“What else did you see?”
“Nothing, but I could sense that it would be imperative for the Master to be awakened, so I created the pendant.”
Tiege bit back his disappointment. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy as hell that they had a way to waken the Master of Akana. But he’d been so confident that the magic would be connected to Marakel.
He glanced down at the gem that shimmered at his feet. “Why didn’t you tell someone what it was for?”
“If I had shared my vision then some fool would have tried to alter the future, even though it’s impossible,” Leila said, disgust thick in her voice. Clearly she’d endured more than one person trying to alter their destiny. Or maybe she’d done it herself. “And another would have twisted my words to suit their own needs so they could waste the spell on some ridiculous plot to gain power.” Without warning the teardrop necklace floated an inch off the ground, the air prickling with magic. “It was far better to wrap the pendant in a compulsion spell to reveal itself when angel magic touched this world.”
Ah. So he’d been right in one thing.
It hadn’t been a coincidence that the jewel had been found at this particular time. It’d clearly been triggered when Jian had brought the bodies of the Master of Akana and his Watchmen out of the Oubliette.
Careful to avoid the dangling silver chain, Tiege leaned down to grab the gem, wrapping his fingers around it. It felt warm against his skin, but not painful.
“This pendant will waken the Master?” he asked.
“Unless he’s been physically harmed.”
That was a question Tiege couldn’t answer. Only Jian had actually seen the missing Incubi.
“Do you know why the angels would waste their magic to incapacitate a Master rather than just killing him?” he asked the question that’d been nagging at him since Jian first revealed he discovered the bodies.
“I would guess because a deathblow would have been felt throughout the demon world,” Leila answered, her tone indicating that she was surprised he would have to ask.
“Damn,” he muttered. It made perfect sense. The angels had clearly tried to keep their intrusion into this world a secret. At least until the bastards were prepared for a full-blown attack.
But why Akana?
The question was whirling through his brain when the sound of Sloane’s voice sliced through the magic that filled the circle.
“Tiege,” she shouted, the sound of her footsteps running up the hill echoing through the air. “Tiege, we have company on the way.”
Shit. Tiege forced himself to concentrate on the mist that was already beginning to dissipate.
“How do I use the pendant?” he demanded.
“The magic is female,” Leila said. “Only a woman can cast the spell.”
His brows snapped together. He’d already sensed the magic was feminine in nature, but he didn’t know that it could be created so only another woman could cast it.
“But there are no more Succubi…” His words were cut off as the mist slipped from his control and faded back into the hieroglyphs. “Hell.”
Leila had created a spell designed to wake her distant descendant, but she hadn’t seen enough of the future to realize there wouldn’t be any females left who could cast the damned thing.
“Tiege.” Sloane had reached the top of plateau, her urgency vibrating in the air. “We need to get out of here.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Sloane watched as Tiege at last gave a shake of his head and turned to move out of the circle. She instinctively angled her body so she was between him and the approaching cars as she urged him to hurry down the narrow pathway.
The last thing she’d wanted to do was interrupt his ceremony. Even from a distance she could hear the low sound of his voice, which she assumed meant that he’d been able to contact the dead. But the second she’d caught sight of the flash of headlights, she’d known the vehicles were headed in their direction. The area was too isolated for a stray motorist to pass by at this time of night.
Now she led him toward the waiting Jeep, easily sensing his weariness.
Her concern increased when he crawled into the passenger seat without one protest. Rounding the front of the vehicle, she slid behind the steering wheel and started the engine. Then, shoving the Jeep into gear, she stomped on the gas and had them hurtling across the sand at jaw-breaking speed.
When Tiege remained silent, she glanced in his direction, grimacing at the sight of his tightly clenched features and the beads of sweat on his forehead.
“Are you okay?” she demanded.
“I will be,” he promised in frustrated tones. Either his meeting with the dead didn’t go as he wanted, or he was annoyed by the toll the ceremony had taken on him. Maybe both. “Can you tell who’s chasing us?”
She glanced in the rearview mirror, her jaw tightening as she realized their pursuers were steadily gaining ground.