“Terra,” he murmured. A mysterious smile curved his lips as he held up his arm to reveal the crimson tattoo that ran beneath the skin of his inner forearm. “My Terra.”
Terra smiled as she studied the intricate pattern that looked too delicate to be real. Then she held up her own arm, not at all surprised to discover a matching design. She’d felt the tingling sensation as the tattoo formed. A visible symbol of her mating with Javad.
“Yes, yours,” she agreed.
His eyes shimmered a pure bronze as he hesitantly reached out to trace her mark with the tips of his fingers.
“How?”
She chuckled, turning her head to brush her lips over the bare skin of his chest. “Did you think I could be your mate without you being mine?”
“It happens.”
“Not between us.” She snuggled closer. “We were bound together from the moment our paths crossed.”
Chapter 8
Levet had never considered himself a snarly sort of demon. Unlike the leeches or dragons or even the Weres, he wasn’t forever moaning and groaning about the tiniest problem. Indeed, he was infamous for his perky charm.
But after an hour of roaming the musty caves with a dozen frost fairies, he wasn’t feeling very spirited. In fact, his nerves had reached the breaking point.
Why had he opened the door to their prison cell? Granted, their gratitude had been effusive. They’d cheered and danced and even made up a spontaneous song to herald his greatness. Levet had memorized the words. When he returned to Vegas, he was going to hire a bard to stroll behind him while singing it. How else could people know about his latest daring adventure?
Unfortunately, things had gone steadily downhill.
The fairies stopped singing as they left the slave pens, but they were soon bored. The excitement of escaping was forgotten as they trudged through the dark tunnels. Within a few minutes, they were squabbling and complaining and even throwing rocks at each other. It was like trying to herd a gaggle of drunk frat boys. Hmm. Did humans travel in gaggles?
Levet heaved a loud sigh as two of the fairies tumbled past him, fighting over a worthless crystal that one of them had found on the floor.
“Could they possibly make more noise?” he muttered.
Sparkle fluttered her wings, looking confused. “You want them to be louder?”
“Non. I was being…” He sighed again. Fairies would be fairies. Flighty. Impulsive. Noisy. “Never mind. How much farther to the maze?”
“Not far, but don’t forget, it is guarded by hellhounds. We’ll have to find a way to distract them,” Sparkle warned.
Levet halted. He wasn’t afraid of mangy hellhounds. He was a hero, after all. But having to sneak past them didn’t fill him with tingly joy. Especially if they hadn’t been recently fed. There was nothing pleasant about being trapped in the belly of a hellhound.
There had to be another way.
Glancing around, he noticed a large crack in the wall of the tunnel. It was too narrow for the massive head of a hellhound to fit through. Even better, he could feel a faint breeze, and that meant it opened into a cave. Or perhaps another tunnel.
He pointed toward the crack. “We can go that way.”
Sparkle leaned forward, sniffing the breeze. She stiffened, her eyes wide. “No. I smell a vampire.”
Levet had already caught the familiar scent. “Oui. Javad.”
Sparkle tilted her head. “What’s a javad?”
“A friend.” Levet stepped forward and wiggled into the crack. “I hope,” he muttered.
* * * *
Javad knew that he should have some regret.
A mating was one of the most significant events that could happen in a vampire’s life. It was meant to be a glorious celebration enjoyed in as much luxury and decadence as possible. Instead, they were lying on a stone floor, covered in dust, and being hunted by his looney-ass sire.
Regret, however, was the last thing he felt.
Burying his face in Terra’s hair, he shivered as stunned joy blasted through him. He’d spent so many centuries convinced that he would never be reunited with this female. His female. She had her duty as a Seraf, hidden behind the walls of the temple. It would take time for him to accept that she really was his.
He brushed his lips down her cheek, briefly savoring the sweet taste of aloe vera before he forced himself to pull back and study her delicate features.
“As much as I want to pretend that we’re alone in the world, we need to get out of here.”
She nodded, rising to her feet. Javad frowned as he watched her sway. How much blood had he taken? Enough to heal himself, although he remained dangerously weak.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he flowed upright and grasped her arm.
“I’m fine.”
“Not for long,” a male voice drawled as Vynom appeared through the opening on the far side of the cave. “You cost me a lot of money, Seraf.”
Javad wrapped a protective arm around Terra. He was still too weak from his battle with Frack to directly attack his sire, but Vynom couldn’t know that. The older male would have to be cautious until his backup band of mercenaries arrived.
“You had your battle,” he snapped, trying to catch the scent of any nearby demons.
Nothing yet, but it was only a matter of time.
“I want more,” Vynom stepped forward, a sneer twisting his lips even as he kept a wary gaze locked on Javad.
“More what?” Javad demanded.
“He was auctioning off the chance to put a stake through your heart while you were unconscious,” Terra muttered.
Javad curled his lips in disgust. “Classy as always, Vynom.”
The male shrugged. “I’m a survivor.”
“Just another way of saying you’re an immoral, spineless coward who will sacrifice anything and anyone to make a buck,” Javad taunted.
Vynom narrowed his eyes, the air chilling to a temperature expected in the Arctic, not Nevada.
“Did you call me a coward?”
“I’m pointing out the obvious.” Javad covertly glanced
