When Darkness Ends (21 page)

Fallon held the portal open, warily glancing at the precisely manicured gardens that surrounded the large mansion. The sun had just set, leaving behind a faint band of violet and orange on the distant horizon, but it was dark enough to be safe for vampires and gargoyles.

“Magnus was here,” she said, baffled by the strange prickle of magic that she could feel even without leaving the protection of the portal. “But I still can't sense him.”

Cyn studied the mansion before his attention shifted to the placid, bucolic countryside.

“Here?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” she asked.

“I recognize that scent,” he muttered.

She frowned. “Magnus?”

“No.” He shook his head, his expression distracted as if he was lost in some deep thought. “But there's no longer any doubt this is connected to the Oracles.”

“Then we should have a look around,” she said. If there was something out there that could help them locate the magic-user then they had to track it down.

Cyn was jerked out of his preoccupation, his brows snapping together.

“Don't even think about it.”

Her lips parted, but before she could remind him that she didn't take orders from him, Levet was lightly tugging on her hand.

“He is right,
ma belle
. We do not know the danger.”

With a sigh of frustration she bent down to speak directly to the demon who looked too small to be a Knight in Shining Armor.

“You'll be careful?”

“Do not concern yourself.” The gargoyle lightly patted her cheek. “I am quite accustomed to risking my life to—”

“Would you just get on with it?” Cyn snapped.

“Leeches,” Levet muttered, sending a sour glance toward the hovering vampire before planting a kiss on the back of Fallon's hand. “
Au revoir, ma belle
. We shall soon be reunited.”

“Just go,” Cyn growled.

“Hey,” Levet squeaked as the ground beneath their feet gave a violent shudder, sending the gargoyle tumbling out of the portal.

“Bloody hell.” Cyn grabbed Fallon as the ground continued to quake. “What did the idiot do?”

Fallon allowed Cyn to hold her upright, her energy entirely focused on keeping them from being squashed.

“It wasn't Levet,” she said between clenched teeth.

Struggling to keep the bubble of protection around them, Fallon lifted her hand. She didn't have time to form a proper opening so she sliced a small rift, hoping they could escape. But whatever was forcing the portal to collapse slammed shut the fissure before it could properly form.

Cyn growled as the air was suddenly filled with painful pricks of electricity.

“What's happening?”

“The portal is collapsing,” she rasped, her strength rapidly draining. Damn. She had to get them out before they were crushed between dimensions.

“How?”

She shook her head, giving another slash of her hand as she tried to find a way out.

“I don't know.”

Perhaps sensing her growing weakness, Cyn wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back flat against his chest.

“Can we get out?”

“I don't know.” She was trembling, feeling the darkness squeezing ever tighter. “Every time I open a rift it closes before we can get out,” she rasped.

His arm tightened around her. “Shit.”

She grimaced. “Shit” just about summed it up.

She was coming close to burning out. She would have one last chance to get them out before bad, bad things happened.

“Brace yourself,” she muttered, gathering the last of her strength.

Caution wasn't cutting it. She could only hope that she could blast their way out before her bubble of protection was shattered.

She felt him go rigid. “For what?”

She didn't bother to answer him. Instead she closed her eyes, sending the last of her powers zinging toward the side of the portal.

There was a loud sizzle as her magic hit another magic and for a horrified minute Fallon feared that it might boomerang back toward them. What had she done?

Then, just as she braced herself for the impact, there was a sudden shift in the air pressure and without warning an explosion sent both of them hurtling out the side of the portal.

Cyn gave a shout of surprise, squeezing her tight against him as they were thrown forward. Fallon grimly held on as she tried to control their plunge through space. The last thing she wanted was to survive the catapult from the portal only to fry Cyn by landing someplace where it was daylight.

Of course, it was impossible.

She was still trying to lock on to Cyn's lair when they were out of the portal and making a painful landing onto a rough, stone floor.

Her first thought was that it was dark. Really dark.

Hooray.

Her second thought was that it wasn't much fun to be squashed between a massive vampire and sharp-edged rocks.

Cyn rolled to the side, a low groan wrenched from his throat as he forced himself to his feet.

“Where are we?”

Fallon shoved her tangled hair out of her face, managing to get to her knees as she peered through the murky darkness.

They were in a cave of some sort, but it wasn't like the one beneath Cyn's lair. She could sense the heavy weight of earth that extended well above them. As if they were deep in the bowels of a mountain.

Had her fear of the sun led them to a place where light never, ever penetrated?

Hard to say.

“I don't know,” she admitted, sucking in a deep breath once she was sure the rough landing hadn't cracked any ribs. She was studying the nearby stalagmite that was coated in some strange, shimmering goo when an icy breeze sent a rash of goose pimples over her skin. Suddenly she stiffened, a wave of dread sweeping through her at the foul odor that made her stomach heave. “Ugh. What is that stench?”

“Troll,” Cyn muttered, the word sounding like a curse. “Can you get us out of here?”

Fallon grimaced. Her royal blood meant that she recovered far faster than most fey, but at the moment she felt as if her magic had been sucked dry.

“I need a few minutes,” she admitted.

Cyn nodded, as if he'd been expecting her response. Then, without warning, he was muttering a low curse as he bent down to scoop her into his arms.

Fallon stiffened. “What are you doing?”

“Hellhounds,” he muttered. “Hold on.”

Cradling her against his chest, he barely gave her time to wrap her arms around his neck before he was smoothly running across the cave and into a narrow shaft that was angled upward.

Fallon glanced over Cyn's shoulder at the large hounds that were entering the cave. They were nearly as big as a pony, with crimson eyes that flashed with malevolent hatred in the darkness. They had huge fangs and dripped acid onto the stone floor with an audible sizzle.

She shuddered. Yeah, it was a relief they hadn't ended up on a sun-drenched beach, but did the alternative have to be a troll nest guarded by hellhounds?

Obviously it did, she silently conceded, burying her head against his chest as Cyn ducked the dangling stalactites and leaped over cracks in the floor at a speed that made her head spin. It wasn't until he came to an abrupt halt that she glanced up to discover his face set in a bleak expression.

“Why did you stop?” she demanded, shivering at the nearing howls of the hellhounds that echoed eerily through the small cave they'd just entered.

Cyn gently set her on her feet, pulling a large knife from a sheath strapped beneath his sweater.

“We're being herded.”

Herded? She frowned, wondering if it was some slang word.

“What does that mean?”

He moved to place himself between her and the opening to the cave, his legs spread wide.

“The hounds aren't attacking, they're deliberately trying to force us deeper into the mountain.”

Oh. Herded. Like cattle.

“Why?” she asked, even as a small voice in the back of her head warned she didn't want to know the answer to that particular question.

“Trolls prefer to eat their dinner while they're still alive.”

Her heart stopped. Yep. Much better not to know.

“Oh.”

He glanced over his shoulder, his expression more determined than concerned.

“Stay behind me.”

There were more howls joining the first. Three. Maybe even four.

“There's too many,” she warned.

A slow smile revealed his large fangs, his jade eyes glowing with anticipation.

“Someday, princess, you're going to trust me,” he promised, then with a lightning-quick motion he was surging forward to meet the charging hellhounds.

Fallon's breath lodged in her throat as the four hounds swiftly surrounded him, their sharp barks loud enough to hurt her ears.

Cyn turned in a slow circle, meeting the evil crimson gazes. Fallon clenched her hands. It looked as if he were daring them to attack.

It was only when the largest of the hounds leaped forward that she realized he'd been deliberately provoking the leader of the pack.

With a savage snarl the beast snapped his fangs at Cyn's throat, the acid from his mouth spraying onto his sweater and burning through to the flesh beneath.

Fallon winced, but Cyn seemed unaware of the damage as he grabbed the hellhound by the head and with one massive twist of his hands snapped the creature's neck. The other hounds hesitated, clearly smart enough to recognize that Cyn wasn't going to be easy prey.

The pause gave Cyn time to use his knife to cut out the leader's heart. Fallon grimaced even as she approved of his precaution.

Most demons had to have either their head or their heart removed to prevent them from returning to life.

Tossing aside the bloody carcass, Cyn curled back his lips to flash his fangs in direct challenge.

The hounds whined, clearly wanting to scurry away in fear. But almost as if they were being driven by some outside force, they charged toward Cyn.

With a swing of his arm, Cyn sliced the knife through the nearest hound's upper chest, sending it to the floor with a snarl of pain. The next two he easily sidestepped, kicking one in the side with enough force to send it sailing into the far wall.

There was a crunch of bones as the hellhound slid to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Never hesitating, Cyn was turning just in time to grab the hellhound who was pouncing on his back. Grabbing it by the muzzle, he crushed the monster's mouth, slicing his knife through its chest to remove the heart with obvious expertise.

Fallon grimaced at the carnage, but she couldn't help but admire the smooth skill that Cyn displayed as he tossed aside the dead hound and bent to deal with the one that had healed the wound on his chest and was rising to his feet. With a few more slices of the knife he ensured the beast wouldn't be getting back up again.

Good . . . Lord.

Distracted by the bloody battle, Fallon barely noticed that the hideous stench that permeated the air had suddenly intensified. Not until she was actually gagging at the foul odor.

Spinning around, she watched as a massive, lumbering monster stepped out of a side tunnel.

She gasped, stepping back as she studied the seven foot creature who awkwardly headed toward her.

She'd never seen a troll in person, and she had the sudden hope that she never had to see another one.

It wasn't just the size or the grotesque features that made her shudder. Or even the large tusks that protruded from his lower jaw.

It was the frenzied hunger in the crimson eyes.

He was looking for dinner.

And she was going to be the main course.

She forced her stiff lips to part. “Um . . . Cyn.”

 

 

Cyn was headed toward the final hellhound lying unconscious across the floor when he sensed the troll entering the cave just behind Fallon.

Raw fear jolted through him as he watched the nasty creature reach for Fallon.

Oh hell, no.

With a speed that few other demons could match, Cyn was surging forward, planting himself between the troll and Fallon before the bastard could touch her.

“Stay back,” he commanded in clipped tones.

The crimson eyes narrowed, a howl of frustration sending a shower of dust from the ceiling as the troll realized his easy meal had just become a fight to the death.

“You no scare me, leech,” the troll lisped, his gaze shifting to the knife that Cyn held in his hand.

Cyn understood the demon's confidence.

A troll had thick skin that couldn't be pierced by a traditional weapon. Not even Cyn's fangs could gnaw through the barklike hide. It took a blade that had been enchanted with magic to cause any damage.

Thankfully Cyn's knife had been given to him by his foster father and it had been forged with powerful hexes etched into the steel.

“Then let's play,” he taunted, edging toward the middle of the cave. Not only did he need room to maneuver, but he wanted the troll as far away from Fallon as possible.

The troll obediently shuffled forward while Cyn located the spot he intended to strike. In the demon's lower stomach there was a large artery that he could reach with his knife. Once it was severed the troll would die within minutes.

Holding his position, Cyn abruptly ducked as the beast swung a massive fist toward his face. At the same time he struck out with his knife.

The troll grunted, turning just enough for Cyn to miss his mark.