her to the punch.
“Because Jaelyn took her blood.”
“Blood?” Styx regarded her as with a hint of wonder. “From the Dark Lord?”
Jaelyn shuddered, only now realizing that she could still feel the echoes of power from the blood.
“Trust me, it was an act of desperation.”
“An act of incredible courage,” the Anasso corrected with a faint dip of his head.
“So why would taking her blood keep the Dark Lord from passing into this world?” Salvatore asked the question on everyone’s lips.
Including Jaelyn’s.
“The child was created to hold the soul of the Dark Lord, but to have a unique enough essence so that the Phoenix wouldn’t recognize it when it moved through the barrier.” He shrugged. “After all, that’s what keeps the Dark Lord on the other side. So long as the Chalice holds the goddess of light, the darkness remains banished.”
Styx furrowed his brow. “So when Jaelyn drained her of blood?” he prompted.
“She stole the life of the symbiont.”
“No.” Salvatore shook his head. “From what I could see it was very much alive and very pissed off.”
“The Dark Lord survives,” Ariyal agreed, “but now he has no more than an empty shell that is incapable of travel from world to world.”
Styx studied Ariyal with a searching gaze. “So that’s the end?”
Ariyal shrugged. “For now.”
Jaelyn studied him in amazement.
Gorgeous, lethal, and now brilliant.
Suddenly her aching desire for a hot bath and a soft bed evaporated.
All she wanted was to get this Sylvermyst alone so she could ravish him in private.
“We’ll finish this later,” she announced, sending her mate a smile that had him scooping her off her feet and heading toward the nearest exit.
Styx growled in annoyance. .“But ...”
“Later,” Ariyal snapped. “Much, much later.”
A week later
In a lair south of Chicago
The two-story brick farmhouse with white shutters and a wraparound porch was as picturesque as it was isolated.
Perched on a bluff that overlooked the Mississippi River, it was surrounded by acres of meadows filled with wildflowers and patches of woods that were as necessary to fey as plenty of fresh air to breathe. And far enough from the main road to prevent all but the most determined trespassers.
Inside, the house had been modified to please the most demanding vampire. The tinted windows allowed the sun-challenged to move around the house no matter what time of day or night. The rooms were large and the furniture a charming mixture of antiques and modern that was chosen for comfort rather than fashion. And of course reinforced to withstand the love play between a newly mated vampire and Sylvermyst.
It was, as far as Ariyal and Jaelyn were concerned, a little slice of heaven.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t entirely ignore the world outside their secluded lair.
Ariyal’s tribe was settled throughout the countryside, often bringing their squabbles to Ariyal to settle or just stopping by to request his opinion on various decisions they were about to make.
Jaelyn never complained. Not even when they interrupted a romantic evening she’d planned, down to his favorite dinner ... a pair of edible undies.
His people were slowly healing beneath his patient leadership, and for the first time since Jaelyn had met Ariyal, he wasn’t burdened by the guilt that had been slowly destroying him.
And then there had been the visits from Styx and Salvatore.
The two kings had been impervious to Ariyal’s distinct lack of welcome as they had grilled him and Jaelyn on their time in the mists, as if telling the story over and over would somehow reveal what the Dark Lord might be plotting.
Not that she blamed them.
She was as anxious as anyone to find a way to rescue Cassandra and Caine from the mists. Not just because she wouldn’t leave anyone to the tender mercies of the Dark Lord, even if they were Weres. But because it was too dangerous to leave a true prophet in the hands of their enemy.
And of course, there had been the disturbing news that Gaius, the vampire who’d given his loyalty to the Dark Lord, was an Immortal One who was able to travel through the veils separating worlds.
Which meant that even if the Dark Lord was prevented from entering this dimension for now, he was able to send his minion to do his bidding.
Not the most comforting thought.
It all combined to keep them from having the private honeymoon that they had once hoped to enjoy.
A damned shame, she acknowledged, wanting nothing more than to spend the rest of the night in bed with her delectable fey.
Instead she was forced to pull on a pair