Free Embrace the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy

slammed her hands on her hips. She had been saving that particular potion for Evor. One day he would push her too far and she fully intended to enjoy watching him melt into a troll-puddle. Even if it did mean her own death.
    â€œAre you going to stand there and criticize my jail-breaking techniques or are you coming with me?”
    â€œI’m coming, I’m coming.” Using his wings to carry him over the dangerous vitriol still pooled on the ground, he darted through the hole and landed beside her.
    Shay caught her breath at the beauty of those gossamer wings he always kept so closely guarded against his body. Even in the shadows she could detect the shimmering reds and blues veined with pure gold. Had he been a wood sprite he would have displayed those wings with all the pride of a strutting peacock. As it was they were nothing more than a source of embarrassment.
    Shifting her gaze to keep from staring at the beautiful wings and ruffling Levet’s tender pride, Shay gathered the cloak closer about her.
    â€œI can’t sense the trolls near but we must hurry. It won’t be long until they are preparing for the night.”
    â€œWait.” Levet caught her arm even as she turned toward the stairs and pointed toward a small opening at the back of the dungeons. “This way.”
    â€œThat only takes us deeper into the dungeons,” she protested with a shudder. She didn’t want to know what Evor hid in those damp chambers.
    â€œThere is a hidden door.”
    â€œA hidden door?” Shay frowned. “How do you know?”
    â€œI can feel the night.” Levet leaned back his head to sniff the air, a faint shiver rippling over his gray skin. “It speaks to me.”
    Shay wasn’t about to argue with a gargoyle who could smell the night. She might be stubborn, but she wasn’t entirely stupid.
    â€œFine, you lead the way.”
    Without a backward glance the small demon was hurrying into the narrow opening. Shay swallowed a sigh as she followed closely behind him.
    As she had expected the walls were lined with heavy iron doors that hid rooms where the most powerful of demons could be caged. Without windows in the doors it was impossible to determine what was locked in the dark, but she could catch a musty, snake scent of a reptilian demon followed by the spicy, almost herbal scent of a powerful imp. There were other smells that were fainter, as if the demons were beginning to fade behind those thick, ruthless doors.
    She battled the urge to pound her fists against the thick iron. No matter what sort of demons might be lurking behind the doors none of them deserved to be in Evor’s power.
    The sound of her companion’s hurried steps brought her back to her senses.
    No. She could do nothing tonight.
    Not without risking Levet.
    The remaining demons were a worry for another night.
    They traveled in silence through the spiderweb of tunnels. Levet never hesitated as he angled through the various passageways. Shay found herself having to bend nearly double more than once, but at last the gargoyle turned and began to climb a narrow set of stairs carved into the stone.
    As they made their way upward even Shay could begin to sense the brush of fresh air. Within minutes they were squeezing through the narrowest of openings and were standing on the vast grounds that surrounded the auction house.
    She blew out a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding.
    Holy crap, they had made it.
    Even when she had been plotting to rescue Levet she hadn’t truly thought she could pull it off.
    Not with Evor and his merry band of trolls so close at hand.
    On the point of sharing her rush of joy at their success Shay abruptly froze. A cold prickling was creeping over her skin.
    A cold that could only belong to one creature.
    â€œLevet, fly,” she commanded as she bent low and prepared for an attack.
    She had barely lifted her hands when there was a streak of blackness and