“Don’t worry, Gaius. As you said, you don’t have the blood I need,” she mocked in cruel tones, her eyes nearly consumed by flames. “Not quite so impervious to the thought of death as you wanted to believe, are you, Gaius?”

He stiffened in humiliation. It wasn’t surprising the Dark Lord had sensed his growing apathy. Or that she’d managed to shatter his illusion that it no longer mattered whether he lived or died.

Bitch.

“Do you want me to return to the world and acquire what you need?” he demanded in careful tones.

“Actually, I have what I need close at hand.”

Gaius glanced around the thick fog. It couldn’t be too close. “Who is to be the sacrifice?”

“Caine should have destroyed the prophet by now.”

“Caine? Impossible,” Gaius muttered, too shocked to guard his tongue. He’d seen Caine defending the prophet. The Were had been willing to die to protect the female. Then sharp shards of pain stabbed into his body, reminding him the danger of speaking without thinking. “I mean, Caine is devoted to the prophet. He would never harm her.”

“Thanks to Dolf ’s spell Caine wasn’t in his right mind,” she reminded him, a coy smile touching her lips. “And, of course, I might have encouraged his madness.”

Gaius thrust aside his disbelief, instead concentrating on the more important question. “But why?” He slowly rose to his feet. “You were desperate to capture Cassandra.”

The Dark Lord glanced down at the child, the air filled with a searing anger before the creature managed to regain her composure. “She proved to be a severe disappointment.”

Gaius felt the hairs on his nape stand upright. Disappointment could have any number of meanings.

Maybe Cassandra refused to cooperate. Or maybe she hadn’t had a vision since her capture. Or maybe the visions had been impossible to decipher.

But Gaius didn’t think it was any of those things.

If the Dark Lord was willing to destroy the seer, it was because she gave a prophecy that she didn’t like.

Which could only mean bad news for Gaius.

Cristo. He was growngly convinced that he would never be reunited with his mate. Now he had to face the possibility the deity who had purchased his soul was destined to fail, dragging Gaius into the pits of hell with her. “A pity,” he rasped.

The Dark Lord jerked her head up, regarding him with a fiery glare. “Retrieve the dog and bring him to me.”

“At once.”

With a deep bow, Gaius turned to disappear in the swirling mist, following the distant scent of Were.

Chapter 17

Cassie didn’t know how long she ran through the disorienting mist. Or which direction she was going. Her only thought was to try and evade Caine as he chased her with a crazed bloodlust.

At last accepting there was no place to hide and no way to shake off her pursuer, she came to a weary halt. Turning, she held up a pleading hand. “Stop.”

Astonishingly the Were slowed, pacing around her as he sniffed the air, as if searching for a hidden trap. Or maybe he was savoring the scent of dinner, she wryly conceded, waiting for him to stand directly in front of her, his blue eyes glowing with the power of his wolf.

She forced herself to hold that hungry gaze, desperate to reach the man who was buried beneath the rabid animal.

“Please, Caine, listen to me,” she urged softly. “You have to remember. Look deep inside, you know me.”

The creature curled back his lips to expose his massive fangs, his mutated features lacking any hint of recognition.

So this was it.

The end.

Accepting that she was on the brink of death, Cassie squared her shoulders and waited for the killing blow.

A blow that never came.

Instead, Caine turned his head to glance over her shoulder, his half-formed paws lifting to expose his razor-sharp claws.

Now what? Cassie cautiously moved so she could keep an eye on Caine as well as the stirring fog behind her. Whatever was coming was enough of a threat to make Caine crouch in preparation of battle.

Then she caught the distant scent of vampire. A vampire she recognized.

Perfect.

Just freaking perfect.

There was another swirl of fog before the thick shroud parted to reveal the dark-haired leech who had brought them to this hellhole.

“Gaius,” she breathed, the word a curse.

Coming to a halt, the vampire offered a small dip of his head. “Seer.”

“You bastard.” She fisted her hands, wishing she had the strength to rip out his unbeating heart. “This is all your fault.”

A dark brow arched at the accusation. “It was Dolf ’s spell that turned your protector into that”—he waved a hand toward the watchful Caine—“monstrosity.”

“On your command.”

“Not mine,” the vampire denied, his pale face oddly stripped of its previous arrogance. “And you will be happy to know that Dolf ’s been suitably punished.” He took a step forward. “He suffered one of the most gruesome deaths I’ve ever witnessed.”

Caine growled, his fierce gaze shifting between Cassie and Gaius. No doubt deciding which one of them he wanted to kill first.

“Stay back,” Cassie snapped, covertly angling herself to stand between Gaius and Caine.

Ridiculous, of course. One or the other was bound to kill her, but she’d be damned if she let the vampire hurt Caine.

The vampire obviously found her protective urges equally incongruous. “Isn’t there a human saying about being between a rock and a hard place?” he asked with a sneer, giving a wave of his hand toward the growling Caine.

Cassie hissed as the air shimmered with a curtain of power that hung between her and the suddenly infuriated Were.

“What have you done?” she demanded, flinching as Caine charged the nearly invisible obstruction only to bounce backward with a startled snarl.

Clearly pissed off, Caine shook off his pain and attempted to break through once again. And again. And again.

Cassie pressed her hand to her lips as he crashed into the impenetrable wall over and over, his patchy fur becoming coated with blood, and his face contorted with frustration. At last, maddened by his inability to reach his prey, he tilted back his head to howl with the promise of death.

“It’s a temporary barrier,” Gaius said with a grimace, instinctively stepping away from the deranged beast. “It will only last a few minutes so we must speak quickly.”

Cassie turned to glare at the vampire. “You have nothing to say that I want to hear.”

“Don’t be so certain.”

Something in his icy voice made Cassie swallow her words of searing hatred, regarding him with a wary suspicion. “What do you want?”

“The Dark Lord sent me.”

She rolled her eyes. Was that supposed to be a big shocker? “No doubt to kill me?” she muttered.

Gaius shrugged. “Actually, you’re supposed to be dead already.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“I’m not the one you disappointed.”

Cassie frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

The vampire smoothed a hand down his once elegant suit jacket now coated in dust and torn in several places. “I assume you were foolish enough to share a prophecy that annoyed the Dark Lord?”

Like she had a choice?

She hunched her shoulder. “I have no control over the visions.”

“What did you see?”

“Hope.”

He made a choked sound, wise enough to comprehend the power of that one word. “Ah. A dangerous viewing.” An expression of aching despair touched his pale face before his frigid composure was slammed back into place. “No wonder the Dark Lord was anxious to be rid of you.”

She studied the vampire with a growing confusion. What did he want from her?

A promise the Dark Lord would be successful in returning to the world? A vision of his own?

An opportunity to torment her before she was killed?

“My death won’t alter the future.”

“Alter? Perhaps not.” He seemed to consider his words. “But it might tilt the balance.”

Cassie waved aside his words. The future was in the future. She was far more concerned with the present. “Is that why the Dark Lord wants me dead?”

A humorless smile touched his lips. “The mistress doesn’t need a reason to want you dead. It’s enough that you no longer serve a purpose.”

True enough. So why hadn’t he struck the killing blow? Was it possible his commitment to his evil mistress was fading? And if it was, why?

No. It didn’t matter why. All that mattered was how she could exploit his wavering loyalty.

“And what about you?”

“Me?”

“Do you still serve a purpose?”

The lean face was closed, unreadable. “My command is to bring the Were to the Dark Lord.”

Oh, gods. Cassie glanced over her shoulder at Caine, who paced with obvious agitation behind the barrier, his eyes smoldering with a mindless violence. If the Dark Lord wanted him, it couldn’t be for any good reason.