Embrace The Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #2)(69)
Author: Alexandra Ivy

Viper was in swift pursuit. A fortunate thing as she suddenly halted and nearly fell to her knees.

With a blinding speed he moved forward to wrap her in his arms. "Shay?"

She gave a shake of her head. "I’m sorry. I just suddenly felt dizzy."

Viper’s brows snapped together in sharp concern. Even in the darkness he could detect her sudden pallor and the film of damp sweat feat coated her skin. She was obviously ill. And just as obviously attempting to hide just how bad she was feeling. It took him a stupid moment before he realized what was plaguing the woman.

"Damn, I’m a fool," he gritted as he plucked her of her feet and cradled her against his chest. Using his senses he searched for an empty cave nearby and headed down the tunnel

She squirmed in his arms. "Viper."

"Shh, hold still for a moment."

"What are you doing?"

"We need someplace to rest."

"We can’t rest now," she protested in shock.

His arms tightened. "We can and we will."

Viper heard her bream rasp between clenched teeth. "You are annoyingly fond of handing out orders."

"No, I’m annoyingly fond of you, pet, and I should be staked for not having realized how weak you must be."

His blunt words momentarily stole her annoyance. A rare trick and Viper was swift to use the distraction to turn into a low, side tunnel. From the number of cobwebs brushing against his face he was confident that no one had been this way for years.

"I told you I’m just dizzy," she at last managed to mutter although her voice had lost some of its sting.

"Shay, you’ve spent the night dodging demons, fighting trolls, and tracking me across half the state. Put on top of that donating a great deal of blood to a wounded vampire it’s a wonder you’re even on your feet." He touched his lips to the top of her head. "Even the most powerful warriors must occasionally recover their strength."

"But we have to get out of here."

Viper ducked as the tunnel became even more cramped. "We have time. As you pointed out the vampires will be in their coffins, and I cannot leave the caves until the sun has set."

There was a pause before she heaved a reluctant sigh. "Maybe we could find someplace to rest for a few minutes."

"An excellent notion."

She nudged him with her elbow. "Don’t be patronizing."

"Me?" His expression was pure innocence. "Patronizing?"

"Drop it."

"Whatever you command, pet." At last coming to the end of the tunnel Viper glanced about the small cave. It was rocky and damp and seemingly created for discomfort. But it had the benefit of being remote from the other caves with only one entrance. No one would be able to sneak up on them.

Setting her onto the hard ground Viper moved to settle beside her and pulled her into his arms.

"Close your eyes and rest, Shay," he murmured. "I will keep watch."

As a testament to just how weak she truly was Shay didn’t even attempt an argument. Settling her head on his shoulder she gave a small sigh and promptly fell asleep.

Levet might not be hideously large, or blessed with the sort of frightening power of his ancestors, but he had more than his fair share of intelligence. Not a bad trade-off, all things considered. Which was why he wasn’t particularly surprised when he awoke to discover Shay missing in action.

Whatever her pledge of being careful he had known quite well she wouldn’t wait hours to rescue her oh-so-delectablevampire. What few wits she had once possessed were now evaporated to the mists of oblivion. She would happily charge into any danger to rescue Viper.

Gak.

It was enough to make any decent gargoyle want to hurl.

Still, he wasn’t about to let her fall into the hands of evil vampires just because she was stupid enough to fall in love. He didn’t have many friends. Okay, he’d never had any friends until Shay. He couldn’t afford to lose her.

Shaking off the bits of stone that clung to his skin Levet carefully unfolded his wings and made his way to the nearby opening. He had to get into contact with Dante, and quickly. They hadn’t expected Viper to be hauled so far from the city. Even if they left this moment it would take hours for the clan to make their way to the isolated farmhouse. He couldn’t afford to lose time in trekking all the way back to Chicago to give directions.

Once out of the cave he crept along the line of the bluff, his tail twitching as he easily caught sight of the vampire standing guard in the shadows of the farmhouse. He had to get to the river, but he preferred to do it without having a herd of angry vampires on his heels.

Stealth for the moment trumped speed.

Remaining in the deepest shadows Levet moved with near painful slowness. Vampires were near perfect predators. They could use all of their senses to detect prey. It would take only one stray pebble being dislodged, or one wayward breeze blowing his scent the wrong direction and his head would be decorating the farmhouse wall.

Not the most pleasant fate.

He traveled almost a half mile from the vampires before angling his path toward the vast river. Even then he remained low to the ground and prepared to go into flight at the least hint of trouble.

His pace quickened as he crossed a narrow highway that meandered beside the river, and then down a sharp incline that was overgrown with thick brush and choking moss. He slipped and stumbled more than once, but thankfully his blundering was relatively silent.

At last he reached the edge of the river and knelt in the thick mud. Around him the world was alive. Insects, fish, curious raccoons, and wary opossums. But Levet ignored them as he peered into waves that lapped toward him.

Waiting until he could at last see his reflection in the murky water he waved a gnarled hand and spoke the harsh words of magic in a low voice. There was a shimmer of faint light before his reflection disappeared and a black emptiness took its place.

This, of course, was the tricky part.

Although he would rather have his tongue cut out than to admit the truth, his magic wasn’t always as predictable as it could be. Okay, most of the time it was nothing more than a wing and a prayer that resulted in small fires, an occasional explosion, and once a painful nosebleed that had lasted for almost twenty years.

He couldn’t afford any disasters this evening.

Carefully constructing the image of a dark haired vampire in his mind, he projected the thought into the dark water.

Long moments passed before at last he could detect the fuzzy outline of the familiar countenance.

"Dante. Dante can you hear me?" he hissed.

In the depths of the water the vampire seemed to frown and glance about, as if uncertain if he had heard a voice or not.