to throb in the center of his being was enough to tell him Tayla was gone.
“You left her in here?” Char asked, as if Baine had somehow forgotten where he’d stashed the beautiful imp.
“Yes.”
“Where did she go?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Baine snapped, the beast inside him desperate to get out and hunt down the female who he considered his own. Pacing around a large chest filled with precious rubies, he came to an abrupt halt. “Here,” he muttered, bending down to touch the floor. He could feel the magic that lingered from a powerful spell. “A portal.”
Char made a strangled sound of disbelief. “No demon can create a portal into the treasure room of a dragon.”
“Clearly one did,” Baine muttered, even as he silently agreed with his companion.
There was no way any creature should have been capable of creating an opening into his lair. Let alone into this heavily spelled area. It was simply inconceivable.
Sifting through the threads of magic, he released a startled breath. The portal had been made by an imp.
“Tayla.” With an abrupt movement Baine was straightening, his brows snapping together. None of it made sense. Not unless… “Shit.” Baine shook his head, wondering how the hell he could have been so blind. “That’s it.”
Char moved to stand at his side. “What’s it?”
“I’ve been an idiot.” Baine slashed his hand through the air, ripping open a portal that would allow him to follow his aggravating female. “Let’s go.”
###
Tayla wondered what’d happened to her.
For years and years, she’d been a sober, hardworking business owner who kept a low profile and avoided any risk.
Now she was clearly suicidal.
What else would explain her refusal to wait in Baine’s treasure room as she’d been commanded?
She had, after all, promised to pay her father’s debt. In fact, she’d rubbed in her acceptance of her duty to the point that she’d actually managed to hurt Baine’s pride. A knowledge that oddly filled her with an aching regret.
But while she might have asked for his angry reaction, she’d refused to remain in his hoard simply waiting for him to seek her out when he decided he wanted her back in his bed. They needed to talk. She needed to explain that…
Well, she wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but she wasn’t going to wait around to say it.
So, she’d opened a portal to follow him, only to overhear his conversation with Char.
She’d briefly forgotten her tangled emotions, her annoyance with Baine, and even her fear at being discovered by the trolls. Levet and her father were in danger.
She had to do something to save them.
Memorizing the spot Char had pointed to on the map, she’d formed a portal to the mountainous castle. No surprise that it’d been an ugly gray monstrosity that served as an impenetrable fortress. Her luck wasn’t good enough for her destination to be an elegant spa where she could have a nice facial and massage after she’d managed to rescue Odel.
Creeping as close to the sixteen-foot stone walls as she dared, she’d created another portal that opened into the lowest level of the inner tower.
Then, terrified she was going to be caught at any second, she’d crept through the dark dungeons until she at last caught the unmistakable scent of granite.
Levet.
Glancing around to make sure there were no guards nearby, she found a piece of wire that’d been dropped on the ground and quickly picked the heavy lock. Her father hadn’t taught her much over the years, but he had insisted she know how to spot counterfeit money, how to cry on cue, and how to pick a lock.
None of it had been of any use.
Until this moment.
As quietly as possible, she pushed the heavy door open, her choking fear easing as the tiny demon jumped off the narrow cot and waddled toward her.
“Mon dieu,” Levet breathed, his wings quivering with shock. “How did you get in here?”
Tayla frowned. Had the poor thing been dropped on his head? How did he think an imp had managed to enter a heavily guarded troll stronghold?
“I made a portal.” She spoke slowly. Just in case his brain was addled.
Levet blinked. “Here?”
Yep. It had to be a blow to the head.
“Why not?”
“There is a layer of dampening magic wrapped around the castle,” the gargoyle pointed out, staring at her as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle. “I have been unable to produce so much as a fireball.”
Tayla shrugged. “As I have said, I have a talent for creating