Bound By Darkness Read Online Free Page B

self-derisive smile twisted his lips. “Once you give your word you won’t be able to break it.”
    Her beautiful face was unreadable as she stood with that eerie stillness that only a vampire could achieve.
    â€œYou’ve forgotten one important point.”
    â€œAnd that is?”
    â€œI’ve already given my word to the Oracles and more importantly, the Addonexus has already been paid for my services. They own my loyalty.” The indigo eyes had frosted over, hiding the passion that burned beneath. That was fine. He knew it was there, just waiting for him. “At least until the job is done.”
    He shook off the warning. The reason the rulers of the demon world had contributed the money and effort to hiring a Hunter to capture him was yet another thing he wasn’t going to burn any brain cells on.
    If he didn’t intend to get caught, then what did it matter?
    â€œThe job ended the moment I pulled you through the portal,” he informed her, reaching to wrap a strand of her black hair around his finger. “I won and now you’re in my power.”
    She jerked her head back, and Ariyal swallowed a groan at the feel of the cool silk of her hair moving against his skin. Just the thought of being naked with Jaelyn saddling his hips and that ebony mane brushing his chest was enough to make him painfully hard.
    â€œYou haven’t won until I’m dead,” she hissed.
    â€œNow that would be a waste.” His brooding gaze lowered to the full lips that could send a man to paradise. “Accept my bargain, Jaelyn, and make both of us happy.”
    If he hadn’t possessed the heightened senses of a powerful fey, he wouldn’t have caught the dilation of her eyes, or the faint flare of her nostrils as she reacted to the scent of his desire.
    â€œ No.”
    â€œThen you will remain my prisoner.”
    â€œYou can’t hold me captive forever.”
    He couldn’t help but smile at her unmitigated arrogance. Typical leech.
    No, not typical , a voice whispered in the back of his head.
    Even among vampires she was ... astonishing. Special.
    â€œYou might manage to free yourself from the chains, but you can’t escape Avalon.” He nodded his head to the thick mists that were visible through the heavily shaded window. “And there’s something else you should know.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œTime moves differently within the mists.”
    She frowned, easily sensing the truth of his warning. “How differently?”
    â€œIt’s never constant,” he admitted. It was his theory that the mists that Morgana had created were similar to the mists that ran between dimensions that the Jinn used to travel. It would explain why time ran differently from the outside world. “A few hours might have passed since we arrived on Avalon or it could be several weeks.”
    â€œThen why did you bring us here?” she demanded in frustration. “For all you know Sergei has already resurrected the Dark Lord.”
    He shuddered. This female was too young to have any memory of the Dark Lord or his loathsome hordes of minions. Otherwise she would never speak of his return as if it were nothing more than an inconvenience.
    â€œWe would know if the gates of hell had been opened,” he assured her dryly. “And it was the one place I could keep you hidden from your fellow leeches.”
    Too late he realized just what he’d revealed.
    â€œYou risked the end of the world just to take me hostage?”
    Abruptly turning to hide his discomfort, he paced to stare out the door that opened to the attached baths. He grimaced as he realized the shallow pools were still filled with the scented waters that Morgana had demanded her sex slaves use to wash in before coming to her bed.
    â€œI told you, I need someone to watch my back,” he snapped, his voice suddenly harsh.
    â€œDon’t you have a tribe roaming around