Page 14 of Underworld
“He’ll be back,” Orion assured me. “You can try to get through to him later.” He slipped his warm fingers through mine, pulsating life through me. “All of us,” he promised and his unspoken words rang through me.
When we can salvage what’s left of the Virtue bond, together.
Heart aching, I reached for Dante along the Virtue bond in a last desperate attempt to reach him. I didn’t want him to suffer a moment longer and I pushed myself harder than before, managing to brush his tormented soul.
A sharp jolt of pain made me immediately jerk back, gasping in horror.
The bond between Dante and I was… shredding. Torn. All but gone the more that I tried to use it to reach him.
Tears burned my eyes as I realized I had to wait.
“Let’s hurry,” I urged Orion. “Let’s find the others.”
He grimaced, because there was one Virtue I had yet to reconnect with.
Hendrik.
You better have kept your shit together,I silently demanded of my Dark Mage.Because I don’t know if I can take much more of this.
Chapter 4
Leave it to Yuri to break the feeling of doom and gloom.
The prissy vampire sauntered up to us covered in black blood. Her fangs looked longer than usual and she grinned, oblivious of her grotesque appearance.
“Thereyou guys are. Don’t tell me. Did you get lost?” She flattened her palm at the top of her head as if to shield her gaze as she searched beyond the barrier. “Did you spot one of the unicorns? I heard that they’re out this way.”
Fucking unicorns?
Now I’ve heard of everything.
“We dealt with a second breech,” Orion informed her. He pointed at her mouth where a black glob of blood dripped. “You’ve got a little… something, there. No, other side.”
She dabbed at her mouth, completely missing the mess, then shrugged and plucked out a blood-cherry lollipop from her pocket. She undid the wrapper, crinkling it slowly as her gaze now swept over us.
She gave Orion a long, deliberate study from the top of his head to his feet, as if noticing the change in him. There was something so…playfulabout her lascivious look that I found myself grinning despite my mood.
“Sunshine, you areglowing,” she said to Orion. “Positivelyglowing. I guess you had time to do a bit of rekindling, huh?”
Orion gave her a smug look. “Kindling might have happened.”
Yuri grinned at me. When I blushed, she started to cackle. “Oh, Lily… Please,pleasegive details.”
“How about no?” I countered. Needing a subject change, I gestured at the barrier. “Are these Demonspawn attacks a regular thing now?”
That had both Yuri and Orion sobering.
“Yes.” Orion turned to study the barrier at our back, his voice hardening. “But this is the first time one has happened in stealth. Most Demonspawn aren’t very big on…thinking.”
“No kidding,” Yuri said as she tapped the glossy surface. The sticky black blood on her knuckles evaporated in a puff of electricity. “The barrier’s still strong as ever. It’s not failing or compromised, so something with serious power punched a hole through it. Still, a tribrid like you can kick some serious Demonspawn ass. I bet they saw your wings and took off running.”
“Not exactly,” I said grimly.
Orion crossed his arms. “The Demonspawn don’t concern me as much as the leader behind this particular attack,” Orion glowered. “The bastard. I’ll rip his head off.”
“I’ll deal with Cole, Orion,” I said, resting a hand on his bicep. I looked through the barrier again, although I knew neither Dante nor Cole were near.
“Cole…?” Yuri squeaked as she spun to face me. She moved so swiftly, she almost lost balance—and that was a pretty impressive feat for a vampire. They were innately graceful and already fast. Eyes so wide, I could see a rim of white all around her irises. “Are you guys telling meColewas behind this?”
