Right now, warriors stalked the parapet of the palace, guarding, watching all that happened below them. With his extraordinary vision, Layel saw them as clearly as if they were pacing directly in front of him. Twelve armored men, perfectly muscled, perfectly bronzed. But they did not possess the telltale golden eyes of the dragons.
His brow quirked to his hairline, and he began to notice another odd detail. Usually dragons flew overhead at all hours. Today, this moment, there was no sky guard. Only a soft, amber glow from the crystal.
Everything was falling smoothly into place. He grinned slowly.
Weeks ago, Layel had casually mentioned to the nymph king that Javar's palace was without a leader, that Darius had left an army of hatchlings in charge. Valerian must have immediately gathered his forces and ambushed the palace, claiming it as his own. For it was the nymphs who walked the parapet this dawning, their bodies bronzed and muscled to perfection, their hair as silky as satin, their faces so luminous they glowed brighter than the dome above.
Word of this victory had yet to spread, for not even he had known. Satisfaction filled him, then dimmed with a single thought. The female slave stolen from Marina probably knew. She knew everything. He himself had owned her for a brief time, so he knew her abilities very well.
Would the slave tell anyone of this? Would she reveal his own plans? Would she come here?
No, he decided in the next instant. If she told anyone, she would have to reveal exactly who and what she was, and she would be taken prisoner, a circumstance she would avoid at all cost. She would shun the nymphs just as she shunned the demons. They were a powerfully sensual race, dangerously erotic, and they enthralled everything female. Enslaved them body and soul, until all a woman thought about, all she craved, was her nymph.
Layel's plans were not in jeopardy.
His smug gaze strayed to Marina. The queen would never be allowed inside the palace - and thanks to the nymphs, he didn't have to prowl his mind for a reason they should not enter. He'd led the bitch here under false pretenses, buying time.
No matter what happened, no matter what he had to do, he would make sure Marina never claimed the slave girl again. Too much was at stake.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, the demon bitch rode her horse to his side, its hooves pounding into the ground. She'd stolen the beast from a Gorgon village - after she'd eaten its master. The animal ground to a halt.
Marina's thin, sheer wings flapped behind her like a gossamer cloak, the only elegant part of her hideous, horned body. "Those men do not look like dragons, they look like nymphs. Nymph warriors." Her eyesight was as good as his own, if not better.
"That they do," he said, trying not to allow himself another smile. "They must have fought the dragons and taken possession. Do you think they heard about the portals and want them for themselves?"
She gasped. "That's exactly why they're here. I'd stake my life on it." He'd stake her life on it, too. Happily.
"How dare they?" she screeched. "The portals are mine. Mine!"
"Keep your voice down." Not that he cared, but he had to act the part of concerned friend. "You know how sensitive their hearing is. And don't you mean ours?"
"What if they now have my slave, as well as control of the portal?" Panic crested her voice to a high, deafening pitch. "You said she would come here, that the human would need the portal to return home."
"They do not have the girl. Otherwise, a thousand warriors would have been waiting for us here."
"You're right" She loosed her viselike hold on me reins, an air of superiority forming around her. "I don't care who is inside that palace. We ride. If they try to keep the portal for themselves, I'll kill them. And their children."
Before he could utter another word, she leapt into action, and Layel was forced to follow. "Forward," he called, and their armies sprang into a ran. His vampires could move faster than the blink of an eye, but they kept a steady pace beside the demons. They knew him well and would not fly into full attack without his express permission.
Both demons and vampires sprinted through the open field, headed toward the towering double doors. This was foolish, he knew it was, but if nothing