Tane stumbled to a halt as they entered another small cavern. This one just as bleak and frigidly unwelcoming as the one above.
“Hell,” he muttered.
Laylah turned to regard him with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“I just realized I’m going to be a …” His tongue faltered over the unfamiliar word. “Dad.” He scowled as her laughter broke the ominous atmosphere that shrouded the long forgotten caves. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m trying to imagine you coaching the T-ball team.”
He smiled, tugging open Laylah’s cloak to reveal the child she held in her arms.
Vampires could procreate in their own way. Some even felt a parent/child bond with the “offspring” they created, but Tane had never considered creating a foundling.
Hell, he hadn’t wanted a mate.
He’d already royally screwed up one relationship; he didn’t feel the need for a repeat performance.
Until Laylah.
And now Maluhia.
They were a family.
His family.
And he would die to protect them.
“Perhaps not T-ball,” he grudgingly admitted. What was T-ball? “But, I can teach him to hide his presence when he’s stalking his prey and how to kill with his bare hands and …”
“Enough,” she laughingly protested, shaking her head.
“What?”
She glanced down at the child. “We might have to seek assistance in our parenting skills.”
He moved to gently press his lips to her forehead. “So long as we love and protect the child, what else matters?”
Laylah lifted her head, her eyes shimmering with the warm affection that he could feel flowing between them.
“Nothing at all,” she said softly. Then, visibly squaring her shoulders, she headed toward the small antechamber at the back of the cavern. “Let’s do this.”
She’d taken only a few steps when she came to an abrupt halt. “What happened?”
She shivered. “I felt …”
“What?”
“I think we tripped a spell.”
“Damn.” Holding his sword ready, Tane turned in a slow circle, scanning the cavern. When nothing happened he muttered a curse. He’d rather battle a rabid Were during a full moon than walk into a magical trap. How do you kill something you can’t see? “Why isn’t something happening?”
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be an offensive spell.” She grimaced. “It could be an alarm.” “Sergei,” he growled.
“Probably,” she admitted. “He always was a paranoid ass.”
“If he knows we’re here then it won’t be long before he makes an unwanted appearance with your aunt.” He glanced in her direction. “We must leave.”
“He can’t know who or what tripped his spell. Besides it will take them hours, if not days, to travel here.”
“Not with the Sylvermyst.”
“Oh.” She made a sour face. “Portals.”
“Exactly. We can’t risk remaining here.”
She bit her lower lip, her expression troubled. “I’m sorry, Tane. I don’t know why, but we have to stay. The baby needs to be here.”
“Laylah.” He clenched his teeth as she headed directly into the antechamber, and then squeezed through a narrow crack in the wall. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
“Perfect.” Squeezing through the rocks, Tane was forced to sacrifice skin off several parts of his body, and a chunk of his hair. “This wasn’t exactly the honeymoon I was hoping for.”
She glanced over her shoulder, her wicked smile making him forget his stinging wounds and overall aggravation.
Hell, a smile like that could make him forget a nuclear attack.
“Once we’ve made certain Maluhia is safe and freed of the stasis spell I intend to give you a honeymoon you’ll never forget.”
He groaned at her throaty voice. “Christ, woman. You’re killing me.”
They squeezed through another curve in the passageway before it spilled into a wide opening. Laylah gave a sudden gasp, hurrying across the stone floor to stand before a visible rift in the air.
“Here,” she breathed.
Tane stood before the shimmering mist, his flesh crawling at the sight. Very few things scared an ancient vampire.
This was one.
“You found the child here?”
“Yes. He was hidden within the mists.”
Tane stiffened as the air pressure in the cavern changed. It was the only warning before a portal was about to open.
“Shit.”
The instant Tane turned, waving his big sword, Laylah knew there was trouble.
A suspicion that was swiftly confirmed as she sensed a portal opening in the cavern overhead.
“Laylah, run,” Tane gritted, moving to place himself between her and the tunnel where they entered.
For once, Laylah wasn’t going to argue.
As much as she might hate leaving Tane in danger, he had forced her to realize that the child came first. She had taken on the duty to protect Maluhia from his enemies.
She couldn’t waver. Not even when the thought of abandoning Tane was like a dagger through her heart.
Unfortunately, she was no match for vampire speed.
Even as she sprinted toward the opening, she was stumbling to a halt as a blast of frigid air hit her with the force of a blow.
Marika.
Looking like she’d just stepped off the pages of Vogue, the beautiful vampire stepped into the cavern, her dark hair cascading down her back with perfect curls and her slender body attired in black silk slacks and matching top. Hell, she was even wearing black heels.
“She’s not going anywhere,” the vampire purred, holding up a slender hand as Sergei and a copper-haired Sylvermyst suddenly appeared behind her. “Not when I’ve gone to such trouble to arrange this long overdue family reunion.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied Laylah, then her gaze snapped toward Laylah’s inner arm that now carried the mark of her mating with Tane. “What have you done, child?”
There was a rush of air as Tane moved to stand directly in Marika’s path.
“Laylah, go.”
Marika growled, her dark eyes smoldering as she stabbed a finger toward Laylah.
“Take a step and Sergei will destroy your mate.”
Laylah snorted. At least Marika wasn’t stupid enough to threaten to kill the massive vampire herself. Even Laylah could sense Tane would crush her with little effort.
“Don’t listen to her.” Tane pointed his sword directly at the mage who turned a pasty shade of gray. “I intend to cut out the mage’s heart and shove it down his throat.”
Laylah licked her lips, a crazy idea forming in the back of her mind.
She didn’t have Tane’s raw power, or her aunt’s evil cunning, but she did know all about survival against the odds. And sometimes crazy was all she had.
“How can I ignore her?” she mocked, ignoring Tane’s furious glare. Instead she deliberately glanced down at the child in her arms. “You sound like a broken record, Auntie Marika. First my mother and now my mate. If you want me, why don’t you just come and get me?”
The dark eyes predictably flared with fury. Really, the female was embarrassingly easy to provoke.
“Bitch.”
Marika flowed forward, but Laylah had already scoped out her escape route.
Trusting that Tane would buy her time, Laylah hauled ass toward the small tunnel at the back of the cavern.
Swinging his sword, Tane forced Marika to dance backward as Laylah disappeared down a small passageway.
She hissed in frustration, chopping her hand through the air. Tane felt a stinging pain and he glanced down to discover a deep gash marring his chest. It wasn’t an unusual talent in vampires and, thankfully, Marika’s power wasn’t capable of more than flesh wounds, but it briefly weakened his sword arm.
He tossed the sword to the other hand, but the vampire was already slipping past him in pursuit of Laylah. He turned to follow, only to grunt in shock when he found himself flying through the air and slamming into the wall of the cave. He dropped the sword as he was held with crushing force against the cold rocks.
Goddamn magic.
“Release me, mage,” he roared, his voice causing the Sylvermyst to bolt in terror and Sergei to sway in fear. “Or I swear you will regret it for all of eternity.”
“I regret the moment I ever met Marika, vampire,” the mage said, his voice thick with sincerity. “There’s nothing you could threaten me with that would be worse than what she would do to me if I betrayed her again.”
Tane bit back the urge to explain in detail just how wrong the mage was. The things he could do would give the mage nightmares for an eternity.
Instead he opted for the good cop routine. Hey, it worked on CSI Miami.
“Then let’s negotiate what I can offer you.”
Sergei nervously glanced around the empty cavern. “I’m listening,” he at last said.
“What do you want?” “Marika dead.” “Done.”
He shifted, a sly glint replacing the terror in his eyes. “And the child?”
Tane swallowed a growl. “Out of the question.”
“It’s no good to you. Without my ability to release it from the stasis spell it’s nothing more than a paperweight.”
Tane strained against the invisible bonds that held him, desperate to rip out the throat of the mage before hunting down Marika and chopping off her head.
“What do you intend to do with it?”
“Are you kidding?” The mage regarded him in genuine shock at the question. “That brat would be worth a fortune to me on the black market. I could finally retire in the luxury I intend to become accustomed to.”
Now that was unexpected.
Tane frowned. “You don’t intend to resurrect the Dark
