Giving a shake of her head, she tried to remember all the reasons this male was a jackass.
Starting with the fact that he was pretending to be interested in her life fifty years too late.
“Is that a joke?” she demanded.
His lips flattened. “I don’t joke.”
She rolled her eyes. Yeah. No crap. This male was a stoic warrior. All duty and loyalty and blah, blah, blah.
So why did she find him so sexy?
Sucking in a sharp breath, she hastily squashed the renegade thought. Along with the treacherous image of his slender fingers sliding over her body with desire instead of annoyance.
“Obviously I didn’t think you would be interested in helping to rescue my mother,” she said.
A tendril of smoke curled from his flared nostrils. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.”
She made a sound of disbelief. “Since when?”
“We’re soon to be mated.”
“And?”
The question seemed to stump him. “And it’s my duty to ensure that my consort is content,” he at last muttered.
“Content?” she repeated as a stab of disappointment sliced through her. Stupid, of course. Did she expect him to say that he actually cared about her?
“Yes.”
“Then let me make this easy for you.” Taking an abrupt step backward, she broke free of his grasp, sending him a warning glare. “It would make me content if you would return to Baine and let me concentrate on locating my mother.”
His hands clenched at his sides. She suspected it was the only way he kept himself from grabbing her and physically hauling her out of the cavern.
“I’m not leaving without you,” he said between clenched teeth.
“Well, I’m not going.”
They were glaring at each other, neither willing to back down, when a shrill scream echoed through the air.
Rya sucked in a startled gasp. “What was that?”
Torque scowled. “That stupid gargoyle.”
“They must be in trouble,” she muttered, a surge of fear clenching her heart as she ran out of the cavern.
“Rya, wait. Dammit.”
Rya ignored the angry male voice. Instead she hurried through the narrow tunnel that angled upward.
She’d been so distracted by the arrival of Torque she’d forgotten the danger that stalked this isolated location. Now she skidded onto the icy glacier and searched for some sign of Finn and the tiny gargoyle.
Darkness had fully claimed the bleak landscape, but she could see as easily at night as she could during the day. Which meant that she had no trouble realizing that there was no one around for miles.
“They’re gone,” she breathed as Torque stopped next to her, his face tight with frustration.
“Don’t move,” he commanded. “I’ll do a sweep of the area.”
She clicked her tongue in annoyance. “I’m not helpless.”
A dark brow flicked upward. “Have you trained to be a warrior?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re an annoying ass?”
“Yes.” He pointed a finger toward her feet. “Don’t. Move.”
She remained in place as he melted into the darkness. Not because he’d ordered her stay. Nope. Since leaving the harem she’d decided she enjoyed making her own decisions.
But on this occasion, Torque was right.
His training meant he could do a far better job of ensuring there were no enemies hiding in the area. And since it was obvious that his dragon lurked closer to the surface than most half-breeds, he possessed a physical strength she couldn’t hope to match.
Within a few minutes he returned. There weren’t many places to hide on the frozen wasteland.
“Well?” she demanded.
He grimaced. “Nothing.”
Rya’s fear intensified. “Exactly like all the others,” she muttered, moving forward, hoping to catch some lingering sense of Finn.
Torque walked at her side, his brow furrowed. “Explain to me exactly how the people have been disappearing.”
“I truly don’t know, but I suspect it’s through portals.”
Together they leaped across a sharp crevasse in the ice.
Torque pointed out the obvious. “We should be able to detect where a portal was opened.”
“I’ve tried, but they must have the magical ability to hide their spell.”
Rya moved toward the flat area in the center of the glacier. It’s where Finn often stood to enjoy the panoramic sweep of the night sky. He said the stars looked close enough to reach up and pluck them from the heavens. Rya thought they looked cold. Like everything else in this goddess-forsaken land.
Unable to pick up any trace of the frost sprite, she was about to turn and head toward the distant shoreline when she caught the unmistakable tingle of magic crawling over her skin.
“Here,” she said, abruptly dropping to her knees as she lightly touched the ice.
With a liquid speed Torque was at her side, studying the small scorch mark that marred the ice. “What is it?”
“The gargoyle.”
Leaning forward, he touched the blackened ice. “Yes, I can sense that he released a spell.” He frowned in confusion. “Can you tell what he was trying to do?”
Rya closed her eyes, concentrating on the unfamiliar threads of magic. It felt like a sticky web. Briefly confused, she tried to imagine what sort of spell would leave that precise residue.
Then she snapped her eyes open. “He blocked the portal,” she said, genuinely impressed with the tiny demon’s quick thinking.
Without warning Torque reached out to grasp her arm, urging her away from the point where Levet had presumably disappeared along with Finn.
“Stand back,” he growled.
“What are you doing?”
“I traveled with the creature for the past three days.” Torque shuddered, continuing to pull her away.
She dug in her heels, studying him with a startled glance. The thought of Torque being forced to travel with the gargoyle for more than a few minutes was…inconceivable.
“Why three days?” she demanded.
Torque wrinkled his nose. “The stupid creature had to find a witch who could use your betrothal ring to cast a spell that would allow me to open a portal.”
Ah. She’d assumed that Levet must have some special magic. Instead, it’d been a witch’s spell. Her gaze briefly darted down, covertly ensuring the ring she’d made for Torque had been returned to his hand.
She felt an odd pang of relief at the sight of the delicate band circling his finger. As if she would have been disturbed if it was missing.
Idiotic.
“So that’s how you found me,” she forced herself to mutter.
“None of it would have been necessary if you’d just contacted me.”
Rya rolled her eyes. “Or you could have remained with Baine and allowed me to look for my mother without interference.”
Fire flared in his eyes. “No way in hell.”
She blinked at his fierce response. It didn’t make sense. She’d been born a century ago, and carried his betrothal mark for nearly fifty years. In all that time, he couldn’t be bothered to remember she was alive, and now he suddenly acted like he was a dog and she was the bone.
Unnerved by his possessive gaze, she gave a shake of her head and returned her attention to more important matters.
“So why did you pull me away from the portal?”
“The one thing I learned when I traveled with Levet is that you don’t want to be around when he releases a spell.”
“Why?”
“Because he blows things up.”
Rya pulled her arm free of his tight grip and returned to the edge of the portal.
“This one is no longer active,” she assured him, reaching out her hand to lightly trace the edge of the portal.
“Then what’s the spell?”
“It’s some sort of web,” she explaine
d. “It’s there to act as a wedge.”
“A magical wedge?”
She shrugged. “The only way to explain it is that he stuck his foot in the door before it could slam shut,” she said in an absent tone as she concentrated on the mesh of power.
Torque took a step closer, his heat wrapping around her to protect her from the chill. “You can open the portal?”
Could she? Rya sucked in a deep breath. “We’re about to find out,” she said, using her magic to grasp the edges of the narrow opening.
It was more difficult than she expected. The gargoyle’s spell was unfamiliar and the strands kept twisting into complex patterns that made it almost impossible to work her way past. Her limbs were shaking and a thin layer of sweat was coating her skin when she at last managed to shove open the doorway far enough to slip through.
Before she could move, however, Torque reached out to lay a restraining hand on her shoulder.
“Rya, stop,” he growled. “We have no idea where this might take us. Or who might be waiting.”
She turned her head to send him a frown. “You can stay here if you want. I’m going to find my mother.”
The sapphire eyes flared with a burning frustration. “Aggravating female.”
His jaw clenched, then without warning, he was bending his head to claim her lips in a kiss that seared through her with a shocking pleasure.
Rya gasped, feeling her inner dragon stir with a sudden burst of flames and fury. It was the first time her beast had ever responded to a male and she trembled at the sheer force of its hunger.
He tasted of heat. And raw male power.
And she wanted more.
Lots more.
Instinctively she opened her mouth, encouraging the thrust of his tongue as he wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her tight against his torso.
Her hands grabbed his upper arms, savoring the feel of him beneath her palms. His muscles were as hard as granite and perfectly chiseled. Fascinated by his male form, she allowed her fingers to glide up and over his shoulders before exploring the wide expanse of his back.
He made a sound deep in his throat and without warning a glorious fire was dancing over his skin.
She shivered as the flames began to surround her, the sensual warmth as intoxicating as the finest nectar.
“Torque,” she breathed, drowning in the erotic sensations.
Time lost all meaning for Rya as he took fierce command of her mouth, kissing her over and over as his hands swept down her body with a possessive confidence.
He touched her as if he owned her.
Something that should have pissed her off, right? She might wear his marking, but he’d barely acknowledged her existence before she’d disappeared from the harem.
Unfortunately—or maybe fortunately—she was too busy melting in pleasure to protest.
Finally, it was a blast of wind that whipped across the glacier that made her push away from his heady touch, her heart thundering with a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
“My mother,” she forced herself to mutter, unable to form a full sentence.
The sapphire eyes glowed with a hectic fire. Lust? Need? Sheer annoyance?
Impossible to say.
Sucking in a deep breath he doused the flames that were swirling around him and turned to face the portal.
“I go in first.”
Rya bit her lower lip, knowing better than to argue.
Torque was on the edge. She knew beyond a doubt that if she pushed him too far he’d toss her over his shoulder and haul her back to her father’s harem.
And there wouldn’t be a damned thing she could do to stop him.
Right now she fully understood the proverb that claimed that silence was golden.
CHAPTER FOUR
Finn was floating in a peaceful darkness. At least it was peaceful until he was rudely slapped across the face.
“Wake up,” an unfamiliar voice commanded. It had an accent. Was it…French? Weird. “Can you hear me, you overgrown fairy?”
Finn kept his eyes tightly shut, hoping this was nothing more than a nightmare that would pass.
“I’m a sprite, not a fairy,” he muttered.
“I do not care if you are an ogre.” There was another sharp slap to his face. “You must wake up.”
Releasing his breath with a furious hiss, Finn lifted his heavy lids, realizing he truly was in a nightmare. What else could explain the ugly gray face hovering just inches from his nose?
Then a faint memory teased at the edges of his foggy brain.
What was it?
Oh yeah. Missing sprites. The beautiful Rya. And an ugly-ass gargoyle in the company of the half-dragon, Torque.
He’d reluctantly given Rya privacy, which meant he’d been stuck with the gargoyle as he’d moved toward his favorite spot on the glacier. He’d actually been searching for a way to get rid of the tiny demon when a portal had opened in front of him and he’d been sucked inside.
After that everything had gone black.
Trying to determine where he was, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Reaching out, he snapped his hands around his companion’s small wrist and squeezed until the creature gave a loud squawk.
“Hit me one more time, gargoyle and I will turn you into a popsicle.”
The indignant expression softened to wide-eyed curiosity as the creature gazed down at him.
“Can you truly do that?”
Finn muttered a curse, forcing himself to a seated position. He grimaced, and not just because of the lingering pain that throbbed behind his eyes. Nope. It was mainly in response to the fact that he was in a cramped space surrounded by walls of slick ice that towered toward a thick ceiling made up of the same ice.
It had to be some sort of prison.
“Christ, I must be in the netherworld,” he groused, cautiously rising to his feet.
The gargoyle tilted his head to the side, as if he was actually considering Finn’s words. “Non,” he at last concluded with a twitch of his tail. “It is far too cold to be Hades’ domain. The god is old, but he can still put out some heat.” The gargoyle clicked his tongue. “The last time I visited, he singed my pretty wings.”
Finn shoved his fingers through his hair, glaring at his tiny companion. Was the creature deranged? “What did you do?”
Levet blinked. “Do?”
Finn made a sound of impatience. “Where have you brought us?”
“Moi?” Levet stiffened, his wings fluttering in outrage. “This is entirely your fault. I was standing next to you when a portal opened and—” He gave a wild wave of his arms. “Voilà, we were sucked inside. Since no foe is foolish enough to dare my wrath I must presume they wished to capture you.”
Finn scowled. Okay. It’d been a stupid question. Gargoyles, even miniature ones, didn’t have the skill to make portals. And they most certainly didn’t have the talent of forming ice prisons.
It had to be the work of the mysterious stalker who’d been kidnapping his people. Ironic, really. He’d been doing everything in his power to find his tribe.
Now it turned out he’d managed to fall into the same trap.
Grimly he moved to place his hand against the slick wall that reflected his image. He had the power to endure the most brutal cold. He could also manipulate ice. But even as he released a tentative flare of magic, he knew it would have no effect on the wall.
The ice was…odd. Almost fluid. And heavily spelled by a magic-user that Finn had never sensed before.
“Damn,” he rasped, lowering his hand.
Levet gave a small sniff. “Precisely.”
Accepting he wasn’t going to be able to easily force his way out, Finn turned back to the gargoyle. “Did you see who created the portal?”
“Non.” Levet hesitated, as if struck by a sudden thought. “But I smelled rosemary as the portal opened.”
“Rosemary?” Finn clenched his hands. So this was the gargoyle’s fault. “Is she a
gargoyle?”
Levet blinked. Then blinked again. “Rosemary is not a person. It is a plant.”
Ah. Finn shuffled through his considerable knowledge of demons. He’d never heard of any of them smelling like rosemary.
“A witch’s spell?” he at last guessed.
Levet gave a shake of his head. “A Sylvermyst.”
Sylvermyst? Finn knew about the dark fey, although he’d never encountered one. They were distant cousins who had been banished centuries ago.
“I thought they left this world?” he said.
Levet wrinkled his short snout. “A few remained in hiding, and it is possible that there were some who snuck through during the battle with the Dark Lord.”
Finn scowled. Was the tiny demon making shit up to sound important? Or could the outrageous claim be true?
Finn shrugged. He knew the vampires had recently battled the ancient evil. Maybe a few nasty surprises had managed to return to the world during the fight.
It wasn’t like he had a better suggestion.
He folded his arms over his chest. “Why would they capture frost sprites?”
Levet gave a lift of his hands. “That is your duty to discover. Along with the means of getting us out of here.”
“My duty?”
The gargoyle shrugged. “I have done my part.”
“What part?” Finn growled. “Slapping me in the face?”
“Hey.” Levet puffed out his chest. “I used my magic to ensure that the dragon can follow us. Not to mention standing guard while you napped.” He gave a full-body shudder. “I cannot, however, endure such cold. I have to shift before I freeze.”
Realizing the creature was about to turn into his stone form, Finn held out his hand. “Wait.”
Levet clicked his tongue. “What is it now?”
“What do you mean, you used your magic so the dragon could follow us?”
The wings fluttered as Levet smiled with smug satisfaction.
“I used my considerable talents to make sure the portal could not be completely closed,” he said. “Let us hope that Torque has the intelligence to follow.”
Finn grimaced. He didn’t know anything about the half-breed Torque. Well, nothing beyond the fact that he’d felt an instinctive antagonism. A typical response between two alpha males. But he did know Rya. She would most certainly search for him. And once she found the open portal, she would follow.