“We must travel to the King of Vampires,” she informed the tiny demon.
“Ah.” Levet gave a small sniff. “I suppose I am expected to save the world once again?”
“It’s quite likely,” Fallon agreed.
“Truly?” The gray eyes widened with horror. “Mon Dieu.”
Dante strolled forward. “I thought you enjoyed being Savior of the World?”
Levet’s tail twitched as he cleared his throat. “Of course I do, but it hardly seems fair to constantly pig out all the glory.”
“Pig out?” Cyn demanded, moving to stand beside his friend.
“Hog, you imbecile,” Dante said with a shake of his head. “It’s hog all the glory.”
“Tout ce que,” the gargoyle said. “I feel I should allow some other demon to enjoy the pleasure of being a savior.”
Cyn gave a short laugh. “Very generous.”
“Oui.” Levet preened, ignoring the blatant sarcasm. “I am a giver.”
“You’re something, all right,” Dante muttered.
Fallon hid her delight with Levet. It was rare for two vampires to be so obviously annoyed by such a little creature. He clearly had a special talent.
Still, she didn’t want to see him harmed.
“We should go,” she said, heading out of the library to lead the way back to the foyer.
Once there, she concentrated on reopening the portal she’d so recently closed.
She’d just stabilized the portal when she felt the brush of cool fingers along the nape of her neck. Fallon shivered, her entire body going up in flames.
Damn. How did he do that?
One touch and all she wanted was to melt into his arms.
“It won’t be too much of a strain to take all of us through the portal?” he softly demanded, speaking low enough so his question wouldn’t carry.
Clearly he didn’t want to embarrass her if she had to admit she didn’t have the power to transport them.
Her lips twitched. Not by his display of concern. Cyn had already proven that he possessed an instinctive need to protect females. But the fact that he actually accepted she might have a pride that could be wounded . . .
It was a hell of a lot more than her father or Magnus had ever offered her.
No wonder women found him irresistible.
“No,” she assured him. “Once the portal is open, I can easily transport a large number of people.”
“Damn.” Dante’s expression held a hint of admiration. “It’s no wonder the fey worship the Chatri.”
Cyn’s fingers lightly skimmed down her throat, a mysterious smile curving his lips.
“Aye, I worship one of my own.”
She blushed at being the center of attention, hastily reaching to touch Levet’s wing while Dante laid his hand on Cyn’s shoulder.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Non,” Levet said with a heavy sigh. “But I do not suppose my opinion matters.”
“Go,” Cyn growled, shoving the gargoyle into the waiting portal.
Magnus couldn’t deny a grudging respect for Tonya as they walked the pathway that meandered through moonlit fields, a large forest, along the edge of a loch and up and over the series of low, rolling hills.
She made no complaints despite the fact that she was hardly dressed to be trudging for miles. And more importantly, she didn’t badger him with questions even knowing that their surroundings were an illusion.
But at last she’d had enough, coming to a halt so she could kick off her ridiculous high-heeled shoes.
“Stop,” she muttered. “I’m exhausted.”
“Fine.” He stood beside her, grudgingly accepting that it wasn’t going to be as easy as he hoped to break free of their prison. “We will rest for a short time.”
“Will you tell me what the hell is going on?”
He paused. If she were a Chatri female, he would have told her not to worry her pretty head and offered a vague assurance that everything would be well.
But Tonya was nothing at all like the women he was accustomed to.
She was stubborn, and independent, and she would be completely pissed if he tried to lie to her just to make her feel better.
Ridiculous female.
“When we stepped out of the portal we were caught in a Labyrinth spell,” he said.
“Labyrinth?” She shook her head. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“The ancient druids used to cast them to trap unwary fey.”
She looked puzzled. “Why?”
“They could force them to share their potions that magnified the druid magic.”
“Oh.” She cast a glance around the empty landscape, almost as if she expected a cloaked druid to appear from the shadows. “I knew that sorcerers were rumored to force the fey to prolong their lives with potions, but I always thought druids were peaceful.”
“Sariel discovered what they were doing and threatened to slaughter every one of them if they used fey magic again,” Magnus said.