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Most creatures would consider the stark surroundings more a prison than a home, but Sofie cherished the sense of peace. She’d made the choice to be alone a long time ago and she never regretted that decision.
She didn’t like people. Unless they were dinner. And she liked demons even less.
Unfortunately, her personal preference for solitude was a source of utter indifference to the Anasso. As he proved when he stepped out of a portal created by some unknown fey creature at the base of the mountain and called for her to join him. Even if Sofie wanted to ignore the command—and blessed goddess she wanted to ignore it—the tremors shaking through the ground were creating fissures large enough to destroy her lair.
Only one creature possessed that sort of power. The Anasso.
Exchanging her loose satin gown for a pair of jeans, a heavy sweater, and thick boots, Sofie used the tunnel system she’d dug out of the stone to make her way down the towering mountain, stepping out of a hidden cave to stand directly in front of Styx.
He was wearing his usual leather pants and coat with a massive sword strapped across his back. He easily towered over her slender frame as she approached. Not a surprise, as the king probably towered over most demons, but she’d always been small for a vampire. With her blond hair cut in a pixie style and her crystal-blue eyes that were rimmed with bright silver, she was often mistaken for a fey creature. Or a human. The image was only intensified by the crescent-shaped scar with a small circle that was carved into the middle of her forehead.
The mark of a witch.
Sofie didn’t mind. She preferred to be underestimated. It gave her a distinct advantage in any unwelcome battle.
“Styx.” She offered a respectful bow of her head. “I assume you weren’t in the neighborhood and decided to drop in?”
The male deliberately glanced around the rugged landscape that was eerily silent.
“Is anyone ever in this neighborhood?”
“Not if I can prevent them.”
He pursed his lips, but thankfully didn’t offer yet another tedious lecture on the dangers of isolating herself. For once, he came straight to the point of his visit.
“I need your help.”
Sofie narrowed her gaze. “Help with what?”
“Not what. Who.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Ryshi.”
Sofie hissed, suddenly wishing she’d stayed in the privacy of her caves. So what if the damned mountain collapsed on her? She’d rather be buried under rock than be plagued by the memory of Ryshi. The half-jinn/half-imp male had given her nightmares for the past ten years.
Not that it would have changed her fate, she acknowledged ruefully. Styx would just have dug her out of the rubble and forced her to do what he wanted. The Anasso was nothing if not stubborn.
“No.” She took a step backward. “No way.”
Styx tightened his jaw, his expression grim. “I’m sorry, Sofie, but you’re the only one capable of controlling him.”
He was referring to her unique ability to lock her mind with another demon and hold them captive. It wasn’t a compulsion that could bend the creature to her will. Or the talent of implanting false memories. Once she had a grip on another’s mind, they couldn’t travel more than a few feet away from her. Not until she released them.
“I thought he was locked in your dungeon?”
Styx nodded. “He is.”
“Then why do you need me?”
“I want to retrieve a creature who’s been taken into the labyrinth. Ryshi is the only one I know who has managed to navigate his way in and out of the maze.”
Sofie wasn’t surprised that the male had managed to do the impossible. He was a notorious thief who’d eluded capture for centuries. There was no place he couldn’t enter.
“Then send him. Why include me?”
Styx arched a brow. “Do you honestly think that I would trust the thief on his own? As soon as I opened the door to his cell he would disappear in a cloud of smoke.”
