Shay shivered. “Yes.”
“Is it the same demon that attempted to steal you the night of the auction?”
She forced herself to concentrate. A task that would have been a lot easier if Viper had the decency to move to the other side of the room. The cool wash of his power was a distraction that she didn’t need.
Sucking in a deep breath she closed her eyes and reluctantly opened herself to the approaching demon. It had taken her years to learn how to put aside her human logic and trust in the delicate senses of her demon blood. She might not understand how she could reach out and feel the essence of another, but she no longer questioned it.
It took a long moment but at last she gave a small shake of her head. There was a sense of cold, looming danger, but it wasn’t the same.
“It’s not the same demon.”
“I don’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.” Viper gave a shake of his head before holding out his hand. “Come, we need to get out of here.”
Shay widened her gaze. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stay?”
“We’d be trapped.”
“At least we have weapons.” she pointed out.
He shrugged. “We need someplace we can run if things go to hell.”
“If they go to hell?” she choked in disbelief.
A faint smile curved his lips before he bent down to place a kiss just beneath her ear.
“The fun has just started, pet,” he whispered.
—
Collecting a pair of daggers that he fit into his boots and a small amulet hung on a leather thong Viper led Shay and the gargoyle from the armory.
The hellhounds were dead but that hovering demon remained a distant threat that could not be ignored. He didn’t want to be cornered with no means of escape when it finally attacked. Not when he couldn’t be entirely confident he was capable of besting the stalking demon.
Choosing a narrow tunnel that led away from the house he moved with a silent urgency that had Shay muttering beneath her breath and the tiny gargoyle stumbling to keep up. He ignored their complaints as he flowed through the darkness and at last came to the stairs he sought.
“This way.” he commanded, standing aside so Shay and the gargoyle could pass.
Both halted to regard him with suspicion. He should have known it would be too much to hope they could simply do as he requested without a prolonged argument.
“Where does this lead?” Shay demanded.
“To a chamber beneath the garage. We will attempt to hold off the demon from there, but if we fail it will give you the opportunity to flee.”
Her expression hardened. “You think that I’ll leave you… I mean, leave Levet to fight off a demon that is obviously after me?”
“We have no choice.” Viper reached out to grasp her arm. “Neither the gargoyle nor I can leave these tunnels, not until night has fallen. We can only give you time to escape,”
Levet heaved a rasping sigh. “He’s right, Shay. You have to go.”
“Forget it. I…” Shay’s words came to a halt as the sound of rumbling came from behind them. “Shit.”
“The time to argue is over.”
Keeping his grip on Shay’s arm he forced her up the steps into the small chamber. Once at the narrow ladder he reached into his pocket to retrieve the small amulet and placed it around her neck.
She glanced down in confusion. “What is that?”
“The amulet holds a spell that will mask your presence from the demon.”
A strange expression rippled over her pale face. “Magic?”
“So I have been assured,” he muttered. “Forgive me.”
“What?” Shay gave a small squeak of pain as he reached up to tug several strands of her hair from her head. “What the hell was that for?”
Viper tucked the hair into his pocket. “At least some scent of you must remain here or the demon will become suspicious. Now you must go.”
Expecting another argument Viper was startled when she gave a sharp nod of her head. “Yes.”
“Wait until Levet and I have left the chamber before you climb the ladder and push open the trapdoor. The keys to the cars are hung on the wall. Just take one and go as far from here as you can.”
“Okay.”
Viper didn’t trust this sudden compliance. Shay was precisely the sort of woman to insist on going down with the ship. A Joan of Arc just waiting to happen. For God’s sake, he had been preparing to physically throw her from the tunnels.
Framing her face with his hands he glared into her wide eyes. “I will have your word that you will leave, Shay.”
Annoyance flashed in the golden eyes, but astonishingly she gave a nod of her head. “I will leave.”
“Your word?”
“My word.”
He gave a growl low in his throat He didn’t doubt her pledge, but he couldn’t shake the certainty that she was planning something ridiculously dangerous.
Unfortunately, any lecture he might have given her on foolish bravado was forced from his mind at the sound of cracking timbers and shattering earth.
The demon had lost patience and was forcing his huge bulk through the tunnels.
Devil’s balls.
Without hesitation Viper bent his head and pressed a brief, hungry kiss to her lips. “Go, Shay,” he whispered softly, and then giving her a gentle push toward the nearby ladder, he headed for the door.
Once again he braced himself for some protest, but with a smooth motion Shay had turned and was sprinting across the room. Viper hurried to leave the chamber and shut the door behind him. He could feel the heavy pressure of dawn already filling the sky. He had no desire to greet it up close and personal.
Back in the tunnel he moved to stand beside an obviously nervous Levet.
“Did she go?” the gargoyle muttered.
“Yes.”
“She did?” Levet gave a startled blink. “You didn’t hurt her, did you?”
“For once it was not necessary.” Viper pulled his sword from its sheath as he prepared for the demon crashing through the tunnel. “She went quite eagerly.”
“Sacrebleu. It can only mean she is plotting something stupid.”
“No doubt,” Viper agreed with a grimace. “For the moment, however, she is out of danger. We can only hope to disable the demon before she decides to return.”
“Disable the demon, he says,” Levet muttered beneath his breath, holding his dagger with an awkward hand. “More likely we are about to become an early morning snack.”
Viper smiled with grim anticipation. “Not without a fight, my friend. The demon will discover that vampire meat is not so easy to come by.”
The gargoyle gave an aggravated twitch of his tail, but thankfully he held his tongue as a glow began to fill the air and the looming demon thrust into view.
Viper clenched his teeth at the sight of the narrow, scaled head with its long snout and mouthful of razor teeth. Many would confuse the demon with a small dragon, but Viper knew the difference. It was the long-forgotten Lu. A creature feared throughout the demon world. One that was nearly impossible to defeat without magic. And he was fresh out of magic.
“Shit,” he breathed.
“Shit, indeed,” Levet said at his side. “Now what?”
“Do you possess any spells?”
Levet gave a disgusted snort. “Do you think if I possessed any spells I would still be here? I am not nearly so fond of you, vampire, as to gladly die at your side.”
“I thought all gargoyles could use some magic,” Viper muttered as he edged to the side and prepared for an attack.
“Oh sure, mock me as I’m about to die,” Levet groused.
“You are not about to die, Levet. We are both immortals.”
“Pah. We both know that even immortals can die. Usually in horrible ways.”
Well, Viper could hardly argue. It was true enough.
“If you prefer, I could simply toss you to the demon and hope he would make your deat
h a swift affair.”
Whatever French curses hovered on Levet’s lips were drowned out by the hissing rumble of the Lu.
Although the body of the demon was too large to slide through the tunnel without an effort, the serpentine neck allowed the black-scaled head to swing disturbingly close.
“I smell the Shalott.” A forked tongue tasted the air. “Where have you hidden her?”
Viper’s expression remained impassive as he concealed his relief that the Lu hadn’t yet realized his quarry had escaped. There was nothing like centuries of practice to perfect the poker face.
“She is near enough, but I fear she is not overly anxious to meet with you,” he drawled. “It seems that the charms of the elusive Lu are highly overrated.”
The crimson eyes flashed with fury. Lu’s had never been known for their sense of humor.
“You mock me at your peril, vampire.”
Viper shifted closer to the wall. The faint, iridescent glow from the demon’s scales would become blinding during a battle. He wanted to be in a position to be able to watch that deadly mouth when worst came to worst.
“I doubt my peril has anything to do with whether I mock you or not.” He firmly kept the demon’s attention on himself and away from the cowering Levet. “You’re not here for my sparkling personality.”
“True enough.” At least the demon didn’t try to deny his murderous intent. “Still I am not unreasonable. Hand her over and there is no need for you to die, vampire.”
Viper smiled with cold disdain. “Oh, I have no intention of dying. Not by your hands. Or rather, by your teeth.”
The angry hiss made the entire tunnel shiver in warning. “Brave words, but unless you have more than a stunted gargoyle to lend you assistance you are no match for me.”
There was an angry buzz of wings as Levet took swift exception to the insult.
“Stunted?” the gargoyle huffed. “Why you overgrown worm, I’ll—”
“What is your interest in my slave?” Viper forced the Lu’s attention back to himself. Shay would never forgive him if he allowed the tiny pest to end up in the belly of a demon.
The leviathan head turned back to stab him with a smoldering glare. “That is a matter between my master and the Shalott.”
“Your master? Since when have the mighty Lu allowed themselves to call another master?”
“You would be surprised, vampire. Surprised, indeed.”
The soft, mocking laughter chilled Viper’s already cold skin. He didn’t like the idea the demon was hiding something from him. Something that was causing the Lu a great deal of pleasure.
“Why speak in riddles? Is your master so cowardly that he must hide in shadows?”
“Ah no, if you desire answers then you must first defeat me.”
Viper held out his sword. “That can be arranged.”
The crimson eyes narrowed in a dangerous threat “Foolish, vampire, I will have the Shalott. No piece of steel is going to halt me.”
To prove his point, the long snout lashed forward with mind-numbing speed. His teeth bit through Viper’s arm before he could leap out of the way. Clenching his teeth Viper stabbed the sword into the exposed throat of the demon. There was a hiss of pain from the Lu before he drew back, leaving deep gouges in Viper’s flesh that bled with sluggish pain.
Slammed against the wall it took a moment for Viper to clear his fogged mind. Dammit all. There was more than one means to battle the much larger demon.
“Perhaps steel will not stop you, but there are some forces not even a Lu can battle.”
Pointing the sword toward the ground Viper ignored the blood trickling down his numb arm and concentrated his will upon me rich earth beneath their feet. He possessed no magic. No vampire was able to wield spells. Or even to sense them. But they did control ancient powers. Powers that came from the elements themselves.
His fierce will spread from the sword to the ground, churning deep below. The tunnel shook sending a spray of dirt falling from the low ceiling.
“Halt,” the demon commanded, his tongue flicking between the sharp teeth. “I will have none of your vampire tricks.”
“Unlike you I am my own master and take commands from no demon,” Viper gritted.
“Fool.”
The Lu struck again but on this occasion Viper managed to slip enough to the side that it was a glancing blow. The teeth raked his shoulder, but he firmly kept the sword pointed toward the now crumbling dirt below the demon’s feet.
The earth was moving, but not fast enough, he angrily acknowledged. The power he called on was used by vampires to sink their victims into the soil after a deep feeding. It was never good manners to leave behind corpses to draw attention to a local clan.
Unfortunately, in this day and age most vampires preferred synthetic blood to the dangers of hunting live prey and his skills were rarely called upon anymore. Not to mention the fact that he had never before attempted to bury a creature as large as the Lu.
Still unaware of the ground that was now covering his clawed feet and inching up the thick scales of his legs the Lu gave a hissing growl and struck at Viper’s head. It was a killing blow, but jerking back Viper managed to avoid the snapping teeth. His head banged painfully against the wall, a small price to pay for having it still attached.
Grimly clearing his foggy mind he reached down to snatch one of the daggers from his boot. He needed to distract the demon if he wasn’t to be shredded into nasty bits.
Never allowing his call upon the earth to waver he drew back his arm and threw the dagger with deadly force. There was a sickening thud and a roar of pain as the dagger sank deep into the Lu’s oblong eye.
“You will die for that, vampire,” the demon roared, his desperate writhing digging him ever deeper into the ground.
“There is no need for either of us to die,” Viper called out, keeping the demon concentrated on him even as he motioned the silent gargoyle back against the wall. If he could manage to trap the Lu, they might survive this relatively intact. He grimaced as he felt the blood soaking through his clothing. Relatively was all he could hope for at this point. “Tell me what you-want with the Shalott, and we might make a deal.”
“I said you must defeat me if you wish answers, vampire and I am far from defeated.” The serpentine face was a ghastly mask of blood and fury as the Lu glared at Viper with the dagger still stuck in his eye. He made an attempt to lunge forward, only to scream in frustration when he discovered that the ground held him firmly trapped. “Noooo.”
“Tell me why you want the Shalott,” Viper demanded.
“For this you will die,” the Lu snarled.|
Lifting his sword Viper prepared to plunge it into the remaining eye when the narrow head jerked upward and slammed into the ceiling. A shower of earth rained downward and Levet gave a squeak of alarm.
“Mon dieu, has he gone mad?” the gargoyle squeaked.
It did seem a distinct possibility, Viper conceded, as the demon lowered his head and once again reared up to thrust his head into the dirt above. The Lu demons were always unstable. Inbreeding was never a good thing.
He was in the process of deciding whether the Lu was trapped enough to risk a strategic retreat or to use the opportunity to tend a few more blows when the realization hit him. The Lu hadn’t gone mad. He was doing precisely what he had warned he was going to do.
Kill him.
The tunnel gave a mighty shake and the earth began to tumble with alarming speed from above. Soon the demon would bring the entire ceiling down upon them. They would be buried beneath the rubble.
But not buried deep enough, he realized as he lifted his eyes upward in alarm. The soil was beginning to split open and when it did it would bring with it the tide of the early morning dawn.
Devil’s balls.
“Levet,” he called out in warning. The gargoyle would not be harmed by the sunlight but he would return to his statue form. He would be helpless if the Lu decided to carry him off.
Viper opened his mouth to offer another warning when Levet threw his arms upward and cried out.
“I call the night.”
The words could barely be heard over the sound of the ceiling collapsing. There was no mistaking, however, the thick cloud of inky black that abruptly shrouded about them.
Viper froze in astonishment, his hands clutching the sword as if uncertain whether the foul cloud was a blessing or a curse.
Not far from him he heard Levet give a startled gasp and then a shout of triumph.
“It worked.” His wings stirred the dark air with a flutter of excitement. “By my father’s stone balls, it worked.”
Chapter Ten
Shay had driven a car before. Not often and not well. But she knew the basic method of moving from one place to another.
She had never, however, had her hands on anything like the sleek Porsche. The barest touch on the accelerator and she was hurtling through the cresting dawn at a horrifying speed.
It was little wonder that she had managed to gather a few dents and one busted headlight by the time she arrived at the auction house and gathered her small store of magical potions she had left behind.
A demon was not intended to travel over a hundred miles an hour without some cost, she assured herself as she returned to the decidedly worse-for-wear car and sped back to Viper’s estate. Besides which, the silver-haired vampire was bound to be so furious at her return he wouldn’t even notice that she had managed to ruin the expensive automobile.
Adding several more dents, a broken window, and a flat tire as she cut through fields and back roads she squealed to a halt inside the garage.
The trip had been made as swiftly as humanly, or demonly, possible. Still, she couldn’t deny a sickening dread that clenched her stomach.
A dread that nearly drove her to her knees as she slipped through the trapdoor and into the chamber below. Across the room she could see the door buckled and torn from its hinges by some unknown force. But that was not what made her blood run cold.
Even from a distance she could see that the tunnel had collapsed and morning sunlight was pouring in.
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