He concentrated on the house and found several Darkreans scattered throughout the building. North was right, the Darkreans had called in reinforcements, and Eve was in there. Thank the heavens he’d soul-joined with her, or he’d never have been able to track her.
He cast an impatient glance at the moon, which seemed determined to pinpoint to his enemy exactly where he was, bathing the area in silvery light. He summoned a bank of thick rain clouds that sailed across the velvet night sky and shielded the eerie brightness. Darkness cloaked the forest and its surroundings once more. The cacophony of night insects quietened as if sensing danger. Even the gentle whispers of the foliage stilled.
Reynner detected North and Aerén not far behind him.
Needing the contact, he opened his mind again to Eve and hoped she didn’t experience his penance. But she seemed to have thrown a wall over her thoughts. Frustration and worry prowled through him.
He, an immortal who’d endured a century in Hell then destroyed the shithole and killed the demoness who’d tortured him, and he couldn’t even keep his mate safe.
North appeared beside him like a shadow. “The place is guarded tighter than a fortress.”
“Matters little, I’m going in through that balcony.” He nodded to the small one with rambling vines on the railings.
“You can’t. It’s surrounded by magic,” Lucan informed him, stepping out from the trees.
“You think I can't feel it? How the fuck can they do that? They have a mage in there with them?”
“With their limitation of power once off Dregarus, they will always be prepared,” Lucan said, his attention fixed on the house. “I need to find a weakness in the incantation.” He raised his hands as he worked.
Reynner prowled to the edges of the trees then came back again. “What’s taking you so bloody long?”
“Give me a damn minute,” Lucan muttered, his hand weaving in a series of complicated movements. “Unraveling this spell is not child’s play.”
“I don’t have time for this shit.” Reynner headed in the direction of the house. North blocked him.
“Get outta my way,” he snarled, power rolling through him. The winds picked up. More clouds gathered.
“Dammit, Reyn.” Aerén strode out of the darkness, back from his recon. “Keep the weather constant. Those degenerates will disappear with her if they know we’re here. They could very well take her back to Dregarus.”
That stopped him cold. In that barren ice land, Eve wouldn’t survive.
She was probably terrified out of her mind, trapped with those emotionless fuckers.
“We have to get her out. I have to get her—I can't—” he broke off, unable to think past his terror of her being hurt.
North remained silent. Aerén glared at the house.
“I sense her,” Lucan said then he cursed. “They know we’re here.”
Darkreans swarmed the grounds like bees escaping a hive.
Hell, yeah, perfect. Finally able to vent the fear and fury raging within him, Reynner summoned his sword and dematerialized.
***
Go where?Eve wondered irritably. She wiped the blood trailing down her forehead with the back of her hand and stumbled after the Darkrean leader as he headed outside.
He’d been so intent on getting answers, and then, suddenly, he’d changed his mind? She had no idea why.
And her ruse at falling so she could touch him? What a waste of time. She’d picked up wisps of thoughts, a bad snowstorm someplace, but most baffling of all, no emotions.
Uneasy now, she rubbed her arms. It was as if she’d been sucked into a void and spat out again. How could a person feel nothing?
She followed Sebris onto a softly lit portico. Ignoring the pain shooting up her hips, she limped down the stairs leading onto the lawn. Cool night air surrounded her, rich with the mossy-green smell of wood.
Garden lights highlighted the riotously growing wild roses. Weeds appeared to have won the fight and taken over the grass. Tall looming trees surrounded the boundaries of the two-story mansion, making her feel cut off from the rest of the world. More dark clouds rolled across the sky, obscuring what was left of the moonlight.
She trampled through the ankle-length grass when sounds of clanging reached her ears.
