phylactery."
"Then we shall simply have to get to it before he does," he answered, lifting my chin until my lips brushed his. "We must get you into the vault before Magoth can summon you and give you a direct order. We will have to share this news with Drake and Aisling-I do not wish to involve them, but without Maata and Tipene to help us, we are in a weak position."
I said nothing, just snuggled into him, savoring the scent and feel of him pressed so closely against me, thinking with irony of the many times I'd comforted Cyrene when one of her romantic relationships had failed. I'd always been somewhat skeptical about heartache, but now I knew the full extent of how a person could feel they were dying inside. Worse, I had no one but myself to blame for my present circumstance-I knew it was folly to become involved with Gabriel so long as I was bound to Magoth. I knew it, and yet I'd ignored the reality of the situation. And now the true price was uncovered as I acknowledged that over the span of just a few days, my emotions had deepened significantly.
I was falling in love. It was an odd sensation, a sort of prickly excitement that alternated with the absolute depths of despair. I'd never felt love before-other than affection for Cyrene-but even that was tinged with a sense of duty because I owed my very existence to her. But Gabriel was different... which would make it all that much more agonizing if I did not find a way out of obeying Magoth's order.
"It is almost morning," Gabriel said, glancing at the clock. He scooped me up and stood, carrying me to the bed. "Magoth cannot assault the L'au-dela vaults himself, can he?"
I shook my head. "He doesn't have the means to leave Abaddon. Even if he did, the Otherworld officials sealed their offices and vaults from the demon lords long ago. Magoth can't get to them himself- he'll need an agent to do that." I almost choked on the last few words, but managed to keep my voice steady.
"As I thought. Then we shall rest. You need sleep, and I must think. We will consult with Drake and Aisling in a few hours."
He lay on his side, pulling me up tight against him, tucking my leg between his as he rested his chin on the top of my head.
I allowed myself to relax into him, seduced by the warmth of his body and the comfort he brought me just by holding me. He was becoming infinitely dear to me, more precious even than my own life. I must find a way out of the situation I was in-Aisling was a demon lord. Rumor said she was once a prince of Abaddon, but had been removed. She would know of a way to get around Magoth's command. She would help me... she had to. The alternative was not to be thought of.
I awoke confused, the echoes of an alarm followed by a man's voice piercing my uneasy slumber.
The door was just closing as I sat up and shook the hair from my face. "Gabriel?"
Our room was empty, but judging by the shouts filtering up from the floor below, I gathered others were up and about.
A woman's scream drifted up. I leaped out of bed, jerked on a pair of pants and a shirt, and went racing barefoot down the hall to the stairs.
Cyrene stood midway down the stairs, holding a blanket around her much as I had a few hours before. Behind her, with his back to me, Kostya stood, clutching her tightly to him. I suspected that from the way everyone else present stood as still as statues on the floor below, he held some sort of a weapon on Cy.
"I'm in deadly earnest, Gabriel. Your mate may be immortal, but even she won't be able to long survive a neck slit from ear to ear."
I shadowed, not waiting to find out why Kostya believed Cyrene was me, creeping down the stairs until I was within a hairsbreadth of him. It was morning, but a dull, overcast morning, and the chandelier that hung from the ceiling above the stairs hadn't been turned on. No one saw me until I was just behind Kostya.
"Mayling, no!" Gabriel yelled, leaping toward me.
Kostya realized his mistake too late, half spinning around toward me as Cyrene lunged forward, tripped over her blanket, and hurtled down the stairs to