Ever since her sweet sixteenth birthday it didn’t matter where she went or how quietly she tried to live, there was always someone or something that wanted her dead.
So she wasn’t sure why she felt so betrayed to find herself being kidnapped by a strange vampire and taken to Gaius, who was clearly even more demented than the last time she’d caught sight of him.
Surely the only surprise should have been if she hadn’t been betrayed?
Still, she found herself glaring at the handsome vampire with the beauty of a Spanish conquistador and the aloof, stunningly beautiful vampire who stood in the corner like a freaking ice princess. As if she could make them feel guilty.
Yeah, and she was destined to win the lottery.
With a shake of her head, she turned her attention to her surroundings, feeling a stab of confusion as she realized they were in the same warehouse where Roke had taken her.
What the hell?
Somehow she’d assumed when Gaius had used his medallion to take them away from Styx’s lair they would end up more than a few miles from the dangerous Anasso.
But then again, maybe he wanted her close. Didn’t the ancient generals stick the heads of their hostages on a pike as a warning to their enemies? Gaius would want her mutilated body close enough so it couldn’t be missed.
Wrapping her arms around her body, she at last turned to confront the vampire who had so briefly been her commander.
She sucked in a sharp breath.
Holy crap.
She’d wished bad things on Gaius. She might even have said a prayer or two that the arrogant SOB wouldn’t survive the battle with the Dark Lord. But allowing her stunned gaze to drift down his gaunt frame covered with clothes a zombie wouldn’t be seen dead in (yeah, really bad pun) and his eyes glowing with a hectic light, she had to admit that he looked like he’d been through worse than even she had hoped for.
He looked . . . pathetic.
Of course, she wasn’t stupid. Even pathetic and batty as hell, he was a lethal predator.
One who could kill her with one strike of his massive fangs.
Licking her dry lips, she considered a number of spells she could lob at the vampire, only to discard them. Most of them were ineffective against the walking dead. Besides, she needed to conserve her strength until her enemy was distracted.
That way she could potentially use her powers to escape.
She wasn’t a go-down-in-a-blaze-of-glory kind of gal. She preferred a run-like-hell-and-live-to-f ight-another-day philosophy.
Keeping that thought firmly in mind, she held herself perfectly still as Gaius prowled forward, slowly circling her as if he’d never seen her before.
“Hello, Gaius. Long time no see,” she said as she at last broke the thick silence, as always her nerves making her babble like an idiot.
He came to a halt directly in front of her, his eyes glowing with an odd radiance. “Witch.”
“I’ve told you a thousand times, it’s Sally,” she snapped before she could halt the impulsive words. “It’s not that hard to remember.”
The vampire shrugged. “Your name doesn’t matter.”
Sally sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the heavy scent of vampires that filled the musky air. Wasn’t there some sort of saying about catching more flies with honey than vinegar?
“No, I don’t suppose it does,” she muttered, pinning a stiff smile to her lips. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have gone to Styx, but I”—her smile widened as she was struck by inspiration—“I was worried about you.”
The lean face remained devoid of expression, but the glow in his eyes flared with something that looked like hunger. “How very extraordinary that you should be acquainted with my host,” he said.
“Host?” She wrapped her arms around her waist as a shiver shook her body. “I don’t understand.”
He acted as if he didn’t hear her, the unnerving gaze sliding over her pale face. “Perhaps it was merely fate ensuring that you would be available when I needed you.”
“You . . . need me?” With a frown she glanced toward the male vampire who was hovering near the motionless female, pretending he wasn’t listening to the conversation although his tension was a palpable force in the air. He didn’t behave like an eager accomplice, not even when he’d kidnapped her from her bedroom, but it could all be an act. For now she had to assume he was one of the enemy. At last she glanced back to Gaius. “You didn’t bring me here to punish me?”
He tilted his head to the side in a distinctly un-Gaius-like motion. “Punish you?”
“For going to Styx.”
A smile that was more terrifying than reassuring curled his lips. “You aren’t here for punishment.”
“No?”
“No.”
She shifted beneath the glowing gaze, feeling as if he were rummaging around inside her.
Even worse, she was beginning to suspect that the glow in his eyes was more than just madness or the compulsion she’d first assumed. He looked . . . possessed. As if he had been taken over by another creature.
It was freaking creepy.