Bound By Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #8)(77)
Author: Alexandra Ivy

“He is, but when he died his blood was …” She grimaced, searching for the word she wanted. “Absorbed by the child.”

“Absorbed?”

“There’s no other way to say it.”

He didn’t fully understand what she was talking about, but he could feel the fear that beat through her. Gently laying aside his brother, he rose to his feet, watching as she straightened.

If Jaelyn was scared, then something really bad was going on.

“Where’s the child now?”

“It’s no longer a child.”

“The Dark Lord?”

“Yes.”

“ Damn.”

After everything they’d been through, everything they’d sacrificed, they were still too late.

“What happened?”

“After Tearloch’s death, the wizard became mortal. I didn’t even consider the consequences when I put a bullet through his brain.”

“Jaelyn.” He grasped her face, attempting to ease her rising panic. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not.” She shook her head. “He’s resurrected. Or I guess she is. Or whatever.”

Still trying to sort through her flustered explanation, Ariyal froze at the wash of electricity that suddenly danced over his skin.

“Jaelyn,” a female voice cooed, slicing easily through the fog.

Suddenly he understood his mate’s panic. That voice alone was enough to crush his will to leave.

Jaelyn dug her fingers into his arms, her eyes wide. “Can you get us out of here?”

“Not in this spot,” he admitted. “We need to get back to where we entered.”

“What difference does it make?”

“The barrier was thinner there.” He shrugged, hoping she didn’t realize that he was flying on a wing and a prayer. “I might be able to use a portal to get us out.”

It said a lot about her faith in him that she didn’t hesitate, grabbing his hand to pull him through the fog.

“Let’s go.”

Or maybe it wasn’t faith, he wryly conceded, struggling to keep up with her impressive speed. Maybe it was the fact she was scared spitless and desperate to get away from the monster in the mist.

He didn’t blame her.

His skin felt as if it were being flayed from his body as the Dark Lord’s power spread outward, the air so dense he could barely breathe.

Jaelyn didn’t hesitate as she continued through the disorienting mists, almost as if she knew exactly where she was going.

A relief considering he didn’t have a damned clue. The constantly shifting landscape was screwing with his sense of direction.

He could only hope his ability to open a portal wasn’t similarly affected.

After running what felt like miles, Jaelyn at last began to slow her relentless pace. Then without warning she came to a complete halt.

Not that Ariyal was about to celebrate.

The frown marring her brow warned that she wasn’t stopping because they’d reached their point of entry, and they were about to escape the endless hell of white mist. But because something was troubling her.

Glancing over her shoulder she rubbed her arms, as if struck by a sudden chill.

“Is it my imagination or is the fog getting thicker?”

He studied their surroundings, his heart sinking. “It’s not your imagination.”

She growled in frustration; then they both stiffened as they caught the faintest scent weave through the air.

“Do you smell that?” she whispered.

“Were. Two purebloods.” He drew in a deep breath, trying to capture the elusive scents as they disappeared as swiftly as they appeared. “And they’re vaguely familiar,” he admitted, unable to pinpoint where he would have met with the purebloods, although he suspected it had something to do with his time spent with Tane and Laylah. “As if I crossed their paths before.”

“This just keeps getting stranger and stranger,” she muttered.

Ariyal stiffened as the purebloods’ scent was replaced by two others.

“And stranger,” he said, bending down to whisper directly in her ear.

He felt her tension as she tilted back her head to meet his warning gaze.

“The magic-using cur.” Her voice was equally low, her fangs visible in the eerie light.

Her memories of the cur weren’t warm and fuzzy.

“And a vampire.”

“Shit.” Her anger shimmered through him as he confirmed her earlier suspicions. “How the hell did they get in here?”

“A question to ponder later.”

“Yeah.”

Clenching his hand in a grip that would have crushed the bones of a lesser man, Jaelyn resumed their trek through the seemingly eternal whiteness.

Well, not exactly a trek.

Her pace had slowed until a snail could give her a run for her money and her path zigzagged like a drunken sailor. He wisely held his tongue. Now didn’t seem like the best time to question her ability to lead.

At last she came to a halt, giving up any pretense she knew where they were going.

“The fog is too thick,” she growled. “There’s no way to tell which direction we’re headed. We could spend the rest of eternity stumbling through this damned stuff.”

He shifted to pull her into his arms, resting his head on top of her head.

“We’ll wait here. At least for a while. The fog is bound to thin out eventually.”

She snuggled against him, seeking comfort even as she gave a snort of disbelief.

“I doubt we’ll last that long.”

“Well, aren’t you just a bundle of sunshine?” he asked dryly.

“I’m allergic to sunshine.”

Despite his grief and the acute fear that they were well and truly trapped, Ariyal managed a faint smile.

It didn’t matter what was happening so long as he was holding Jaelyn in his arms.

They stood in silence for several minutes, each drawing comfort from the other. Then the moment was destroyed as the pungent odor of dog intruded into their fragile sense of peace.

“The cur,” he whispered. “And close.”

Expecting her to take off through the mist, Ariyal was caught off guard when she instead wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

“Don’t move.”

He glanced down in surprise. “I approve of your enthusiasm, poppet, but now is not really the time or place.”

Ignoring his protest, she pressed even closer and without warning, Ariyal felt her cold power wrap around him.

What the hell was she doing?