Darkness Unleashed (Guardians of Eternity #5)(49)
Author: Alexandra Ivy

For a perilous moment he teetered on the edge, his ancient torment surging through him like a destructive wave. Then without warning, the image of Regan flashed through his mind and the panic receded.

Grasping onto the thought of the beautiful Were, Jagr pulled back from the darkness.

By the gods, he would not allow himself to lose control when Regan needed him. Nothing mattered but finding a means to escape so he could protect her.

His thoughts cleared until he was once again in command, although that didn’t keep him from being seriously pissed off.

Trapped by a worthless imp.

He’d never live it down. With a hiss of frustration, he moved to swing his arm against the door, belatedly discovering there’d been enough silver mixed with the metal to make his forearm smolder.

“Gaynor, let me out,” he roared, able to smell the imp on the other side of the door.

“Damn you, vampire,” the imp’s muffled voice echoed through the air. “Why did you have to interfere?”

“You have just signed your death warrant, imp.”

“Shit.” Jagr could pick up the sound of Gaynor’s anxious pacing. “I didn’t ask to get involved in this mess. I wish that stupid cur had never come into my shop.”

“Your regrets are just beginning,” Jagr growled, his frustration deepening as he sensed his powers beginning to weaken. Dammit. Regan was out there alone. He had to get free. “Let me out and I might just consider letting you live.”

Gaynor laughed bitterly. “Do you think I’m stupid? I may be a pathetic imp living in a podunk town, but even I’ve heard of Jagr, the crazed Visigoth chief who slaughtered an entire clan of vampires. If I let you out, I’ll be dead before I can blink.”

The imp wasn’t entirely wrong. On any other night, Jagr would be foaming at the mouth and unable to consider anything but the need to rip the imp into a hundred pieces.

Tonight, however, his only concern was Regan.

“Allow me to leave here unharmed, and I swear…”

“Forget it, vamp. I’m not opening that door.”

“Then what do you intend to do. Kill me?” he challenged.

“And have a rabid posse of vampires out for my head? No, thank you.”

Jagr was forced to take a step from the door as the burn of silver seeped through his clothing.

“You think my clan is not already on the hunt?” he rasped.

Even through the thick door, Jagr could hear the imp’s rapid heartbeat. His fear was tangible.

“They can’t track me through a portal.”

“It doesn’t matter, the world isn’t big enough for you to hide,” Jagr deliberately taunted.

“Holy freaking hell.” There was more pacing. “None of this is my fault.”

Jagr hissed. “You endanger a pureblooded Were and kidnap a vampire, and you claim it’s not your fault?”

“All I did was invite Culligan to Hannibal,” he whined. “I didn’t force the damned Were to follow. And for your information, I didn’t have any intention of trying to capture Regan, no matter how much money Sadie offered.”

“You spineless liar.” Jagr’s fangs ached with the need to sink deep in the imp’s throat. “You deliberately led us to that spot where you had a portal waiting.”

“Only after you tracked me to the tea shop,” he desperately argued. “You came after me—I didn’t go looking for trouble.”

“But you were swift to try and take advantage.”

“Give me a break, vampire,” Gaynor muttered. “I’m an imp. What did you expect when you dropped the Were into my lap like an overripe plum? The curs are offering a damned fortune to get their hands on her.”

The curs. Always the curs.

Someday soon he intended to rid the world of the mangy dogs.

Someday very soon.

“And instead of a fortune, all you’ve earned is a death sentence.”

Gaynor’s heartbeat raced to the point where Jagr wondered if it might burst. Then, without warning, the imp was moving swiftly away from Jagr’s cell.

“No, I’m not taking the fall for this,” he swore as he left. “Sadie got me into this, she can damned well get me out.”

Left alone in the darkness, Jagr tilted back his head and screamed in fury.

Standing in the middle of the empty cave, Sadie viciously kicked the young male cur curled into a tight ball of misery on the ground.

She’d crouched for hours in the darkness, watching for some sign of Regan and the vamp to emerge from the cave. Or at least to make some indication that they were preparing for the coming dawn.

At last she’d grown bored with the waiting.

Patience was for losers, not for curs destined to make their mark in the world.

Creeping up the steep bluff, Sadie motioned for the cur she’d commanded to keep guard to join her. She didn’t have an actual plan in mind. She only knew that she was tired of hiding and plotting with nothing to show for her efforts.

Despite the lingering scent of vamp and Were, Sadie didn’t have to reach the entrance of the cave to realize that it was empty. Infuriated, she realized that not only had her prey escaped, but she’d been well and truly fooled by a few scraps of clothing.

With a sharp motion, she’d knocked her companion to the ground. Someone was going to pay for this latest disaster.

“You worthless piece of crap. How dare you let the Were escape.” She punctuated her words with kicks, readily ignoring the fact that she was equally responsible for allowing the two to disappear. Shit rolled downhill. It was never her fault if there was someone else to blame. “I told you not to take your eyes off this cave.”

“I didn’t, I swear.” The cur grunted as her foot connected with his cheek. “The vampire must have used his shadows to hide behind.”

Sadie clenched her fists. She didn’t like being reminded that there were demons out there who possessed skills far beyond a mere cur.

“I don’t need your lame excuses. It was only luck that we stumbled across the Were’s trail that led to this lair in the first place. How the hell are we supposed to find them now?”

The cur tried to dig deeper in the dirt, as if that would protect him from the brutal kicks.

“I thought you intended to lure her to the cabin with the imp.”

Sadie growled. For God’s sake, was the cur suicidal? He was pushing every kill-me button she possessed.

“And just what do you expect me to do with her pet vampire while I’m busy capturing her?” she gritted, her skin crawling with the need to shift. “Politely ask him not to kill me? Maybe I should invite Salvatore along as well?”