Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity #4)(76)
Author: Alexandra Ivy

“Anna,” he breathed, sinking to his knees as he reached out to touch the scorch marks that marred the linoleum floor.

“A portal,” Troy muttered in disgust. “Morgana has taken her.”

With a movement too swift to follow, Cezar had Troy pinned to the wall, his fangs close enough to rip out the imp’s throat.

“Take me to her,” he growled.

Troy had to swallow twice before he could find his voice. “I don’t have that power.”

“Damn you…”

“Cezar, no.” Without warning Darcy was at his side, her hand lightly touching his arm. “He can lead us to her.”

Troy winced beneath Cezar’s painful grip, his eyes wide with fear. “Actually, I…can’t.”

Cezar hissed, his fingers tightening. “Can’t or won’t?”

“Can’t,” the imp managed to choke out. “She’s returned to Avalon. No one can locate the Isle of Mists.”

A red haze briefly clouded Cezar’s eyes at the thought of Anna alone and helpless in the hands of Morgana. Dios. His mate might possess the power of the ancients, but she had no control. And even worse, her heart was far too tender. She would never be a cold-blooded killer, and if she hesitated even a moment…

Easily sensing that he was descending into a rage that could lead to a massacre of every fey creature in the state of Illinois and beyond, Darcy squeezed his arm with a painful grip.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Cezar,” she said sternly. “We’ll get her back.”

It was a struggle to pull himself back from the edge. He wanted to be bathed in blood, to purge himself of the aching void in the center of his chest.

Only the self-discipline forged by centuries of being imprisoned by the Oracles allowed him to fight through his bloodlust and calm his mind.

In this moment Anna needed his cold logic, not his maddened battle skills.

He would get her back.

There was no alternative.

Spinning on his heel, he began pacing the kitchen floor, his fury replaced by an icy determination.

At some point he realized that the tiny room had become crowded with his clan brothers and their mates, but he ignored their concerned glances and whispered discussions of what must be done next.

He had to find a means of finding an isle that had been hidden for over a millennium. And he had to do it within the next few moments.

Simple.

He circled the crowded room half a dozen more times before he realized that it was simple.

Dios. He’d been so stupid.

With a swift step he once again had Troy pinned to the wall. Ignoring the imp’s yelp of pain he narrowed his eyes with lethal intent.

“I know how to find her, and you’re going to help me.”

Landing face-first on the marble floor, Anna decided that she seriously disliked portals. It was a stupid, painful way to travel. Not just the whole ending up on her face part. Or the being dropped into a strange place that might be half a world away. Or even the scent of burnt linoleum that clung to her clothes.

It was the electricity that danced over her skin as if she were in the midst of a storm and she was the lightning rod.

Jeez. No matter what the benefits of being able to pop from one place to another, it wasn’t worth the sensation that she was being fried in the process.

Swallowing her groan, Anna managed to press herself to her knees to study her surroundings.

Her brows lifted at the vast room with its marble columns, the rich tapestries, the towering glass rotunda, and the golden throne set on a dais.

Avalon.

It had to be.

Only Morgana le Fay would choose a palace that looked like it had been snatched from the Hollywood set of Aladdin and top it off with a throne that was so outrageous that any self-respecting monarch would shudder in horror.

Fear blasted through her, even as she told herself this was for the best. This was one place that Cezar couldn’t follow. There would be no danger of him being killed as he sought to save her from the deranged queen.

She could concentrate completely on dealing with her dearest aunt once and for all.

Then again, she was all alone, a small voice whispered in the back of her mind. Completely and utterly alone with a powerful queen who wanted her dead.

Nice.

With a sense of dread, she at last allowed her gaze to search out Morgana among the shadows. A part of her had been braced for an attack from the moment the woman had hauled her out of the kitchen. Hell, she hadn’t been entirely certain that she would even live to see the other side of the damn portal.

Now, as her senses slowly cleared, she began to wonder why she wasn’t dead.

The answer came as her gaze at last landed on Morgana.

The queen was leaning against one of the fluted columns, her hand pressed to her stomach and her pale features oddly ashen. Despite her unearthly beauty that would never fade, she looked nearly as bad as Anna felt, as if creating the portal had somehow drained her.

Strike now, she told herself.

Strike while she’s vulnerable.

Her fingers clenched around the emerald, but her powers refused to rise. Not only refused to rise, but there wasn’t so much as a tingle.

What the hell?

Desperately she forced herself to remember the endless attempts on her life, the brutal murder of the woman she had thought was her aunt, the dangers to Cezar, the tortured ghost of her grandfather.

Nothing.

Dammit. Had the trip through the portal somehow stolen her powers? Was there something about Avalon that was interfering?

Or could it be…

Cursing beneath her breath, Anna realized that it simply wasn’t in her to kill the woman while she was weak and vulnerable. It wasn’t compassion. Or at least, not entirely. It was more an absolute certainty that to kill the woman when she was incapable of defending herself would damage something inside her.

Morgana le Fay might deserve to rot in hell, but unless she forced Anna to kill her, Anna’s powers refused to violate her basic nature.

Of course, on the bright side, the odds of Morgana not trying to kill her were slim to none. The trick was obviously to provoke her into making that attempt before she regained her full powers.

Yeah…that seemed like a great plan.

At last sensing Anna’s narrowed gaze, Morgana abruptly pushed herself from the column and cloaked her weakness behind a disdainful sneer.

“Well, sweet Anna, we’re at last alone. No one can find this isle.” Her smile widened. “There will be no vampires riding to your rescue this time.”

Pretending an indifference that she was far from feeling, Anna cast a casual glance around the nauseatingly ornate room.