It hadn’t been easy to leave her child behind.
Even knowing that she’d never encountered another demon in the mists, not to mention the fact no one but herself could touch the babe, had made it easier.
Still, only the grim determination to bring an end to danger, once and for all, gave her the strength to leave Maluhia behind as she resumed her terrified flight.
“You can’t outrun me, Laylah,” Marika’s mocking voice floated through the air.
Laylah shivered.
Turned out that being chased through dark caves was just as creepy the second time around.
Just like when Tane was hunting her, there was no sound of approaching footsteps, no heavy breathing, not even the accidental kick of a pebble.
There was only thick silence and a relentless cold that froze her heart.
On this occasion, however, she wasn’t running blindly.
She had a plan.
A wild, insane, please-God-let-it-work plan. But a plan.
Entering the small cavern she’d been seeking, she slowed to a halt and turned to watch her aunt surge into the space behind her.
With an eerie ability, the vampire came to a precise stop. Laylah grimaced. One minute Marika had been charging forward at full speed and the next she was frozen in place. Not even a strand of hair moved.
Too weird.
The woman’s dark gaze scanned the cavern, searching for hidden enemies or a stash of weapons.
Thankfully, Marika was too much a vampire to consider that the cavern itself might be the trap.
Once confident she had her prey cornered, the older woman allowed a sneer to twist her lips.
“I warned you that you couldn’t escape.”
Laylah tilted her chin, but she didn’t bother to try and hide her fear.
If she’d learned nothing else, it was that it was impossible to hide emotions from a vampire.
Besides, she wanted Marika to believe she had conceded defeat.
The longer she could keep the woman off guard, the longer she could slowly build her power. If she did it too quickly the revealing sparks of electricity would warn the vamp of danger. She was certain to strike out and try to disable her.
And truthfully, she was still aching from her trip through the mists while hauling along a very large vampire, not to mention her side trip to hide the baby.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to kill you,” she said, knowing the arrogant bitch was bound to think it was a bluff.
Marika stepped forward. “You really are the most ungrateful brat. If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t even exist.”
“You want me to thank you for arranging to have my mother raped by a Jinn just so you could use me to sate your lust for power?”
She shrugged. “Not everyone is perfect.”
Laylah snorted. “Yeah well, not everyone’s a psychopath either.”
A frozen fury slammed through the cavern as Marika’s gaze lowered to Laylah’s arms.
“Where’s the child?”
Laylah grit her teeth.
Obviously the pleasant small talk portion of the encounter was over.
Things were bound to get ugly in a hurry.
“Somewhere you can’t reach him.”
“We didn’t have to do this the hard way, Laylah.” Certain that Laylah was no threat, Marika slowly circled her, like a shark sizing up its prey. “We are family, after all, even if you don’t approve of my… methods.”
“Family?” Laylah shook her head. “You know, there was a time when I would have done anything to find my family.”
“If my bitch of a sister hadn’t given you away you would have been properly raised to understand your duties.” Marika halted in front of her, a cruel smile curving her lips. “In fact, one could claim this entire mess is her fault.”
Laylah suppressed the suicidal urge to punch the bitch in the nose.
She was very close to having the necessary power gathered. She wasn’t going to screw up her plan for a momentary sense of satisfaction.
“Why did you choose your own sister to sacrifice to the Jinn?” she demanded. “There must have been demons more suitable?”
Marika waved a dismissive hand. So much for sisterly concern.
“She was beautiful enough to tempt the fastidious demon and more important we share a telepathic link.” “You can read her mind?” “We share thoughts.”
Laylah recalled her brief contact with the woman claiming to be her mother. She had assumed there had been a spell that allowed her to hear her mother’s voice in her head. The thought she could share such an intimate connection with the woman who had given birth to her was oddly comforting.
It also reminded her to send up yet another prayer that the vampire Uriel had managed to rescue her.
“Then how did she keep me hidden from you?”
Marika looked like she’d just bitten into a lemon. “She shouldn’t have been able to. It was the only block she ever managed to put between us, and no amount of torture could force her to confess the truth.” Her lips thinned, not seeming to notice Laylah’s soft gasp at the thought of what her mother must have endured to keep her safe. Dammit, she’d been so hung up on the thought she’d been lied to and deceived that she hadn’t truly taken time to appreciate the sacrifices that had been made to keep her safe. Her mother had endured God knew what hideous torture. Her foster mother had given up her very life. Even Tane was willing to risk everything to protect her. It was her turn for sacrifice. “It was most annoying.”
“Obviously you underestimated the love of a mother for her child,” Laylah said softly.
“Such a human emotion,” Marika scoffed.
“And yet more powerful than a vampire and her stooge of a mage. Remarkable.”
“She’s a stubborn fool who has sacrificed her life for no reason.”
Laylah lifted her hands, allowing her power to flow through her body. “You don’t get it, do you?”
Suddenly wary, Marika took a step backward. “Get what?”
“A mother will do whatever necessary to protect her children.”
Glancing upward, she concentrated on the fissures that ran through the thick stones.
With Jinn blood running through her veins, she was intimately connected to nature. She could feel the age of the stone, smell the droplets of ice in the air, and sense the raging inferno that was churning deep in the earth.
The entire area was a powder keg waiting to blow and the numerous quakes had left several of the tunnels dangerously unstable.
Which was perfect for her needs.
Releasing her powers, she leaped backward, scrambling toward the small opening hidden behind a stalagmite as the entire cavern began to shake.