Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity)

by Alexandra Ivy

  Using his medallion to travel to the Dark Lord’s prison, Gaius placed the child in the swirling mists and lowered himself to his knees. Bending his head, he waited for his presence to be noticed.

  He sensed time passing, although it was impossible to judge the exact length in the strange fog, and in truth, he didn’t really care. Since his last tête-à-tête with the Dark Lord he’d become . . . what? Not indifferent. Not even numb.

  It was more a sensation of being resigned. As if the last thread of hope he’d clung to since the death of Dara had snapped, leaving him to float in a sea of defeat.

  He would do as he was commanded, quite simply because he had no choice. But his fierce belief that he would soon be reunited with his mate was fading with every passing hour, leaving behind an empty void.

  Eventually, he felt the crushing power that warned of the Dark Lord’s steady approach. He shuddered at the sensation of his skin being flayed from his flesh, but he wisely kept his head lowered.

  “Ah, Gaius.” A girlish giggle sliced through the fog. “So you have learned discretion.”

  “Yes . . .” He struggled for a suitable title. “Mistress.”

  “Mistress, hmmm. I suppose that will do.”

  Gaius kept his head down. “I have brought you the child.”

  “So you have.” He felt a stir of air, the punishing pain easing. “Bring him to me.”

  Reluctantly glancing up, Gaius discovered the Dark Lord had created a throne out of the swirling mist and was perched on it, wearing a white sundress. Cristo. She looked like a Homecoming Queen, not the ultimate of all evil. Then the crimson fires of hell flared in the guileless blue eyes, ruining the image of purity.

  “Gaius?” she snapped with impatience. “I’m waiting.”

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  Rising to his feet, Gaius scooped the child into his arms, refusing to glance down. The baby had always been destined to be sacrificed. There was nothing he could do to alter fate, was there? Shoving the warm bundle into the female’s outstretched arms, he backed away and stoically waited for her next commands.

  The Dark Lord gave a lift of her brow. “Don’t you intend to demand your payment?”

  Gaius shrugged. “Would it do any good?”

  “There’s no need to pout, vampire,” the lethal female chided. “You shall soon be given your just rewards.”

  Just rewards.

  Gaius shuddered, recalling Dolf being consumed by black mist. At this moment the only reward he dared hope for was escaping the encounter without some hideous torture.

  “Shall I return to my lair and await your next command?” he asked.

  “Surely you want to witness my glorious resurrection as the Gemini?” The evil creature sounded truly shocked that Gaius wasn’t begging for the opportunity to bask in her transformation.

  “I’m only your humble servant,” Gaius reminded her. “There are others much more worthy for such a blessing.”

  “Why, Gaius.” The blue eyes shimmered with crimson fire, the pain returning to slam him to his knees. “If I didn’t know better, I might think you were anxious to leave me.”

  Careful, a voice whispered in the back of his mind. This female was a god. Which meant her vanity was as inflated as her powers. Just the implication that he might prefer to be somewhere else would be enough to earn him punishment.

  “Not anxious, but I do need to feed.”

  “That can wait.”

  It was a command, not a suggestion. Gaius nodded in defeat. “Very well.”

  Confident that Gaius was playing the dutiful audience, the female turned her attention to the child squirming in her arms. Her expression was one of clinical curiosity, as if making sure there weren’t any defects in her creation.

  “A charming baby, don’t you think?”

  Gaius frowned. Was this a trick question? It was well known that children were an Achilles’ heel to vampires. They instinctively refused to harm a baby of any species. Or even a pregnant female.

  “Yes. Charming.”

  “I’ve never understood the fuss made over offspring. Slaves are easier to control and less inclined to be a disappointment.” The Dark Lord wrinkled her nose, sniffing the baby’s diaper. “They also smell better.”

  “Most creatures feel the urge to procreate.”

  The Dark Lord lifted her head, the blue eyes flickering with crimson. “Did you?”

  Gaius flinched. He didn’t believe in coincidences. So why was he being forced to think of Santiago yet again?

  A warning?

  “Yes. I have—” He halted, grimacing as he corrected his words. “I had a son.”

  “He’s dead?”

  Gaius shook his head. “No, but he’s lost to me.”

  “Lost?” The Dark Lord frowned. “You make no sense.”

  “It no longer matters.” Anxious to turn the conversation away from Santiago, Gaius pointed toward the baby. “What will you do with the child?”

  There was a long, tense moment as the female no doubt considered the pleasure of tormenting Gaius with the loss of his son. Then, abruptly losing interest, the female instead returned her attention to the babe.

  “He will become a part of me as it was always destined to be. But first . . .”

  The words trailed away and Gaius stiffened. Now what? He’d captured the prophet and her protector, as well as the baby. Two impossible tasks. He’d gone beyond the call of duty, hadn’t he?

  It would seem not, he silently accepted as the Dark Lord sent him a frown, clearly waiting for him to react.

  “Yes?”

  Her dimples flashed. “A sacrifice must be made.”

  He hissed in sharp surprise. “Me?”

  Her smile widened at his sharp flare of fear. “Are you offering?”

  He grimly fought back his panic. “I doubt I would be suitable.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Mistress, please . . .”

  “Don’t worry, Gaius. As you said, you don’t have the blood I need,” she mocked in cruel tones, her eyes nearly consumed by flames. “Not quite so impervious to the thought of death as you wanted to believe, are you, Gaius?”

  He stiffened in humiliation. It wasn’t surprising the Dark Lord had sensed his growing apathy. Or that she’d managed to shatter his illusion that it no longer mattered whether he lived or died.

  Bitch.

  “Do you want me to return to the world and acquire what you need?” he demanded in careful tones.

  “Actually, I have what I need close at hand.”

  Gaius glanced around the thick fog. It couldn’t be too close. “Who is to be the sacrifice?”

  “Caine should have destroyed the prophet by now.”

  “Caine? Impossible,” Gaius muttered, too shocked to guard his tongue. He’d seen Caine defending the prophet. The Were had been willing to die to protect the female. Then sharp shards of pain stabbed into his body, reminding him the danger of speaking without thinking. “I mean, Caine is devoted to the prophet. He would never harm her.”

  “Thanks to Dolf ’s spell Caine wasn’t in his right mind,” she reminded him, a coy smile touching her lips. “And, of course, I might have encouraged his madness.”

  Gaius thrust aside his disbelief, instead concentrating on the more important question. “But why?” He slowly rose to his feet. “You were desperate to capture Cassandra.”

  The Dark Lord glanced down at the child, the air filled with a searing anger before the creature managed to regain her composure. “She proved to be a severe disappointment.”

  Gaius felt the hairs on his nape stand upright. Disappointment could have any number of meanings.

  Maybe Cassandra refused to cooperate. Or maybe she hadn’t had a vision since her capture. Or maybe the visions had been impossible to decipher.

  But Gaius didn’t think it was any of those things.

  If the Dark Lord was willing to destroy the seer, it was because she gave a prophecy that she didn’t like.


  Which could only mean bad news for Gaius.

  Cristo. He was growngly convinced that he would never be reunited with his mate. Now he had to face the possibility the deity who had purchased his soul was destined to fail, dragging Gaius into the pits of hell with her. “A pity,” he rasped.

  The Dark Lord jerked her head up, regarding him with a fiery glare. “Retrieve the dog and bring him to me.”

  “At once.”

  With a deep bow, Gaius turned to disappear in the swirling mist, following the distant scent of Were.

  Chapter 17

  Cassie didn’t know how long she ran through the disorienting mist. Or which direction she was going. Her only thought was to try and evade Caine as he chased her with a crazed bloodlust.

  At last accepting there was no place to hide and no way to shake off her pursuer, she came to a weary halt. Turning, she held up a pleading hand. “Stop.”

  Astonishingly the Were slowed, pacing around her as he sniffed the air, as if searching for a hidden trap. Or maybe he was savoring the scent of dinner, she wryly conceded, waiting for him to stand directly in front of her, his blue eyes glowing with the power of his wolf.

  She forced herself to hold that hungry gaze, desperate to reach the man who was buried beneath the rabid animal.

  “Please, Caine, listen to me,” she urged softly. “You have to remember. Look deep inside, you know me.”

  The creature curled back his lips to expose his massive fangs, his mutated features lacking any hint of recognition.

  So this was it.

  The end.

  Accepting that she was on the brink of death, Cassie squared her shoulders and waited for the killing blow.

  A blow that never came.

  Instead, Caine turned his head to glance over her shoulder, his half-formed paws lifting to expose his razor-sharp claws.

  Now what? Cassie cautiously moved so she could keep an eye on Caine as well as the stirring fog behind her. Whatever was coming was enough of a threat to make Caine crouch in preparation of battle.

  Then she caught the distant scent of vampire. A vampire she recognized.

  Perfect.

  Just freaking perfect.

  There was another swirl of fog before the thick shroud parted to reveal the dark-haired leech who had brought them to this hellhole.

  “Gaius,” she breathed, the word a curse.

  Coming to a halt, the vampire offered a small dip of his head. “Seer.”

  “You bastard.” She fisted her hands, wishing she had the strength to rip out his unbeating heart. “This is all your fault.”

  A dark brow arched at the accusation. “It was Dolf ’s spell that turned your protector into that”—he waved a hand toward the watchful Caine—“monstrosity.”

  “On your command.”

  “Not mine,” the vampire denied, his pale face oddly stripped of its previous arrogance. “And you will be happy to know that Dolf ’s been suitably punished.” He took a step forward. “He suffered one of the most gruesome deaths I’ve ever witnessed.”

  Caine growled, his fierce gaze shifting between Cassie and Gaius. No doubt deciding which one of them he wanted to kill first.

  “Stay back,” Cassie snapped, covertly angling herself to stand between Gaius and Caine.

  Ridiculous, of course. One or the other was bound to kill her, but she’d be damned if she let the vampire hurt Caine.

  The vampire obviously found her protective urges equally incongruous. “Isn’t there a human saying about being between a rock and a hard place?” he asked with a sneer, giving a wave of his hand toward the growling Caine.

  Cassie hissed as the air shimmered with a curtain of power that hung between her and the suddenly infuriated Were.

  “What have you done?” she demanded, flinching as Caine charged the nearly invisible obstruction only to bounce backward with a startled snarl.

  Clearly pissed off, Caine shook off his pain and attempted to break through once again. And again. And again.

  Cassie pressed her hand to her lips as he crashed into the impenetrable wall over and over, his patchy fur becoming coated with blood, and his face contorted with frustration. At last, maddened by his inability to reach his prey, he tilted back his head to howl with the promise of death.

  “It’s a temporary barrier,” Gaius said with a grimace, instinctively stepping away from the deranged beast. “It will only last a few minutes so we must speak quickly.”

  Cassie turned to glare at the vampire. “You have nothing to say that I want to hear.”

  “Don’t be so certain.”

  Something in his icy voice made Cassie swallow her words of searing hatred, regarding him with a wary suspicion. “What do you want?”

  “The Dark Lord sent me.”

  She rolled her eyes. Was that supposed to be a big shocker? “No doubt to kill me?” she muttered.

  Gaius shrugged. “Actually, you’re supposed to be dead already.”

  “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “I’m not the one you disappointed.”

  Cassie frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  The vampire smoothed a hand down his once elegant suit jacket now coated in dust and torn in several places. “I assume you were foolish enough to share a prophecy that annoyed the Dark Lord?”

  Like she had a choice?

  She hunched her shoulder. “I have no control over the visions.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Hope.”

  He made a choked sound, wise enough to comprehend the power of that one word. “Ah. A dangerous viewing.” An expression of aching despair touched his pale face before his frigid composure was slammed back into place. “No wonder the Dark Lord was anxious to be rid of you.”

  She studied the vampire with a growing confusion. What did he want from her?

  A promise the Dark Lord would be successful in returning to the world? A vision of his own?

  An opportunity to torment her before she was killed?

  “My death won’t alter the future.”

  “Alter? Perhaps not.” He seemed to consider his words. “But it might tilt the balance.”

  Cassie waved aside his words. The future was in the future. She was far more concerned with the present. “Is that why the Dark Lord wants me dead?”

  A humorless smile touched his lips. “The mistress doesn’t need a reason to want you dead. It’s enough that you no longer serve a purpose.”

  True enough. So why hadn’t he struck the killing blow? Was it possible his commitment to his evil mistress was fading? And if it was, why?

  No. It didn’t matter why. All that mattered was how she could exploit his wavering loyalty.

  “And what about you?”

  “Me?”

  “Do you still serve a purpose?”

  The lean face was closed, unreadable. “My command is to bring the Were to the Dark Lord.”

  Oh, gods. Cassie glanced over her shoulder at Caine, who paced with obvious agitation behind the barrier, his eyes smoldering with a mindless violence. If the Dark Lord wanted him, it couldn’t be for any good reason.

  “Why?”

  “She has the child.”

  Lost in her fear for Caine, it took Cassie a second to realize the full extent of the vampire’s words.

  The Alpha.

  It was here even after her attempt to send a warning to Styx. Did that mean all was lost?

  “‘And through the mist reunited . . .’” she quoted in numb tones.

  Gaius nodded. “Precisely.”

  Cassie struggled not to panic. It couldn’t be too late. She refused to concede defeat.

  At last she forced her stiff lips to move. “She’s become the Gemini?”

  Gaius gave a lift of his shoulder, his gaze returning to Caine. “The ceremony will be completed once she has a suitable sacrifice.”

  Cassie tensed. No. No. No. Shifting until she stood directly between the vampire and Caine, she prepared to fight to t
he death.

  There was no way in hell the Dark Lord was going to use Caine to unleash her perverted hordes on the world.

  “No.”

  Gaius returned his attention to her, the dark gaze studying her resolute expression. “The choice is not yours.”

  “Maybe not, but do you think you can defeat both of us?” she bluffed.

  “I’m not powerless.”

  She spread her legs, her body poised for attack. “Neither am I.”

  The vampire looked more curious than angered by her defiance. “You intend to protect him even though he just tried to kill you?”

  Cassie didn’t hesitate. “Of course. What would you do to protect your mate?”

  That bleak despair returned to the dark eyes as Gaius seemed to be overwhelmed by some unwelcomed memory. “Sell my soul.”

  Cassie took a hesitant step forward, the vague hope returning at the vampire’s hint of emotion. A creature who felt that deeply couldn’t be completely evil.

  “I’m not the only one between a rock and a hard place, am I?” she asked softly.

  He stiffened, belatedly realizing that he’d revealed more than he intended. “It’s too late.”

  “It’s never too late.” She took another step forward, her expression unabashedly pleading. What did she care about pride? She’d crawl on her knees and kiss the damned vampire’s feet if he could use his powers to get them out of the fog. “Help us.”

  He gave a short, humorless laugh. “You believe I can be reformed after all these centuries?”

  Did she?

  Cassie grimaced. Why hadn’t she honed her lying skills? It seemed every time she turned around she needed to tell one fib or another.

  Now she could only shrug and hedge around the truth. “My vision offered hope. For all of us.” She held out a slender hand, a sudden shiver inching down her spine. “Please.”

  There was a long silence and Cassie was forced to bite her tongue as the sense of urgency pulsed through her. Something was coming. Something bad.

  But Gaius was skittish enough without her pressing him.

  After what felt like an eternity, he at last muttered a low curse. “I am bound to regret this.”

  Cassie didn’t have time to feel relief. Not when the heavy sense of approaching doom was thickening the air until she couldn’t breathe.