And then the powers of the Phoenix within Abby began to smolder and flare, engulfing them in a sizzling cloak of heat.
Dante choked out a groan of shocked pleasure as he thrust himself to the very heart of her. Mist-red desire clouded about them, driving them ever upward, until with an explosive climax they combusted in flames together.
Chapter 17
Still panting and drenched in sweat, Abby slowly floated back to earth.
“Yowza,” she breathed.
Sex with Dante was like running a marathon. Only a lot more fun.
Rolling to his side, Dante gathered her in his arms. “Yowza, indeed.”
She pressed her lips to his chest, absently noting his skin was cool and dry. She was afraid to glance higher. No doubt his hair was perfect as well.
Damn vampires.
A smile abruptly curved her lips.
Her vampire.
She briefly closed her eyes, absorbing the unfamiliar sensations that had settled deep within her. Like a whisper in the back of her mind, she could feel Dante. His small glow of sated pleasure. The fierce love that flowed through every part of him. And, overall, his gnawing concern that he wouldn’t be capable of protecting her.
She wrenched open her eyes to discover Dante regarding her with a searching gaze.
“I had no idea.” She gave a faint shake of her head. “It’s so intense.”
“How do you feel?”
“Amazing.” She watched Dante smile his sexy pirate smile. Made even more sexy by the fangs that were still fully extended. How weird was that? Suddenly her eyes widened in horror. “Oh.”
His arms tightened about her. “What is it?”
“I’m not going to turn into a vampire, am I?”
“No.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her curls, thankfully not insulted. “Turning someone is a bit more complicated. And it would not even be possible as long as you are the Chalice. The Phoenix would do whatever necessary to protect itself.”
Reassured that she wasn’t about to morph into anything else inhuman for the moment, she snuggled closer to his hard body.
“I wish we could just stay here.”
“Hide from the world?”
“At least an extended vacation.” She pulled back her head to meet his silver gaze. “I think we deserve a few days off, don’t you?”
He regarded her with a hint of regret. “I can’t think of anything that would please me more.”
“But?”
He blinked. “How did you know there was a but?”
Abby heaved a sigh. “In my world, there’s always a but.”
“You’re a very odd woman at times, lover.”
“I thought I was beautiful and courageous and sexy as hell?”
“All of the above,” he swiftly agreed, a faint smile playing about his lips, “and occasionally odd.”
“Rather ironic coming from a vampire.”
He bent down to press a swift kiss to her lips. Too brief.
“As much as I hate to admit it, we must not linger any longer.”
That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Not when she felt warm and fuzzy and, best of all, safe.
“We have to leave now?”
“It’s too risky to stay here for long. If the house is being watched, then we could find ourselves surrounded by the sort of nasties that no one wants to meet on a dark night.”
“They couldn’t get in here, could they?”
He gave a lift of his shoulder. “Probably not, but we’ll eventually have to leave.”
Dante rolled off the bed, and before she could even appreciate the sight of his hard, alabaster body, he was impeccably attired and looking Gucci yummy.
Damn. That was starting to be a real sore spot with her.
“If we’re safe, why do we have to leave?” she demanded.
He gave a lift of his raven brow. “You don’t want to be locked in a room with a hungry vampire, lover. Even if I can’t drink human blood, I don’t doubt I might get a bit testy. Besides, I doubt that the witches will be considerate enough to make an appearance upon our doorstep.”
Heaving a sigh, Abby sat up and pushed her tangled curls out of her face. “Fine, go ahead and make sense. At least you can hand me the clothes you ripped off me.”
“Your wish is my command.” With a flourishing bow, he bent to retrieve the clothing that had been scattered across the floor.
“Isn’t that what a genie is supposed to—” Her teasing words trailed away as she watched Dante scoop the clothes in his hands and then slowly stiffen. With a strange expression, he pressed her shirt to his nose. “Dante? Are you sniffing my shirt?”
His silver eyes shimmered with a dangerous glow. “It smells of demon.”
Abby stiffened. Did he just say she smelled like a demon?
She had probably suffered worse insults, but she couldn’t think of one at the moment.
“Excuse me?”
He took another deep sniff. “I don’t recognize the breed, but you have definitely been close to a demon.”
Oh. Well, that was better.
Marginally.
“Yeah, I’ve been close to a demon.” She gave him a pointed glance. “About as close as I could get. You don’t remember? I know you’re old, but holy crap.”
His expression remained closed. Hard. “A demon, not a vampire.”
His blood stirred within her. She could easily sense his lethal focus. A predator on the scent.
“That’s impossible,” she groused. She would have known if some demon had been rubbing on her shirt. That wasn’t something a normal woman . . . “Oh.”
“What?”
Abby slapped her forehead with her open hand. Christ. She must be losing her mind.
“There was this strange woman who interrupted my spell,” she confessed.
“Upstairs?”
“Yes.”
Abby shivered as Dante’s blood heated with fury. “What did she look like?”
She struggled to recall. She had been just a little preoccupied at the time.
“Human, for the most part, although she was far more graceful than any mere mortal. And incredibly strong.”
“She had the shape of a human?”
“Yes. A beautiful woman. She had dark hair and the most amazing gold eyes. Oh, and her skin had the strangest bronze glow to it.”
His eyes widened as he lifted the shirt to his nose once again. “A Shalott demon? I thought they had all fled this world. She attacked you?”
“Yes . . . no.”
He stabbed her with a piercing gaze. “Abby?”
She gave a helpless shrug. “I think she was just trying to stop the spell. She could have killed me while you were out, but she ran off. She said someone was calling her.”
“Damn.”
“What is it?” Abby scooted to the edge of the bed. “Is she dangerous?”
“I don’t know, and that’s what is driving me crazy.” He gave a sharp shake of his head. “We must leave here now.”
“Where are we going?”
“To see if I can pick up the trail of the Shalott. When they were in this world, they were assassins. If we can trace her back to her employer, we might discover what she was doing here.”
There was an edge in his voice. A sharp thrill for the chase.
“Assassin?” she demanded.
“Very effective assassins. If either of us was her target, we wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.”
“Crap.” Was there any end to the creepy crawlies that roamed the night? “Dante.”
“Yes?”
She bit her bottom lip. If this assassin was so deadly, she had no desire to go chasing after it. “Does it matter why she was here? She can’t have a connection to the witches.”
“There is some connection.”
“How do you know?”
“There is a spell upon her.”
“You can smell that?”
“I can smell fear. And a Shalott demon fears not
hing but magic.”
Damn. He was good. “It could be that horrid wizard.”
“We would be dead if it was.”
There was a dark silence as Abby forced herself to swallow. Dante was right. The psychopathic wizard would have her roasting over a fire or in her grave.
“I suppose.”
Dante moved forward to press her clothes into her reluctant hands. “It’s the only lead we have at the moment, lover. I think we should follow it.”
“Okay.”
She knew she sounded petulant, but she couldn’t help it as she pulled on her clothes and smoothed back her hair. Her idea of excitement was renting a movie and eating a bowl of popcorn. Not a gladiator session with a pack of demons.
Waiting in silence for her to recover from her bout of self-pity, Dante stepped forward to hand her the sheathed dagger.
“Don’t forget this.”
“Damn.” She heaved a faint sigh. “I should have used it earlier. Some savior of the world I’m proving to be.”
Suddenly she was in Dante’s arms, and his cheek was rubbing against her own.
“Don’t, Abby. There’s not another mortal who would still be alive after what you’ve gone through.”
It wasn’t true, of course. But it made her feel better anyway.
She laid her head against his chest. “I don’t understand how this happened to me. I’m not some chosen slayer or demon hunter. Hell, I didn’t even know there were demons.” Her lips twisted. “Unless you count my dad.”
“Perhaps it was fate,” he murmured.
“Then fate sucks.”
A chuckle was wrenched from his throat as he pulled back to regard her with a searching gaze.
“Are you ready?”
“No.”
He gave a tug on her hair. “Let’s go.”
Dante had even less desire than Abby to leave the peace of his lair.
What more could a vampire desire?
The woman he had chosen as his mate. A large comfortable bed. No phone, no neighbors, no relatives.
Satellite radio so he would never miss a Cubs game.
Paradise.
Unfortunately there were still hordes of demons, wizards, and zombies just waiting for the opportunity to corner them.
Taking her hand, he led her to the door, pausing as he touched the lock and spoke a low word.
Silently the door slid open, and he took a step forward. At once he realized that something was wrong.
“Wait,” he breathed softly.
Abby instinctively froze. “Is there something out there?”
He slowly tasted the air. There were humans near. At least four. And one of them was very familiar.
“The wizard is here. Upstairs.”
“Crap.” He heard her suck in a deep breath. “Do we wait here?”
He didn’t hesitate. “No. The wizard has managed to tap into the power of the dark lord. Given time, he will be capable of discovering this lair.”
Her face paled. If she didn’t carry the Phoenix within her, he could remove her horrid memories of the wizard and his pack of zombies. For now it was just another burden she would have to shoulder.
“The door—”
“We can’t allow ourselves to be trapped.”
“Then we try to make a run for it?”
“I believe stealth will serve us better at this point.”
Her eyes widened. She was thinking that he had lost his mind.
And she might be right.
“You intend to sneak past them?”
“Yes.”
“Great.”
“Trust me.”
She gave a growl low in her throat. “One of these days.”
“This way.” He tightened his grip on her fingers and led her from the room. In silence they moved toward the very back of the basement. Reaching the wall, Dante bent down to remove the grate that hid his secret passageway.
No vampire worth his salt was without a secret passageway.
Beside him Abby gave a faint gasp. “A tunnel?”
“It will lead you beyond the gates,” he explained, holding her gaze. “Go two blocks north and wait on the corner behind the large oak. Can you remember that?”
It took a moment for his words to sink in. “No, Dante. I will not leave you.”
“If I don’t lay a false trail, then they will be upon us before we can reach safety. Besides, I must know which direction the Shalott took when she left the grounds.”
She reached out to grip his arm. Dante flinched as he felt the heat from her fingers brand through his shirt.
The Phoenix would react to her emotions until she learned to control her powers.
“You can’t—”
Gently he removed her hand, lifting the fingers to his lips. “Don’t fear, lover. I’m far too swift for them to harm me.”
He didn’t feel the need to explain that he intended to confront the aggravating wizard and put an end to his interference. Full disclosure was for lawyers, not vampires.
Not that most people seemed to think there was much difference between the two.
One bloodsucker was much like the other.
“What if they have some magical trap?”
He cocked a brow. “I’m not completely helpless. This was once my home. I have a few traps of my own.”
“Dante.”
He pressed a kiss to her palm and stepped back. “There will be no argument.”
She frowned at his stern tone. “You’re far too fond of giving commands, vampire.”
“And you’re far too fond of ignoring them, Chalice.” He held her gaze a long moment. “You must do this for me.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Yeah, I got that.” He bent beside the entrance to the tunnel and watched as she grudgingly crouched and stepped into the darkness. He pressed the cell phone he pulled from his pocket into her hand. “Don’t leave the tunnel if you sense someone is near. Speed-dial Viper and he will come.”
Her eyes glittered with frustration. “Don’t you dare let anything happen to you or—”
“You’ll stake me someplace unpleasant?” he finished for her.
“Yes.”
He brushed her lips in a lingering kiss. “I will take the greatest care.”
Chapter 18
Rafael chanted a simple spell as he moved through the shattered house. It was frustrating to depend upon magic that the rankest amateur could perform. Magic he hadn’t used since he was a fledgling acolyte. But after the disaster of losing the Chalice when she was within his grasp, he was not foolish enough to dare calling upon the dark lord’s powers.
He hadn’t lived so many years by being stupid.
The Prince possessed a nasty habit of punishing those who disappointed him. There was no need to draw attention to himself.
Reaching the upstairs hallway, he paused and spread his hands. Giving a command, he studied the swirls of color that briefly appeared in the darkness.
“They have been here,” he said in satisfaction to the three disciples who stood behind him in respectful silence. Or perhaps it was terrified silence. Since the death of Amil, a tense wariness had gripped the faithful. Which suited Rafael to perfection. He far preferred to be feared than respected. Fear only fed his power. He watched as the colors began to fade. “A vampire, a human and . . . ah, the witches’ whelp.”
“The witches have the Chalice?” a thin voice demanded from behind him.
A cold smile curved his lips as he turned toward his waiting servants. “No. She is still near. I can feel her power. Search the house. And remember, I wish the Chalice alive.”
The oldest of the disciples stepped forward. “What of the vampire?”
“Kill him.”
The three melted into the darkness even as a dark, terrifying laugh echoed through the hallway.
“Easy to say; much less easy to accomplish.”
Rafael stiffened before he forced himself to pretend a nonchalance he was far from f
eeling. He could not afford to allow the vampire to realize he was without his powers. Not if he was to survive.
“Well, well,” he drawled, placing his back against the wall. The animal wouldn’t be allowed to sneak up from behind. “If it isn’t the faithful hound. Have your mistresses grown so arrogant that they believe one pitiful vampire can defeat me? Or are they simply that desperate?”
“Neither,” the disembodied voice floated through the air. “I merely have grown weary of your tedious pursuit.”
“Then fortunately for you it’s about to come to an end. It’s time to be done with you once and for all, vampire.”
Dante was prepared as the wizard thrust out his hand and sent a bolt of fire in his direction. With his inhuman speed, such parlor tricks were a wasted effort.
Something the wizard was bound to know.
Dante remained wary as he glided closer. He was not about to be lured into some unseen trap.
“Tell me, how is Amil?” he baited, reaching out with his senses to search for hidden dangers.
A smile touched the thin lips. “He found the duties of being a servant rather too much to handle. He decided becoming a sacrifice for the Prince was more to his taste.”
“How very noble of him.”
A sneer touched the pasty features. “He was a sniffling, spineless worm who should have been strangled at birth. Still, he served his purpose.”
There was another bolt of energy that slammed into the wall and charred the wood. Annoyingly Dante could sense nothing more to warn him of the wizard’s intention.
He would not commit himself until he was certain there were no nasty surprises.
“The Prince always did demand his share of bloody fodder to keep him satisfied. Still, it must be difficult to find willing victims in this day and age.”
The wizard shrugged. “The Prince has never demanded a sacrifice be willing.”
“A charming deity.”
“A powerful deity.”
Dante laughed with mocking amusement. He wanted the wizard distracted and off guard. Perfectly ripe to make a mistake.
His last mistake.
“So powerful he has been condemned to banishment by a handful of human witches.”
The man growled deep in his throat. “He was failed by his worshippers, who had been lured to complacency. I will ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
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