Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity) (27 page)

Instead, Caine turned his head to glance over her shoulder, his half-formed paws lifting to expose his razor-sharp claws.

Now what? Cassie cautiously moved so she could keep an eye on Caine as well as the stirring fog behind her. Whatever was coming was enough of a threat to make Caine crouch in preparation of battle.

Then she caught the distant scent of vampire. A vampire she recognized.

Perfect.

Just freaking perfect.

There was another swirl of fog before the thick shroud parted to reveal the dark-haired leech who had brought them to this hellhole.

“Gaius,” she breathed, the word a curse.

Coming to a halt, the vampire offered a small dip of his head. “Seer.”

“You bastard.” She fisted her hands, wishing she had the strength to rip out his unbeating heart. “This is all your fault.”

A dark brow arched at the accusation. “It was Dolf ’s spell that turned your protector into that”—he waved a hand toward the watchful Caine—“monstrosity.”

“On your command.”

“Not mine,” the vampire denied, his pale face oddly stripped of its previous arrogance. “And you will be happy to know that Dolf ’s been suitably punished.” He took a step forward. “He suffered one of the most gruesome deaths I’ve ever witnessed.”

Caine growled, his fierce gaze shifting between Cassie and Gaius. No doubt deciding which one of them he wanted to kill first.

“Stay back,” Cassie snapped, covertly angling herself to stand between Gaius and Caine.

Ridiculous, of course. One or the other was bound to kill her, but she’d be damned if she let the vampire hurt Caine.

The vampire obviously found her protective urges equally incongruous. “Isn’t there a human saying about being between a rock and a hard place?” he asked with a sneer, giving a wave of his hand toward the growling Caine.

Cassie hissed as the air shimmered with a curtain of power that hung between her and the suddenly infuriated Were.

“What have you done?” she demanded, flinching as Caine charged the nearly invisible obstruction only to bounce backward with a startled snarl.

Clearly pissed off, Caine shook off his pain and attempted to break through once again. And again. And again.

Cassie pressed her hand to her lips as he crashed into the impenetrable wall over and over, his patchy fur becoming coated with blood, and his face contorted with frustration. At last, maddened by his inability to reach his prey, he tilted back his head to howl with the promise of death.

“It’s a temporary barrier,” Gaius said with a grimace, instinctively stepping away from the deranged beast. “It will only last a few minutes so we must speak quickly.”

Cassie turned to glare at the vampire. “You have nothing to say that I want to hear.”

“Don’t be so certain.”

Something in his icy voice made Cassie swallow her words of searing hatred, regarding him with a wary suspicion. “What do you want?”

“The Dark Lord sent me.”

She rolled her eyes. Was that supposed to be a big shocker? “No doubt to kill me?” she muttered.

Gaius shrugged. “Actually, you’re supposed to be dead already.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“I’m not the one you disappointed.”

Cassie frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

The vampire smoothed a hand down his once elegant suit jacket now coated in dust and torn in several places. “I assume you were foolish enough to share a prophecy that annoyed the Dark Lord?”

Like she had a choice?

She hunched her shoulder. “I have no control over the visions.”

“What did you see?”

“Hope.”

He made a choked sound, wise enough to comprehend the power of that one word. “Ah. A dangerous viewing.” An expression of aching despair touched his pale face before his frigid composure was slammed back into place. “No wonder the Dark Lord was anxious to be rid of you.”

She studied the vampire with a growing confusion. What did he want from her?

A promise the Dark Lord would be successful in returning to the world? A vision of his own?

An opportunity to torment her before she was killed?

“My death won’t alter the future.”

“Alter? Perhaps not.” He seemed to consider his words. “But it might tilt the balance.”

Cassie waved aside his words. The future was in the future. She was far more concerned with the present. “Is that why the Dark Lord wants me dead?”

A humorless smile touched his lips. “The mistress doesn’t need a reason to want you dead. It’s enough that you no longer serve a purpose.”

True enough. So why hadn’t he struck the killing blow? Was it possible his commitment to his evil mistress was fading? And if it was, why?

No. It didn’t matter why. All that mattered was how she could exploit his wavering loyalty.

“And what about you?”

“Me?”

“Do you still serve a purpose?”

The lean face was closed, unreadable. “My command is to bring the Were to the Dark Lord.”

Oh, gods. Cassie glanced over her shoulder at Caine, who paced with obvious agitation behind the barrier, his eyes smoldering with a mindless violence. If the Dark Lord wanted him, it couldn’t be for any good reason.

“Why?”

“She has the child.”

Lost in her fear for Caine, it took Cassie a second to realize the full extent of the vampire’s words.

The Alpha.

It was here even after her attempt to send a warning to Styx. Did that mean all was lost?

“‘
And through the mist reunited . . .
’” she quoted in numb tones.

Gaius nodded. “Precisely.”

Cassie struggled not to panic. It couldn’t be too late. She refused to concede defeat.

At last she forced her stiff lips to move. “She’s become the Gemini?”

Gaius gave a lift of his shoulder, his gaze returning to Caine. “The ceremony will be completed once she has a suitable sacrifice.”

Cassie tensed. No. No. No. Shifting until she stood directly between the vampire and Caine, she prepared to fight to the death.

There was no way in hell the Dark Lord was going to use Caine to unleash her perverted hordes on the world.

“No.”

Gaius returned his attention to her, the dark gaze studying her resolute expression. “The choice is not yours.”

“Maybe not, but do you think you can defeat both of us?” she bluffed.

“I’m not powerless.”

She spread her legs, her body poised for attack. “Neither am I.”

The vampire looked more curious than angered by her defiance. “You intend to protect him even though he just tried to kill you?”

Cassie didn’t hesitate. “Of course. What would you do to protect your mate?”

That bleak despair returned to the dark eyes as Gaius seemed to be overwhelmed by some unwelcomed memory. “Sell my soul.”

Cassie took a hesitant step forward, the vague hope returning at the vampire’s hint of emotion. A creature who felt that deeply couldn’t be completely evil.

“I’m not the only one between a rock and a hard place, am I?” she asked softly.

He stiffened, belatedly realizing that he’d revealed more than he intended. “It’s too late.”

“It’s never too late.” She took another step forward, her expression unabashedly pleading. What did she care about pride? She’d crawl on her knees and kiss the damned vampire’s feet if he could use his powers to get them out of the fog. “Help us.”

He gave a short, humorless laugh. “You believe I can be reformed after all these centuries?”

Did she?

Cassie grimaced. Why hadn’t she honed her lying skills? It seemed every time she turned around she needed to tell one fib or another.

Now she could only shrug and hedge around the truth. “My vision offered hope. For all of us.” She held out a slender hand, a sudden shiver inching down her spine. “Please.”

There was a long silence and Cassie was forced to bite her tongue as the sense of urgency pulsed through her. Something was coming. Something bad.

But Gaius was skittish enough without her pressing him.

After what felt like an eternity, he at last muttered a low curse. “I am bound to regret this.”

Cassie didn’t have time to feel relief. Not when the heavy sense of approaching doom was thickening the air until she couldn’t breathe.

“Can you get us out of here?” she rasped.

The vampire clutched the pendant hung around his neck. “Yes.”

He closed his eyes, as if concentrating on his powers, at the same moment a singsong voice sliced through the air.

“Gaius.” The approaching female purred, a searing heat blasting against Cassie and nearly sending her to her feet. “Where are you, you naughty vampire?”

Caine tilted back his head to howl, whether in fury or fear it was impossible to say. Gaius, on the other hand, kept his eyes tightly shut, a shaken expression on his pale face.

“
Cristo
,” he muttered. “We are out of time.”

“Concentrate,” Cassie urged, gritting her teeth as blisters began to form on her skin and Caine whined in sudden pain.

In answer, Gaius grasped her arm in a punishing grip. Cassie flinched before she realized that the world was beginning to fade to black.

“No . . .” She struggled to break from his grasp. “I won’t leave without Caine.”

Gaius scowled, refusing to release her. “Are you insane? He’ll kill you. If the Dark Lord doesn’t manage to do it for him.”

“I don’t care.” She grimly yanked herself free, immediately returning to the fog and searing hot agony. “I won’t leave without him.”

“Stupid dogs,” Gaius muttered, giving a wave of his hand.

The barrier was removed, but the pulsing heat had driven Caine to his knees, making his animal cower in pain.

Thank the gods.

Moving to crouch at his side, she held out her hand toward Gaius.

“She’s coming,” she warned the vampire as he appeared to hesitate.

Like he couldn’t feel the jagged shards of power for himself.

Then, with a resigned shake of his head, he grasped her outstretched hand and the darkness once again began to form like a bubble around them.

In the distance, Cassie heard a shriek that nearly shattered her eardrums.

“No. What are you doing, you fool?” The fog parted to reveal the slender young female with eyes that glowed with a fiery crimson. “You will not escape me.”

The darkness continued to thicken, but not swiftly enough. Cassie quivered as the female was flowing through the mists, her pretty face twisted with an unholy fury.

With a speed that was nearly too swift to follow, she was at their side, shoving her arm into the rift that Gaius was forming and grabbing the vampire by his hair.

“Gaius,” Cassie breathed in terror, feeling the bubble begin to falter.

The vampire’s dark eyes widened with a bone-deep fear, but surprisingly, he gave her a shove toward the center of the rift.

“Go,” he commanded.

Cassie wavered, realizing in astonishment that the vampire intended to sacrifice himself to save them.

But why? Hadn’t he been the one to hunt them down, torture Caine with the cur’s hideous spell, and then haul them to this mysterious dimension so he could offer them to the Dark Lord?

Why would he betray his mistress now?

The question had barely formed when it was crushed beneath a powerful vision that blasted through her mind. She groaned. The vivid image was there and gone before she could fully process it, but she did comprehend enough to know that it was a warning.

Not for her. But for the vampire who was being yanked out of the rift by the infuriated Dark Lord.

“Gaius, listen to me,” she shouted over the evil deity’s screams of frustration. “A face, no matter how familiar, can be a lie.”

His head was bent backward, blood running down his forehead, but he managed to send her a puzzled frown. “What?”

“Don’t trust your eyes.”

Still regarding her with confusion, Gaius was sharply jerked out of the bubble and tossed aside. Cassie caught a glimpse of him lying in an unconscious heap before the arm was shoved back into the contracting darkness, reaching toward Caine.

“I will not be denied my sacrifice,” the Dark Lord snarled.

Clearly sensing the danger, Caine growled low in his throat, his teeth bared. The female ignored the threat, grabbing Caine by the scruff of his contorted neck.

Cassie wasn’t certain if the Dark Lord assumed Caine was incapable of hurting her, or if she thought she was the big-bad scary and nothing had the courage to fight back.

Whatever her logic, she grossly underestimated the level of Caine’s crazy. Even as her fingers dug into his fur, the frantic Were turned his head to sink his teeth deep into her forearm.

Cassie wasn’t foolish enough to believe that Caine could truly hurt the powerful creature, but he did provide a distraction. No doubt the only one they were going to get. Which meant escape was now or never.

Without giving herself time to think, Cassie rushed forward, taking full advantage of the element of surprise as she slammed her body straight into Caine.

Her intention had merely been to knock him away from the Dark Lord. After that . . . well, the truth was that she didn’t really have a plan.

But her unexpected attack made Caine stumble awkwardly, his teeth ripping deep gouges in the Dark Lord’s arm as he fell backward. In the same motion, he wrapped a thickly muscled arm around Cassie’s waist, pulling her down with him.

There was another screech from the Dark Lord as the darkness flowed around them, sucking them through the still open rift.

Cassie groaned as Caine’s claws dug into her back, but there was no breaking away from his ruthless grip as they fell through the empty space. Besides, she didn’t want to get free.

For the moment they were falling farther and farther from the infuriated Dark Lord.

She didn’t care where they were going.

It had to be better than where they were.

The middle of nowhere, Illinois

After running nonstop for the past two hours, Styx came to a sharp halt in the center of the narrow road, which was rapidly being overtaken by weeds. In silence, he studied the empty factory that was shrouded in shadows.