Beyond the Darkness by Alexandra Ivy

we live long enough to get out of these tunnels, what do you intend to do?” Harley demanded.
    Salvatore slowed his pace as the passageway narrowed, batting aside the thick cobwebs.
    “First I intend to get you somewhere safe,” he said, too distracted to consider his words. Stupid mistake. “Then I’ll deal with Briggs.”
    “Ah. So you intend to unload me on the vampires so the manly man can take care of business without having to tend to the helpless womenfolk?”
    He winched at the sugary sweetness that dripped from her voice.
    “Briggs isn’t your battle to fight.”
    “You can do anything you want to Briggs, but I can keep myself safe, thank you very much,” she snapped. “You aren’t my mother.”
    Salvatore was at least smart enough not to press the issue. She would be going to Chicago with Styx. End of story. But there was no need to argue before he could manage to contact the vampire.
    “Be thankful I’m not your mother,” he instead distracted her. “Sophia wouldn’t have been pleased at being locked in a cell. There’s no telling what carnage she would have caused.”
    Harley stumbled, her breath suddenly ragged. “She’s…alive?”
    Something dangerous, almost tender, stirred in the depths of Salvatore’s heart.
    “She’s very much alive,” he said gently. “She’s been searching for you and your sisters, just as I have.”
    “So she’s near?”
    “The last I heard she was in Kansas City.”
    Harley abruptly shook her head, obviously disturbed by the realization.
    “God.”
    Salvatore kept his gaze trained on the tunnel that was slowly heading upward, sensing his companion would be horrified if she knew the vulnerability etched on her beautiful face.
    “Harley.”
    “What?”
    “I don’t want you imagining Sophia as some kind of June Cleaver,” he cautioned, not wanting her to think a reunion with Sophia was going to be some fantasy lovefest.
    The tough female Were didn’t have a motherly bone in her body.
    “Who?”
    He sighed at her confusion. He forgot she was only thirty years old.
    “Let’s just say she isn’t the maternal type.”
    “What about my father?”
    “One of several donors.”
    “Donors?”
    “Sperm donors.”
    She sucked in a sharp breath. “Of course. I was brewed in your lab,” she muttered. Then without warning, she yanked her hand from his grip. “Holy shit.”
    Salvatore turned his head to meet her horrified gaze. “What?”
    “You weren’t one of the donors, were you?”
    His sudden laughter echoed through the darkness. “No, cara, I don’t have a God complex.”
    “Yeah, right.”
    His gaze skimmed deliberately down her slender form, allowing his searing awareness to heat the air around them.
    “I didn’t create you to be my daughter, Harley. I created you to be my queen.”

Chapter Seven
    Harley was thankful that Salvatore’s outrageous claim managed to distract her from the knee-weakening relief that there was no possibility he might be her father.
    Talk about ick factor.
    “Queen?” she asked. Okay, it was more a squeak, much to her embarrassment.
    Salvatore flashed a smile. “It’s your fate.”
    “Don’t say that.”
    “Ignoring your destiny won’t alter it.”
    She should have punched the annoying bastard. She didn’t believe in destiny. And even if she did, she would make damned sure that it didn’t include becoming a part of this Were’s harem.
    Queen or no queen.
    But oddly, it wasn’t fury that raced through her. It was…excitement.
    “Just shut up,” she hissed.
    She ignored his speculative gaze as the tunnel split in two, and they halted to study the less than appetizing options.
    So far beneath the ground it was nearly impossible to determine which direction they were headed. Especially for Weres, who depended heavily on their sense of smell.
    Salvatore hesitated a long moment, clearly no more confident than she was in knowing the best means of escape. Then, with a shrug, he took off down the left