“Please, we have little time.” Cassie stepped forward, belatedly capturing Tane’s attention.
“God … damn,” he muttered in shock.
Levet was equally astonished. “The last of Darcy’s sisters.”
Tane nodded. “Styx must be told.”
“No f**king way …”
“Caine.” Cassie hastily halted Caine with a hand to his chest. She glanced toward Laylah, as if hoping for a little “women versus men” cooperation. “I am only here to deliver a warning.”
Tane predictably ignored what he didn’t want to hear. “I’ll take you to your sister and you can deliver all the warnings you want.”
Caine’s scent was musky as his wolf prowled to the surface.
“Touch her and die, vampire.”
“Tane, you must listen to her,” Laylah commanded. “She’s a prophet.”
Dead silence greeted her little announcement.
Even Levet was speechless.
Nothing less than a miracle.
At last, Tane shook his head. “Impossible.”
“Cassie, you’re wasting your time,” Caine snapped, firmly scooping her into his arms and heading for the Jeep. “A vampire’s ego is too bloated to listen to advice, no matter who’s offering it.”
Cassie didn’t struggle, but she did pop her head over Caine’s shoulder.
“Vampire, you must not kill your prisoner.”
Tane glanced toward the forgotten fey lying on the ground. “Why not?”
“You will have need of him.”
“I will have need of him? Wait.” Tane clenched his hands as Caine settled Cassie in the passenger seat and then leaped behind the wheel, taking off in a cloud of dust. “This mystical future shit is pissing me off, “ he muttered.
Laylah parted her lips to demand an explanation of why Tane was carrying around an unconscious Sylvermyst, when all three of them froze in alarm.
The scent of herbs carried on the breeze, and something much worse.
A deranged vampire.
“Umm …” Levet cleared his throat. “Can you be pissed off somewhere far away from here?”
Tane glanced toward the horizon. “Damn. It’s too close to dawn to make it to my lair.”
“Hand over the Sylvermyst and I will consider offering you shelter.”
The female voice came without warning, nearly making Laylah jump out of her shoes. Tane, on the other hand, had his dagger flying toward the gas station and the sword pulled from the scabbard he’d strapped to his back.
With the calm arrogance only a vampire could claim, the woman snatched the dagger from midair and stepped out of the decrepit building.
“Hunter,” Tane rasped in a low tone.
“Hunter?” Laylah questioned, not sure whether she should be relieved or screaming in horror.
“They’re vampires who are born with the rare ability to wrap themselves in such deep shadows that no one can detect their presence,” he explained. “Traditionally they hire themselves out to hunt down demons who don’t want to be found. Very exclusive and very expensive.”
Laylah wondered if Tane was mistaken.
The female looked like a fashion model with the exotic beauty that only a mixture of races could achieve.
Tall and slender, her glossy black hair that hinted at her Asian ancestry was contained in a tight braid that hung down her back. There was also a touch of the East in her faintly slanted eyes, although they were a dark shade of blue that revealed a European heritage. Her skin was as pale as alabaster and her lips a lush shade of pink.
She was drop-dead gorgeous.
Of course, she was dressed in black spandex from head to foot that gave off a whole Mission Impossible vibe and the sawed-off shotgun holstered at her side did warn she might not be just another pretty face.
Twirling the dagger, she approached with a bold nonchalance that Laylah could only envy.
“You must be Jaelyn,” Tane said.
“And you must be Tane, the Charon,” the female drawled.
Laylah frowned. “Are the two of you acquainted?”
“No, but I recognize her skills. What do you want with the Sylvermyst?”
The vampire glanced toward the unconscious fey. “I’ve been tracking him for days.”
“Why?”
She smiled, flashing her fangs. Nope, no fashion model. “Not your biz.”
Tane narrowed his gaze. “Considering he’s currently my prisoner, I’d say it’s very much my biz.”
“Ah, but I’m the one with the solarproof digs.”
Laylah reluctantly stepped into the fray. What choice did she have? Tane was just stubborn enough to ignore the offer of shelter because he was annoyed by the vampire’s attitude.
“Tane, we don’t have much time to debate the issue.”
He slid a smoldering glance in her direction, his expression softening as he took in the weariness she couldn’t hide.
She was discovering that being pulled out of the mists, no matter what the cause, was more draining than actually walking through them.
He returned his attention to Jaelyn.
“Your lair is secure?”
The indigo eyes narrowed. “I’m the wrong vampire to insult, Charon.”
Laylah swallowed a sigh. Did all vampires have anger management issues?
Levet tugged on her pant leg. “I assume that means it’s secure?”
Laylah grimaced. “I’m thinking we want to stay out of the family squabble.”
Levet shuddered with ready revulsion. “Oui, there is nothing more dangerous than families.”
Laylah glanced toward the distant fields where her aunt had brought an evil army to search for her.
“No shit.”
Tane didn’t like putting his trust in a vampire he knew only for her reputation of being overly aggressive with a short fuse.
Especially not when Laylah was with him.
But with the sun less than a half an hour from rising and Marika and her Sylvermysts on their trail, he didn’t have a lot of choice.
Allowing Jaelyn to lead them to a small town settled between a patchwork of farms, Tane wrapped himself in shadows as they moved across the small park in the center of town. Country folk tended to be up early and the last thing he needed was someone to spot him carrying the still unconscious Sylvermyst.
The hunter at last waved them into a crumbling brick building on the corner of the downtown square. Entering, Tane realized that it had once been a local bank, but now the teller windows were shuttered and the tile floor was covered in dust.