Darkness Avenged (Guardians of Eternity) Page 0,126
death after her battle with the spirit.
Twelve hours, sixteen minutes, and thirty seconds.
That was how long she’d been unconscious. He’d counted every tick of the clock as he stood guard by her bed. He wasn’t going through that again.
Period.
“Why now?” he growled.
Styx shrugged. “I think we can safely assume that you’ve fulfilled your part in Cassie’s vision.”
“No shit,” he muttered before giving a shake of his head. “I can’t leave yet. Sally is still weak.”
“She seemed fine earlier this evening,” Styx said, his expression suspiciously bland. “In fact, she came to me to ask for permission to go.”
Roke’s muscles clenched. Sally had gone to Styx behind his back?
She was his mate.
Any discussion of when they would leave and where they would go would be between the two of them.
“She’s a female who too often thinks on impulse rather than reason,” he said stiffly.
Styx narrowed his eyes. “All the more reason to get on with finding a way to break the mating.”
Roke barely swallowed his growl. “I won’t drag a barely conscious female around the countryside without even a clue to where we should start.”
“Very well,” Styx unexpectedly conceded, his smile worrisome. “Then perhaps you want to return to your clan? Sally is welcome to stay here.”
“Don’t even . . .” Roke forgot how to speak as his connection to Sally was abruptly stretched. Just like that. One minute she’d been upstairs and the next she was halfway across the country. “Shit.”
Shoving his way through the crowd, Roke hit the hallway at a dead run.
“What’s wrong?” Styx demanded, easily keeping pace as Roke headed up the stairs.
“Sally.”
“Is she hurt?”
“She’s gone.”
“Gone?” Styx’s power rattled the paintings on the wall. “Impossible.”
Roke turned down the hall leading to Sally’s private rooms. “I know when my mate has disappeared.”
“She could never have gotten past the guards,” Styx growled, tossing aside the unfortunate vampire who stepped out of his room to see what was going on.
“She’s a witch,” Roke reminded him, torn between anger and concern. There was nothing in their bond to indicate she was afraid or hurt. Which meant that she’d probably plotted this abrupt departure. Still, that didn’t mean she wasn’t in danger. Dammit. He should have locked her in the dungeons. “A very powerful witch.”
“The house has been hexed to prevent magic,” Styx argued, clearly disturbed by the thought that anyone could slip past his defenses.
“She did not use magic,” an aggravatingly familiar voice said as the tiny gargoyle stepped out of Sally’s room.
“Levet, now isn’t the time,” Roke snarled, needing to locate Sally’s trail so he could begin the hunt.
“You will desire to hear what I have to say,” Levet insisted. “I know where Sally is.”
Roke halted, reaching down to grasp the gargoyle by the horn. He lifted him until they were eye to eye. “Where?”
The fairy wings fluttered in protest, but the gargoyle was smart enough not to press Roke’s temper.
“I do not know the precise location.”
The floor rumbled beneath their feet. “Levet, unless you want to become a wall ornament, you’ll tell me exactly what you know.” A hall table tumbled sideways, smashing the priceless vase into a thousand pieces. “Now!”
“She asked Yannah to help her escape,” Levet said, his voice several octaves higher than usual.
“Escape?” Roke’s brows snapped together. “She was a guest, not a prisoner.”
“Maybe she did not recognize the distinction.”
Roke dropped the beast, disliking the guilt that sliced through his heart.
He’d only been trying to protect her.
Hadn’t he?
Thrusting aside the worthless questions, he forced himself to swallow his pride. He could feel Sally, but she was too distant to pinpoint her direction.
“Can you follow them?” he forced himself to ask the gargoyle.
“Sally? Sadly no.” Levet wrinkled his tiny snout. “But Yannah. Oui. I can follow.”
“Good. We’ll take my bike.”
Styx reached out to grab his arm. “Roke.”
“What?” he snapped, not bothering to hide his impatience. Every minute apart was another minute that Sally could be hurt.
“Be careful. And call if you need me.”
Call? Not a chance in hell.
Once he got his hands on his missing mate they were heading directly for his clan in Nevada.
“I can handle my mate,” he said dryly.
Styx’s sharp laugh echoed through the hall. “Ah, the most common mistake made by every male of every species.” He pressed his hands together, doing his best Master Po from Kung Fu. “You’ll learn, young grasshopper. You’ll learn.”
Roke rolled his eyes, heading down the hall. “Let’s go, gargoyle.”
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”