hint of his emotions, his teeth elongated and sharpened. He must be furious, she thought with a smug inner grin, for the man did not like to be reminded of the woman he had loved and lost.
"Best you watch your tongue, demon," he said softly. "Before you lose it."
Her head canted to the side, her own teeth lengthening. "Best you recall whom you are threatening."
The blue of his eyes sparked with flecks of red. "You do not want a war between our people, and you are very close to beginning one."
Marina dragged in a frustrated breath. If she wasn't careful, he would leave, and she would be forced to find her slave on her own. Forced to battle Darius and his dragon army alone, because she wanted control of the portal. Badly.
If only she still possessed Dunamis, she would not need Layel or anyone else. She would know exactly what battle plan would work, would know exactly what her enemy planned.
Oh, how she cursed the jewel's loss!
She did not like this feeling of helplessness. She liked even less the necessity of catering to another creature - especially the seductive and enigmatic Layel.
"We both know you hate Darius," she said, padding a few steps away from him. His closeness unnerved her. She watched as trees swayed against the breeze. "He killed your lover, and you have never had revenge."
Layel didn't answer for a long while. When he did, his features were blank, revealing no emotion, but his voice was thick with dry amusement. "Such subtlety warms my heart. Truly it does."
"You do not have a heart."
"True," he said, his amusement richer. "Tell me something. Why do you wish to travel to the surface? You are a queen, and you possess everything you could ever wish."
"Are you truly so foolish you do not know?"
When he made no reply, she added, "Think of it. On the surface, we will be the gods. Not kings and queens, but gods who are worshipped and revered. Humans will be forced to obey our every command and we will drink from their bodies anytime we desire, no longer reliant on animals to sustain us."
"You would risk the gods' wrath for dessert?" He tsked under his tongue. "Silly demon. Can you truly be so foolish?"
As the sound of his renewed amusement echoed from the forest, her irritation with him intensified. Bastard. Could he not see the rightness of her fantasy? "You know as well as I that there is nothing sweeter than human blood."
"I have done without for so long, I hardly remember the taste."
She tried another line of persuasion. "Have you ever longed to fly until you see nothing but heaven? I have. Here, we never reach anything but crystal and water. I crave freedom, Layel. True freedom." Never mind she repeated the same words her slave girl always gave her. This was different. This was her desire.
Several moments dragged by in silence. Layel liked doing that, liked making her wait for his response. Patience was not part of her nature, and waiting now, when the matter held such importance, proved impossible. "On the surface, you can seduce a thousand human women if that is your desire. You can find another human to love," she added on a whispery catch of breath.
His lips dipped into a wistful frown, giving his features a lethal kind of beauty. In that moment, she knew that she had him. Knew that he would help her in any way necessary.
With a conscious effort, she kept the blaze of triumph from her expression. "Together, we can control the portal. Together," she added, "we can destroy Darius and his army and get inside his palace. That is where the portal resides, isn't it?"
He nodded, one slow decline of his chin.
"Fire kills you. My demons are impervious to it. And your vampires can do things we cannot. Darius will never be able to fight both our armies at the same time."
Utter silence reigned for several long moments.
Her fists clenched as she awaited his answer.
"Very well," he said smoothly, as if he hadn't kept her waiting. He nodded again. "I will help you."
"You will not regret this decision." That was the truth, for a dead man could not regret anything. Once Layel no longer proved useful... She grinned. "From this day forward, let it be known vampires and demons are allies."
His lips pursed, but he didn't deny her words. "My spies saw the human male and a female slave headed for Javar's palace."
She crossed her arms