Levet leaned forward. “Vessel? Are you certain?” Laylah shot him a suspicious glance. “Do you know something?”
“I know you never want to be a vessel for an evil god,” the gargoyle stated the obvious. “Very bad karma.” Laylah tilted her chin.
She didn’t care what blood might flow through her baby. Or why he’d been created.
She would kill to keep him safe.
“The babe is trapped in a spell, but I refuse to believe he’s evil,” she said. “I can sense his purity.”
The woman hesitated, as if troubled by Laylah’s obvious concern for the child.
“Not evil, but … empty.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He has been created by magic to be filled with the soul of another.”
Laylah bit back her words of protest. She didn’t intend to share her intimate knowledge of the child.
Not with anyone.
“The Dark Lord’s soul?” she instead asked.
“Yes.” Despite the invisible bonds that held her, Kata shivered in horror. “A genuine rebirth that will shred the veils between worlds and allow hell to spew forth.”
“Mon Dieu.” Levet poked her on the leg. “I particularly dislike hell spewing forth. Laylah, you must do something.”
“I’m working on it.” Her gaze never wavered from the vision of her mother. Gods. She’d always sensed the child was important. Perhaps even dangerous. But she’d never thought he was an apocalypse waiting to happen. “What can I do?”
The woman stared toward Laylah with a desperation that was nearly tangible.
“You must keep the child out of the hands of Marika,” she said, her eyes flashing with a fierce intensity. “She will use him for her own vile purpose.”
“Really, Kata, is that any way to speak of your only sister?” a cold, horrifyingly familiar voice sliced through the chamber.
Laylah stumbled to her feet, turning to watch the elegant vampire cross the room to peer at the water. “Laylah …” Kata cried out.
With a terrifying laugh, Marika used the toe of her Manolo to stir the water, dissolving the vision of Kata. “Toodles, dear sister.”
There was the scrape of footsteps and Laylah turned to watch the mage stroll to join the vampire. She reminded herself to breathe as her gut clenched with an age-old fury.
The bastard had caged her like an animal and forced her to enter the frozen Siberian cave without giving a damn if the spell that protected the entrance would kill her.
Thankfully her stark, raving fear overcame any ridiculous urge to seek vengeance on the man who’d caused her such misery.
“I told you that I sensed a rat spying from the shadows,” Sergei drawled, his pale blue gaze lingering on the gargoyle at her side.
“A rat?” Levet sputtered. “Sacrebleu. I shall turn you into …”
Laylah hastily grabbed a delicate wing to keep her companion from becoming a pile of gravel. “Levet, no.”
Sergei laughed with cruel amusement. “Did you have him shrunken or did he come in this size?”
“Now Sergei, it’s not polite to mock our guests.” Marika flashed her pearly fangs, stepping forward. “I have waited so very long for this family reunion.”
Laylah grimaced.
Had she actually been stupid enough to pray she would one day find her relatives? Yeah. That was a mistake she wouldn’t be making again. “Stay away from me.”
The woman continued forward, reaching out to run a crimson nail down Laylah’s cheek. It might have been affectionate if she hadn’t used enough force to draw blood.
“Surely you’re not afraid of your auntie?”
An icy dread clutched at her stomach, her latent powers stirring at the unmistakable threat.
“Yes.”
Sergei reached out to lightly touch his companion’s shoulder.
“Careful, Marika, we don’t yet know the extent of her powers.”
The dark eyes narrowed, the slender nose curling with a fastidious disgust.
“True. She has the look of her gypsy mother, but her blood stinks of Jinn.”
Laylah wiped away the stinky Jinn blood that dripped down her cheek. “You knew my father?”
Marika’s sharp laugh echoed through the cavern. “No one is foolish enough to actually become acquainted with a Jinn, but we did have a brief encounter before Sergei locked him in the room with your mother so he could impregnate her. He was …” She deliberately paused, a reminiscent smile curving her lips. “Delectable.”
Outrage overwhelmed her fear. She never doubted for a moment the mage was without conscience or morals. But Marika obviously took the prize in being an evil bitch.
“You trapped your own sister in a room to be raped by a powerful Jinn?”
Marika shrugged. “Who can say what happened behind closed doors? It was,” she paused, glancing toward the smirking mage. “What do they say in America, Sergei?”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
“In any event, you were born nine months later.” She waved her slender hand. “That’s all that matters.”
She took an impulsive step forward. “You are …”
Icy power lashed through the air, striking Laylah like a sledgehammer to the chest.
“Careful, Laylah, I sometimes allow my temper to get the better of me,” Marika purred, her eyes glowing with a lust for pain. “Neither of us wants me to forget I still have need of you.”
Damn. Laylah rubbed her cracked rib. That hurt.
“What do you want of me?”
Marika regained command of her composure. “The child, of course.”
“To sacrifice for the Dark Lord?”
The vampire appeared genuinely startled by the blunt question.
She glanced toward the obediently silent Sergei. “Obviously brains do not run in the family. A pity.” She returned her attention to Laylah. “Why would I destroy my perfect means of ruling the world?”
Levet snorted. “Your aunt might be a raving lunatic, but at least she is ambitious.”
Laylah gave his wing a warning pinch. Did the silly creature have a death wish?
“Levet.”
“Lunatic?” Marika gave a throaty chuckle. “Geniuses are always misunderstood.” Seeming to relish being the center of attention, Marika strolled across the cavern, her hand running over the expensive material of her designer gown. “For centuries the Dark Lord’s disciples have sought to return their deity to the world. Altars have run red with the blood of sacrifices and mages have grown rich beyond their wildest fantasies as demons seek their services to part the veils between worlds.” She halted to toss her pet mage a condescending smile. “Is that not true, Sergei?”