Devoured by Darkness

Laylah halted, turning to meet his wary gaze with a lift of her brows.



“Obviously, the same way I got in.”



“We barely survived the entry,” he gritted. “Are you certain the exit won’t be worse?”



“We barely survived because I had an unwelcomed passenger,” she tartly reminded him. “A passenger I don’t intend to have on my way out.”



He stilled, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “You can’t abandon me here.”



“Why not?” she challenged, her chin tilted to a defiant angle. As if she weren’t facing down one of the most lethal demons in the entire world. “I certainly didn’t invite you to come along for the trip. You can find your own way home.”



“That’s not amusing.”



The chin went up another inch. “It wasn’t meant to be.” He reached to grasp that stubborn chin, ignoring the gargoyle sleeping in her arms. “I would be trapped.”



“So what?” The dark eyes smoldered with a direct challenge. “You intend to have me executed. Why the hell shouldn’t I leave you here to rot?”



His brooding gaze swept over her fragile features and the weariness she couldn’t entirely disguise. He wasn’t about to confess that he’d followed her for far more personal reasons than turning her over to the Oracles.



She had enough weapons to wield against him.



Dangerous, potent weapons, he grimly conceded, a fiery awareness sizzling through his body.



“The Commission has commanded that Jinn mongrels be brought to them,” he said with a shrug. “There’s nothing to say that they won’t decide you’re not a danger and release you.”



“Yeah right.” Her sharp laugh was oddly muffled by the surrounding fog. “I suppose you also have some Bernie Madoff stock you want me to buy?”



His brows drew together. “What?”



“I’m not stupid,” she clarified. “As soon as they get their nasty hands on me I’ll be sacrificed for the greater good.”



“Very dramatic, but I can promise you that the Commission has far more important matters to concentrate on than a stray half-breed.”



His thumb absently stroked over the lush fullness of her lower lip, his body throbbing in tempo with her rapid heartbeat.



“What matters?”



He grimaced. He left demon politics to Styx. Why stab someone in the back when it was far more satisfying to stab them in the heart? But not even a complete hermit could have ignored the gathering tension.



Something big was coming and the Commission was bracing to head it off.



“The private discussions are above my pay grade, but there’s no secret that the Oracles have been gathered in Styx’s former lair south of Chicago for weeks,” he said.



“And what does that prove?” She jerked away from his touch, as if he’d scalded her. “That they’re a bunch of freeloaders who overstay their welcome?”



Tane shook his head, caught between the urge to wrap her into his arms and drink deeply of her passionate nature or to shake some sense into her thick skull.



As fascinating as he might find her fire and brimstone the Commission wouldn’t be even a little amused by her lack of respect.



“They’re not a fraternity who like to hang out and play Wii together,” he said, saving his lecture on treating the Commission with the proper reverence for later. Did he really want to point out just how dangerous the temperamental demons could be when he needed Laylah to get out of the damned fog? “Each of the Oracles are powerful demons of different species, some of them mortal enemies who are forced to play nice when they must meet to resolve conflicts or offer rulings. But they never linger a second longer than necessary.”



“Which only means that they are conveniently gathered for a lynching.”



Unable to deny her accusation, he smoothly slid into diversion mode.



Any warrior knew that a timely distraction was as effective as a full out attack.



“If they didn’t lynch Cezar then you should be safe enough,” he said with a shrug.



She awkwardly shifted the sleeping gargoyle still clutched in her arms.



“Who is Cezar?”



“A brother of mine who was reckless enough to mate the newest Oracle.”



“There’s another one? Perfect.” She glared at him as if it were entirely his fault that Anna had been revealed as the latest Oracle a few weeks before. “You’re just overflowing with good news.”



“A new Oracle is always a sign of coming trouble.”



“Like a mule-headed Charon?”



“Like a bad omen.” He grimaced. He wasn’t an adrenaline junkie who liked playing hero, nor did he subscribe to the theory it was thrilling to “live in interesting times.” He did his duty and returned to the privacy of his lair where he could indulge his various hungers and forget his past. The sense of looming danger was something that he had done his best to ignore, preferring the ostrich approach. But now … now he couldn’t entirely shake the disturbing premonition that this Jinn was somehow involved in the big bad future. And that an unseen hunter was stalking her. A thought that sent a shocking bolt of fury through him. “Believe me, if they didn’t consider the pleasure of continuing their torment of Cezar worthy of their attention, then you’re nothing more than a blip on the radar.”



She regarded him with blatant suspicion. “If I’m so unimportant, then why were you bothering to chase me at all?”



Wicked heat curled through his gut as he slid a lingering glance down her slender body.



“Do I need to remind you?” he husked. “Because I’m ready, willing, and eager to do so.”



The pulse at the base of her throat fluttered in response.



“I don’t doubt you’re always eager.”



He smiled, his gaze deliberately lingering on that revealing pulse.



“There are times when I’m more eager than others.”



She stepped back, the mists swirling around her slender body.



“You must think I’m a moron,” she accused.



“I think you’re feeling cornered and making hasty decisions that might get us all killed,” he soothed, his voice laced with enough compulsion to send a grown Ungmas demon to its knees. “Let me help you.”



Predictably she shrugged off his coercion. The woman was too damned obstinate to be compelled, no matter how powerful he might be.



“I don’t need your help.” Her jaw tightened, a bleak darkness flashing through her eyes. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”



Tane fought back the fierce urge to crush her in his arms and banish her shadows. The same shadows that haunted him. Alone.



Always and forever alone.



“Think, Laylah,” he urged. “You’re no longer protected by whatever spell Caine used to keep you hidden. As soon as you arrive in London you will be vulnerable.” He folded his arms over his chest. “And trust me, a bounty hunter won’t care if they capture you dead or alive.”



“Yeah, like you do?”



“We both know you would be dead if that’s what I wanted.” Her lips thinned at his blunt honesty. “If you’re trying to barter with me I have to tell you that you suck at it.” “It’s never been one of my finer talents.” “Then just spit it out.”



His brows lifted at her imperious tone, even as he hid a smile. Why the hell would he be amused by a creature half his size trying to boss him around?



“If you hope to survive, you’ll need my help.”



She bit her bottom lip, smart enough to know she was going to be a sitting duck, or rather a sitting Jinn, the moment she arrived in London.



“And what would your help consist of?”



He held her wary gaze. “I would do my best to protect you.”



“I could hire bodyguards.”



Was she deliberately trying to offend him?



“You keep reminding me that you’re not an idiot,” he drawled. “There’s no bodyguard you could hire for any amount of money who could match my strength or skill in battle.”



“And so modest.”



“I’m the best. No amount of modesty can change that.”



She paused, continuing to gnaw on her lip. “Do you promise not to try and force me to the Commission?”



“Don’t be ridiculous. You know I can’t make that promise.”



“Then stay here,” she snapped.



“Damn you, Laylah.” With a blinding speed, he reached out to grasp her arm, sensing she was a breath from disappearing and leaving him stranded. “You want my promise? You have it.”



“You’d say anything to get out of here.” She held his gaze, refusing to back down. Dammit. That insane courage was going to put her in her grave. “You’re going to have to do better than a promise that isn’t worth jack squat.”



“What do you want?”



There was the briefest hesitation. “I want you to make a wish.”



Chapter 5



Laylah was prepared for Tane’s foul curse.



Jinn were universally disliked for their cunning guile, their unpredictable natures, and merciless power that few demons could match. And of course, there was always their charming lust for violence.



But while most creatures wouldn’t admit the truth, it was the Jinn’s ability to enslave others that truly made them itchy.



It wasn’t the pansy ass version the water sprites could conjure.



The fey magic could capture humans, and only if the mortals were foolish enough to accept three wishes.



There was nothing pansy ass about the Jinn.



They only needed a victim to willingly fall into their debt, no matter how slight an IOU, to make a claim on their soul. And it didn’t matter if they were mortals or dew fairies or vampires. They all fell beneath the Jinn’s spell of enchantment.



When Laylah was barely more than a child she had accidentally enslaved an imp she’d found caught in an iron trap used by a poacher. It was her nature to heal those in need and she hadn’t realized the danger until the imp refused to leave her foster mother’s farm, his desperate attempts to please her causing complete chaos until she’d finally figured out how to release him.



She’d done her best over the years to keep the talent locked deep inside her. It seemed immoral to claim another’s soul. Even worse than killing them.



And it was only when the mage had taken her captive that she’d deliberately tried to bind another to her will. Unfortunately the bastard had kept her so weak she hadn’t been able to use any of her powers.



Now she was left flying with a wing and a prayer.



Her usual state of affairs.