Devoured by Darkness

“The most powerful demons can twist a spell to either recognize a specific person or a specific occurrence,” Tane explained. “It could be that the spell was woven to bind the child to the first person to enter the mists.”

Laylah had never heard of such a power, but then again, her foster mother had kept a lot of things hidden.

She thrust aside the memory of Sadira’s pretense as she attempted to teach Laylah magic. All along she knew that her powers were that of a gypsy, not a witch.

Later she would sort through her tangled emotions.

“Whatever the cause, it made the mage nuts,” she said. “I could hear his tantrum through the solid iron walls.”

A cold smile touched Styx’s mouth. “Is that when he let you go?”

“Are you kidding me?” Laylah scoffed. “The bastard never let me go. A few weeks after I found the baby Sergei suddenly got spooked.” She abruptly held up her hand as his lips parted with the predictable questions. “Don’t ask me why. We weren’t best buds who spent our nights braiding each others’ hair and sharing our intimate secrets. One night he came into the cell and knocked me out.” She shrugged. “I woke up in Rome.”

“Rome?” Styx lifted a brow. “He took a risk choosing a city so heavily populated by demons.”

She gave a sharp laugh as she remembered Sergei’s panicked flight from his lair.

“I think his choice was made in haste rather than a well thought out escape plan.” She shivered. “And I can’t say that I blame him if it was my charming Aunt Marika on his tail. That woman would make anyone flee in horror.”

Tane nodded in grim agreement, but Styx remained focused on his interrogation.

No doubt he was trained during the Spanish Inquisition.

“Did he have a private lair in Rome?”

Laylah shook her head. Her brief time in Rome hadn’t been any more pleasant than being held hostage in the Siberian lair. She’d traded an iron cell for a spellbound closet and silver shackles that had come close to driving her over the edge.

“No, we stayed with the local witches,” she said, her voice thick with remembered pain.

Styx’s expression tightened as Tane moved to place a protective arm around Laylah’s shoulders.

She didn’t know if he disapproved of Tane touching a nasty mongrel, or if he didn’t like public displays of affection.

And she didn’t care. It felt good to have a little support. “They allowed a forbidden demon into the coven?” the older vampire asked, indifferent to her feelings. Hey, what was new?

“Sergei was careful to keep me hidden in his private rooms. Besides they were terrified of him. If it wasn’t for Caine I would no doubt still be locked in that damned closet.”

Tane shot her a startled frown. “The cur rescued you?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure if rescue is the proper word. Let’s say that we made a mutually beneficial bargain.”

Tane’s finger brushed her cheek, his touch comforting. “How did he find you?”

“One of the witches was his lover and she hoped to impress him with the ‘Jeannie in the Closet.’ Caine returned the next morning to offer me the chance to escape Sergei if I would agree to be his …” Her lips twisted as she remembered the handsome cur’s description. “Secret weapon.”

“Arrogant dog.” Tane growled.

She tilted back her head, startled by the raw fury that glowed in the honey eyes.

“I thought you didn’t know Caine?”

It was Styx who answered. “The vampires have yet to claim the pleasure, but I’m confident he will soon be my guest.”

Eek.

“Why do I suspect that’s not a good thing for Caine?” Laylah muttered.

“The dog held my mate’s sister as a prisoner.” Styx’s dark tone warned of pain for anyone stupid enough to hurt his mate. Ridiculously, Laylah briefly wondered what it must feel like to be loved by such an overwhelming demon. Darcy must feel … what? Cherished? Empowered? Smothered? Perhaps a combination of all three? “A crime he will eventually pay for,” Styx continued, unaware of her inane thoughts. “But for now I think we have more important matters to discuss. How did Caine manage to get you away from the mage?”

“Caine has a talent for creating pharmaceuticals,” she admitted. Over the years the cur had made a fortune off his ability to create designer drugs that humans craved. “He slipped Sergei a rophy in his orange juice and while he was knocked unconscious we slipped away.”

Styx looked surprised. “The mage was done in by a rophy?”

“Trust me, it was supercharged.”

Tane narrowed his eyes. “Did you stay with Caine in

Rome?”

“No, Caine sent me to his lair in America so his private witches could keep me hidden.” She smiled. When she’d arrived in Caine’s lair outside of St. Louis it had seemed almost paradise. Sure she had to live in an outbuilding that was heavily wrapped in disguise spells, and she often went years without speaking to another. But her rooms were comfortable enough, and best of all, she and the baby were safely hidden from the world.

Oh, and a wide screen TV and five hundred channels of free cable.

Not bad.

“I didn’t see him again until he arrived in St. Louis with a baby Were.” “Harley,” Styx said.

“Yes, but he refused to speak of where she came from or why he was so protective of her,” Laylah hastily informed him. Darcy had already spent the past hour grilling her on any information on how Caine had gotten his hands on Harley and if he’d said anything that involved Darcy’s other sisters. Apparently one of the quadruplets was still missing. “I’m sorry, I don’t know any more.”

Styx studied her in silence, weighing the truth of her words.

“Tell me about the child,” he at last said abruptly. She swallowed a sigh. The King of Vampires was nothing if not relentless. Like Chinese water torture.

“There’s nothing to tell. The baby’s wrapped in a stasis spell that I can’t penetrate. I’m not even truly sure if it’s a boy or a girl.”

Tane tilted her chin back to study her with an unreadable expression.

“Are you sure it’s alive?”

Ah, he thought her loneliness had driven her to carrying around the magical equivalent of an empty shell.

She might have been insulted if there wasn’t a real possibility she would have gone stark raving mad without the baby to concentrate on instead of her miserable existence.

“I can sense its essence, but it’s not conscious,” she said, her tone firm enough to warn she wasn’t going to debate what she knew in her heart.

The child was alive and it belonged to her.

Styx stepped forward. “And it hasn’t altered over the years?”

“No.”

“Where is the child now?”

The abrupt question came without warning, but Laylah was prepared. Folding her arms over her chest, she met Styx’s dark gaze without flinching.

“Safely hidden.”

“You must …”

“No.”

“Perhaps it would be better if I spoke with Laylah in private,” Tane interrupted, wisely preventing Laylah from provoking the most dangerous demon on the face of the earth.

Tane waited until Styx had left the room and closed the door behind him before turning to meet Laylah’s mulish expression.

She lifted a hand and pointed a finger in his face. “Don’t even think it.” “Think what?”

“That just because you’ve gotten into my pants you can manipulate me.”

A flare of anger seared through him. Gotten into her pants?

She made him sound like a frat boy anxious for an easy lay. The truth of the matter was that he’d had the most beautiful and powerful women in the world beg to share his bed.

But it wasn’t male pride that made him yank her hard against his body, or glare down at her wide eyes.

“Don’t ever dismiss what burns between us,” he rasped.

Her pulse hammered at the base of her throat, but she stubbornly refused to yield.

“Nothing burns between us. We had sex. End of story.”

He leaned down, scraping a fully extended fang down the line of her jugular, his gut twisting with a primitive need to taste the rich nectar of her blood.

“If I truly thought you believed that I would take you right here and prove just how wrong you are,” he said, his lips moving against the satin of her skin.

“Tane.” She shivered, the scent of her excitement teasing at his senses, but her hands lifted to press against his chest. “Stop.”

He pulled back to study the flush of arousal staining her cheeks with smug satisfaction.

“You belong to me.”

Her eyes flashed, but she was wise enough not to try and continue the ridiculous argument.

“I thought you wanted to discuss the baby?”

His lips twitched. “And I thought you didn’t.”

Without warning, she twisted out of his arms, shaking her head as she backed away.

“You’re not going to trick me.”

Ignoring the urge to tug her back into his embrace, Tane instead allowed his gaze to skim over her pale face and stiffly held body.

She was as beautiful as ever.

The crimson hair that shimmered like fire in the overhead light. The ivory features carved with a delicate perfection. The slender body that was a tantalizing combination of hard muscles and feminine curves.

But, his searching eyes didn’t miss the shadows in the dark eyes and the tension that hummed around her.

She was anxious to return to her child and suspicious he intended to halt her.

A well-founded suspicion, unfortunately.

Every damned demon in the world would soon be on the hunt for the latest, greatest hope to return the Dark Lord. Either for the glory of returning their god, or to destroy the potential threat.

Tane wouldn’t allow Laylah to be standing in the firing line.

“Trick you?” he said with a stab at innocence.

Her chin jutted, not buying his pretense for a minute. “I’m not handing over the child.”

He swore in frustration. He’d hoped to avoid an outright confrontation.

“What choice do you have, Laylah?” He planted his hands on his hips. “You aren’t a fool.”

“That’s open to debate.”