tane narrowed his eyes, looking at her as if she'd sprouted horns.

"you have the power to bind a vampire?"

well, that was the question wasn't it?

she had no way to calculate how much strength it would take to enslave a vampire, but she was fairly certain it was waaaay more than she could claim. her only hope was being able to ... prompt him to do her bidding.

"i can't turn you into my private puppet, if that's what you're worried about, but it does give me the upper hand in our negotiations," she smoothly said, pretending she wasn't completely clueless.

his hand lifted to cup her cheek as he easily sensed her shaky confidence.

"you're lying."

"whatever." she shrugged. "are you coming with me or not?"

"maybe i want to wish for something beyond ..."

"i'm counting to three, you can come or stay, i don't give a crap," she hastily interrupted.

"oh, i intend to come," he assured her with a sinful smile. "in more ways than you can imagine."

"one," she gritted.

"and you're coming with me."

"two."

he brushed his lips softly over her mouth. "you got it, sweet laylah?" "three."

as the word tumbled from her lips the fog began to swirl, twirling ever faster as she thinned the veil between worlds. dammit. she'd made her decision and no arrogant bloodsucker was going to stand in her way.

"i wish to remain at your side," he muttered, grabbing her arm just as she began to step through the veil.

there was the sensation of clinging spider webs and the prickles of electricity that became stabs of lightning as she pressed through the veil. and pain. enough pain to send her to her knees as they tumbled through the fog and into a chilled darkness.

the combination of pain from the entry and the shock at being wrenched from the ephemeral mists to the very real world of hard stone and damp air briefly disoriented her. she sucked in a shaky breath.

this was the very last time she was taking passengers along for the ride.

slowly working through the pain, laylah became aware of her surroundings.

the dark tunnels that ran beneath the outskirts of london. the faint scent of rain from overhead. the sound of tane's curses as he struggled to his feet. and ...

awareness.

awareness of tane that tingled deep inside her. holy crap, had it actually worked? had she actually leashed a powerful vampire? and if she had, was it a good thing or the worst mistake in the history of the world?

fairly certain it was the mistake thing, laylah was distracted by the sight of levet lying like a frozen statue on the smoothly worn floor of the tunnel.

"shit." she scrambled forward, touching the tiny demon who was now as hard as granite. "levet?"

"it's daylight," tane said, his dagger clutched in his hands as he tested the air for danger. "he won't awaken until dusk."

thank god. with her current streak of piss-poor luck, she'd feared she managed to kill the poor thing.

scooping the gargoyle into her arms, she straightened with a groan. the creature weighed a ton. then, deciding there was no time like the present to test her hold on tane, she nervously cleared her throat.

"you need to find us someplace safe to rest."

there was a brief, dangerous hesitation, and laylah tensed, her mouth dry with fear. she was too weakened by the shadow walk to battle tane if he remained unrestrained.

in fact, until she rested and fed she was entirely at his mercy.

not the most comforting thought.

braced for the worst, laylah nearly fell to her knees in relief as tane offered a mocking bow.

"your wish is my command, mistress. this way."

he turned to flow through a side tunnel, not bothering to see if she were following or not. she hoped it was a sign his powers were at least muted.

in silence they moved through the cramped passageways. laylah knew she was taking a desperate risk. if she hadn't gone skitzo with the need to track down information of the jinn she might already be back under the protection of caine with the child safely in her care.

instead she was risking all for what?

information? affirmation?

lost in her broodings, laylah allowed herself to be led through the maze of tunnels, only vaguely aware they were headed away from london.

nearly half an hour later, however, she was jerked out of her dangerous distraction. she came to a sharp halt, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"stop," she commanded.

with a low growl, tane spun around to stab her with an impatient frown.

"laylah, we don't have long until your scent begins to stir unwanted attention."

she matched him glare for glare. if she'd managed to bind him, he was already proving to be the worst slave ever.

"i'm more interested in the scent that's already here," she snarled. "you've brought me to a vampire lair."

he shrugged, completely unrepentant. "what place could offer you more protection?"

"yeah, and when they learn your companion is a half jinn they'll serve me up for dinner."

without warning he was standing directly before her, his eyes glowing with a frightening intensity.

"there's not a chance in hell another vampire is going to sink his fangs into you," he swore, his voice harsh with male possession. "not as long as i'm alive."

she ignored the strange excitement that arrowed in the direction of her pelvis. she wasn't going to be distracted again.

"i'm not walking into a trap." "trust me, my sweet, if i decide to lead you into a trap you'll never see it coming."

she ground her teeth. "not helping."

he made a resigned bid for patience. "victor is clan chief of london. we will need his permission if you intend to remain more than a few hours."

she grimaced. the last thing she wanted was more vampires. one was enough, thank you very much.

"what we need is a witch who is willing to sell us an amulet to hide our scents," she countered.

expecting an argument, she was caught off guard when he shrugged.

"yet another reason to approach victor."

"he has a witch on the payroll?"

"actually he mated one."

"seriously?" she gave a disbelieving shake of her head. magic was the one power a vampire had no defense against. they couldn't even sense a spell until too late. as a result they possessed a pathological hatred for both witches and mages. "a witch and a vampire? isn't that illegal or something?"

"or something," he said dryly, his own thoughts of a vampire taking a witch as a mate carefully hidden. no doubt a wise precaution. "actually, juliet is half witch and half imp, with a rare talent that allows her to sense magical artifacts. if anyone has a spare disguise amulet lying around it will be her."

"and that's the only reason you brought me here?" she demanded, concentrating on her tenuous awareness of tane in an attempt to impose her will. "the truth."

"i've heard rumors that victor had a brief encounter with a jinn."

his brooding expression made it impossible to know if he was being coerced to speak the truth or merely playing along.

"recently?"

"i suppose that's a matter of perspective."

her brows snapped together. "tane." "a few hundred years ago." "what happened?"

he folded his arms over his bare chest, making his muscles ripple beneath his golden skin. "that's his story to tell."

she turned away from his compelling beauty as she considered her options. or lack of options.

if victor had the information she desired, what choice did she have but to approach him? even if it meant bearding the lion in his den, so to speak.

besides, tane was right, may his aggravating soul rot in hell.

without protection she would soon be at the mercy of every demon in london who wanted to make brownie points with the commission by turning over a rogue mongrel.

"and you swear you aren't using the vampires to break my binding?" she demanded.

"i swear." he pressed a hand to that gorgeous chest. laylah swallowed a groan. she was terrified and weary and covered in filth, but a liquid heat raced through her at the thought of kissing and nibbling and licking her way down the smooth golden skin until she reached the waistband of his khakis and the ... "laylah."

tane's rough growl jerked her head up to meet his smoldering gaze, a blush staining her cheeks at the sight of his extended fangs and rigid expression as he battled his savage reaction to her arousal.

"fine, let's go," she muttered.

his jaw clenched, his urge to go caveman a tangible force in the air. then, with grim effort he whirled around and led her through the darkness.

laylah followed in silence, pissed off by her lingering awareness. not that her panting eagerness was a shocker. she'd spent the majority of her life on a small farm in the remote outback of australia before being captured by the mage and hidden in siberia. after caine had rescued her, she had the baby to consider, which meant she remained all but a hermit, no matter where they traveled.

male demons had been few and far between. and those of the tall, dark, and orgasmic sort had been all but nonexistent.

was it any wonder her hormones were charged into hyperdrive?

they had traveled only a few miles when tane slowed to a mere crawl, glancing over his shoulder. "wait here," he commanded.

"no ..."

without giving her the opportunity to command that he explain what was going on, tane disappeared down a side tunnel, leaving laylah alone to stew in frustration.

he really truly was the worst slave ever.

tane's instincts were on full alert as he came to a halt and waited for the lurking vampire to make his appearance. he was taking a risk.

not only by entering another vampire's territory unannounced, but by bringing laylah among his brothers.

victor's clan had no reason to protect a mongrel jinn and every reason to turn her over to the oracles with all possible speed. no one wanted to be on the wrong side of an argument when it came to the commission.

but he didn't have much choice. already laylah's scent was spreading through the tunnels. he needed to get her into the protection of victor's lair. the sooner, the better.