“Since you returned last eve.” Her smile widened. “You were always a lazy bug after you overindulged.”
He grimaced. He’d done more than overindulge. He’d wallowed in a bloodlust that had been shocking even by his standards. And still he’d remained plagued by a gnawing hunger that refused to be appeased.
It was only the threat of dawn that had forced him to gather the few remaining mortals and return to his temporary lair.
“The humans?” he rasped, assuming something must be wrong for Dara to seek him out.
She shrugged. “They’re safely locked in the attic.”
“Then what’s troubling you?”
Her beautiful eyes shimmered with a strange glow, as if they were being lit from within. “Something that should have remained hidden is now found,” she whispered, the glow from her eyes filling the cellar with an eerie light.
He took an unconscious step backward. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It has to be one of the witches.” Her brows pulled together, her tone absent.
“I thought we killed the last of them.”
She pretended she didn’t hear him. Or maybe she wasn’t pretending. Gaius smiled wryly. It seemed the only time Dara truly acknowledged his presence was when she needed something.
“Or perhaps it’s one of the Oracles.” She gave a slow nod. “Yes, that is possible.”
Gaius went rigid, an icy ball of dread forming in the pit of his stomach. “They’re here?”
“Not yet. But I’ve felt them searching for me.” Dara’s eyes returned to liquid pools of darkness. “They know I’m here.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are they searching for you?”
“I’ve told you.” She regarded him with a beseeching plea that arrowed straight to his heart. “They don’t like vampires returning from the grave. They will seek to banish me from this world.”
With a reluctance that shamed him, Gaius moved forward to lightly brush a hand over her cheek. As always he was struck by the unpleasant sensation that his hand was passing through air.
“No. I won’t let that happen,” he swore. “Not again.”
She moved back, dislodging his hand, but her smile was as warm as the long forgotten sun. “I knew I could depend on you, habibi.”
Yes. He pressed a hand to his temple, trying to clear the weary fog from his mind. His mate depended on him. It was his duty to do whatever was necessary to protect her.
“We must hide,” he murmured, shifting through the various possibilities. They had to lay low until the Commission lost interest. “We can return to our lair in Italy.”
“Yes, eventually,” she agreed. “But not yet.”
Gaius frowned. “Dara, I don’t have the strength to fight the Commission.”
“You don’t have to fight the entire Commission,” she assured him. “Only their two emissaries.”
He didn’t bother asking how she could feel the approach of the Oracles, or how she seemed to mysteriously know that they’d sent two emissaries.
He wasn’t sure he wanted the answers.
“Who did they send?” he instead demanded.
“The female clan chief.”
Gaius hissed. There was more than one female clan chief, of course. But, there was only one whom the Oracles would send to try and capture him.
“Nefri.” He clenched his hands, pretending the raw stab of guilt was anger. He wasn’t going to admit that he’d abused Nefri’s generous trust. What choice did he have? The Dark Lord had lured him with promises of Dara. Any vampire would betray their people for their beloved mate. “Damn her. How can she know I survived?”
“The Oracles, no doubt.” Dara’s features twisted with a bitter fury before her eyes grew distant, as if she were looking at something far away. “Now that is intriguing.”
“What is?”
“Her companion.” She slowly smiled. “This promises to be an interesting reunion.”
Reunion?
Gaius began to shake his head in bafflement only to freeze as he was struck by the haunting memory of being ripped through the rift by the Dark Lord. At the time his only thought was to scurry away from the raging battle, but he was certain that he’d caught a glimpse of an unconscious Nefri being held in the arms of an all-too familiar vampire.
“Santiago,” he said, his voice harsh.
“Yes.” Dara’s expression was . . . what? It almost appeared smug. “Our son.”
“No.” Gaius paced across the cramped space, hating the sick regret that flowed like acid through him at the thought of Santiago. “No longer.”
“He will always be ours, Gaius.”
“You don’t know what I’ve done.”
“Tell me.”
He hunched a defensive shoulder. He didn’t want to speak about his son. Of all the sacrifices he’d made, Santiago was the one that would always torment him.
Feeling the weight of Dara’s stare, he at last muttered a low curse. “I betrayed him when I sold my soul to the Dark Lord and then I abandoned him and he became a slave to the blood pits,” he forced out. “He’ll never forgive me.”
“He’s angry and confused,” she said softly.