Page 16 of Love, Rekindled

“Perhaps we should go.”

Scurrying past the male still on his knees, clutching his crotch in pain, Levet returned to his hunt.

“People claim I am a walking disaster,” he muttered with a shake of his head.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Bertha protested. “He asked if I wanted some of it.”

“I do not think he meant for you to yank it off his body.”

She shrugged. “He should have been more specific.”

“I…” Levet came to a halt, staring at a spot on the sidewalk. “The trail ends here.”

Spinning in a slow circle, Levet studied his surroundings. A soaring office building with lots of glass and steel. Next to it, a manicured garden lit by strings of lanterns. Behind him, the main road leading out of the city. It seemed most likely that Jayla had been picked up by a car and driven away.

So how was he supposed to find her now? He was busy debating the question when Bertha reached out to tug his horn.

“Is that vampire a friend of yours?”

Levet jerked away from her grasp. Why were demons forever grabbing his horns? “What vampire?” he asked in grumpy tones.

“The one who is spying on us from behind that tree.” Bertha pointed toward the nearby garden. At the same time, there was a blur of darkness as the vampire abruptly took off, heading toward the back of the office building. “There he goes.”

“Come on.”

Levet flapped his wings, dashing after the fleeing creature. He didn’t know if the vampire had anything to do with the missing Jayla, but there had to be a reason he was running away. Besides, he’d just reached a dead end.

He could return to Dreamscape and admit defeat or hope the vampire could give him information.

Levet was a KISA. He never admitted defeat.

CHAPTER 4

Jayla steppedthrough a portal created by a pretty fairy. Azrael had hired the fey creature since vampires were incapable of magic, and she’d stared at him with blatant adoration. The gaze bothered Jayla. In truth, it’d taken her considerable willpower not to reach out and slap the female.

Jayla wanted to pretend it was simple frustration. She was, after all, supposed to be meeting with Emile to prevent a potential disaster, not traveling to Siberia to confront a mother dragon who could turn her into a crispy critter with one sneeze. But it wasn’t frustration that made her hands curl into tight fists.

It was jealousy.

She didn’t want any female looking at Azrael.

Shoving aside the dangerous realization, Jayla glanced around. She’d expected to be standing on top of a mountain. Instead, they were in a deep, thickly wooded valley frosted with a thin layer of ice.

“What are we doing here?” she asked as Azrael appeared beside her.

Dressed in thick leather pants and a heavy sweater, Azrael pointed toward the towering mountain range visible over the trees.

“The cave is on top of that peak.”

Jayla tilted back her head. She’d changed, as well. Azrael had provided her with a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, a heavy parka, and a pair of leather boots. She hadn’t asked why he had her precise size. She simply pulled on the warm clothes and braided her hair to keep it out of her face.

“So, why aren’t we up there?” she demanded.

“Because the dragon would sense the magic of the portal if it opened in her territory.” He grimaced. “We’re going to have to sneak up on her while she’s sleeping. Slow and careful.”

It was a reasonable decision. Jayla had never encountered a dragon, but she knew they were the one creature capable of destroying a vampire with terrifying ease. Slipping in and out of her lair while she slept was no doubt the best plan.

Still, Jayla wasn’t excited about the prospect of climbing six thousand feet to reach their destination.

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