"No. You will return to your team, and you will listen to what they plan. I will do the same. Tomorrow we will share what we have learned and decide our course of action. The gods think to divide us, but we will not allow them to succeed. Will we?"
A slight hesitation before Zane gave a stiff nod.
When the vampire stalked away, Layel glanced in the direction of the waterfall. His hour had passed. Was Delilah waiting for him? Perhaps she frolicked in the lapping water even now, naked and glistening. The stray thought arose, an image of exactly that forming, and he was halfway there before he realized what he was doing.
CHAPTER 10
ALYSSA HAD SPENT the night searching both the Inner and Outer cities with Shivawn, flying from one to the other - or galloping atop a centaur, in Shivawn's case. Not once had he spoken a single word to her. Not in all their hours together.
Frustration rode her hard, sinking sharp claws into every part of her body. They were now on their way back to Valerian's palace. She could see it on the horizon, a towering stone and crystal monstrosity atop a steep cliff. Shivawn was still perched on a centaur and she kept pace beside him, floating rather than walking or riding. There were three benefits to this: he was always within her view. If she walked, she would have stumbled. And no centaur would have allowed her on his back without a fierce argument she didn't have the fortitude for.
A group of minotaurs and griffins raced past them, headed into the Outer City. They were laughingly chasing a pretty white unicorn. Had Alyssa any spare time, she would have joined them and tried to capture the horned stallion. A wish would come in handy right about now.
"Your king will not be pleased," she said, to break the silence and distract herself. No, that wasn't entirely true. She craved his voice as much as she craved his touch. Surely if she spoke first, he would follow suit. "All we learned was that two creatures of nearly every race disappeared in the blink of an eye. Nothing more. Valerian will desire the reason."
Shivawn gave no reply.
Sandy braids flapped around his temples. He appeared as cold in profile as he did from the front. But he was only cold with her. In the cities, he had flirted outrageously with the women. He had been charming, full of smiles and laughter.
Only one night had he been anything other than cold with Alyssa. Only one night had he been white-hot....
She shivered, remembering.
He growled low in his throat. "Wipe those thoughts from your mind, woman. Now."
The sound of his voice startled her, much as she'd been craving it. "Wh-what thoughts?" He couldn't know she was visualizing their night together, his body slipping and sliding inside of hers...sweeping her high, so high...Oh, the pleasure...
"Sex. Bodies. Straining." Pause. "Us."
Her eyes rounded. "How did you know?" Then her cheeks colored at what she had just confirmed.
"I can smell your desire," he said with disgust.
Disgust? "That offends you?" she all but snarled.
"You are not my mate, woman. Wanting me will bring you nothing but pain."
She would be wise to listen to him. Wanting him had brought her satisfaction only once and, as he predicted, pain many times. But..."You can't know that I'm not - "
"Yes," he said firmly, "I can."
Her pride meant nothing in the face of an answer. "How can you know? Beyond any doubt?" Surely she would not have desired him this strongly if they were not meant to be together. Surely she would be able to consume someone else's blood.
"I would sense it and be...unable to take another."
Unlike her, he was strong, so of course he had had other lovers since their night together. Nymphs weakened without sex. "You've had others?" she found herself asking anyway.
A terse nod.
She wanted to vomit. She had been with no one else, had hoped he would come only to her to renew his strength. "I would have helped you."
"I did not want you."
Her stomach churned with more of that horrible sickness. Did she like being hurt? It would seem so, as she continued to invite him to cut down her feminine pride. "I could kill every woman you've touched. You know that, yes?"
He stiffened, every muscle in his body going taut. And though she could only see his profile, she glimpsed the hatred rippling under the surface of his cheeks. Saw the