There was a rustle in the undergrowth as Levet sidled to stand at his side.
“Tane, do you truly think it wise to taunt the Sylvermyst with the hexed arrows?”
The bronze gaze dipped to the tiny gargoyle, his lips pulling into a mocking smile.
“Is that your wingman?” He shifted his attention back to Tane. “Pathetic even for a leech.”
“Hey!” Levet protested.
Tane, on the other hand, couldn’t argue.
It really was pathetic.
Instead he narrowed his gaze. “Wingman? You don’t speak like a fairy who has been banished from this world for centuries.”
“I’ll admit my cable service was shitty in hell, but…”
“No,” Tane growled. “You’re lying.”
“Probably. I’m evil, after all,” the fey taunted. “It’s what we do.”
“I don’t need an owner’s manual for evil.” The fey’s smile widened. “No, I don’t suppose you do, vampire.”
Tane paused. Did the bastard have a sense of humor or a death wish?
Either way he was setting off alarms that Tane wasn’t willing to ignore.
“Who are you?”
“Isn’t it enough to know I’m the man who is going to kill you?”
Tane lifted a brow. “Are you scared to give me your name or embarrassed?”
There was a moment of hesitation before the creature shrugged.
“Ariyal,” he revealed, his gaze flicking dismissively over Tane. “And you are the infamous Tane. Scourge of rogue vampires around the world. Now that we have the introductions out of the way, tell me where the child is.”
Tane’s question was answered.
A death wish.
Now that was cleared up, he wanted to know how the fey had discovered he was a Charon.
“Where have you been hiding?”
“Now, now. Don’t be rude, leech,” Ariyal drawled. “I asked my question first.”
“You sure the hell haven’t been sharing a dimension with the Dark Lord.”
The bronze eyes glittered, a prickling pressure filling the air.
“Did you miss the story about the overly curious cat?” he asked smoothly. “He got his head chopped off.”
“Damn.” Tane came to a sudden decision. Ariyal annoyed the hell out of him, but he wasn’t stupid enough to underestimate him. When he realized the babe was long gone he was going to release whatever magic he was keeping leashed. Tane didn’t want to be around when that happened. “Levet.”
“Oui?”
“Can you hide our scents long enough for us to escape?”
“I thought you would never ask,” the gargoyle muttered. He waved a hand toward the Sylvermyst. “What about Tinker Bell?”
Ariyal glanced toward Levet, smiling with a cruel anticipation.
“Oh, I’m going to enjoy grinding you into dust.” “He’s coming with us,” Tane muttered. Levet squeaked in dismay. “Are you complètement fou?”
Was he completely mad? A question for later.
Moving with a speed not even a fey on steroids could track, Tane halted directly before Ariyal, knocking the crossbow out ofhis hand.
“Arrogant bast …”
The fey’s furious words were brought to a sharp end as Tane’s fist connected with his chin.
There was a satisfying crunch as Tane felt the man’s jaw shatter beneath the impact of his blow. Then, catching the fey’s limp body before it hit the ground, Tane slung him over his shoulder and turned toward the wide-eyed gargoyle.
“Let’s go.”
It all started out so well.
Laylah entered the mists without problem, even carrying the child.
It had taken a minute or two to shake off the draining dizziness that always plagued her after a shift into the corridor between worlds, and another few minutes to determine a direction.
She could go anywhere.
She could disappear with her child and never be found.
But even as the thought fluttered through her mind, she deliberately focused on Chicago and Styx’s elegant lair.
For years she’d believed that she’d managed to disappear, but she wasn’t nearly so clever as she’d thought. The Commission had always known about her, and God only knew who else.
Besides, the only true means of keeping the baby safe was to kill off those who hunted him. Bloodthirsty, but true.
And the vampires were her best bet.
She was busy convincing herself that her decision had nothing to do with Tane when she felt an archway forming in the mists.