Mark of the Sylph (Demons of Infernum, #2)

by Rosalie Lario

  Maya forced herself to remain stiff and silent, though she couldn’t stop her hands from curling into fists. Just because she didn’t want to get involved with Taeg didn’t mean she liked seeing him with another woman.

  When Elain tilted her head to the side, revealing a glint of tongue snaking into Taeg’s mouth, she’d had enough. Her bones ached with the force of holding herself back. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Elain broke away from Taeg and they both looked at her.

  His eyes were narrowed, clearly warning her to keep her mouth shut. Be boring, as he’d advised her.

  Elain examined Maya once again, then turned back to Taeg. “What interesting little morsel have you brought for me, darling?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Maya twitched in her spot, avoiding Taeg’s imploring glare. She could practically hear him cursing her in his mind. Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut? So much for remaining uninteresting. But when he replied to Elain, his voice was calm.

  “Elain, I’d like you to meet Maya. She’s a graduate student studying archaeology at NYU, and she’s been helping me with my research.”

  “A human?” Elain surveyed her for so long that Maya had to fight the urge to squirm uncomfortably. Finally she turned back to Taeg. “But darling, she can’t even speak Welsh, can she? Even if she can, she couldn’t be nearly as fluent as I am.”

  Of course she’d have to point that out.

  “I have other uses.”

  When both Elain and Taeg turned to her, she realized she’d put too much of an emphasis on the word “other.” Damn, she hadn’t meant to do that. Maya turned and made a show of examining the brocade on the wall so they wouldn’t see her embarrassment.

  “You plan on spending the night, don’t you?” Elain asked Taeg. Was it just Maya, or was there loaded innuendo behind those words?

  “Yes.” His response was just as quiet. “As long as you don’t have any other visitors here.”

  “I sent Manuelo to the city for the night. I assumed I’d have no need for a Feeder this evening.”

  Feeder? What on earth was that? And why did Maya have a feeling she was missing a lot of what was going on? But the last thing she wanted to do was reveal her ignorance in front of Elain. She’d ask Taeg when they were alone.

  Taeg murmured something Maya couldn’t hear. She turned around to see Elain standing mere inches from him. Her palms leisurely slid up and down his chest while he whispered something into her ear. As if she could sense Maya’s eyes on her, Elain turned to her, and she gave her a grin that held a hint of challenge in it.

  Maya gritted her teeth when her gut clenched again. Don’t give her the satisfaction of showing a reaction. Besides, he’s not yours to fight over.

  Elain finally broke away from Taeg and faced Maya straight-on, tilting her head to the side. “But where are my manners? I almost forgot about you humans and your... base needs. I’ve had Jenkins prepare a meal for us.”

  “That’s not necessary, Elain,” Taeg said.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I won’t be accused of being a poor host.” She waved a hand in the air. “Besides, we have all evening to decipher your papers.”

  Elain sashayed forward, bypassing Maya and heading toward the door. Only when she’d flung it open did she say, “Well, what are you waiting for?”

  Maya stayed rooted in place, focused on Taeg. He approached, that warning glint still in his eyes. She knew she should stay quiet, but she couldn’t help herself. “You and your friend seem to be pretty chummy.”

  He grabbed her elbow and forcibly whirled her toward the door. “Remember what I said earlier,” he said low in her ear as he led her out of the parlor. “Be boring like you’ve never been boring before. She’s more dangerous than you might think. In fact, the less you speak the better.”

  Well, wasn’t this great? She was expected to sit through an entire dinner with an irresistible demon who drove her crazy and the gorgeous Other who clearly had the hots for him. And to top it all off, not only did he want her to keep quiet, but she wasn’t even allowed to use her daggers on the bitch?

  How was she going to make it through an entire evening of this?

  §

  Maybe bringing Maya along hadn’t been the best of ideas. When Taeg had thought up the plan, keeping her close had been his biggest concern. He’d momentarily forgotten that Elain was his sometimes-lover who no doubt expected them to pick up where they’d left off. Now he not only had to deal with Elain playing footsie under the table, but also with Maya glaring daggers from her spot directly across from him.

  Elain had forgone the opulence of the formal dining room, with its massive oak table that seated sixteen. They sat in a far more intimate dining alcove located off the kitchen. If he asked, she’d probably say it was because there were only three of them at this small square table. But he had a feeling she’d done it so he’d be within easy reach of her. Even now her hand closed around his knee, traveling a path up his thigh. Trying to stake her claim.

  Taeg cleared his throat and shifted so that her hand fell away.

  Her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened in obvious displeasure, but she turned to Maya without making any comment. “I do hope the food is palatable. Given that I haven’t eaten in over three hundred years, I wouldn’t know.”

  In between lobbing him vicious scowls, Maya had glumly picked at her food, but she snapped to attention at Elain’s words. “Over three hundred years? Wow.” She initiated a pointed perusal of Elain’s body. “You look good.”

  Though she didn’t say it, the words “for your age” were clearly implied.

  Taeg almost choked at the obvious dig, and from the way she stiffened, Elain hadn’t missed it either. He uttered a silent prayer of thanks when she didn’t rise to the bait. She trailed a hand down his arm and gave him a steamy glance.

  “Yes, forever preserved at nineteen. Lucky for me, sagging will never be an issue.” After a moment of marked silence, she added, “Too bad you missed that boat, my dear.”

  He mentally threw his hands up in the air. What had he been thinking, bringing these two together? If they could end the evening without one of them trying to kill the other, it would be a miracle. Lucky for him, instead of snapping out a response, Maya let the matter drop. She didn’t even ask any questions about what Elain was, as he’d half-expected her to.

  Maya directed a glance at his plate, which he hadn’t touched. “Not hungry?”

  “Not really.” He shrugged and tilted his chair back slightly. “I could go another month without eating a bite.”

  “A month?” Maya dropped her fork with a loud clang and leaned forward in her chair. “Are you serious?”

  He’d forgotten how little she knew about demons. For all the time she’d spent researching how to kill them, she’d never bothered to actually learn a thing or two about them. “Dead serious. It’s a genetic thing.”

  She stared at him like he was some sort of science project she ached to dissect. And yeah, even that turned him on. Twisted.

  He almost forgot about Elain sitting at his side. She must have noticed it, too, because when she spoke, her voice was cold as ice. “You two don’t seem to know each other very well.”

  “That’s not a requirement, is it?” Maya replied flatly. She sat back in her chair and picked up her fork once again. “We’re working together on this one project. Nothing more.”

  Ouch. Although he couldn’t say he was surprised, her cold rebuff stung. It was a clear and, knowing Maya, quite deliberate disclaimer of any ownership claims on him. Elain didn’t miss it, either, because she perked up in her chair.

  Maya didn’t say another word for the rest of the dinner. Elain, on the other hand, wouldn’t shut up. She talked about everything from life in the eighteenth century to once dating a famous mobster. The woman talked so damned much, he wondered how he’d ever found her attractive to begin with.

  “Do you remember the night we met at Opiate?” Elain let loos
e with a throaty laugh. “Why, I thought we’d never make it out of the club—”

  “You know, it’s getting late.” Taeg rose to his feet. There was no way in hell he wanted Maya to hear that story.

  Maya appeared relieved and stood up as well. “I agree.”

  “Oh, I forget about you humans and your odd sleep schedules.” Elain slid back in her seat. “You slumber away the best parts of the day.”

  After leading them down the hall and up a flight of stairs, Elain stopped in front of a door. It opened to a spacious room that was fairly sedate with its mauve and chocolate tones. “You can sleep in here, Maya.”

  “Thanks.” Maya peeked in the room, then glanced at Taeg. He gave her a reassuring nod, about to tell her to go inside, when Elain spoke again.

  “You know, we never did settle the matter of payment for my services.”

  Taeg’s heart dropped when she tapped a forefinger across her lips as if considering what she should ask for. Oh damn, this wasn’t going to be good.

  “Is she part of my payment?” Elain finally asked, tilting her head as she looked over at Maya.

  Taeg could practically feel Maya recoil at those words. “She’s off limits. As I said, she’s only here to help me.”

  “Very well.” From the way Elain’s lips curved, he could tell she wasn’t at all bothered by that. “So, the usual then?”

  The insinuation behind those words was deliberate, and by the sour-lemon look on Maya’s face, she’d picked up on it. He opened his mouth to make it clear Elain wasn’t talking about sex. But then he recalled Maya’s words at dinner. Her rejection of him earlier by the car. She’d made it clear a million ways from Sunday she didn’t want anything to do with him like that. Worse, he’d told himself time and time again that it was for the best. He and Maya were wrong for each other in so many ways.

  If she thought he was going to sleep with Elain, why disabuse her of the notion? And if it made her jealous, well, that wasn’t his fault, was it?

  “Yeah,” he said, turning to face Elain. “The usual.”

  Taeg did his best to ignore his guilt at the momentary hurt that flashed across Maya’s face. She had rejected him, after all. To top it all off, he couldn’t get attached to her. Attachment meant emotions, and emotions made people do stupid things.

  Family came first. He had to remember that.

  “Good night, Maya.” Taeg turned, letting Elain lead him down the hall. She slithered one of her arms under his.

  “I’ll put you in the room next to mine,” she said, though the naughty tone of her voice made it clear to anyone who listened that she didn’t think he’d be spending any time there.

  “Sounds great.”

  Elain was attractive. Sexy. Not a demon-hater. And she was into some real kinky shit. Chains on the walls. Whips. He should be excited that she wanted him to spend the night with her. Why then did he feel like he was being led to his own execution?

  §

  “That bitch.”

  Maya paced the expanse of her borrowed room. Sitting across from Taeg and Elain at dinner had been hell. Pure torture, having to watch her run her hands all over him. If she wasn’t mistaken, Elain had gotten grabby under the table, too. The woman was like an octopus.

  Although Taeg hadn’t looked like he enjoyed all her attention, he also hadn’t told her to back off. Far from it. Seemed quite clear he was more than willing to go with Elain and play her game.

  “Couldn’t they at least have waited until they were alone? So disrespectful.”

  That was why she was upset. It surely had nothing to do with the fact that Taeg was probably hooking up with Elain at this very instant. Oh, who was she kidding? Despite what he was, she wanted him. And even though it was no doubt for the best, the thought of him hooking up with someone else was driving her in-s-a-a-ne.

  If only she could have done something tonight. Sitting there like a mute had gone against her nature. She wasn’t someone who just let things happen to her. Not anymore. But tonight, because Taeg had asked her to, that was what she’d done. And now she was miserable because of it.

  “Damn you, Taeg. This is all your fault.”

  He was an arrogant, low-down prick who probably hit on anything with two legs. If he thought she was going to waste two more seconds thinking about him, he had another think coming. The best thing she could do would be to go to sleep and forget all about him.

  She shuffled toward the bed before pausing.

  No, wait.

  Better yet, she should find him and tell him his mind games weren’t going to work on her. If she’d managed to survive a demon attack that killed her entire family, not to mention single-handedly taking out more demons than she could count on one hand, she wasn’t about to fall for some demon Casanova’s tricks.

  No, they were in this for what they could provide each other. She’d help him find the sword, he’d help her find her family’s murderers. That was it, nothing more. The sooner he realized that, the better. In fact, she would tell him in no uncertain terms. That way it would be out in the open, and they’d be free to focus on the important stuff.

  Mind made up, she stomped over to the door and pushed it open. She rounded two corners and passed countless closed doors before she started questioning the wisdom of her strategy. If she managed to find Taeg, which given the size of this place wasn’t guaranteed, what if he was with Elain? She didn’t want to see that.

  Maybe she should go back to her room. She could always have this talk with him in the morning, when she was better rested and wasn’t fuming mad.

  Maya turned one more corner and wavered there uncertainly before leaning back against the wall. She thumped her head against it. This was ridiculous. She was being totally crazy. She started to turn back when she heard a soft sound.

  What was that?

  Turning back around, she noticed for the first time an open door at the end of the hallway. The only open door she’d seen this entire time. Her feet crept forward, stepping one in front of the other until she stood no more than a dozen feet away from the doorway.

  This was craziness. She should go back to her room. But then she heard the noise again, louder this time. It sounded like... a moan.

  A moan?

  Oh, hell no.

  Caution fled like the wind. She was too far gone not to look now.

  §

  Taeg let Elain lead him to the other end of the house, but when she tried to push him into her bedroom, he stood his ground. “I thought I was getting my own bedroom.”

  “What difference does it make?” When he didn’t back down, she waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Fine. Suit yourself.”

  Turning, she strolled to a nearby door and swung it open, stepping aside with a flourish. “Your room.”

  He stepped inside a room decorated much like Maya’s, except in muted scarlet and gray. Nothing like Elain’s luxurious quarters, he knew from experience. Still, it would do.

  Elain sauntered into the room after him, sliding a finger along the wall while she ambled aimlessly throughout the space. “Your human is an interesting creature.”

  “She’s not my human.” Taeg strode over to the bed and took a seat. Making sure the two women hadn’t tried to kill each other had taken more out of him than he’d expected. “I told you, she’s only helping me.”

  “If you say so.” Her tone made it clear she didn’t believe him. She turned and crossed to where he sat, taking a seat next to him. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed her curves.”

  Great. Now he had a jealous vampire to contend with. That was never a good thing, especially if he expected Maya to sleep under the same roof as her. Taeg forced nonchalance and a hint of seduction into his voice. “She’s well-built, for a human. But then I like my women a little less fragile, don’t I?”

  Elain grinned at him, appeased. She trailed a hand up his chest. Tilting his head to the side, she leaned into him. “Now, for my payment.”

  Taeg forced himself to rel
ax when her teeth scraped his throat. The initial bite was always unnerving. To this day he wasn’t quite sure how he’d trusted her enough to do it that first time. He must have been really drunk.

  Her teeth sank into his flesh with a small burst of pain. Then she took one long draw, and it was gone. He groaned when his body went boneless from an overload of pleasure. As he’d discovered with that first bite, being bitten by a vampire was almost as pleasurable as having an actual orgasm. If only he could enjoy it. But that wasn’t going to happen tonight.

  He collapsed back onto his elbows, only vaguely aware of Elain following him down while she continued to suck his blood in rhythmic swallows. One of her hands snaked under his shirt, hitching it up. She rubbed her hand along his chest. The silky glide of it on his flesh, along with the feel of the blood leaving his body, coalesced into one mass of sensation that made his cock go hard. Elain moaned as if she could sense his erection. Hell, she probably could. The woman was like a bloodhound.

  But when her hand traveled down to close over the outline of his erection through his jeans, he forced himself to face the truth. His body might respond to Elain’s bite, but he couldn’t have sex with her. Not when someone else was on his mind.

  Long, dark hair. A lush, compact body. Eyes that blazed with passion and anger. That was who he wanted. Maya, his little demon-slayer. He could practically see her in his mind—his sexy, angry avenger—hands propped on her hips, poised to reach for a dagger.

  No. She’d be in attack mode, preparing to rip him a new asshole.

  “What the fuck?”

  Yeah, she’d probably say something like that.

  Wait a second...

  Someone had actually said that.

  Taeg jerked his head to the side, disengaging Elain’s fangs. After a second, the blood haze cleared enough for him to realize what he saw.

  Oh, shit.

  He hadn’t been imagining Maya. She actually stood at the doorway. And yeah, if the heaving chest and bright red cheeks were any indication, she was pissed with a capital “P.”