Santiago froze. Did Gaius simply sense that he was being hunted by the Commission? Or did someone—or something—whisper in his ear that the powerful Oracles were a danger to his dead mate?
He carefully considered his words. “Why would they be a threat to Dara?”
“Because she’s . . .”
“Gaius?”
“Because she’s not supposed to be here,” Gaius whispered in low tones, acting as if he feared his words might be overheard. “That’s all I know.”
Santiago studied the vampire’s gaunt face and the shadows beneath his eyes. Despite the blood staining his face that spoke of a recent frenzied feeding, he appeared like a man who’d been starved for weeks, if not months.
There was more wrong with Gaius than his missing sanity.
“What do you want from me?”
He again held out his hand. “Your forgiveness.”
Santiago deliberately folded his arms over his chest. Not even to gain information could he offer absolution.
“You didn’t kidnap Tonya for my forgiveness,” he pointed out, his frigid voice making Gaius drop his hand in defeat.
“You are my son,” he muttered.
“If you were so anxious for a reunion you would have contacted me when you first returned from behind the Veil,” Santiago reminded his sire. “Now tell me what you truly want.”
Gaius hunched a shoulder. “You will learn to believe me.”
“Fine.” Tired of the vampire’s insistence on pretending he gave a damn about his one-time son, Santiago called his bluff. “You want my forgiveness, then release Tonya.”
Predictably Gaius shook his head, his hands plucking at the cuff of his dark silk shirt. He didn’t seem to notice the material was frayed and coated with dust. Yet another indication that the vampire was out of his mind.
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Why?”
“We must . . .” Something moved in Gaius’s dark eyes. Something immense and . . . aware. Like a great beast that was hidden in the shadows, just waiting to pounce. “There’s a book.”
Santiago’s muscles tensed, a sharp fear jolting through him.
Mierda.
He wasn’t mistaken. There was something inside Gaius. Controlling him without the older vampire even being aware of the creature.
Was this the spirit that the Oracles were hunting? The supposed creator of vampires?
And if it was . . . what the hell was he supposed to do about it?
For the moment it obviously preferred to keep its presence hidden. And Santiago was happy to pretend he hadn’t caught a glimpse of the terrifying creature.
At least until he could determine exactly what it wanted with him.
“What book?” he asked, giving up any rash idea of trying to simply grab Tonya and flee.
At the moment, he wasn’t sure any of them were going to get out of the cellar alive.
Or sane.
“A spell book,” Gaius said, a throb of frustration beginning to beat in the air. “It’s being protected by black magic. We need to destroy it.”
Santiago didn’t have to pretend his confusion. This was why he was lured to Wisconsin? Because of a book?
“I have no immunity to black magic,” he said with a frown. “Neither does Tonya.”
There was another unnerving flicker of the spirit as Gaius tilted back his head, seeming to be spreading his powers far beyond the cramped cellar. “There’s a witch,” he said.
Santiago struggled against an instinctive urge to reach for his sword. Cristo. His skin was suddenly crawling with the promise of pain. Like he was standing in the eye of a hurricane, just waiting for disaster.
“There are a lot of witches,” he pointed out. Carefully.
“Only one who can break the spell.”
Santiago grimaced. Only one? So was that good news or bad?
Impossible to say.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“She’s in the lair of the Anasso.”
“The Anasso?” Santiago made a sound of disbelief. “Styx is protecting a witch?”
“Sally, Sally, Sally.” Gaius slowly smiled, his eyes once again distant. “She thought she could double-cross me, stupid witch. But she’s made it all so much easier.”
Santiago lowered his brows, wondering if Gaius was referring to the witch who had once been his fellow servant of the Dark Lord.
She must have been desperate if she approached the King of Vampires.
“I still don’t understand what you want from me.”
Gaius studied him with growing impatience. “I want you to get her.”
“From Styx’s lair?”
“Sí.”
Santiago paused, sending a covert glance toward Tonya, who had shifted as far as possible from Gaius, her arms wrapped around her drawn up knees.
A noose was tightening around his neck and he didn’t have a damned clue how to escape.
“Why not you?”
Gaius’s mocking smile was so familiar that it caught Santiago off guard. Who was in control? Gaius or the spirit?
Or was it perhaps a strange combination of the two?
“I’m not precisely beloved among vampires.”
“Traitors are rarely beloved among any species,” Santiago couldn’t resist reminding him.
Gaius narrowed his gaze. “Soon you will understand.”