slowly opening her eyes, she found herself befuddled and unable to remember why she was surrounded by white fog. or why her head was throbbing. visions weren't usually painful.

then, her gaze landed on a female who was bent over to study the shimmering glyph that hung in midair. what the hell?

"at last," the stranger straightened, turning to grab cassie by the throat. "what does it say?" her fingers tightened as cassie struggled to clear her mind of the lingering confusion. "are you listening to me?"

"leave me alone," cassie rasped.

"tell me what it says," the female roared.

"what?"

"the prophecy." the fingers dug into cassie's flesh, branding her skin with a scorching heat. "what does it say?"

cassie blinked, forcing her mind to focus on her surroundings. fog. so much fog. and some strange monster who was shuddering in obvious pain.

oh, gods. she was trapped in this hellish white mist with a crazy dark lord and caine.

"i remember," she whispered.

"then tell me." the dark lord shifted her hand to crush cassie's chin in a brutal grip, forcing her face toward the shimmering glyph. "give me my future."

cassie grudgingly allowed her gaze to settle on the floating prophecy. the last thing she wanted was to give the dark lord the advantage in their ongoing war. but then again, did she have a choice? one way or another, the dark lord was going to force her to translate the vision.

she focused on the glyph, her brows drawing together as the words slid across her mind.

"well?" the dark lord prompted, her nails slicing through cassie's skin.

cassie bent her head, allowing her hair to cover the smile that suddenly curved her lips.

"the tides of chaos break upon an impenetrable wall."

"no." abruptly loosening her hold on cassie, the dark lord waited until she'd landed on her knees before she gave cassie a vicious kick to the side. "a lie."

cassie lifted a hand to cover her shattered ribs, sensing that at least one of them had punctured her lung.

"the prophecies don't lie," she said.

"then you lie." the dark lord grabbed another handful of cassie's hair, yanking her head back to meet the crimson flames that had engulfed her eyes. "you hope to save your mate."

cassie frowned, failing to follow the logic. "if i wanted to save him, then i would have told you the key to your success is to release him."

"no, this is a trick." the female paced a circle around cassie, her expression as petulant as if she were a teenage girl. "it has to be."

cassie kept a wary eye on the infuriated deity, knowing that it was quite likely she wasn't going to survive the next blow. "i gave you what you wanted."

"so you did." coming to an abrupt halt, the dark lord glared down at cassie with all-consuming hatred. "now it is my turn."

cassie tensed, knowing this was going to be bad. "what do you mean?"

"you wanted your mate, didn't you?" the dark lord turned to smile toward caine, who twitched in continued agony in the mists, his entire body rigid with the pain that was shooting through him. "now you can have him."

the female gave a twist of her hand and caine jerkily rose to his feet, as if he were a marionette on strings. then, with another wave of her hand the dark lord forced open caine's eyes, revealing the madness that had claimed him.

with a humorless laugh, the dark lord patted cassie's cheek. "enjoy your reunion."

cassie didn't bother to watch the bitch disappear into the fog, her attention entirely focused on the savage beast that was stalking toward her with lethal intent.

sorrow filled her heart as she edged backward. "caine."

chapter 16

kostas's lair in platte

it was almost three a.m. when styx got the call he was waiting for. leaving viper to deal with any emergencies, he took off for the small town of platte, easily following jagr's direction to kostas's hidden lair.

once there, he moved through the starkly barren bunker to the cramped cell where jaelyn was waiting.

the hunter was nearly invisible in black spandex that covered her from neck to ankle. even the sawed-off shotgun strapped around her waist was made of a dull, unreflective metal. currently, she was running her hands along the cement walls, clearly seeking a trapdoor. at his entrance, she turned to regard him with a somber expression that warned styx the news wasn't good.

"kostas was here." he stated the obvious, catching the scent of the vampire along with a sour hint of growing madness.

damn. he had known the ruah was furious at being demoted. he'd even expected the bastard to plot revenge. kostas's bloated pride would demand nothing less. but he hadn't expected him to sell his soul to the dark lord.

yet another mistake to add to his very long list.

jaelyn nodded. "yes, along with maluhia."

"do you know when he left?"

"less than an hour ago."

an hour. had the traitor known they were on his trail? or was it just another example of styx's piss-poor luck that kostas had taken off just before they could corner him?

"you can't follow his scent?"

"not yet." jaelyn nodded her head toward the open door. "levet is searching."

perfect. freaking perfect.

"anything else?"

"he wasn't alone."

styx didn't have to be a mind reader to know who kostas would be meeting. "gaius."

the hunter grimaced. "yes."

"damn." styx clenched his hands at his side, frustration pouring like hot acid through him. "then he's already taken the child to the dark lord."

at his low words tane stepped into the room, his expression bleak in the glow from the fluorescent lights. "it's not too late," he said, his tone defying anyone to tell him otherwise. "where's nefri?"

"i'm not sure." styx moved to stand directly in front of his brother, easily sensing the vampire was about to snap. the one-time charon's fear for his son had made him a seething rampage just waiting to happen. "why?"

"she has the same pendant as gaius. she can follow him and-"

"no, tane," styx gently interrupted. "i'm sorry, but nefri has already tried to use her medallion to locate the dark lord, without success. she thinks it's because gaius's medallion is directly connected to the evil pain in the ass."

tane shoved unsteady fingers through his mohawk. "damn."

styx placed a comforting hand on tane's shoulder. "we'll find a way to reach your son."

the honey eyes blazed with a sense of furious helplessness. "laylah will demand to use her powers to shadow-walk."

styx grimaced, although he wasn't surprised. laylah didn't have the power of a full jinn who could move between worlds, but she could enter the mists that traveled between the dimensions. it was only to be expected she would try to use that talent to reach her child. no matter how dangerous it might be.

"you want me to forbid her?"

tane snorted at the ridiculous question. "it wouldn't help."

true. styx might be king, but that didn't mean jack-squat to a female who was desperate to reach her child. "you're afraid she'll be captured by the dark lord?" he instead asked.

"no, i'm afraid she'll be disappointed," tane admitted, his low voice harsh with pain. "she's never sensed the entrance to the dark lord's prison during her previous travels. i doubt it will make a magical appearance now that we need it. she'll be devastated if she fails."

styx squeezed the younger vampire's shoulder, offering his unspoken sympathy. "will you go with her?"

tane arched a brow. "is that a joke?"

"just be careful," styx commanded. "there are more dangers than just the dark lord."

"this isn't my first rodeo," tane reminded him.

styx nodded, wise enough not to point out that both tane and laylah were emotionally compromised and hardly capable of making rational decisions.

at the moment they were all emotionally compromised.

"and stay in contact."

"i will."

tane gave a faint nod before whirling on his heel and disappearing from the room. jaelyn followed behind him, leaving styx alone in the barren cell.

powerless to do anything to assist tane in finding his son, let alone halting the return of the dark lord as the all-powerful gemini, styx turned to ram his fist into the cement wall. a shower of rubble and dust filled the air, along with his blistering curses.

"god dammit," he roared. "i'm tired of constantly being one step behind."

there was a faint stir of air before a slender woman with short, spiky, blond hair and green eyes that looked too large for her heart-shaped faced stepped into the room.