Devoured by Darkness

Laylah made a sound of choked disbelief. For years she had treated the babe as if it were her own. She had held him in her arms and slept with him in her bed.

Granted, the stasis spell made it impossible to truly touch Maluhia, but she had sensed him deep in her heart. Hadn’t she?

She shook her head, refusing to believe that it had been part of the spell to compel her to care for the child. The stasis was broken after all, and she could still feel the connection to Maluhia. It was in every beat of his tiny heart.

Her baffled gaze shifted over two babies lying side by side.

They were both the size of a three-month-old human child and both naked to reveal that while one was male the other was undoubtedly female.

The alpha and the omega.

Cassie’s words echoed through her head as the male, who she was convinced was Maluhia, turned as if sensing she was near. He had a bit of blond fuzz on his head and his blue eyes were filled with trust as they locked on her, a smile curving his lips.

The female lay still, although Laylah could see her chest move as she breathed. Her eyes were closed and her downy hair the same shade as her twin’s, but she appeared unaware of the world around her.

As if she was still locked in the spell.

Laylah was jerked out of her fog of astonishment as Marika stepped toward the babies, a scowl marring her brow.

“What have you done?”

The mage took a step backward, bafflement etched on his lean face.

Yeah, bafflement seemed to be the word of the day.

At least she wasn’t alone in feeling like an idiot that she had never suspected there was more than one child.

“There’s two of them,” Sergei stated the obvious.

Marika inched forward, her gaze locked on the babies. “How is that possible?”

Sergei shrugged, licking his dry lips. “I don’t know. There’s a boy and a girl.”

Belatedly realizing she was wasting a perfect opportunity, Laylah cursed her stupidity and edged backward. What was wrong with her? The two were completely obsessed with the children. It was now or never.

Keeping her gaze trained on the vampire, Laylah bent downward, blindly searching for the large sword that Ariyal had been carrying before being tossed down the tunnel like a broken doll.

It took several swipes before her fingers brushed over the hilt. She swallowed her premature moan of relief. For the moment Marika was distracted. The last thing Laylah wanted was to remind the female vampire that she’d left unfinished business lurking behind her.

Clenching her hand around the leather-bound hilt, Laylah hefted the sword off the ground, nearly tumbling onto her face at the unexpected weight of the thing.

Gods.

Obviously size really did matter to the Sylvermyst. Shifting to hold the sword with both hands, Laylah straightened and with a slow, steady pace moved back down the tunnel.

Oblivious to the approaching danger, Marika imperiously held out her hands.

“Pick up the children and give them to me.”

Sergei dutifully bent, but Laylah didn’t give him the opportunity to present his mistress with her long awaited trophies.

With the last of her strength she managed to lift the sword and with one smooth motion she was swinging it through the air, hitting Marika on the side of her neck.

She was braced for the impact. She didn’t have a lot of experience in decapitating vampires, but she assumed it would take considerable effort.

Instead the magnificent blade slid through the muscle and tendons and bone as if they were butter.

Laylah blinked in shock as Marika’s head tumbled from her body.

It was … astonishing.

One minute it had been sitting on her neck, and the next it was rolling across the dirt ground. A part of her was horrified.

Before that moment she’d only killed to protect herself or her child. It had never been a premeditated decision.

But a larger part of her was drowning in fierce relief.

The female had deliberately arranged for her own sister to be raped and tortured for the sole purpose of returning the Dark Lord to the world. She had hunted Laylah as if she were an animal. And she’d used her pet mage to try and kill Tane.

Unforgivable.

Dropping the too heavy sword, Laylah met her aunt’s dead eyes. “Go to hell you evil bitch.”

Tane rounded the corner of the tunnel just in time to witness Laylah slicing off Marika’s head.

He skidded to a halt, his shock being quickly replaced by sheer pride.

That He-man part of him that drove Laylah crazy might regret not being the one to slay his mate’s dragon, but damn if there wasn’t something intensely exciting about a woman who could take care of business.

Stepping to his side, Jaelyn gave a low whistle, her gaze on the rapidly disintegrating vampire.

“You’d better watch yourself, Charon,” she drawled. “Your mate’s not a woman to screw with.”

“No, she’s not,” he murmured in agreement, his hand absently rubbing the spot over his unbeating heart.

He was still adjusting to the intensity of his feelings for the tiny Jinn mongrel.

It was more than the mating bond, more than sexual attraction.

It was an all-consuming love for the one woman who completed his soul.

Lifting a hand, Jaelyn pointed down the tunnel. “The Sylvermyst is near.”

With an effort, Tane turned his focus from his mate and allowed his senses to flow through the frozen darkness, ignoring the mage who had his back turned toward him. He could deal with the more obvious threats. For the moment, he was more interested in making certain nothing was trying to creep up on them.

“He lives,” Tane concluded, picking up the faint hint of herbs.

“Good.” The kind of smile that made wise men run in terror curled Jaelyn’s lips. “No one kills him, but me.”

Personal, much?

Tane shrugged. “So long as he stays out of my way.”

Keeping a close eye on the mage, Tane began to step toward Laylah, his sword held at the ready as Sergei belatedly sensed their presence and turned with a small cry of alarm.

Tane froze, his gaze lowering to the two naked babies that were squirming in the mage’s hands.

“What the hell?” he breathed.

Jaelyn made a sound of astonishment. “Does your mate have a whole collection of babies?”

Stark fear was etched on Sergei’s narrow face as he pressed his back to the side of the tunnel, dangling each of the children by one of their chubby arms.

“Stay back or I’ll kill them,” he rasped.

“No, you won’t,” Tane growled. “They’re worth too much.”

“I’m greedy, but I’m not stupid,” the mage rasped. “Right now my only concern is getting off this mountain in one piece.”

Laylah moved to his side, squeezing his arm. “Tane, please.”

He turned to study her pale face, not missing the strain that tightened her expression. She was so exhausted she could barely stand and yet her only concern was for the children that whimpered in Sergei’s rough grip.

Tenderness clutched his heart as he reached to brush a finger down her cheek.

“You’ve been busy, my sweet.”

Her lips twisted as she glanced toward Marika’s corpse that had turned to ash.

“I’m newly mated so I thought I would try a little housecleaning.”

“A fine job, but it’s not fair for you to do all the work. I should at least take out the trash.” He deliberately glanced toward the mage. “First, however, you might explain how you started with one child and now have two.”

“When Sergei removed the spell it revealed there were twins,” she said, clearly as baffled as he was.

“You never sensed the other child?”

“No.”

He shook his head, a chill settling in the pit of his stomach.

“Why am I thinking that’s not a good thing?”

“The alpha and the omega,” a dark, musical voice said from the dark. “The Gemini.”

With a rumble of warning deep in his throat, Tane turned to watch Ariyal stumble into view.

Shit. The Sylvermyst looked like he’d been put through a meat grinder. Compliments of Marika, no doubt. But Tane wasn’t deceived. The fey had already made a fool out of Tane once.

He wasn’t going to get a second chance.

“Wait, Tane,” Laylah pleaded.

“Yeah, wait,” Jaelyn snarled, shoving past them to stand directly in front of her personal nemesis. “I told you he’s mine.”

Ariyal flashed a smile that managed to be goading despite his mangled throat and the deep slashes that marred one side of his face.

“You haven’t earned the right to claim me, vampire,” he taunted. “Although I’ll be happy to give you a taste when we’re alone.”

“You …”

Laylah was moving before the hunter could launch her attack, risking life and limb by grabbing the female vampire’s upper arm.

“Jaelyn, I need answers first.”

Jaelyn whipped her head to stab Laylah with a furious glare, her eyes glowing and her fangs fully extended.

“From him? You can’t trust anything he says.”

Ariyal blew a kiss in her direction. “You know me so well, pet.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

Tane grit his teeth. The danger was so thick in the air he was chocking on it.

And not just between Ariyal and Jaelyn. Sergei’s panicked fear bled through the tunnel, warning he was on the edge of doing something truly stupid.

With a gentle care, Tane tugged his mate away from Jaelyn, not wanting her in the firing line. In the same motion he managed to tuck her out of sight of the mage.

His little Jinn might be capable of kicking ass, but it would always be his duty to protect her.

“Laylah, what is it?”

She chewed her bottom lip, her brows furrowed. “Cassie called Maluhia the alpha and the omega.” She turned her head back to Ariyal. “What does that mean?”