Embrace the Darkness (8 page)

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.

“Levet, 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 she found herself flat on her back with a silver-haired vampire perched on top of her.

“Well, well, pet. Fancy meeting you here.”

Her breath had been knocked from her lungs, but not from the swift tackle. Viper had made certain his arms encircling her body had taken the impact.

No. It was nothing so mundane.

Cloaked in his rich scent and surrounded by the cloud of his silver hair she could barely think, let alone breathe. He surrounded her. His body pressing against her a shockingly familiar weight.

Even worse his face was so close their noses were nearly touching. So close that she had only to tilt her chin to press her lips to his.

The very fact that the mere thought brushed through her mind sent a thrill of panic racing through her heart.

“Get off me,” she gritted.

His low chuckle brushed against her cheek. “Make me.”

She reacted more out of the fear of her response than to his soft challenge.

Smacking her fists into his wide chest she pretended to fight as most women would be expected to fight. He instinctively leaned heavier into her arms, which gave her just enough room to move her leg. Before he could suspect her intention she hooked her leg around his waist and with a fierce motion she had rolled him onto his back.

Just for a moment she was perched on top of him, her legs straddling his waist and a smug smile curving her lips.

His beautiful features were briefly startled, and then a smile curved his own lips.

She braced her legs, expecting him to attempt to roll her back beneath him. Men always preferred to use their greater size to overcome an opponent, not realizing their own strength could be used against them. Once he began to roll she would use his own momentum to end up on top again.

Unfortunately, Viper was a vampire not a man.

His smile widened as he simply lifted her upward, his arms wrapping about her as he flowed to his feet. Shay gritted her teeth as she abruptly bowed backward, throwing her arms over her head and wrapping her legs about his waist.

As she hoped her movement threw him off balance. He stepped forward and she grabbed him around his knees, her flexible back easily able to bend in an impossible curve. Her head turned to sink her teeth into his thigh.

“Oh no, my beauty.”

With a soft hiss, Viper once again did the unexpected. Following her movement forward he placed his hands on the ground and with a smooth motion rolled until he was again on his back. This time her legs were trapped beneath him and he was able to reach down and grasp her with enough strength to jerk her up to his chest. His arms lashed about her, pressing her arms to her side so that she was well and truly caught.

Shit.

Viper couldn't deny a thrill of excitement as he wrestled with the beautiful Shalott.

No doubt he should be furious at her attempted escape. He had, after all, done everything possible to make her comfortable in his presence. From ordering the necessary food, to having her room decorated, to filling her closets with clothing. He had devoted weeks, not to mention a small fortune, to pleasing the ungrateful brat.

To top it off he had behaved as a perfect gentleman when his dark hungers had howled in frustration.

What other demon would have treated her with more consideration?

Oddly, however, he found it was more of a predatory anticipation than fury he felt as he had started in pursuit of his renegade slave.

There were few things that stirred his blood more than a cunning, dangerous woman.

Especially when she happened to be beautiful in the bargain.

Not a bad bonus.

Holding her captive in his arms he slowly smiled into the golden flash of her eyes.

“Do you want to continue, pet, or are we done with our fun and games?”

She held herself so stiff it was a wonder she didn't get a cramp. “What I want is for you to release me.”

“Not until we've had a little chat.”

She angrily squirmed against him. Viper gave a soft moan. His last few lovers had been vampires and he had nearly forgotten the pleasure of feeling himself drenched in such heat.

“Dammit, Viper, let me up.”

“No. You've already tried to run away once tonight.” His arms tightened about her. “Once is all you get.”

Something that might have been outrage rippled over her delicate features. “I didn't run away.”

“You waited until I could not halt you and you slipped from my home. What would you call it?”

Her lips thinned with annoyance. Clearly she disliked being accused of slipping away like a thief in the night.

A demon with a sense of honor.

“I had a few errands to run. Surely I'm allowed some freedom?”

“That depends. What are you doing here?”

“I left something behind.”

“Something?”

If her arms had been free, Viper didn't doubt she would have given him a solid punch to the nose. Which was precisely why her arms weren't free.

“A friend,” she at last gritted.

Friend?
Viper turned his head to regard the small, fluttering gargoyle who was attempting to hide in the branches of a nearby tree. He had spotted the demon when he had come from the tiny opening, but he had dismissed him once he had caught sight of Shay.

She managed to drive most things from his mind when she was near.

A rather dangerous realization.

“You mean the gargoyle?” he demanded with a hint of surprise.

“Yes.”

“He belongs to Evor?”

“Yes.”

He gave a slow lift of his brows. “If you had requested, I would have bought him last night. There was no need to endanger yourself.”

She blinked in astonishment at his soft words. Even her muscles relaxed as if she temporarily forgot he was the enemy.

Viper silently savored the feel of her body pressed close against him.

“Evor has never attempted to auction Levet.” Remembered pain flashed through her eyes. “He prefers to leave him as a treat for his goons to torture.”

His arms loosened their hold enough to allow his fingers to trace a light pattern up her spine. He didn't like seeing that hurt darken her eyes. It made him want to drain someone.

Beginning with the pasty-faced troll.

“For the right price, Evor would sell his own mother,” he growled.

It took a moment before she grudgingly met his steady gaze. “I could hardly be expected to know you would be willing to grant your slave such a favor.”

His hand shifted to cup the back of her head. “Why are you so determined to consider yourself a slave when I have yet to do so?”

She blinked at his blunt demand. “What else could I be? You bought me from a slave trader. You possess the amulet that keeps me chained to you regardless of my own desires.”

“Would you prefer that I return you to Evor? You would rather possess a different master?”

“Does it matter what I want?”

“Answer the question.”

Despite the darkness Viper could easily read the emotions rippling over her face.

Confusion. Embarrassment. And at last a reluctant acceptance.

“No,” she whispered so softly that if he hadn't been a vampire he would never have heard her. But he was. And he did. And it was enough to make his hand tighten on the back of her head to press her head downward.

Her breath came in a rush as he captured her lips, captured the heat of her, and pulled it deep within him. She tasted of warm honey and life. A taste sweet enough for a vampire to drown in.

Thrusting his fingers into her hair Viper allowed his free hand to sweep down to cup her hip. He wanted her here, now. He wanted her with a raw ache that was nearly frightening in its intensity.

Gently parting her lips with his tongue he searched the moist cavern of her mouth. He groaned deep in his throat as her hands clutched at his arms and for a startling moment she returned his kiss with the same frantic need that pulsed within him.

Heat flared between them, and then with a startled gasp Shay was abruptly wrenching her lips from his own, and regarding him with something perilously close to horror.

“Viper.”

He swallowed a curse as his body clenched in protest before he was sternly chastising his unruly passions. What the devil was the matter with him?

He was a centuries-old vampire with endless power and sophistication. He did not indulge in public orgies. No matter what the temptation.

“You are right, this is hardly the setting for a romantic tryst,” he muttered. “Nor is it the time to be distracted.”

She sucked in a deep breath, the motion pressing her small, firm breasts tightly against his chest.

Hell's bells.

“How did you find me?” she demanded.

“I told you that I had the grounds guarded.”

Her brows lifted. “I was followed?”

“Yes.” Viper deliberately turned to regard the tall, silent vampire that stood in the distant shadows. Not surprisingly Shay stiffened with wary unease.

Santiago was an impressive sight with his leather pants and black T-shirt designed to reveal his thick muscles. His face was narrow with high cheekbones and his eyes the deep brown of his Spanish ancestors.

It took only a glance to know precisely what he was.

A trained warrior who would kill to protect those of his clan.

Shay swallowed heavily. “He's a vampire, he couldn't possibly have been patrolling when I left.”

“This isn't the Stone Age, pet,” Viper drawled. “The grounds are guarded by a very high-tech system that includes motion sensors, silent alarms, and a series of cameras that are constantly monitored. Santiago was deep underground when he spotted you leaving.”

“Why didn't he send someone to try and stop me?”

“I told him not to.”

Her gaze snapped back to regard him with open suspicion. “Why?”

“I knew I could easily track you.”

“You wanted to spy on me.”

“I will admit to some curiosity, but more than that I wanted to prove to you that you are a fool to try and escape.”

Her expression abruptly hardened. “I know I can't escape. You don't need a guard. You have only to use the amulet and I will be forced to return.”

“That's not the point.”

“Then what is?”

His hands shifted to cup her face, his eyes narrowed. “There is a powerful force that has tried to capture you more than once. Until we discover what it is you will not be allowed to travel on your own.”

He was prepared for her anger. Slave or not she was not the sort of demon to mildly accept any sort of restrictions. Even those meant to keep her safe.

Astonishingly, however, he could read nothing but a flare of concern in her beautiful eyes.

“You believe I'm still in danger?”

“Don't you?”

She chewed on her bottom lip before at last heaving a sigh. “Okay, point made. I was an idiot to take off on my own. You can let me up now.”

Pleased that she seemed capable of allowing logic to overrule her fiercely independent nature, Viper slowly smiled.

“It seems a pity.” His hands brushed down to the tempting curve of her throat. “I've thought about having you in this position for a long time. Of course, my fantasies didn't include either of us in clothes, or a hovering gargoyle.”

“I told you to—”

Her heated words were brought to an abrupt halt as a soft breeze rippled through the air and Viper was swiftly on his feet pushing Shay behind him.

“Master,” Santiago called from the shadows.

“Yes, Santiago, I smell it.”

He felt Shay grasp the back of his silk shirt. “Smell what?”

“Blood. Fresh blood.”

“Crap.”

 

A shiver raced down Shay's spine as Viper slowly turned to face her. Until the past few moments she had managed to forget the hovering evil that seemed intent on capturing her. She had been so intent on how she could manage to rescue Levet from Evor that she had forgotten she possessed yet another enemy.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And embarrassing that Viper had remembered when she had not.

“Did you kill Evor and his trolls?” he demanded.

His tone was merely curious. As if he didn't give a bloody hell if she had slaughtered the trolls.

And probably he didn't.

“No, I didn't even catch sight of them.”

“So you saw no one? Heard nothing?”

“No.”

His head tilted to one side. “And you did not think that unusual?”

Shay shrugged, thinking back to her swift trip through the auction house. “They rarely enter the auction house before dark. Besides, I used the back entrance and went straight to the dungeons. You think they were attacked?”

“Something was.” He glanced back toward the silent building. “Wait here.”

Shay watched as Viper collected his vamp and they moved through the darkness. Within a heartbeat they had melded into the shadows, and not even her enhanced vision could make out their silhouettes.

She wrapped the cloak tight about her oddly chilled body as Levet fluttered onto the ground beside her.

“Maybe we should just leave,” she muttered.

“Do you think?” Levet slapped his hands on his hips and regarded her with a narrowed gaze. “Oh, wait. Why would we leave when we can linger in the backyard of our enemies and play suck face with whatever vampire happens by? And after that we can douse ourselves with gasoline and play with matches. The fun, as they say, never ends.”

Shay felt a ridiculous blush touch her cheeks. She had not played suck face. Well, at least not on purpose.

“Don't push it, Levet.”

“Or what? You'll hold me down and kiss me to death?”

“You can be returned to your cell, you know,” she growled.

“Sur le corps.”

Over his dead body? Shay gave a lift of her brows. “That could be arranged as well.”

Perhaps sensing he had touched her last nerve Levet lifted his hands in a purely continental gesture.

“Now, now,
ma cherie
. There is no need to be testy.”

Unconsciously, Shay glanced toward the last spot she had seen Viper. “Actually there seems to be any number of reasons,” she muttered.

“Yes, I suppose there is,” he murmured softly. “Your new master is an oh-so-hated vampire.”

“So it would seem.”

“A clan chief.”

Shay's attention sharply returned to the gargoyle at her side. “How can you tell?”

“I can smell the mark of CuChulainn upon him.”

Shay licked her suddenly dry lips. She had never attended the gladiator games. Few demons were considered worthy to attend the most elite of competitions. And even fewer allowed to participate.

Those who walked out alive were feared and respected by all.

They were warriors worthy of the title master.

“He has gone through the Battle of Durotriges?”

“And lived to tell the tale. Quite impressive.” Levet regarded her with a knowing expression. “A wise demon would not wish to anger such a champion.”