GOE 08 - Bound By Darkness [calibre 0.9.30]

“Three days.”

Jaelyn grimaced. For her it had only been two hours since Ariyal had disappeared.

Damned mists.

“Do you know ...” She swallowed her question, and almost her tongue, as there was a loud pop and a small demon who looked nearly identical to Siljar made a sudden appearance, standing at the side of the older woman. “Holy crap!”

Siljar motioned to the familiar woman with the heart-shaped face and long gold hair that was pulled into a braid.

“This is Yannah, my daughter.”

“Yeah, we’ve met.” Jaelyn returned to her feet, her gaze never leaving the tiny demon who had helped Ariyal hold Jaelyn captive while they were in the Russian caves. “But at the time I thought she was a spirit that Ariyal conjured.”

“Such a yummy fairy.” Yannah heaved a dreamy sigh. “How could I resist?”

Jaelyn blinked. Good ... God.

Did Ariyal have this sort of effect on every female he met?

No wonder he was such an arrogant SOB.

“Yes, she can be quite naughty,” Siljar gently chided. “But she will be able to assist you.”

Naughty? That wasn’t the word Jaelyn would have used. But then again, she’d already pissed off Siljar more than was healthy. She wasn’t about to insult her daughter.

“I welcome any assistance she can offer,” she instead muttered.

Yep. Just call her Queen of Diplomats.

“She will take you to Ariyal,” Siljar informed her. “She will also be the one who will be responsible for contacting you to retrieve the information you have gathered.”

Jaelyn made one last bid for escape. “There are others who are trained in the arts of espionage... .”

“You have been chosen, Jaelyn,” Siljar pronounced, her expression unyielding.

If Jaelyn could have sighed, she would have. Instead she gave a grudging nod.

“So, I’m to spy on Ariyal and report my findings to Yannah?”

“It is more than keeping track of his movements,” Siljar corrected.

“More?”

“We must know the contents of his heart.”

Jaelyn frowned. “I can sense the souls of humans, but I’m not an empath who is capable of reading demons.”

Siljar shrugged. “Remain close enough and you’ll be capable of detecting the taint of the Dark Lord.”

For no logical reason, Jaelyn found herself annoyed by the Oracle’s words.

“I don’t like the bastard, but I can assure you that he hasn’t been infected,” she growled. “He’s determined to sacrifice the missing child rather than allow his evil master to be reborn.”

“That is his plan for the moment,” Siljar agreed. “It is vital that he is not swayed into ...”

“Switching teams,” Yannah finished for her.

Siljar smiled and patted her daughter on the head. As if she’d just performed a remarkable trick.

“Yes. Switching teams.”

Jaelyn understood their concern. Ariyal had admitted that he feared the Sylvermyst might be susceptible to the Dark Lord’s influence. And obviously Tearloch had already fallen victim to the madness.

But that didn’t make her the best choice to fulfill the contract.

In fact, she was fairly certain she was the last person who should be taking on the delicate task.

She wasn’t subtle, or sneaky, and she sure the hell wasn’t tactful.

She was a Hunter who knew how to track and kill.

End of story.

“There’s no guarantee that he’ll let me stay with him,” she warned.

For some reason her muttered words made Siljar chuckle. “I’m confident in your ability to convince him, my dear,” she assured her, turning her attention to the tiny demon at her side. “Are you ready, Yannah?”

The younger demon appeared far from happy. “If I must.”

Siljar folded her arms over her chest, her expression one of universal parental warning.

“And do try to behave yourself, child.”

“Fine.”

Yannah wrinkled her nose, giving a wave of her small hand. Instantly the air shimmered next to Jaelyn. As a vampire she couldn’t sense magic, but she knew a portal when she saw one.

“Wait,” she hissed, attempting to back away. She had feet for a reason. There was no need to be zapping from one place to another.

She had barely taken a step, however, when Yannah was behind her, planting her hands on Jaelyn’s ass and giving her a rough shove forward.

“In you go.”

It shouldn’t be possible for the tiny female to manhandle a vampire, but Jaelyn found herself tumbling into the shimmering air before she could regain her balance.

“No ... dammit.”

Blackness surrounded her and Jaelyn knew that she was being magically transported to another location, but she could sense nothing. And that was worse than if she was being tortured by a horde of Copaka demons.

At last she was jerked from the strange nothingness and, falling forward, she barely got her hands stretched out before she did a face-plant.

She felt the skin being ripped off her palms as she hit the damp pavement, but as she rose to her feet she was far more concerned with the knowledge that she’d just been dumped into the middle of London. And that she wasn’t alone.