The scorching gaze turned toward Santiago, and Nefri tensed. For now Baine was enjoying his role as beneficent host, but dragons were rumored to be fickle and vain with a quicksilver temper.
Who knew when he might decide he was no longer amused?
“And you are?” he demanded of Santiago.
“This is—” Nefri cut off her words as Baine gave a sharp wave of his hand.
“I’ll hear it from the male.”
Nefri bit her lip. Naturally, Santiago couldn’t offer a bow, or even lower his eyes as Baine slowly circled his rigid body. Instead he tilted his chin and subtly tightened his grip on his sword.
Stubborn vampire.
“I’m Santiago,” he said, his voice clear and steady.
Baine came to a halt directly in front of him, the amber eyes smoldering with an inner fire. “You don’t fear me?”
“Of course I do.” Santiago shrugged. “I’m not an idiot.”
The dragon’s tattoos continued to swirl over his body in a dazzling display. “You disguise it better than most,” Baine murmured.
“I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“Yes.” Baine sucked in a deep breath, as if savoring their scents. “Such a violent world you live in.”
Santiago took a wise step backward at the hungry edge in the dragon’s voice. “It keeps me on my toes.”
“Mmmm.” The dragon’s smile widened. In anticipation? Difficult to say. “I miss it.”
“The violence?” Santiago asked.
“The violence. The blood.” Baine moved with lightning speed to stand nose to nose with Santiago. “The crunch of vampire bones in my teeth.”
Nefri took a swift step forward, laying a restraining hand on the dragon’s arm. Almost instantly she yanked it back, her fingers tingling with pain from the heat generated by his skin.
Good lord, it was like touching an open flame.
“Baine,” she murmured in urgent tones.
There was a tense beat as the two alphas met stare for stare, then with a throaty chuckle Baine at last turned to meet her concerned gaze.
“I can’t play with your toy?”
“I’ve come to seek your assistance.”
Baine shrugged, thankfully stepping away from the bristling male vampire.
Santiago was one goad away from doing something truly stupid.
“I am always delighted to be of service to a beautiful female, but I no longer interest myself in your world,” Baine informed her.
“It’s actually your knowledge of the past I seek.”
The dragon paused, inwardly debating her request. At the same time Nefri discreetly moved close enough to make it impossible for Santiago to take an impulsive swing of his sword. He might be more annoying than any vampire had a right to be, but she wasn’t going to let him die.
Eventually, Baine gave a languid wave of his hand. “You may continue.”
“I need information on a spirit who can infect a vampire.”
Baine tilted his head, eyeing her with a sudden curiosity. Which, of course, was better than hunger.
Just slightly.
“I’ve never heard of such a spirit.”
“Perhaps a book in your collection . . . ?”
“If the information was available in my library I would know.” He deliberately stroked a finger over the swirling tattoos on his stomach. “Dragons have very long memories.”
Nefri bit her bottom lip. Well that was . . . disappointing. “I see.”
“Tell me more of this spirit.”
She grimaced. Siljar wouldn’t be pleased to know that Nefri had shared the details of the MIA spirit with Santiago, let alone a dragon, but what choice did she have?
The closer they came to locating Gaius, the more she realized they needed information. She wasn’t going to blindly attempt to capture a spirit that terrified the Oracles enough to have it locked away.
Not when . . .
She grimaced again. Why not admit it? Not when Santiago might be harmed.
Thrusting aside the vulnerable thought, she met the fiery dragon gaze. “It was contained by the Oracles by a rift in space.”
“When?”
Santiago moved to stand directly behind her shoulder at Baine’s sharp tone, but he was smart enough to keep the sword at his side.
“I don’t have an exact date,” she admitted. “But it was when the world was still young.”
“The Veil,” Baine murmured.
“Yes.”
An odd purring filled the air. Not the cute purring of a kitten, but the lethal vibration of an irritated dragon.
“I should have suspected the idiots were hiding something.”
“No love lost for the Commission?” Santiago demanded.
A tiny wisp of smoke curled from one nostril, revealing the dragon’s opinion of the ultimate leaders of demon kind.
“They have tried to pass themselves off as impartial judges who rule the demon world with no thought beyond justice.” He made a sound of disgust. “When the truth is much less noble.”
“Definitely no love lost,” Santiago muttered.
Nefri studied Baine’s finely carved features, sensing his dislike of the Oracles was more personal than irritation with their positions of authority.
“You weren’t aware of why they created the Veil?” she asked.