Darkness Eternal by Alexandra Ivy Read Free Book Online Page B

it was an illusion, Uriel had to battle his instinctive reluctance to step from the shade of the trees into the sundrenched glade.
    “Careful, Kata.”
    She tilted her head to meet his worried gaze, her skin brushed with golden sunlight and her dark curls spilling down her back in a glorious tangle.
    “What is it?”
    For a moment he was speechless. She was so . . . exquisite. But it wasn’t her beauty that held him captivated. Or at least, not entirely.
    He’d known some of the most stunning women in the world over the years. Imps, fairies, humans, and vampires. But none of them stirred his hunger as this woman did.
    Was it her earthy curves on full display beneath the nearly transparent nightgown? Or the passionate life that smoldered in the dark eyes? Or the fierce spirit that Marika and the damned mage hadn’t been able to crush despite their best efforts?
    Whatever the cause, it was all he could do not to yank her against him and take her in a storm of raw need.
    He clenched his hands. Bloody hell, this place was obviously screwing with his head.
    And his body, he ruefully acknowledged, his erection pressing painfully against his jeans.
    “We haven’t left the underworld,” he said, grimly battling back his attack of lust. “This is all an illusion.”
    “How can you know . . .” Her confused expression abruptly cleared as she glanced up at the sun that was blazing from a clear blue sky. “Oh.”
    “Exactly.”
    She frowned, her gaze returning to the picturesque view. “It seems so real. It even smells as I remember.”
    “This place has some special meaning to you?”
    Her expression softened. “As a child my family traveled with our tribe through the lands that are now called Hungary. My father was an elder and my mother was a healer.”
    “They had positions of power,” Uriel murmured, not surprised. Kata had been trapped in a nightmare for centuries, but she’d not only survived, she’d managed to protect her beloved daughter.
    It took incredible strength that she’d obviously inherited from her parents.
    “Yes, which meant they shouldered heavy duties,” she said, a wistful smile curving her lips. “When they felt the need to escape their responsibilities they would bring my sister and I here. I cherished those days. It was the only time we could be alone as a family.”
    There was no mistaking her emotional connection to the image spread before them.
    “I don’t like this,” he rasped.
    “You don’t like what?”
    “Was Yannah a part of your childhood?”
    “Of course not.” She blinked in puzzlement at his abrupt question. “We knew nothing of demons before Marika came to us as a vampire.”
    “Then how did she know to create this particular illusion?”
    He watched Kata’s pleasure in her surroundings briefly falter at his question.
    “Perhaps she can read my mind,” she at last suggested.
    “Perhaps.” Uriel shrugged. It was a rare talent, but not unheard of. “Then the next question is why,” he persisted. “She must have some purpose in bringing us here.”
    “You think she’s responsible for opening the gateway to hell?”
    Did he?
    The tiny demon certainly had the power.
    And God knew she was erratic enough to offer help one minute and then trap them both in hell the next.
    But he wasn’t going to leap to conclusions.
    “I think we would be fools not to suspect she has her own agenda,” he compromised.
    Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. “Who doesn’t?”
    He bristled at her accusation. “I’m at least honest about my purpose in following you,” he said, even knowing the words were a lie.
    Oh, his purpose had been clear enough in the beginning.
    Victor commanded him to locate and retrieve the gypsy.
    Simple and straightforward.
    It was only after he’d crashed into Kata’s prison that his unwanted duty had become something else.
    Something dangerous.
    Thankfully unaware of his tangled thoughts, Kata gave a restless lift of her shoulder.
    “Maybe