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She didn’t want tireatest mistake of her life

"You know, Laylah, if you intend to keep the child then you should really consider giving it a naently chastised her

Tane flashed Levet an annoyed glare "What does it matter?"

Levet sniffed "Because a ives hiargoyle she would have ray eyes

Her heart wrenched

Oh, dear God Levet was intimately familiar with a mother who didn’t bother to name him Perhaps she had even abandoned him

Demons could be evenwith defor hand down his wing "You’re right"

A wistful sly face "Then why have you hesitated?"

"Because I’ve always known there was the possibility that the child belonged to someone else And that one day they would come for him," she tried to explain "It wouldn’t be fair if I had already naive hi she ht" "And now?" Levet prompted

"Now I’ll kill anyone who tries to take hi s the wrought iron fence that fraant estate

Out of necessity she’d swapped her Valentino gown for black silk pants and ure and allowed her to blend into the shadows She’d also tugged her hair into a siht on the nasty trees and bushes that cluttered the godforsaken country

Her lips pinched

At least Sergei hadon Laylah before Victor and his hench bastards It meant that it was only a matter of time before she had her hands on her niece and they could return to civilization

And in the meantinity she was forced to suffer She was going to take payainst her chin, she considered the distant house, her impatience to track down her niece briefly overshadowed by the waves of power that filled the air

"You are certain she is no longer inside?" she deed fro into a pair of casual chinos and a loose black silk shirt His hair was pulled into a tail at his nape

"I can sense her heading south"

"Is she alone?"

"It’s i frown "The spell I cast on her is fading We should hurry before I lose all connection to her" He muttered a curse as Marika stepped toward the fence, her head tilted back as she tested the air "What are you doing?"

"Do you knohat this place is?"

Sergei shrugged "A vampire’s lair"

"Much more than that" A humorless smile curved her lips "My niece e shifted uneasily, sensing so but unable to detect the power that choked the air

"A clan chief?"

"The King of all Vah Sergei’s voice "I thought he was athe doorbell and discover the truth for yourself"

"No, thank you" There was a tense pause before the e moved to stand at her side, his expression suspicious "You are remarkably indifferent to the fact that the Anasso is noare that you defied demon law to create a Jinn half-breed for the sole purpose of returning the Dark Lord to this world and crowning yourself queen"

Marika waved aside his words Why should she care that her plans had been revealed to the Anasso? There was no point in being superior to those who claimed positions of power if no one appreciated her brilliance

"It was bound to be revealed eventually"

The pale blue eyes glittered with annoyance "Not until we had the Jinn and babe in our possession A task that noill be considerablyhunted by your brethren"

"I do not fear the fools," she said, scorn dripping fro worse than the Anasso?"

"Yes"

"Lovely" Theabout his neck Marika sneered at the instinctive reaction His huainst the deei backed away fro of Russian curses

"Then this is the end" He halted at the edge of the tree line, perhaps stupid enough to believe the shadows could hide hier "If the Commission knows of the fe a malicious pleasure in her companion’s fear

"That would have been my assumption and yet you claim Laylah escaped"