaping if he wanted. Why do you need me?”
“Mage,” Sergei corrected, his voice thick with anger at the apparent insult. “And it isn’t lead that is keeping me here.”
“Then what is?”
There was a tense silence, as if Sergei was considering how much to reveal.
“When I got sucked through Tearloch’s portal I was dropped not far from here,” he finally rasped, a tiny shower of rocks warning his control over his magic wasn’t entirely perfect. “I’ve managed to keep myself hidden, but I’m not stupid. I know the moment I try to escape my presence will be noticed. I won’t make it out without help.”
“And you’re willing to leave behind the babe?” he demanded in suspicion. “I thought you were dead without it to offer you protection?”
“I have no choice.”
Ariyal’s humorless laugh bounced off the walls of the cavern.
“That didn’t stop you before. You nearly killed us all with your idiotic attempt to keep Tearloch from escaping from London. Tell me why you’re willing to risk leaving it behind now.”
The mage swore in Russian before reluctantly giving into Ariyal’s demands.
“Fine, I’ve used most of my powers just to keep myself hidden. Until I manage to rest and eat a decent meal I’m as helpless as a baby.”
Ariyal paused.
He didn’t possess Jaelyn’s ability to sense lies, but he could hear the throb of fear in Sergei’s voice.
A man didn’t fake that.
Not a man with Sergei’s enormous pride.
“I agree to your bargain.”
There was another pause. Clearly Ariyal wasn’t the only one with trust issues.
“Do I have your word?”
“For what it’s worth.”
“Actually I think it will be worth a great deal.” The mage struggled to bolster his flagging arrogance, perhaps sensing he’d revealed more than he intended. “I just happen to have information about a certain vampire that I will be willing to share once we’re safely clear of these caves.”
“Jaelyn?” His power blasted through the room as he glared at the ceiling of the cavern. Was this yet another trick? “Dammit. Tell me what you know.”
“Now, now, Ariyal,” the bastard drawled. “You give me what I want and I’ll give you what you want. Fair trade.”
“Someday very, very soon I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” Ariyal swore.
Chapter 16
The dreams came again.
But this time Jaelyn wasn’t in the Addonexus training facility.
Not that the dungeons of the slave-auction house on the outskirts of Chicago were any better.
She stood in the middle of a barren cell, the air
thick with the stench of trolls and her skin still scorched from the silver manacles that had been removed while she’d been unconscious. But despite her discomfort, she felt a stab of satisfaction as she paced toward the silver bars and glanced down the narrow path that ran past the numerous cells to the thick door at the far end of the cavernous room.
This was her first job as a full-fledged Hunter and she’d been anxious to prove she was worthy of her Ruah’s trust.
Of course she hadn’t expected to be asked to play the role of a vampire whore in the hopes of discovering what idiot possessed the cojones to kidnap vampires in the middle of a crowded brothel. Or for it to take nearly three weeks of prowling the local demon dives before she’d at last hit pay dirt.
She’d been ready to chuck in her dog-collar necklace, her see-through top, and three-inch fuck-me pumps that were an open invitation for any and every demon to put their hands on her ass before she at last had been approached by an imp who had lured her to a seedy backroom and slapped the silver cuffs on her. Then, with equal speed she found herself being shoved into a tiny silver box that had sucked the energy from her at an alarming rate.
Now she could only hope that this slave-auction house would give her the information she needed.
With no option but to remain in her self-imposed role while she waited to see what would happen, Jaelyn turned back to investigate her cramped cell, cautiously reaching for the cheap goblet that had been left on a wooden table in the center of the floor.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” a soft voice whispered from the adjoining cell.
Jaelyn had already sensed the young nymph, as well as the harpy who was slumbering in the cell farther down the dungeon.
“Wouldn’t what?” she asked, glancing toward the golden-haired female, who had been stripped of her clothes to reveal her lush, perfect curves.
Nymphs were always beautiful; this one was drop-dead gorgeous.
“Drink the blood,” she clarified.
“Why not?”
“It’s laced with a drug that keeps a vampire unconscious. Sometimes for hours.”
Jaelyn set aside the goblet, her gaze never shifting from the female’s wide blue eyes.
She couldn’t detect any deception in the nymph, but that didn’t mean the young demon wasn’t an unwitting dupe to the villains who ran the nasty slave business.
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