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“A minotaur.” He shook his head. “Seriously?”
Jagr shrugged. “I’ve never seen one in person, but I’m sure that’s what it was.”
Styx had been around for countless centuries and traveled from this world to distant dimensions. And never once had he ever encountered a minotaur. Until this moment he would have sworn that they never left their homeland.
“What’s it doing in my territory?”
“I think he was searching for the gargoyle.”
“Of course he was.” Styx’s mood went from sour to downright rancid. He couldn’t care less what happened to the stupid gargoyle. In fact, he hoped the minotaur ate him for dinner. But the idiot’s aunt was currently perched on his roses and he had no way to get rid of her without the pest. “What happened?”
“He opened a gateway and they disappeared.”
“A gateway?” Styx considered his limited options. “Can one of the fey follow them?”
“Not if the minotaur was going back to his people,” Jagr said. “There’s not a lot of information about the species, but what I’ve read indicates that they have layers of protection surrounding their homeland that have never been penetrated.”
Styx didn’t have the vast knowledge that Jagr did, but he’d done his share of research over the years.
“The labyrinth.”
“Yes.”
Styx shook his head. “Why the hell would the minotaur be interested in Levet?”
“I don’t know, but he didn’t go willingly.”
“Crap.” Styx reluctantly turned back to the hovering gargoyle. “Levet isn’t here. Go look for him in the labyrinth.” He stepped closer, studying the bumps and lumps of the gargoyle’s face. Was she asleep? Styx waved his sword, trying to catch her attention. “Did you hear? He’s with the minotaurs.”
A searing heat blasted through the air and the night seemed to rip apart as a male form appeared directly in front of Bertha. He was large. Even bigger than Styx, with long hair that shimmered with a metallic, platinum sheen in the moonlight. His eyes were a piercing ebony. But it was the fire that danced over his skin and the heavy pulse of power beating through the garden that captured Styx’s full attention.
“Get that sword near Bertha and I’ll burn this city to the ground,” the male growled. “Along with you and your clan.”
Styx grimaced. He didn’t have any trouble identifying the intruder. Levet had spent the past few days boasting that his aunt had captured the attention of a god. And there was only one god who walked around with flames.
Hades.
“What does she want?”
The god folded his arms across his chest. “Levet.”
Styx didn’t bother to repeat the obvious fact that Levet wasn’t there. He was beginning to suspect that Bertha had sensed her nephew was in danger and now expected him to somehow rescue the stupid creature.
He turned back to Jagr. “We need that gargoyle.”
Jagr spread his hands. “The only way into the minotaur homeland is through the labyrinth. No one can get in or out.”
Styx pressed his fingers against his right temple. It was throbbing with the threat of a looming migraine. Hard to believe his night was about to get even worse. After all, his romantic evening with his mate had been interrupted. His rose garden was being squashed by a seven-foot gargoyle. And he was being threatened by an angry god who could destroy him with disturbing ease. Now, he had to somehow find a way to rescue his personal pain in the ass from beyond the labyrinth.
“There’s one.” He had to force the words past his stiff lips.
Jagr frowned before shaking his head in horror. “No. No, no, no.”
“I need Ryshi,” he growled.
Chapter 3
The lair in the Kunlun Mountains in Tibet was isolated even by vampire standards. The series of caves was impossible to reach without days of climbing on foot and protected by thick layers of illusion. Inside they were barren of all but the most essential needs. A few pieces of furniture, a collection of opera soundtracks, and a vast cavern where Sofie spent her nights chiseling works of art into the rock walls.
