Bound by Darkness - Alexandra Ivy [105]
The Sylvermyst shifted behind him, wise enough to realize that his words were hardly designed to lure them into a false sense of security.
Not that they were ready to jump on the bandwagon. Even if any of them knew what the hell a bandwagon was.
“This is a trick,” Toras muttered, proving his point.
Ariyal stepped toward the golden-haired Sylvermyst. “Have I ever lied to you?”
“No, but—shit!”
There was a sudden burst of magic that made the Sylvermysts gasp in pain and Jaelyn scowl in confusion.
“Ariyal,” she rasped, “what’s happening?”
There was only one explanation.
“They’ve found the mage,” he muttered, grimly accepting that they’d run out of time. Things were about to go bad in a hurry. All he could do was salvage what he could.
“Elwin.”
The Sylvermyst snapped to attention at Ariyal’s commanding tone. Some things were just instinct.
“Yes, sire?”
“Take the men and get the hell out of here.”
The man wavered, concern etched on his slender face. “What about the vampires?”
He reached to grab his brother’s arm, holding his gaze. “You have my word they won’t harm you so long as you don’t do anything to provoke them. Will you trust me?”
Elwin paused, then gave a slow nod of agreement. “Yes.”
“Good.”
There was a collective surge of relief from the gathered Sylvermyst, as well as a barely leashed yearning to rush from the dark caves to breathe the fresh air. But Elwin didn’t immediately leave the cavern. Instead he regarded Ariyal with a frown.
“What of you?”
“I have to get Tearloch and the child.”
Elwin gave a shake of his head. “He won’t listen to you. He’s under the thrall of the wizard.”
Ariyal shrugged. “No one gets left behind.”
Something shimmered in the pewter eyes before Elwin was abruptly dropping to his knees, his head bent in regret. In less than a heartbeat the rest of the tribe were also kneeling, their swords being drawn and tossed onto the stone floor in a gesture of surrender.
“My lord,” Toras breathed. “Forgive us.”
“We have all made mistakes,” Ariyal assured them. “Now we must hope that we can learn from them.”
Elwin lifted his head. “If we survive this, I pledge that I will do whatever you ask of me to return to our tribe.”
Reaching out, Ariyal firmly pulled the Sylvermyst to his feet, his expression somber.
“All I ask is that you take care of our brothers.”
“You have my word.”
Elwin placed a hand on Ariyal’s shoulder in a silent pledge. Then with a sharp whistle he had the rest of the tribe on their feet and racing silently from the cavern.
With a silent prayer that they would make it out safely, Ariyal turned toward his mate, knowing better than to even suggest she join his tribesmen in their flight from the darkness.
He might not be Einstein, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Are you ready?”
She held her sword in her hand, her fangs fully exposed. “Let’s do this thing.”
Chapter 21
Jaelyn bit back her protests as Ariyal led them through the increasingly narrow tunnels that reeked of ambush.
A fighter never allowed herself to be cornered in cramped spaces. It was too difficult to maneuver for even the best trained warrior.
Unfortunately, while she couldn’t sense the magical battle that must be happening ahead of them, she could feel Ariyal’s pulsing urgency, which meant that haste had to overcome caution for now.
Not that it had to make her happy.
Concentrating on her duty to make certain nothing approached them from behind, Jaelyn was unprepared for Ariyal’s abrupt halt.
Ramming into his hard back, she swiftly regained her balance, rubbing her nose as he turned to face her with a tense frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“Listen,” he said softly.
Distantly she could hear the sound of Sergei and Rafael in a heated argument, the occasional shake of the tunnel warning her that they were doing far worse than merely throwing punches at one another.
If they weren