Darkness Avenged

Roke didn’t think it was possible that the night, which was already in the crapper, could get any worse.

Tough to top being mated against his will.

But less than an hour after Sally headed to the kitchen to begin brewing her spell and Roke had gone to the gym to work off his seething frustration, he returned to Styx’s study to discover the Anasso throwing his cell phone across the room.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that the latest news wasn’t good, but even forewarned Roke was caught with his mouth hanging open as Styx shared the latest update.

Santiago and Nefri had not only spent the day in the lair of a dragon (a dragon, for Christ’s sake), but Santiago discovered that Gaius might be in the power of the ultimate vampire who was spreading violent emotions like a plague so he could feed.

Perfect.

Just perfect.

Folding his arms over his chest, he waited for Styx to halt his pacing, impervious to the flickering electricity and shattering chandelier.

At least the house was still standing.

“Do you want me to join Santiago?” he at last demanded. “He’s obviously going to need all the help he can get.”

The towering Aztec gave a decisive shake of his head, the turquoise ornaments in his long braid glinting in the splintered light. “Not until we know more about this creature and its powers. I don’t intend to turn my people into fodder for another crazed deity,” he snarled, pausing to study Roke with an unnervingly piercing gaze. “And I doubt you could leave even if you wanted to.”

“Don’t be—” Roke snapped his lips together as his powers instinctively tested his bond with Sally, making sure that she was still near and unharmed. It was an unconscious reflex, but one that he did on a regular basis. Which proved Styx was right. “Shit.”

Styx held his frustrated glare. “For now you need to concentrate on yourself.”

Infuriated by the constant reminder that he was well and truly trapped, Roke slammed a door on his bond with Sally, momentarily succeeding in blunting his awareness of her.

It wouldn’t last more than a few minutes. But it was a tiny win for his ravaged pride.

“I knew that witch was going to be trouble,” he muttered, a bitterness edging his words. “Of course, all women are trouble in one way or another.”

Styx blinked, as if startled by his vehemence. “You don’t like women? Hell, I never considered the possibility.”

Roke snorted. He wasn’t offended. Immortality meant vampires who weren’t mated often experimented with different genders, different species, and a wide variety of sexual appetites.

“I’m physically attracted to females,” he corrected Styx.

“Good,” Styx said. “Not that I give a damn one way or another, but the female will be bound to you until we can find a way to break the mating. You don’t need any additional”—he searched for a word to cover the hideous situation—“confusion.”

“Confusion?” It was Roke’s turn to pace from one end of the office to the other. “It’s a fucking nightmare.”

Styx grimaced. “We’ll find a way to free you from the witch.”

“And if you can’t?”

“Easy, Roke,” Styx murmured.

Abruptly Roke realized his anger was causing the floor to shake beneath their feet. Unlike some vampires, his own powers had little effect on electrical objects, but he could cause significant structural damage if he lost control.

With a grim effort, he leashed his powers. That didn’t, however, ease his frustration, which threatened to combust at the least provocation.

“This is . . .”

“A nightmare,” Styx murmured. “I got that.”

Roke clenched his fists, his gaze trained on the glass cabinet that held Styx’s priceless collection of ancient scrolls. “Did you know my previous clan chief?” he asked abruptly. He could sense Styx’s confusion.

“Gunnar occasionally petitioned my master, but he tended to be a recluse when he visited. I doubt I exchanged half a dozen words with him,” Styx at last admitted. “Why?”

Roke had to force the words past his stiff lips. Speaking about his former clan chief was always difficult. Even after all these years. “When Gunnar allowed me to join his clan he was a stable leader who demanded obedience, but treated us with a justice rarely found in those days.”

“You were fortunate.”

“I was,” Roke agreed. Before the previous Anasso had taken control, vampires had been little better than savage beasts who brutalized one another as easily as they brutalized lesser demons. It was nothing less than a miracle to find a clan that respected one another. “Until Gunnar found his mate.”

“Many clan chiefs are mated.”

Roke curled his lip. “Not to a female who is so vain and needy that she demands constant attention.”