“Wait . . .”
Dante grasped her shoulder and kept her from running after the disappearing form.
“Let her go, lover. Edra will become suspicious if she does not answer her summons.”
Abby whirled to meet his steady gaze. “What did she mean?”
“Wholesale slaughter,” he rasped. “I didn’t think even Edra could be quite so bloodthirsty.”
“Could the witches really kill all the demons?”
“They seem to think so.”
Abby struggled to breathe. She couldn’t count how many times she had been terrified out of her mind over the past few days. How many times she thought some nasty creature might rip her limb from limb. But as horrible as it had been, she had discovered that not all demons were monsters.
My God, Dante was a demon. And Viper. And the beautiful fairies. And Troy, the ridiculous Prince of Imps. And the Shalott who was tortured rather than handing her over to the witches.
She would do whatever necessary to put a halt to the genocide.
“Shit. We have to stop her,” she muttered without a clue as to how to accomplish such a lofty goal.
Half-expecting Dante to charge from the room like a raging madman, she was startled when he merely regarded her with a searching gaze.
“Is that what you want? To stop her?”
“What?”
His fingers touched her cheek. “Abby, if we battle Edra, you might never be able to rid yourself of the Phoenix.”
Her eyes widened at the low words. “You think I would sacrifice you? For any reason?”
He gave an elegant lift of his shoulder. “To rid the world of evil? That seems a rather noble goal.”
She stepped toward him and grasped the front of his silk shirt in an angry grasp.
If she could have, she would have given him a good shake. As it was, all she could do was wrinkle the beautiful material.
“Evil doesn’t belong to demons, Dante. Humans are just as capable of sin as any creature.”
The silver gaze never wavered. “Most would consider us monsters.”
“No. Not all demons are monsters—no more than all humans are saints.” She gave a faint shudder. “Besides, I would never agree to such a massacre. No matter how good the intention, it would be wrong. Evil.”
There was a beat as if he was seeking to determine the depths of her determination. At last he gave a short nod.
“We need to get out of here.”
Abby breathed a husky sigh. “Thank God.”
Shifting to take her hand, Dante headed for the door only to come to an abrupt halt.
“Damn.” He tugged her back toward the center of the room, not halting until they reached the low table that held the untouched tray.
“What is it?”
“Someone is approaching.”
Her heart lodged in her throat as she watched him pick up the poisoned glass of blood.
“What are you doing?”
“Allowing Edra to believe she has been rid of one enemy.” Moving so swiftly he was impossible to follow, he dumped the blood out the window and returned to her side. Then, startlingly, he stretched out on the bare floor. “If the witches believe me dead, then I will have a better way of seeking a means of escape.”
Abby bit her lip. She didn’t like this plan. Not when it might mean she would be separated from Dante.
“But won’t Edra know?” she demanded.
He gave an arch of his brow. “That I’m not dead?”
“Yes.”
“Abby, I am dead.”
“Oh.” She grimaced.
His beautiful features smoothed to somber lines. “Be careful, lover. I will get us out of here as swiftly as I can.”
The footsteps were now close enough to be heard by her human ears.
“Make it very swiftly,” she whispered.
Dante fell deep within himself. Unlike most humans, the ancient witch would need more than an unmoving corpse to convince her that he was dead.
Thankfully vampires could retreat far enough within themselves that only another vampire could sense the spark of life.
No spells or hocus-pocus would reveal the truth.
Reaching out with his senses, he monitored the steady approach of Edra and the feel of Abby as she bent beside him and touched his face. He could smell the sweet heat of her skin and beneath that the sharp scent of fear.
He battled every instinct not to reach out with his mind to comfort her. Even the smallest whiff of power would alert the witch.
The footsteps crossed the room, and Dante detected the scent of iron in the air. Odd. The woman must be carrying an amulet. And not the traditional wooden amulet.
This one was hard and dark and carried with it a feel of black shadows.
“My lady, is something wrong?” Edra cooed with false sympathy.
“Dear God, something has happened to Dante.” There was no mistaking the fear in Abby’s voice. Whether out of terror of being left to the clutches of the witch or because he did indeed appear remarkably dead was impossible to say. “You must help.”
“Of course, I will call for a healer. Come with me.”
Abby’s hand tightened on his cheek. “I can’t leave him here.”
“You have a talent for treating the undead?”
“No, but—”
“Then we must seek out someone who does.”
Her command was perfectly reasonable, and Dante felt Abby slowly rise to her feet.
“Very well.”
It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep from leaping to his feet and halting Abby from her slow retreat.
He didn’t want her to leave his side. To risk being alone with Edra.
But what choice did they have?
He couldn’t directly attack the witch. Not as long as he remained bound to the Phoenix. And Abby was still fumbling to learn the powers she possessed.
All he could do was allow the coven to believe he was no longer a threat and wait for an opportunity to rescue Abby from their clutches.
After that . . . well.
He would deal with “after that” when it came along.
Forcing himself to wait and ensure that no one else was about to enter the room, Dante was distracted by the faint tap on the window.
Warily he allowed his senses to reach out. His lips twitched as he flowed to his feet and crossed the room to regard the vampire standing just outside.
“Viper.”
“Napping on the job?” the silver-haired vampire demanded as he slipped through the open window.
Dante raised his brows in surprise as Viper smoothed his velvet coat and adjusted the ruffles of his cuffs.
“How did you come in?”
A sly smile touched the too-beautiful features. Reaching beneath his shirt, he pulled out a small leather bag that was attached by a leather strap about his neck.
“A gift from a voodoo priestess.”
Dante frowned. “What’s in it?”
“A variety of nasty bits and pieces that are used to animate the dead,” he drawled, a cynical smile tugging at his lips. “It allows me to pass as a living being.”
A handy little object, Dante acknowledged. And precisely the sort of trinket that Viper would collect. He watched as Viper tucked the bag beneath his shirt. His brows abruptly snapped together.
“Bloody hell, what happened to you?” Dante demanded as he studied the charred burns on the smooth flesh.
With a flick of his hands, the older vampire closed his shirt to hide the marks.
“The dark wizard and I had a mild disagreement.”
“What sort of disagreement?”
“I thought he should be dead and he disagreed.”
Dante smiled wryly. There was little use in lecturing Viper in taking such risks. Once he was on the hunt, nothing could halt him.
“I presume you convinced him to your way of thinking?”
“Eventually.” A flare of annoyance rippled over the pale
features. “I was careless. His power was greater than I expected.”
So the dark wizard was gone. One less problem to deal with.
“What are you doing here?”
Viper’s presence suddenly seemed to fill the room. Even the candles dimmed.
“Before I ripped out his throat, the wizard swore that the witches intended to banish us all to the depths of hell. I decided that I wasn’t ready to go yet.”
Dante clapped a hand on Viper’s shoulder. There was no need for words. They would hunt together as they had centuries before.
Few things could have given him more hope.
“The witches have Abby,” he said.
“Where?”
Dante took a moment to reach out to his mate. “Below us. A cellar.”
Viper gave a slow nod. “Can you fight?”
“I can’t harm the witches who were part of the spell binding me to the Phoenix. The newer witches should prove no problem.”
Viper smiled to reveal his fangs. “Leave them to me.”
“There is also a demon,” he warned. “We’ll need to make sure it isn’t planning a nasty surprise.”
Viper tilted back his head to deeply sniff the air. The silver eyes widened in shock.
“A Shalott. So, they haven’t all vanished. How very intriguing.”
Dante grimaced at the fevered glitter in the midnight eyes. Shalott blood was rumored to be an aphrodisiac to vampires. Which no doubt explained why they had chosen to leave with the dark lord. Without his protection, they would be hunted to extinction by vampires.
“You take care of Edra; I will see to the demon,” Dante said sternly.
“Why, Dante, don’t tell me you’ve been seduced by the creature?” Viper mocked. “Whatever will Abby say?”
“She wants the demon spared.”
Viper stilled. “Why?”
“Because she could have killed us and didn’t.”
“Humans.” Viper gave a shake of his head even as an unreadable emotion darkened his eyes. “So weak.”
Squaring his shoulders, Dante glanced toward the door.
“Are you up for this?”
Viper moved to stand at his side.
“What’s the plan?”
Chapter 24
Abby bit her bottom lip as the hair on the nape of her neck stirred and her palms began to sweat.
It was the same sensation she had experienced when she had been five and had entered a carnival’s haunted house and spent nearly two hours huddled in a dark corner, too afraid to move so she could bolt for the door.
She hadn’t known why she was frightened. She had only known that she sensed something out in the darkness waiting to devour her.
Of course, with the wisdom of age, it was simple to look back and realize her fear had been caused by a combination of overstimulation, the smothering darkness, and being abandoned in the house by her mother.
Still, the sense of being devoured had been very real.
Just as it was at this moment.
Grimly squaring her shoulders, Abby allowed herself to be led through the dark, empty rooms until the elderly witch at last paused to open a door and began to climb down the narrow stairs.
She was no longer a child.
She didn’t huddle in corners.
She fought back with a vengeance.
Well . . . maybe not a vengeance. More of a combination of bumbling, fumbling, and flaying.
But she would never again be a willing victim.
A musty smell of damp earth and mold rolled over Abby as they reached the bottom of the steps. She hesitated as the utter darkness momentarily blinded her.
“Don’t be afraid,” Edra whispered, her ancient face becoming suddenly visible as a fire bloomed to life in a large brazier. “There is nothing here that would ever harm you.”
Nothing but you, Abby whispered silently.
“Why are we here?”
The witch moved across the floor. “I have something I wish to show you.”
Edra was walking toward what appeared to be a large slab of marble set next to the brazier. It appeared all the world like something you would put on top of a grave.
Along the edge of the marble were precisely arranged black candles and dried herbs. And in the very center was a strange symbol drawn with a thick, clotted liquid that gleamed with a reddish-black hue.
Abby’s stomach clenched as she reluctantly followed in the woman’s wake.
“What is this?”
“My modest altar.” The witch reached out to stroke the cold stone with a reverent hand. “Not what I desired to present to the beloved Goddess, but I was forced to leave much behind after the attack by the wizard.”
“Why are we here?”
The tiny head turned to stab Abby with a glittering gaze. Abby grimaced. In the shifting candlelight, the woman looked like a shriveled lizard.
And just about as warm.
“To change the world, my lady.”
Abby shifted uneasily. “That’s a little vague.”
“It’s time that the full glory of the Phoenix be revealed. Her power will cleanse the world.”
Cleanse the world.
It certainly sounded nicer than mass murder.
“Cleanse the world of what?” she demanded, needing to hear the woman admit her black-hearted intentions.
“Evil.”
“Again, a little vague.” She wrapped her arms about her waist. Any dark and dank cellar was creepy, but with the candles and mortician slab and some goo that might or might not be blood, this took creepy to a new level. “Precisely what evil are we cleansing?”
“The demons, of course. And those who worship the dark lord.”
“The dark lord has been banished from this world.”
Impatience as well as something that might have been anger tightened the older woman’s lips. Obviously she was not a big fan of having her decisions put up for debate.
“His foulness still taints the very air we breathe. He calls to his disciples and they answer. They must all be brought to an end,” she rasped.
Abby licked her lips. “And you expect the Phoenix to do this?”
“Of course. The beloved Goddess was meant to rule.” She held out her gnarled hands as if accepting worship from some unseen disciples. “Just as I was meant to rule. Our time has at last arrived.”
Good God, the woman was certifiable.
Hurry, Dante, she silently breathed. Please hurry.
“I understand your desire. It is no doubt admirable, but there are surely other means of battling evil?” she attempted to soothe. Pacify the crazy person. That was always her motto.
Absurdly the witch appeared outraged rather than soothed.
“Understand?” She moved to stand directly before Abby. “What could you possibly understand, girl?”
“I understand right from wrong.”
“Until a few days ago, you thought demons to be nothing more than fairy tales.”
Abby found her terror being swallowed by a growing anger. Dammit. She hadn’t wanted to be some stupid Chalice. Or to have monsters chasing her around. Or to be some sort of savior of the world.
But now that she had been forced into this position, she wasn’t going to be bullied into becoming the evil they were supposed to be fighting.
“Perhaps I didn’t know, but now I realize that there are many sorts of demons. Not all of them bad.”
“The vampire,” Edra hissed. “He has seduced you.”
Abby clenched her hands. “This has nothing to do with Dante. I will not be a part of wholesale murder.”
The witch stepped close enough to cloak Abby in the sour scent of sweat and cloves.
“Have you battled against darkness for the past three centuries?” she rasped. “Have you given your very soul to keep the horror at bay? Have you watched innocent women slaughtered like pigs beneath the magic of a foul wizard?”
In spite of herself, Abby stumbled backward. Her eyes might tell
her that she could pick up the frail old woman and rattle her silly. Her heart warned her that the witch could wave a wand and squash her like a bug.
“I’m the Chalice,” she bluffed. “You can’t force me to perform a spell.”
“I would prefer that you join with me.” Edra raised a hand to point her finger directly between Abby’s eyes. “But we can do this the hard way.”
Oh God, here comes the bug-squashing part.
“No . . . wait . . .”
The words barely left her lips when a blinding pain exploded in her head.
Abby tumbled to her knees. She clutched her head as she realized she was going to die.
No one could survive such pain.
Dante, where the hell are you?
Viper and Dante slid into the shadows as the sound of noisy footsteps echoed through the hall.
Taking a deep sniff, Dante leaned close to his companion and whispered directly in his ear. “Two men, both human.” His fangs lengthened. “I’ll take care of them. You go to Abby.”
Viper paused. “You’re certain?”
“I can’t harm Edra. You can.”
A cold smile touched the elegant features. “It will be my pleasure.”
Not even the air stirred as Viper disappeared from his side. Remaining in the shadows, Dante waited for the men to walk directly past him. Only then did he leap forward, taking the nearest guard to the floor with fluid strength.
He felt the second man reach to grasp his arm. Without even glancing in his direction, Dante threw him into the nearby wall. There was a thud and a groan as the attacker slid to the floor.
The man underneath him grimly struggled to reach beneath his bulky form. Dante smiled wryly, knowing the fool was no doubt reaching for a gun. He either didn’t know a vampire held him or had no idea bullets couldn’t harm the undead.
Grasping a handful of hair, he smacked the thick skull onto the floor, and then again. He felt the body beneath him go slack, and Dante was on his feet.
Both men were out cold, but he wasn’t about to leave them behind. Opening a nearby door, he returned to the unconscious men and easily tossed them into the narrow room. With the same speed, he bound them with their belts and closed the door.
Silently he was once again moving forward. There was the sharp scent of blood ahead of him. Viper, no doubt. Unless the witches banded together, they would prove no match for the powerful vampire.
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