Shoving the phone into the front pocket of his leather pants, Styx was heading toward the door, a force of nature that could destroy everything and everyone in his path.
“Come with me,” he commanded.
Roke swiftly followed his king out of the study and down the hallway. “What is it?”
“Spike said that Santiago just arrived.”
Roke lifted a surprised brow. The last they’d heard, Santiago was hot on the trail of his former sire. “He has news?”
“I suspect it’s more than that.”
Styx’s power was making the lights flicker and the priceless portraits tremble on the wall. Instinctively Roke reached to pull free the dagger he’d tucked into the sheath hidden in his knee-high moccasin.
Something was wrong.
“Why?”
“When Spike told Santiago I was in my study, Santiago said that he was here on an errand from an old friend from Rome,” Styx explained.
Roke frowned. “Does that mean something to you?”
“Gaius.”
Roke instantly understood Styx’s concern. Was Santiago sending a warning or a threat?
In either case, they needed to be prepared for the worst.
“What do you want from me?”
The vampire pulled out the massive sword strapped to his back. “Find Jagr and tell him to start a search of the grounds.”
They had reached the stairs when Roke grasped his companion’s shoulder and pulled him to a halt. “Styx.”
The Anasso sent him a frown of impatience. “What?”
“I know Santiago is a trusted brother, but Gaius is his sire,” he reminded his king. In the heat of the moment it was too easy to overlook the obvious. “That’s a bond not easily broken.”
Styx’s expression was as hard as granite. “I don’t question Santiago’s loyalty, but I’m not blind to the fact a vampire can be torn by a competing allegiance.” He grimaced. “Either to Gaius, or to Tonya.”
“The imp?”
“She’s been a part of his family for a long time.”
“Then you realize that you shouldn’t face Santiago alone.”
Styx grunted as he was neatly cornered by his own admission that Santiago might prove to be a danger. “Cristo,” he muttered. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
“I try.”
Pulling out his cell phone, Roke hit Jagr’s number and concisely revealed what was happening with Santiago’s arrival and Styx’s order to start a search of the grounds.
The Anasso gave a rueful shake of his head before turning to jog up the stairs. “This way.”
Roke was swiftly at his side, baffled as he realized they were headed toward the private wing of the house. “The bedrooms? What could he . . .” With a startled hiss, he came to a halt on the landing.
“Roke?”
Roke ignored his impatient companion, his hand lifting to press to his unbeating heart.
There was a tight ball of . . . what? Fear? Anger? Pain?
Actually it felt like a strange combination of all three.
He rubbed the spot in the center of his chest, baffled by the unfamiliar sensation. The feelings were inside him, but they weren’t his.
Insanity.
No, wait.
It wasn’t insanity.
It was . . .
“Sally,” he growled.
His muscles suddenly clenched, a fear that was all his own catapulting him into action.
He moved down the hallway with a fluid speed, absently sensing Styx keeping pace while his concentration was entirely focused on his connection to his mate.
“Talk to me, Roke,” Styx commanded.
“Sally’s in danger.” He reached the door to her private rooms and threw it open. “Shit.”
Even prepared, the empty room hit Roke like a blow to the gut. Charging over the threshold, he released his hunter instincts, discovering the scent of a male vampire combined with the rich smell of peaches.
His mind clouded with pure possessive anger.
A male had forced his way into Sally’s room. He’d put his hands on her. And then, he had the balls to try and take her away.
Roke would see him in hell first.
Headed toward the open window, he was momentarily distracted by the faint scent of blood. Lowering himself to his knees, he discovered a small red stain on the carpet.
The ceiling cracked and the drywall crumbled as his fury went nuclear.
“Goddammit,” he snarled. “I’ll kill him.”
Wise enough not to startle a vampire on the edge of murder, Styx cautiously hunkered down beside him, his voice soothing. “Roke, it’s only a drop. She’s not badly hurt.”
“Yet.”
Styx grimaced. “Why the hell would he take her?”
“I intend to find out,” Roke muttered, shoving himself upright and through the window in one smooth motion.
Behind him Styx blistered the air with curses, but Roke never slowed as he hit the ground and followed the scent of peaches through the moonlight that spilled over the manicured parkland.
Reaching the back gate, he caught the smell of yet another male vampire. This one laced with an unmistakable rot of madness.
Gaius?
Not that he gave a shit.
The need to rescue Sally was thundering through his veins, leaving no room for logical thought or strategies.
But as he stepped through the open gate, he was forced to an enraged halt.
The trail ended.
Just like that.