Chapter 11
Ravyr gently cradled Maya in his arms long past the time he should have wakened her. He understood the urgency of their mission. And that each tick of the clock meant that the mage had an opportunity to slip further away. But he’d spent endless ce nturies alone.
Achingly, pr ofoundly alone.
Mostly by choice, but als o circumstance.
Who could blame him for wanting to savor the feel of her warm body pressed against him for a few extra minutes?
He was softly stroking his fingers up and down the curve of her spine when Maya began to stir, her long lashes fluttering open to study him with a fuzzy confusion. A full minute passed before she appeared to recall why she was lying in a dark tunnel wrapped in his arms. And another minute to battle back her surg e of annoyance.
Obviously she was trying to accept the fact that she’d fallen willingly asleep in his arms. A week ago she would have walked through the pits of hell to a void his touch.
Clearing her throat, she pushed herself into a sitting position and shoved her hair from her face. “Ha s the sun set?”
“Yes.” He studied the elegant sweep of her features. She appeared rested but there were shadows beneath her eyes. “Are you ful ly recovered?”
“I’m ready.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She planted her hands on the ground and shoved herself upright. Then, with brisk movements, she brushed off the clinging dust. “That’s the onl y one I have.”
Ravyr rose to join her, not bothering to argue. Neither of them were 100 percent. He needed to feed to regain his full strength, and Maya had drained an enormous amount of magic. It would take her days to be ready for round two with the mage.
Unfortunately they di dn’t have days.
“Fair enough,” he murmured, taking the lead as he headed down the tunnel. It wasn’t that he had to be in charge, but he was able to absorb a magical attack, giving Maya time to fight back.
They were nearing the end of the tunnel when the scent of goblins f illed the air.
“Ravyr,” Maya whispered.
“I smell them,” he assured her, halting beneath the opening carved in the stone ceiling.
He paused, absorbing the scents of the demons. Three males and two females. He felt a stab of surprise. The whole gang was gathered in the build ing above them.
Maya moved close enough to press against his arm, her head tilted back toward the light that filtered through the iron grate. “Is there another way out of he re?” she asked.
“No. This is the only exit.” He reached up to lace his fingers through the grate. “Besides, I want to have a word wit h the Yalicks.”
“Now?”
“They might not be responsible for the explosion, but they have information about the demon who paid Hexx to p lant the bomb.”
She slowly nodded. “And the mage.”
Careful to avoid scraping the iron against the cement floor, Ravyr cleared the opening and reached out his hand. Maya grabbed his shoulder before lifting her leg toward him. He wrapped his fingers around her foot, and with one smooth shove he had her launched through the opening. Magic tingled through the air as she whispered a hasty spell that would disguise their presence. Ravyr jumped up behind her, his gaze swe eping the room.
It was a long, open space, with a vaulted ceiling that was cut by a dozen ventilation vents, and a smooth cement floor. It was built separate from the main estate, and from outside it no doubt looked like a detached garage with three bay doors that were currently closed and no windows. But inside it was lined with wooden tables that were carved with hexes and sparkled with dragon dust in the ov erhead lights.
The dra gon scale lab.
His attention turned to the back of the room where the demons were stacking heavy steel boxes onto a wheeled dolly.
“Hurry up, you fools,” the eldest male snapped, still wearing his expensive black suit, although it was wrinkled and covered in dirt as if he’d spent the day hiding in the dark tunnels. And he probably had. But like a rat, he’d crept out of his hidey hole to try to salvage what was left of his empire. “We have to get this stuff loaded on the van wi thin the hour.”
“An hour?” The daughter whirled to face her father. Her long brown hair was disheveled and her gown had lost its sparkle. “I still have to shower and pack m y clothes and—”
“We leave within the hour,” her father interrupted. “With o r without you.”
The boys muttered under their breath but they continued to stack boxes, their muscles bulging as if the things weighed a ton. And it was possible they did. Dragon scale was worth a fortune on the street. They wouldn’t willingly leave behind a single o unce of powder.
Ravyr stepped out of the protective bubble of magic, folding his arms over his chest.
“In a rush?”
The five demons turned in perfect unison to glare at him in horror. Then, with a strange choregraphy, the younger twin males stepped back, their auras a dull glow. The sister, however, remained standing in place, her chin tilting to a defiant angle.
“You,” the older male breathed, his face pale and doughy. Like bread that hadn’t baked long enough. “I thought...”
“That I was dead?” Ravyr folded his arms over his chest. “That would have been unfortunate for both of us. Valen would most certainly come looking for you with uncomfortable questions. No doubt that’s why you’re so anxious to disappear.”
“Disappear?” The demon forced a stiff smile to his lips. “Why would I do that? I didn’t have anything to do with what happened in the city. I’m just a businessman.”
Ravyr glanced toward the long table where the illegal dragon scales were crushed and turned into powder before being pac kaged for sale.
“You’re a scale dealer.” He curled his lips in disgust, revealing the tips of his fangs. “Which means that not only do you have to answer to Valen, but Sinjon is going to want to interview you r entire clan.”
“No, no.” Yalick moved to stand in front of the dolly, as if he could hide the large boxes. “You have it all wrong.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. I had no idea what was happening in here. This garage is for my favorite Lamborghinis that I had transported to my home in Florida last summer. Which is why I haven’t been out here for months. I had no idea that Bastian and that mage...what’s her name? Alli e? No, Alison.”
“The demon and mage who attacked us?” Ravyr asked, more interested in the names than the lies Yalick was desper ately weaving.
“Exactly.” The demon pounced on the opening to scapegoat his servants. “I’ve been searching for the renegades everywhere. I wanted to personally capture them so I could turn them over to the Cabal for a suitable punishment. It’s the lea st I could do.”
Maya snorted at the flimsy story, but Ravyr kept his gaze locked on th e elder Yalick.
“And the dragon scale just magically appeared in your Lambo rghini garage?”
The demon released a shaky laugh. “No, of course not. Bastian must have been using this place to store his illegal drugs. My famil y had no idea—”
“Enough,” Ravyr snapped. “The Yalick dynasty is at an end. Whether or not any of you”—he swept his gaze over the gathered demons—“survive to pass along the family line is entirely dependent on the next few minutes. Do y ou understand?”
“This is absurd,” the older male tried to bluster, only to cringe when his wife’s sharp voic e overrode him.
“Shu t up, Gaylord.”
“But—”
“Not another word.” The older woman stepped forward, her aura flaring as if she kept it tightly muted. Not unusual in a demon household. The male’s pride would demand that his shine brighter when they were in public. The aura, however, meant the woman was most certainly in charge of the family unit. She studied Ravyr with a resigned gaze. “I am Lady Ramona. What do you want from us?”
Ravyr didn’t hesitate to switch his focus to the slender female who stood at r igid attention.
“Tell me what you know about Bastian.”
“He’s been with the clan for over a century. He’s always been loyal and willing to do whatever my husband asks of him. I truly had no idea that he might be plotting to blow up a building. In fact, I can’t imagine why he would do such a thing.”
“There were no changes in his behavior over the pa st few months?”
She shrugged. “Not t hat I noticed.”
“There were changes.” The daughter abruptly moved to stand next to her mother, her own aura fla ring brightly.
The Yalicks’ power came fr om the females.
Which didn’t make them any less dangerous.
Jus t the opposite.
“Once the mage moved into the house, he spent less time taking care of our business and more time running errands for her.” The demon’s voice was cold and edged with bitterness. Ravyr suspected that she was a spoiled brat who was used to every male in the vicinity worshipping at her feet. To have one of her minions distracted by another woman would be unacceptable. “Sometimes they would disappear together for the entire night.”
“Wher e did they go?”
“I have no idea.” She pursed her lips. “But he always had mud on his boots when he came back.”
Ravyr tucked away the information, along with the knowledge that the younger demon kept a close eye on the demon. If she’d noticed anything that might get her family out of trouble, she would have shar ed it with him.
He switched his attention back to the Yalick matron. “Where did you find the mage?”
“She was recommended to me by my sister, who has a home in the Bronx. I should have suspected she would deliberately urge me to hire a treacherous bitch. She was always jealous of my position.” Ramona clenched her hands int o tight fists.
“Did Alison live a t this estate?”
“Of course. All of our staff are expected to live here. They’re no use to us if we can’t depend on them to be around when we need them.”
Maya muttered something about slave labor and arrogant bastards und er her breath.
Ravyr didn’t allow himself to be distracted. “Did you notice anything strange about her?” he asked.
Easily overhearing Maya’s insults, Lord Yalick puffed out his chest, his doughy face reddenin g with outrage.
“She’s a mage.” He glared in Maya’s direction. “Everything about her was strange. If you ask me, they’re all more trouble than they’re worth. Our ancestors had it right, burning them at the stake.”
Magic trembled in the air, but before Maya could release the nasty curse that was no doubt poised on the tip of her tongue, Ravyr pointed a finger toward Ramona.
“Your mate’s inability to control his tongue is going to be the death of your clan. We can start no w if you want.”
With a nonchalance that came from centuries of practice, Ramona moved toward her husband. He made a futile attempt to back away, but with one powerful swing of her arm she connected her fist with his chin, sending him flying through the air to land in an unconscious heap nex t to the dolly.
Once he was down for the count, she smoothed her hands down her gown and turned back to Ravyr. “Continue with y our questions.”
“Anyone notice the mage acting suspicious?” He glanced toward the two male demons, who blinked as if they weren’t quite sure what was happening. Ravyr shook his head in disgust and returned his attention to the females. “Maybe meeting with strangers or having conversations on the phone she didn’t want yo u to overhear?”
The daughter was the one to answer his question. “I don’t know if it means anything, but I happened to notice her heading into the woods one night so I followed her.”
“Why did you follow her?” Ravyr demanded. He didn’t want the girl making up stories in the hopes he would o ffer her mercy.
He ha d none to give.
“She kept looking around like she was worried about being seen from the house. It seemed sketchy. I wanted to know what she was doing.”
Ravyr believed her. The girl obviously was jealous of the mage. Plus, there would be the constant fear of the family business being discovered. All it would take would be one of their staff being bribed to expose their illegal activities and bring the empire crashing down.
“And?” he prompted. “Did you find out why she was in the woods?”
“Not really,” the demon grudgingly admitted. “She had some sort of altar set up, but I don’t know what she was doing out there. I assumed she was into some w eird religion.”
Ravyr was confused. He didn’t know why a mage would have an altar. “Could she be using the area to bre w her potions?”
“No, she insisted on having two hours alone in the kitchen every evening to cook up her disgusting concoctions,” the elder female interjected, her expression sour. “My chef threatened to quit more than once. He claimed she left a disgusting mess when she was done.”
Maya stepped forward, indicating she wanted to take command of the encounter. “Describe the altar, ” she insisted.
The girl shrugged. “There’s not much to describe. All I could see was a big stump that was carved with a bunch of weird hexes and surrounded by candles. Oh, and there was a mirror leaning a gainst a tree.”
“A mirror?” Maya stared at the younger female with a frown. “You’re sure?”
“It was impossible to miss,” the demon insisted, glancing toward her twin brothers. “It was bigger than Claude’s and his is six foot tall so he can gaze at himself with endl ess adoration.”
One of the twins scowled, his face reddening with an embarrassed blush. “S hut your face.”
“It’s true.”
Maya abruptly turned toward him, laying her hand on his arm as the younger demons squabbled over mirrors and who was more vain.
“I need to see the altar,” she m urmured softly.
“Now?”
“Now.”
“Okay.” Ravyr was ready to move on. The demons had given them the limited amount of information they possessed. It was time to track down Bastian and Alison. But first, he intended to make sure the Yalicks weren’t stupid enough to think this was over for them. He swept his gaze over the five demons. “Try to leave this estate, and you will be branded as traitors and a bounty will be placed on your entire clan,” he warned, his gaze locking on the ma tron. “Got it?”
She bowed her stiff neck, her expression pained. “Yes.”
Grasping Maya’s hand, he headed for the door at the end of the room. He’d call Valen as soon as they were off the estate. Once out of the garage, Ravyr allowed Maya to take the lead. She would be able to sense any concentration of mag ic in the area.
“Why are you interested in an altar?” he asked as she angled across the wide lawn toward the back of the estate.
“Mages will brew potions that are infused with their power or store excess magic in gems, but they don’t have any need for altars,” she explained in distracted tones, picking up the pace as if she was being drawn to a particular location. “Only witches call on mother earth to create spells.”
The darkness crowded around them as they reached the edge of the nearby trees. It wasn’t just the fact that they were miles from the nearest town, there was a magic shrouding the area as if hiding what was in side the woods.
“So she’s a witch, not a mage?” Ravyr swiveled his head from side to side as they weaved their way through the trees. He couldn’t detect anyone nearby, but the magic was screwing with his senses. A dampening spell. It would make it almost impossible to notice an approaching threat until it was too late.
“She’s definitely a mage, but it’s possible she’s been using witch magic.” Maya never slowed her pace despite the danger. Obviously she was more worried about the altar than any traps that might be lurking i n the darkness.
“Why?” Ravyr was genuinely baffled. “Witch spells can’t compete with the wild magic of mages. Your power comes directly fr om the source.”
“Which means it can’t be mutated. Its power can be used for good or bad, but it’s raw energy. Like the wind. Or the waves of an ocean. They might be harnessed to do great things, but they can also destroy. The power doesn’t make the choice. The user does.”
“And a witch’s spell?”
“It can be twisted and transformed into something evil at its basic level. Like infecting good cells with a disease. Unfortunately, it also corr upts the user.”
Ravyr didn’t fully understand, but if Maya was worried, then he was worried. “If you suspect that’s what she’s doing, shouldn’t we be tracking down Alison before she can use the spell?”
Maya at last slowed, her hand reaching out as if searching for an invisible signal. “First I need to destroy the altar. If it remains in the woods it could fester and pollute the land. Or it could be used by a human witch who would have no concept of the dangers.” She cocked her head to the side then abruptly turned to the sou th. “This way.”
They walked in silence, their pace slow and cautious until they reached a circular opening. Standing in the deep darkness of the thick underbrush, Ravyr studied a wide stump that had been carved with strange symbols. They meant nothing to him, but he could detect that they’d been done in the past few weeks. The altar hadn’t been in this location for very long. On top of the stump was a shallow copper bowl filled with water and painted with four faces that pointed in opposite directions. North, south, east, and west. There were also at least a dozen candles of various sizes. And just behind the stump was a cheval mirror in a sturdy oak stand. It didn’t look special. It was oval and stood at least six foot, but beyond that it could have come from any human f urniture store.
Surrounding the stump and mirror was a narrow circle that had been dug into the ground and filled with l ayers of salt.
“What is this for?” He at last broke the thick silence.
“I don’t know. Maybe she was trying to summon something?” Maya furrowed her brow, clearly not satisfied with her conjecture. “Be careful. We don’t wa nt to trigger—”
Her words were cut short as a branch snapped, the sound echoing eerily through the opening. Ravyr released a low growl as he belatedly realized the demon had been skulking in the dark, his presence muted by the dampening spell. It was only dumb luck that he hadn’t tripped over the creature. He silently chastised his failure to dete ct the danger.
As if realizing that he’d given away his location, the demon tossed aside any attempt at stealth and loudly crashed through the trees, heading deeper into the woods.
Ravyr stiffened, torn between the need to capture the bastard who’d tried to blow them to smithereens—twice—and the primitive instinct to remain with Maya and keep her safe.
It was Maya who made the decision for him. “You go after Bastian.” Her expression was set in stubborn lines. “I’ll deal with this altar and hunt down the mage.”
“I don’t want to leave you.” He turned, wrapping his arms around her and tugging her until she fit against him with spectacular perfection. She tilted back her head, and his unbeating heart squeezed as his gaze traced the delicate beauty of her pale face and the deep pools of mystery in her eyes before moving to linger on the scars that ran the length of her jaw. The scars did nothing to mar her beauty, but they were a painful reminder of how close he’d come to losing he r. “Not again.”
Her expression softened, a tiny shiver racing through her. “I’ll be fine.” She laid her hands against his chest. “We have to stop Batu.” She grimaced as his lips parted to insist they didn’t know if it was her former master behind the deadly plot. “Or whoever is pretending to be him, ” she conceded.
Ravyr clenched his jaw, his fangs throbbing with a combination of fear, frustration, and razor-sharp desire. A potent mixture. But he hadn’t survived over the long centuries by allowing his emotions to overshadow his common sense. Maya was right. It made sense for him to track down the demon while she dealt with the mage.
“Be careful.” He lowered his head, pressing a hungry kiss against her lips. There were some emotions that logic couldn’t control. Lust, passion, and the intoxicating suspicion this woman was destined to be his eternal mate. He lifted his head to gaze down at her with a brooding intensity. “If I lose you...”
He ended his sentence with another kiss, relishing the feel of her fingers digging into his chest as she shuddered in pleasure. At least he wasn’t alone in his aching desire, he acknowledged, his body tensing with a gnawing need to fulfill the hunger poundi ng through him.
With a raw groan, he forced himself to lower his arms and spin away.
He would cling to the memory of her flushed face and passion-darkened eyes until he’d captured the damned demon and he could return to the woman who was dest ined to be his.