What was the point in starving herself? It wasn’t as if anyone would give a damn. And the goddess knew it wouldn’t get her out of this dungeon.

With slow, deliberate steps, Sally backed into a corner, her smile mocking. “Is this far enough, oh mighty leech?”

With a muttered curse, he used his powers to unlock the cell door and stepped inside. “I should let you starve,” he grumbled.

She wrapped her arms around her waist, shivering as the cool surge of his power filled the air. Shiver in fear, she grimly assured herself. Not excitement.

“When can I speak with the Anasso?”

He frowned at her abrupt question, placing the tray on the narrow bed that was her only furniture.

“Why?”

“Obviously to plead my case.”

Straightening, Roke regarded her with an unreadable expression. “You’ll remain here so long as he believes you might be a threat.”

A threat? All she wanted was to disappear into a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. How could that be a threat to anyone?

“I’m assuming that means you haven’t captured Gaius.”

His eyes narrowed. “Do you know where he’s gone?”

“Why would I know?”

“You were his accomplice.”

“Hardly,” she denied, her voice harsh as she recalled her short alliance with Gaius. “I was forced to help him search for the prophet. I barely knew the arrogant ass, and what I did know I didn’t like.”

Roke dismissed her explanation with a wave of his slender hand. “Did you travel with him to any other lairs?”

“No,” she hissed between gritted teeth. “And before you ask, he never spoke of any. Our relationship wasn’t based on trust.”

He snorted. “Then what was it built on?”

“Mutual need and fear.”

His jaw tightened, as if he didn’t want to think she might not be the evil, unrepentant bitch he wanted to paint her.

“Eat.”

Forcing herself to cross the cell, she perched on the edge of the bed and picked up one of the cheeseburgers. She was a multitasker—could eat and glare at the bastard at the same time.

“Are you always so bossy?” she demanded between bites.

“Yes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Give your mate my deepest sympathies.”

“My mate is none of your concern,” he snapped.

Thank the goddess, she told herself. Being stuck with this surly beast would be nothing short of hell.

Of course, a night or two exploring that chiseled body . . .

No. She was obviously delusional from hunger.

Working her way through the hamburger and the plate of fries, she did her best to ignore the grim-faced predator watching her every move with a brooding intensity. At last reaching for a Buffalo wing, she pointed it toward her silent companion. “Are you going to just stand there watching me?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Do you think I can use a French fry to escape?” she asked in sickly sweet tones. “Or maybe the cook hid a file in my apple pie?”

“Styx believes you could help us locate Gaius.”

She returned her attention to her plate, hiding her expression as she dipped her wing into the blue cheese dressing. “I’ve told you everything I know.”

“You said Gaius was different when he returned to his lair. What did you mean?”

She shrugged. “I had a few errands to run and when I came back Gaius was just standing in the hallway like a zombie. For a minute I thought his carcass had been stuffed and left there as some kind of sick joke. But when I actually stepped into the hallway he reacted like a feral animal. It was creepy as hell.”

Roke frowned. “Was his intent to kill you?”

“I wasn’t stupid enough to remain around long enough to find out if he wanted me dead or just injured.”

“And you claim he didn’t recognize you?”

She ate her wing and reached for another. “He acted like he didn’t. I suppose he could have been pretending, but I don’t see the point.”

“And you suspect he had someone with him?”

“Someone or something he was protecting.”

“Why?”

She doggedly kept her head down, replenishing her energy as he put her through the Inquisition. The only thing missing were the whips and chains.

“Why what?” she said with a full mouth.

He shifted with impatience. “Why do you suspect that he was protecting something?”

She trembled at the memory of the malevolent energy that had surrounded the house, repulsing her spell and contaminating the very air with evil.

Not that she was going to confess her true reason for suspecting that Gaius had a new and very powerful ally.

Not when she would have to confess she’d used dark magic against a fellow vampire of Roke’s.

She was in enough trouble as it was, thank you very much.

“He was behaving like a wild dog guarding his favorite bone,” she at last hedged.

She felt his gaze boring into the top of her head like a laser.

“You’re lying.”

With an effort she tilted back her head to meet his fierce glare. “I am not.”

There was enough truth in her words to make him hesitate. “At the very least you’re not revealing everything you know,” he at last accused her.

“You’re a mind reader?”

“One way or another I’ll discover the truth, little witch,” he growled, turning on his heel to head out of the cell.

Briefly startled by his departure, Sally rose to her feet. Her strength was returning, but what good would it do her if she couldn’t use it to escape?

She needed someone she could manipulate.

Someone who wasn’t a powerful vampire who made her think of sweet, forbidden things.

“Does it have to be you?”

Halting, he glanced over his shoulder at her abrupt question. “Me?”

“Can I have a different guard?”

“Why?”

“I should think that was obvious.”

“Indulge me.”

Her chin tilted. “I don’t like you.”

His body went rigid, his eyes darkening with something that might have been outrage. “In case you didn’t notice, you’re in the dungeons,” he snarled, his power nearly suffocating. “You’re lucky the keys haven’t been thrown away and your luscious little body left for the wolves. Literally.”

What the hell was wrong with him? He acted as if she’d insulted him . . . Wait—did he just call her body luscious?

Dammit, Sally, concentrate.

Sucking in a deep breath, she refused to back down. “Even a condemned criminal gets a last request, Roke. And mine is that I don’t have to see you again.”

Chapter 6

Louisiana wetlands

Nefri allowed Santiago to lead her from the house, resolutely maintaining her air of detachment while deep inside she was an emotional mess.

That room . . .

It wasn’t just the blood and guts.

She was an ancient vampire who’d witnessed just about every depravity that demons and humans could imagine. It was the lingering evil that seemed to cling to the air. Like an oil slick that polluted everything it touched. Dear lord. She wanted to stand beneath a shower and scrub herself from head to toe.

And just as confusing were the violent emotions the vampire walking at her side inspired. He was infuriating, illogical, stubborn, and so typically male that she wanted to scream. He was also wickedly charming, unexpectedly intelligent, and intensely loyal to his clan.

One minute she wanted to have him muzzled, and the next she wanted to wrap herself in his raw power and kiss him senseless.

Which terrified her.

Granted, it’d been a long time since she’d last taken a lover, but she knew that this extreme awareness of Santiago had nothing to do with sexual frustration. Or even a brief bout of lust.

She wished it was.

Lust she could easily satisfy. Either with Santiago or with one of her own clansmen.

But this restless craving that was spreading through her body wasn’t going to be ended by a swift, discreet tumble. Not that Santiago would ever be swift or discreet in bed, a renegade voice whispered in the back of her mind. He would be fierce and dominant and outrageously demanding. No doubt he would leave a female feeling thoroughly ravaged . . . in the most gratifying way.

Her hands clenched as she banished the image of Santiago poised naked above her, his hips nestled between her parted thighs.

Had she gone mad?

There was something out there that terrified even the Oracles. Now was not the time to be reacting as if she were a silly foundling still at the mercy of her passions. With an effort she hid behind the cool composure that allowed her to pretend a control she was far from feeling.

“Where are we going?” she asked as Santiago headed up the narrow path. With the thick canopy of trees and creeping moss it looked more like a tunnel to some weird Land of the Lost than a main road to the nearest town.

Somewhere overhead Levet was hunting for his evening meal, but the thick foliage made it impossible to sense anything beyond a few feet.