Demon from the Dark

Making light of his attack, she said, 'Everybody here brawls all the time. You'll fit right in.'

'If we're not to kill the vemon,' Rydstrom said, 'then you should alert us in advance.'

Carrow gazed up at Malkom, grinning like a fool. 'I had no idea he'd show.'

'Okay, so everybody's cool?' Mari asked around. 'Then can we please find out what happened on the island—while I work on your really-hard-to-get-off collar?'

'Are you okay?' Carrow asked Malkom. 'Do you need to rest?'

He gave a sharp shake of his head, pulling his shoulders back.

So Carrow related everything that had occurred within the facility, from their capture and imprisonment to their escape via La Dorada.

Had Lucia and Garreth shared a worried glance at the mention of the Queen of Evil?

Once Carrow had finished, Lucia asked, 'Did you see Regin?'

'She's there, and I believe she's gotten free.'

Lucia sagged against Garreth. Then she said, 'What do you mean, you believe? Why weren't you two together?'

'I didn't have a lot of say about, oh, anything. My power was nil.' She flicked her collar, saying, 'I'm not wearing this for flair. Look, Lucia, I know you're worried. But Regin was alive.' Carrow thought back. 'She did want you to know that Aidan was there. She said that I was to curse him. He hurt her. Repeatedly.'

'Aidan? Dear gods.'

Sabine said, 'And what about my sister?'

Carrow said, 'A Vrekener named Thronos took her.'

'What?' The house appeared to rock again. 'Thronos? Then Lanthe's definitely still on that cursed island. I will turn the Vrekener's mind inside out, show him nightmares he can never recover from.' She added in an absent mutter, 'Just as I did his father.'

Rydstrom told Sabine, 'Cwena, the witch will scry for Lanthe—'

'And what about Uilleam?' Garreth demanded. Turning to Bowen, he said, 'He's your cousin, too. Get your wife to scry for him first.'

Lucia said, 'I've been around the world looking for Regin for weeks. Mariketa should locate her first.'

A chorus of other voices rang out, immortals who wanted their loved ones found.

When Mari put her hands over her ears, Carrow cab-whistled for silence. 'She can't scry for everyone's exact locations. It'd take her weeks. And even you guys can't afford that kind of overtime.' She turned to Mari. 'But you could get a ballpark for dozens, right?'

'I could tell you who is on that island. But not precisely where.'

Carrow continued, 'And even if she could locate one or two, anybody who goes to retrieve them will be in danger from the moment they set foot there. The Pravus immortals all have their powers. None of the Vertas do. La Dorada might still be skulking around for all we know. Plus, the humans will surely return to take back their facility.'

'So you're calling for a war,' Garreth said, looking like he was hot on the idea.

'And where is Nix?' Lucia asked. 'Shouldn't we get her foresight before planning anything?'

Carrow shook her head. 'There's a chance that I saw her on the island. I can't be sure, but I think it was her.'

Garreth demanded of the crowd, 'Then who will storm this place with the Lykae?'

Carrow smiled, setting them up for the kill. 'And how are you going to get there, wolf? The island has some kind of mystical cloak over it.'

'Nix told me no one can see it by boat or plane,' Mari said.

Sabine flicked her claw-tipped hand at Malkom. 'This ... being can return us. I'll pay him his weight in gold.'

Malkom stepped forward. 'I will go, relaying people there. And I do not want your gold.'

Under her breath, Carrow said, 'Um, demon, we're mercenaries here.' She squired him to the side of the room. 'If you want to join the family business, you gotta make them pay, okay?'

In a low tone, he said, ' 'Tis the only way to get them to accept me.'

And Carrow knew how he longed to be accepted. 'I think you'll be surprised, big guy. But for now, let's concentrate on feathering our nest, then work on the acceptance, all right?'

When he grudgingly agreed, Carrow turned to the others and raised her voice. 'Mari will scry tonight, Malkom will prepare for mass teleporting, and I'll draw up schematics of the island. We'll try to contact Conrad and see if he has any intel we can use. Then we'll come up with a battle plan and leave at dawn.'

Mari added, 'Anybody who wants on that island, I have some paperwork and payment options.'

Carrow nodded. 'Tomorrow morning, we go to war.'

Malkom tensed beside her. 'We?' he growled, tracing her outside.

She blinked up at him. She'd thought he was going to be unstoppable before he could trace. 'Malkom, if you go, then I do, too. Remember the I'm never letting you out of my sight part from earlier?' He opened his mouth to argue, but she said, 'If you're happy, then I'll be strong enough to watch over you as well as you do me.' As soon as things calmed down, she'd explain that she'd learned to empower herself, that between his happiness and her own, she'd be one formidable Wicca. 'So I'll just have to make you ecstatic.'

'Witch, you already have.' He drew her close, resting his chin on her head. 'When I heard what you said in there, in front of everyone?'

'I would die for you, Malkom. Can you trust that? Can you believe in me again?'

Against her hair, he murmured, 'Right now, I can do anything.'

Chapter 48

Though Malkom and Carrow still had much to discuss with the immortals downstairs, he couldn't be easy until he saw Ruby with his own eyes. Carrow had told him, 'She freaked out, shrieking for you. I mean, I knew you'd made an impression, but Elianna had to mick her, knock her out.'

So they started for Carrow's room to check on the girl. On the way, he gazed around at all the new and peculiar things he saw. Carrow's memories had prepared him for much, but still, this proved bewildering. He itched to investigate everything unfamiliar.

They'd just passed through the doorway leading to a spacious suite when Carrow's torque dropped to the ground.

'Ah, Mari, thank you,' she murmured, kicking the band away.

He could sense magics flowing through Carrow, now uninterrupted—just as he sensed them steeped in every inch of this coven.

Magics surrounding him. 'Twas not so disturbing as he might have imagined.

She rolled her head, massaging her nape. 'Gods, that's nice to get rid of.'

Eyes fixed on her bared neck, Malkom skimmed the backs of his fingers down that pale length. Their gazes met.

'Crow, is that you?' Ruby sleepily asked from the bed.

Carrow bit her bottom lip. With a sigh, she crossed to her. 'It's me, honey.' She sat beside the girl.

'Did you get Malkom back?'

He drew closer, easing down beside Carrow. 'I am here, deela.'

Instantly, Ruby's face lit up into a smile. 'Crow, you swore you'd bring him home!' She launched herself at Malkom, hugging him with all her might.

Over the girl's shoulder, Malkom met eyes with Carrow. She'd promised her new daughter to bring him back, had been ready to fight her own allies to reach him.

Earlier, with her every word, his jaw had slackened. He'd wanted to have proof of her affection, to be certain of it. Now her feelings—and his place in her world—were abundantly clear.