An assassin had to blend into the shadows, not piss off the mark and get themselves thrown into the nearest dungeon.
Of course, the creature might have just been there to spy on Styx.
“I don’t know,” the king admitted. “I assume it could have been anyone capable of magic.”
Cyn glanced toward Styx’s lair. “Where’s the prince?”
“He was supposed to track whoever had killed the imp then return here.” Styx’s jaw tightened. “He never showed.”
Cyn shrugged. It was hard to give a shit what happened to the annoying twit.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“He has Tonya with him.” Styx’s lips twisted into a humorless smile. “Viper has threatened to have me disemboweled if she isn’t returned.”
Cyn glanced toward the silent woman who’d moved to stand at his side.
“Would Magnus kidnap an imp?”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not. A Chatri male is trained from birth to treat females as mindless creatures, but they would never, ever bring harm to one. It would go against everything he believes in to hold her against her will.”
Cyn grudgingly nodded. He might think Magnus was a silly ass, but he didn’t truly believe he’d hurt Tonya. And he doubted that Styx did either.
He studied the Anasso’s grim expression. “You’re worried about more than Tonya.”
“I don’t like coincidences,” Styx rasped. “You were nearly killed by a human magic-user and now one has just destroyed my prisoner before I could question him.”
“You think this is connected to what’s happening with the Oracles?” Cyn demanded.
“I intend to find out.”
Cyn knew Styx was right.
It could be nothing, but they couldn’t afford not to discover if there was a connection.
“What do you need?”
“I want to find the prince.”
Before Cyn could answer, Fallon was walking toward the center of the street, her expression distracted.
“He was here,” she abruptly announced. “Along with a fairy and . . . a magic-user.”
Styx joined her, bending down to study the faint marks on the road that revealed where a portal had been opened.
“Human,” he murmured, glancing up at Fallon. “Can you trace him?”
Cyn was instantly at Fallon’s side, his arm wrapping protectively around her shoulders as he glared at his king.
“Are you out of your bloody mind?”
Styx slowly straightened, holding up a hand as he sensed Cyn’s barely restrained fury.
“Easy, brother.”
Brother, his ass.
“The Oracles already put her in danger,” he said, his voice flat with warning. “I’m not going to allow you to put her in even more.”
Fallon clicked her tongue with impatience. “Isn’t that my decision to make?”
Cyn kept his gaze locked on Styx.
“No.” Blunt. Uncompromising.
Levet sucked in an audible breath. “Sacre bleu. I thought you were supposed to be some female killer?”
Cyn sent the tiny pest a furious glare. “What did you say?”
“Lady killer, idiot,” Dante corrected.
Levet wrinkled his snout. “Either way, he is remarkably incompetent.”
Wicked humor glinted in Dante’s silver eyes. “Can’t argue with that.”
Cyn couldn’t either. Especially when Fallon was roughly pulling away from him.
“Princess—”
She faced him squarely, her hands on her hips. “Do you intend to tell me what I can and can’t do?”
He grimaced. Holy shite. His every instinct was screaming at him to lock her away so she couldn’t be hurt, but he’d be damned if he acted like her father.
“No.”
“Good answer,” Dante murmured.
Fallon sent him a last warning frown before turning toward Styx.
“What do you need from me?”
Styx sent Cyn a rueful smile before concentrating on Fallon.
“I want you to open a portal that will take us to Magnus.”
She paused, her brow wrinkled. “I can’t sense him.”
“What does that mean?” the king rasped.
Fallon gave a small shrug. “He’s either returned to our homeland or there’s some sort of magical barrier that’s interfering.”
Styx looked like he wanted to cut something with his big sword.
Or someone.
“Damn.”
Cyn’s stab of relief lasted less than the time it took Fallon to tilt her chin to a familiar angle.
Stubborn.
“I can follow his portal,” she said, refusing to meet his narrowed glare.
“Thank God,” Styx muttered. “I need you to open a passageway for the gargoyle.”
Levet gave a small squeak. “Moi?”
Styx kept his gaze locked on Fallon. “You’re not to leave the portal. Levet will get out and search for Magnus.”
Levet toddled forward. “Why me?”
“You’re the self-proclaimed Knight in Shining Armor,” Styx reminded the creature. “Aren’t you anxious to make sure that Tonya hasn’t been kidnapped?”
Levet’s wings drooped, cleverly trapped.
“I suppose it is my duty,” he grudgingly conceded. “How will I return home?”
“Trust me. A few hours in your company and the prince will be itching to bring you back,” Styx assured him in dry tones.
With a reckless lack of self-preservation, the gargoyle marched forward and pointed a claw toward the massive Anasso.
“You are fortunate that Darcy has made me promise not to turn you into a newt.”
Styx rolled his eyes before returning his attention to Fallon.
“You understand that you’re not to leave the portal?”
“She won’t,” Cyn said, his expression unyielding. “I’m going with her.”
Fallon glanced at him with a hint of resignation. “Cyn.”
He held up his hands. “I swear I won’t interfere.”
She hesitated, then with a shake of her head she gave a wave of her hand, opening the portal.
“Let’s go.”
Anthony had just returned to the secret chambers beneath his house when he heard the sound of an alarm.
“Now what?” he snarled, heading toward the circle of stones. A few seconds later he was staring into the fire that burned on the altar in time to watch a portal open just a few feet from his front door.
“Goddammit,” he breathed. “How the hell did they find me?” Hissing with exasperation, he sent a pulse of magic through the flames.
Time had just run out.
Chapter Seventeen
Fallon held the portal open, warily glancing at the precisely manicured gardens that surrounded the large mansion. The sun had just set, leaving behind a faint band of violet and orange on the distant horizon, but it was dark enough to be safe for vampires and gargoyles.
“Magnus was here,” she said, baffled by the strange prickle of magic that she could feel even without leaving the protection of the portal. “But I still can’t sense him.”
Cyn studied the mansion before his attention shifted to the placid, bucolic countryside.
“Here?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?” she asked.
“I recognize that scent,” he muttered.
She frowned. “Magnus?”
“No.” He shook his head, his expression distracted as if he was lost in some deep thought. “But there’s no longer any doubt this is connected to the Oracles.”
“Then we should have a look around,” she said. If there was something out there that could help them locate the magic-user then they had to track it down.
Cyn was jerked out of his preoccupation, his brows snapping together.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Her lips parted, but before she could remind him that she didn’t take orders from him, Levet
was lightly tugging on her hand.
“He is right, ma belle. We do not know the danger.”
With a sigh of frustration she bent down to speak directly to the demon who looked too small to be a Knight in Shining Armor.
“You’ll be careful?”
“Do not concern yourself.” The gargoyle lightly patted her cheek. “I am quite accustomed to risking my life to—”
“Would you just get on with it?” Cyn snapped.
“Leeches,” Levet muttered, sending a sour glance toward the hovering vampire before planting a kiss on the back of Fallon’s hand. “Au revoir, ma belle. We shall soon be reunited.”
“Just go,” Cyn growled.
“Hey,” Levet squeaked as the ground beneath their feet gave a violent shudder, sending the gargoyle tumbling out of the portal.
“Bloody hell.” Cyn grabbed Fallon as the ground continued to quake. “What did the idiot do?”
Fallon allowed Cyn to hold her upright, her energy entirely focused on keeping them from being squashed.
“It wasn’t Levet,” she said between clenched teeth.
Struggling to keep the bubble of protection around them, Fallon lifted her hand. She didn’t have time to form a proper opening so she sliced a small rift, hoping they could escape. But whatever was forcing the portal to collapse slammed shut the fissure before it could properly form.
Cyn growled as the air was suddenly filled with painful pricks of electricity.
“What’s happening?”
“The portal is collapsing,” she rasped, her strength rapidly draining. Damn. She had to get them out before they were crushed between dimensions.
“How?”
She shook her head, giving another slash of her hand as she tried to find a way out.
“I don’t know.”
Perhaps sensing her growing weakness, Cyn wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back flat against his chest.
“Can we get out?”
“I don’t know.” She was trembling, feeling the darkness squeezing ever tighter. “Every time I open a rift it closes before we can get out,” she rasped.
His arm tightened around her. “Shit.”
She grimaced. “Shit” just about summed it up.
She was coming close to burning out. She would have one last chance to get them out before bad, bad things happened.
“Brace yourself,” she muttered, gathering the last of her strength.
Caution wasn’t cutting it. She could only hope that she could blast their way out before her bubble of protection was shattered.
She felt him go rigid. “For what?”
She didn’t bother to answer him. Instead she closed her eyes, sending the last of her powers zinging toward the side of the portal.
There was a loud sizzle as her magic hit another magic and for a horrified minute Fallon feared that it might boomerang back toward them. What had she done?
Then, just as she braced herself for the impact, there was a sudden shift in the air pressure and without warning an explosion sent both of them hurtling out the side of the portal.
Cyn gave a shout of surprise, squeezing her tight against him as they were thrown forward. Fallon grimly held on as she tried to control their plunge through space. The last thing she wanted was to survive the catapult from the portal only to fry Cyn by landing someplace where it was daylight.
Of course, it was impossible.
She was still trying to lock on to Cyn’s lair when they were out of the portal and making a painful landing onto a rough, stone floor.
Her first thought was that it was dark. Really dark.
Hooray.
Her second thought was that it wasn’t much fun to be squashed between a massive vampire and sharp-edged rocks.
Cyn rolled to the side, a low groan wrenched from his throat as he forced himself to his feet.
“Where are we?”
Fallon shoved her tangled hair out of her face, managing to get to her knees as she peered through the murky darkness.
They were in a cave of some sort, but it wasn’t like the one beneath Cyn’s lair. She could sense the heavy weight of earth that extended well above them. As if they were deep in the bowels of a mountain.
Had her fear of the sun led them to a place where light never, ever penetrated?
Hard to say.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, sucking in a deep breath once she was sure the rough landing hadn’t cracked any ribs. She was studying the nearby stalagmite that was coated in some strange, shimmering goo when an icy breeze sent a rash of goose pimples over her skin. Suddenly she stiffened, a wave of dread sweeping through her at the foul odor that made her stomach heave. “Ugh. What is that stench?”
“Troll,” Cyn muttered, the word sounding like a curse. “Can you get us out of here?”
Fallon grimaced. Her royal blood meant that she recovered far faster than most fey, but at the moment she felt as if her magic had been sucked dry.
“I need a few minutes,” she admitted.
Cyn nodded, as if he’d been expecting her response. Then, without warning, he was muttering a low curse as he bent down to scoop her into his arms.
Fallon stiffened. “What are you doing?”
“Hellhounds,” he muttered. “Hold on.”
Cradling her against his chest, he barely gave her time to wrap her arms around his neck before he was smoothly running across the cave and into a narrow shaft that was angled upward.
Fallon glanced over Cyn’s shoulder at the large hounds that were entering the cave. They were nearly as big as a pony, with crimson eyes that flashed with malevolent hatred in the darkness. They had huge fangs and dripped acid onto the stone floor with an audible sizzle.
She shuddered. Yeah, it was a relief they hadn’t ended up on a sun-drenched beach, but did the alternative have to be a troll nest guarded by hellhounds?
Obviously it did, she silently conceded, burying her head against his chest as Cyn ducked the dangling stalactites and leaped over cracks in the floor at a speed that made her head spin. It wasn’t until he came to an abrupt halt that she glanced up to discover his face set in a bleak expression.
“Why did you stop?” she demanded, shivering at the nearing howls of the hellhounds that echoed eerily through the small cave they’d just entered.
Cyn gently set her on her feet, pulling a large knife from a sheath strapped beneath his sweater.
“We’re being herded.”
Herded? She frowned, wondering if it was some slang word.
“What does that mean?”
He moved to place himself between her and the opening to the cave, his legs spread wide.
“The hounds aren’t attacking, they’re deliberately trying to force us deeper into the mountain.”
Oh. Herded. Like cattle.
“Why?” she asked, even as a small voice in the back of her head warned she didn’t want to know the answer to that particular question.
“Trolls prefer to eat their dinner while they’re still alive.”
Her heart stopped. Yep. Much better not to know.
“Oh.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his expression more determined than concerned.
“Stay behind me.”
There were more howls joining the first. Three. Maybe even four.
“There’s too many,” she warned.
A slow smile revealed his large fangs, his jade eyes glowing with anticipation.
“Someday, princess, you’re going to trust me,” he promised, then with a lightning-quick motion he was surging forward to meet the charging hellhounds.
Fallon’s breath lodged in her throat as the four hounds swiftly surrounded him, their sharp barks loud enough to hurt her ears.
Cyn turned in a slow circle, meeting the evil crimson gazes. Fallon clenched her hands. It looked as if he were daring them to attack.
It was only when the largest of the hounds leaped forward that she realized he’d been deliberately pr
ovoking the leader of the pack.
With a savage snarl the beast snapped his fangs at Cyn’s throat, the acid from his mouth spraying onto his sweater and burning through to the flesh beneath.
Fallon winced, but Cyn seemed unaware of the damage as he grabbed the hellhound by the head and with one massive twist of his hands snapped the creature’s neck. The other hounds hesitated, clearly smart enough to recognize that Cyn wasn’t going to be easy prey.
The pause gave Cyn time to use his knife to cut out the leader’s heart. Fallon grimaced even as she approved of his precaution.
Most demons had to have either their head or their heart removed to prevent them from returning to life.
Tossing aside the bloody carcass, Cyn curled back his lips to flash his fangs in direct challenge.
The hounds whined, clearly wanting to scurry away in fear. But almost as if they were being driven by some outside force, they charged toward Cyn.
With a swing of his arm, Cyn sliced the knife through the nearest hound’s upper chest, sending it to the floor with a snarl of pain. The next two he easily sidestepped, kicking one in the side with enough force to send it sailing into the far wall.
There was a crunch of bones as the hellhound slid to the ground in an unconscious heap.
Never hesitating, Cyn was turning just in time to grab the hellhound who was pouncing on his back. Grabbing it by the muzzle, he crushed the monster’s mouth, slicing his knife through its chest to remove the heart with obvious expertise.
Fallon grimaced at the carnage, but she couldn’t help but admire the smooth skill that Cyn displayed as he tossed aside the dead hound and bent to deal with the one that had healed the wound on his chest and was rising to his feet. With a few more slices of the knife he ensured the beast wouldn’t be getting back up again.
Good . . . Lord.
Distracted by the bloody battle, Fallon barely noticed that the hideous stench that permeated the air had suddenly intensified. Not until she was actually gagging at the foul odor.
Spinning around, she watched as a massive, lumbering monster stepped out of a side tunnel.
She gasped, stepping back as she studied the seven foot creature who awkwardly headed toward her.
She’d never seen a troll in person, and she had the sudden hope that she never had to see another one.