Nightwind (42 page)

nothing!”

It wasn’t hard to snag the man’s shirtsleeve and yank him to the bars. It wasn’t hard to circle his neck

and squeeze, cutting off his cry in mid-press. The demon inside the humanoid body Syntian destroyed

was reduced to a squeaking blob that was easily ground beneath the heel of his boot. The spirit inside the

demon fled back through time and space and eternity, much as Delbert’s had, to once more sink beneath

the Slime of the Pit.

“Tough shit, Devlin,” Syntian growled as he licked the last of the blood from his fingers and arms. “You

don’t have to tell her nothing, now. She’ll know and come down here.”

The wad of clothing that had adorned the servant’s body made an adequate nest for his head as he lay

down on the cell’s floor, chewing thoughtfully on the last of the right femur. He picked at his teeth,

grinning.

Lauren’s face intruded on his bloodlust and the grin slowly dissolved. She would be here tonight. His

wife would be near him that very night.

He had to find a way to see her.

He had to.

Ben Hurlbert’seyebrows shot up with surprise when he saw the cab pull up in front of 242 Riana del

Sol and Lauren Fowler Cree climbed out of the back. He’d been sitting there for the last half hour, trying

to get up the courage to go ask the woman once more if she knew anything at all about Syntian Cree’s

disappearance. Others had questioned her, even Ben, himself, but he’d had the strangest feeling all day

that he should go see the woman, and he had acted on that feeling. But once he had arrived at her condo,

he had lost his nerve, not knowing what else he could possibly ask her that he hadn’t already. Seeing

Lauren going up the steps of the condo, made him instantly alert and worried.

The interior of the condominium was more luxurious than Lauren could have imagined. She smiled as the

maid took her light sweater and declined the offer of a cocktail from the elegant black butler who had

bowed to her.

“Miss Angeline says to make yourself at home, Mrs. Cree. She had to see to some last minute business,

but she’ll be along shortly. Would you follow me, please?”

Lauren nodded politely and followed the butler into the spacious Great Room where there was a

sweeping view of the Gulf. Despite herself, and her intentions, she was impressed by the grandeur of the

view. She was vaguely aware of the butler taking his leave as she stared at the spectacular vista spread

out before her.

Sitting on one of the conversation groupings closest to the expanse of glass, she looked out at the

waters, wondering what business Angeline could have had. Idly, she wondered if Syntian was that

business.

Not that it mattered. Before the night was over, Angeline would be gone. Forever.

And so would Syntian Cree.

A sound behind her made Lauren turn. She smiled and extended her hand to the man who had joined

her. “Prince Jaleel?” she inquired.

Prince Jaleel Jaborn took her hand in his and kissed it. “At your service, milady,” he said. His eyes

bored into hers. “And your service, alone.”

Angeline glared atthe wad of clothing in the middle of the cell then turned her furious gaze to Syntian.

“You son-of-a-bitch!” she seethed.

“Come a little closer and I’ll make mincemeat out of you, too, you stinking Cunt,” he chortled.

“You’re going to pay for that, Syntian,” she shouted at him, pointing to what was left of Devlin.

“You keep making promises you can’t keep, Angeline,” he said, yawning. “Don’t you get tired of it?”

She clenched her hands into fists. “After tonight, my arrogant demon, the only promise you need worry

about is the one I made to cast you back into the Abyss.”

“Lauren won’t give you the Book, and even if she did,” he told her, meeting her furious gaze with a calm

one of his own, “it would be worthless to you.”

“Oh, I know only she can send you back, but I intend to see that she does before this night is over!”

“She’ll have to see me to do that, Angeline,” he answered. “How are you going to explain my being

locked up here?”

“I won’t need to!” Angeline spat at him. “She’s upstairs right this minute with Jaleel and he will see to it

she does just what I want.”

Syntian’s smile slipped only a bit. “Your current paramour, Angeline?” he sneered. “Some minor demon

you conjured for your amusement?”

Angeline laughed, a brittle sound that was pure revenge. “He’s a NightWind, Syntian,” she whispered.

“A NightWind even more powerful than you! And he’s all mine!”

The shifting in the Veil became a rending tear and he came slowly to his feet, hearing the truth of her

words as she spoke them. He clutched at the bars to his prison.

“You don’t have the ability to conjure a NightWind, Angeline,” he denied. “I know you don’t.”

“No, I did not conjure him. There have been stories written about Jaleel Jaborn for years. Who knew he

was a NightWind? One so powerful he doesn’t even need a mortal to be bound to. I knew the moment

he touched me he was one of you, but he does not know I know what he is!”

He had heard of Jaleel Jaborn, too, but he had no idea the man was one of his own kind. He wasn’t sure

it was possible for a NightWind to exist in this world without sanction and bondage to a mortal woman,

but if it could be done by one it could be done by two. He had only to find out how Jaborn had done it.

If such a feat were possible, it would be in the Book.

“Let me see her, Angeline,” he asked, reached out to her through the bars. “Let me speak to her.”

“Oh, I might, my demon. I might.” She flicked her long skirt aside and started the climb up the stairs.

“Just before I am ready to send you back.”

“Angeline!” he shouted after her. “Let me see her!”

“No,” came the hardy laugh just before the door shut.

“Angeline!”

“He’s in thebasement,” Jaleel told Lauren. “And not in a very good mood, either.” He took a sip of the

mineral water the butler had provided for him. “His thoughts are of you. He is in agony being apart from

you, my lady.”

“Where is she?” Lauren asked, still watching the crashing waves of the Gulf slapping against the condo’s

pilings.

“About to join us,” Jaleel answered. He leaned forward and put his glass on the brass top of the

lacquered coffee table and stood up, adjusted his silk shirt and turned to face the woman who was even

then coming into the room. “Precious Jewel of my heart,” he said silkily, skirting the sofa on which he and

Lauren had been sitting. “Every absence makes my blood run hotter still.”

Angeline smiled into his breathtaking face as he lifted her hand to his lips. “Have you been entertaining

Lauren, Jaleel?”

“He’s been regaling me with stories of his homeland,” Lauren said, looking away from the ocean and

coming to her feet. “You will enjoy living there.”

“I look forward to it,” Angeline admitted. “Please. Sit. Dinner will be just a few minutes late. Cook will

not serve it until she is convinced everything is just so.”

Lauren walked to the window and stared down at the crashing water. “This is a lovely place, Mrs.

Hellstrom. Won’t you be sorry to leave it?”

“Yes, but Jaleel has assured me he will buy me a villa on the Riviera, haven’t you, darling?” She took his

arm as he led her to the sofa.

“I will give you everything you deserve, Precious One,” he answered.

Lauren smiled at her reflection in the glass.

“Have you heard anything from Syntian, Lauren?” Angeline asked.

“Oh, I know where he is,” Lauren told her, turning so she could look into Angeline’s surprised face. She

shrugged. “I know he’s here with you.” She cocked a dark brow, “and has been all along.”

Jaleel turned to his fiancée. “Who is this man of whom she speaks, Angeline?”

Angeline stared at Lauren. “Is that what Maxine told you?”

“Among other things,” Lauren answered. “When do I get to see him?” She smiled nastily. “That is why

you brought me here, isn’t it? To see him one last time?”

Confusion spread over Angeline’s lovely face and she turned to the man at her side, looking into his

steady gaze. “He’s a NightWind, Jaleel.”

Jaleel Jaborn’s left brow lifted sardonically. “Is that so?” He glanced at Lauren, then at Angeline. “How

does this one know of such a one?”

“She doesn’t know what he is,” Angeline scoffed. “He—”

“He is my husband,” Lauren told Jaleel. She watched his expression change subtlety as his attention

came back to her. “She has been keeping him here against his will and I have come to retrieve him.”

“Something I, of course, will not allow,” Angeline spat. She faced Lauren. “You have the Book?” she

asked.

“I do,” Lauren replied. “And I know exactly what a NightWind is and I know this,” she pointed at

Jaleel, “is one, as well.”

Angeline managed to conceal her shock. Her lips parted in a vicious smile. “Your mother didn’t have

time to teach you about all that is within the Book,” Angeline snapped. “If you think to spar with me, I

suggest you don’t. You would be as chaff in the wind to me.”

Lauren laughed, but it was not the meek, mild-mannered laugh that Angeline knew. It was a mocking

laugh filled with contempt. “I’m sure Mama thought that, too,” she sneered, “just before I pitched her

into Raphian’s open arms.”

A faint quiver of disbelief passed over Angeline’s face, but then she recovered, stepping closer to the

man at her side. “Can you do something about her, Jaleel?”

Jaborn was watching Lauren as he questioned the older woman. “What would you have me do,

Precious One?”

Angeline hissed, clutching at his arm. “Stop her from freeing him, you fool!”

Jaleel stepped away from her, shaking loose of her fevered grip, and went to Lauren. He looked down

into her face. “That I can do,” he answered.

Lauren locked her gaze with his. “I don’t think so.”

“Try me, milady,” he said, his gaze intent on her.

Angeline sensed a strange undercurrent flowing between the man and woman before her, but she was

too afraid of Syntian getting loose to try to understand what might be happening. “He’s in a cell in the

basement, Jaleel,” she said in a rush. “Can you speak a rune she can not break?”

“He had better not try.”

Jaleel’s eyes turned hard as he stared at Lauren. He spoke to Angeline. “Which way is the basement?”

Lauren reached out to stop him, to grab his arm but he moved too quickly away from her. She called out

to him to stop, but he ignored her, his long stride widening the distance between them as she rushed to

intercept him.

“Jaleel!” Lauren yelled. “No!” She started after him.

Angeline made a grab for the younger woman, surprised how easily Lauren evaded her attempt. She ran

after the girl, yelling for the servants to stop her, but no one came to do so.

Jaleel reached the locked basement door and jerked at it, furious when it held. He yanked hard against it

and the casing splintered; the door pulled half off its hinges as he slammed it against the wall.

Syntian’s head came up quickly. He scrambled to his feet as he saw the dark bulk of the man coming

down the dimly lit stairs. He knew who it was and even before Jaborn reached the bars of the cell, he

heard Lauren yelling for him to stop.

“Jaleel! Please don’t!”

“Bastard!” Syntian heard Jaborn hiss at him. He backed away from the bars only a fraction of a second

before the man on the other side of them thrust his hand through in an attempt to grab Syntian’s throat.

“You’ll not have her!” Jaborn bellowed. “I have claimed her as my own!”

Syntian was oblivious to the two women careening down the basement steps. He was staring into the

enraged eyes of one of his own kind and he knew he faced an enemy that was far more powerful and

much more deadly than any he had ever faced before. The man on the other side of the bars was already

pulling at the door, cursing and spitting like the demon he was in an attempt to get the lock open.

“Syntian!” Lauren whispered as she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the apparition of her

husband locked within the confines of the cell. She stopped, pained by his appearance: the gauntness of

his face, the haunted look there, the filthy trousers and greasy hair hanging in matted clumps about his

naked shoulders. Overcome with the horrid smell emanating from the rear of the cage, she put her hand

over her mouth and saw him jerk a glance toward her.

“Go, Lauren!” Syntian shouted at her. He didn’t want her to see what was going to happen. “Get out of

here!”

Jaleel tore the lock completely off the cell door and swung the iron portal wide, nearly pulling it off its

hinges. He burst inside the cell, his hands up, fingers arced into claws, and plowed head first into

Syntian’s chest.

Angeline stumbled as her foot skidded off the last step and she went down to her knees with a yelp of

pain. Her head came up and she gaped at the men inside the cell as Jaleel rammed into Syntian, slamming

him back against the iron bars at the rear of the cage.

Lauren couldn’t move. She was rooted to the spot with her eyes wide as she watched Jaleel snake his

arms around her husband’s chest and lift him clear of the floor before throwing him sideways into the wall

of bars nearest where she stood.

Syntian crashed into the bars and felt a rib break. He grunted with the pain of it then rolled out of the

way of a kick aimed at his gut.

“They’ll revert,” Angeline breathed as she pushed herself from the floor, heedless of the blood running