She didn’t want time to consider whether or not she’d just made the greatest mistake of her life.
“You know, Laylah, if you intend to keep the child then you should really consider giving it a name,” the gargoyle gently chastised her.
Tane flashed Levet an annoyed glare. “What does it matter?”
Levet sniffed. “Because a mother who cares about her child gives him a name.”
If Laylah hadn’t been looking directly at the gargoyle she would have missed the pain that flared through the gray eyes.
Her heart wrenched.
Oh, dear God. Levet was intimately familiar with a mother who didn’t bother to name him. Perhaps she had even abandoned him.
Demons could be even more brutal than humans when it came to dealing with deformities.
“Yes,” she breathed, reaching to run a comforting hand down his wing. “You’re right.”
A wistful smile touched his ugly face. “Then why have you hesitated?”
“Because I’ve always known there was the possibility that the child belonged to someone else. And that one day they would come for him,” she tried to explain. “It wouldn’t be fair if I had already named him.”
“And less painful for you to give him away?” Levet asked softly.
She grimaced, knowing she must sound like an idiot. “That was the thought.” “And now?” Levet prompted.
“Now I’ll kill anyone who tries to take him from me.” Tane sent her a knowing smile. “Spoken like a true mother.”
Marika prowled along the wrought iron fence that framed the elegant estate.
Out of necessity she’d swapped her Valentino gown for black silk pants and matching top that snuggly outlined her perfect figure and allowed her to blend into the shadows. She’d also tugged her hair into a simple knot at her nape to keep it from being caught on the nasty trees and bushes that cluttered the godforsaken country.
Her lips pinched.
At least Sergei had managed to cast a Spell of Finding on Laylah before Victor and his henchmen had forced her from her lair. The interfering bastards. It meant that it was only a matter of time before she had her hands on her niece and they could return to civilization.
And in the meantime she intended to keep a very detailed tally on every indignity she was forced to suffer. She was going to take payment out of Laylah’s flesh.
Tapping a manicured nail against her chin, she considered the distant house, her impatience to track down her niece briefly overshadowed by the waves of power that filled the air.
“You are certain she is no longer inside?” she demanded.
Sergei nodded. Like her, he had changed from his designer clothing into a pair of casual chinos and a loose black silk shirt. His hair was pulled into a tail at his nape.
“I can sense her heading south.”
“Is she alone?”
“It’s impossible to say.” The mage sent her a warning frown. “The spell I cast on her is fading. We should hurry before I lose all connection to her.” He muttered a curse as Marika stepped toward the fence, her head tilted back as she tested the air. “What are you doing?”
“Do you know what this place is?”
Sergei shrugged. “A vampire’s lair.”
“Much more than that.” A humorless smile curved her lips. “My niece moves in elevated company.”
The mage shifted uneasily, sensing something was wrong but unable to detect the power that choked the air.
“A clan chief?”
“The King of all Vampires.”
“The Anasso?” Stark disbelief was laced through Sergei’s voice. “I thought he was a myth.”
“You are welcome to ring the doorbell and discover the truth for yourself.”
“No, thank you.” There was a tense pause before the mage moved to stand at her side, his expression suspicious. “You are remarkably indifferent to the fact that the Anasso is now aware that you defied demon law to create a Jinn half-breed for the sole purpose of returning the Dark Lord to this world and crowning yourself queen.”
Marika waved aside his words. Why should she care that her plans had been revealed to the Anasso? There was no point in being superior to those who claimed positions of power if no one appreciated her brilliance.
“It was bound to be revealed eventually.”
The pale blue eyes glittered with annoyance. “Not until we had the Jinn and babe in our possession. A task that now will be considerably more difficult if we are being hunted by your brethren.”
“I do not fear the fools,” she said, scorn dripping from her words. “But there is something else.”
“Something worse than the Anasso?”
“Yes.”
“Lovely.” The mage reached to grasp the crystal hung about his neck. Marika sneered at the instinctive reaction. His human magic would be worthless against the demon inside the mansion. “What is it?”
“An Oracle.”
Sergei backed away from the fence with a string of Russian curses.
“Then this is the end.” He halted at the edge of the tree line, perhaps stupid enough to believe the shadows could hide him from the danger. “If the Commission knows of the female then they’ll kill her.”
Marika turned, taking a malicious pleasure in her companion’s fear.
“That would have been my assumption and yet you claim Laylah escaped.”