“You have any other charming revelations to make, gargoyle?” Cezar growled.
“Ah, no.” The wings fluttered at a frantic pace. “Not a one.”
“Good choice.”
With fluid speed Cezar straightened, the dagger tucked away so swiftly that Anna couldn’t follow the motion.
Not that she was paying attention to the dagger.
She was far too busy reminding herself of the need to breathe as her gaze traveled over the loose white shirt that was half unbuttoned, revealing a generous amount of his smooth chest, and the black jeans that clung to his butt with a tasty perfection. His dark hair was damp, the top layer pulled back with a strip of leather and the rest falling about his broad shoulders.
The elegant, sophisticated gentleman had been transformed into a dark, lean predator. A hunter who was poised and ready to attack.
Strolling into the kitchen, Styx glanced around with a narrowed gaze, easily sensing the tension in the room.
“Damn, have I been missing the fun?” he demanded, instinctively moving to stand beside Darcy in a protective manner.
The tiny blonde flashed him a smile. “Cezar was just about to make a shish kebab out of Levet.”
The large vampire’s lips twitched. “Maybe you should wait until after he’s inspected the cell,” he told Cezar. “I’d hate to finally have the pleasure of toasting him over an open fire just when he might have a bit of use.”
“Ha, ha, ha. You are a million chuckles,” Levet muttered, waddling toward the door. “Where is this cell? I have better things to do than go around playing Christopher Columbus.”
Anna glanced toward Darcy. “Christopher Columbus?”
Darcy laughed. “I think he means Colombo.”
“Ah.”
Styx and Darcy fell into step behind the retreating gargoyle. Anna followed behind them, not surprised when Cezar appeared at her side and took her hand in a firm grip.
He wasn’t the bring-up-the-rear sort of vampire.
“Did he trouble you?” he demanded in a low voice.
She lifted her head to meet his searching gaze. “Who?”
“The gargoyle.”
“Not at all.” Anna hid a smile. She didn’t need special powers to know that Levet annoyed the hell out of Cezar. “I think he’s…”
“An obnoxious pain in the neck who should have been made into a pair of shoes and matching handbag eons ago?”
“I can hear you,” Levet called out.
“I know,” Cezar muttered.
“I think he’s cute,” Anna said.
“Cute?” Cezar glanced at her as if he feared she’d taken a blow to the head. Perhaps several. “That…sad embarrassment for a demon?”
“I’m French, Cezar,” Levet said smugly. “Females always find me cute. It is both a blessing and a curse.”
Cezar muttered beneath his breath, “I’ll give him a curse.”
Anna chuckled as they turned from the main hallway and Styx took the lead. He halted at what appeared to be a plain piece of paneling, his large hand stroking over the wood. A hidden door sprang open and with a backward glance toward Cezar, he led them down the dark, narrow staircase.
A dark chill wrapped around Anna as they climbed steadily downward, the eerie silence making her clutch at Cezar’s hand, even as a small voice in the back of her mind warned that he was probably the most dangerous thing lurking in the shadows.
Down and down they went, occasionally halting to unlock another set of doors before continuing. It was only when Anna was certain they must be in the deepest bowels of the earth that the stairs came to an end and they stepped into what appeared to be the intersection of several tunnels.
Torches set into the dirt walls offered a wavering light, giving a hint of the vastness of the underground cavern.
“Holy crap…” Anna breathed, her eyes wide as Styx tugged one of the torches from the wall and headed down a dark tunnel to the left. “I thought the upstairs was huge.”
Cezar’s thumb absently stroked over her knuckles as they moved through the flickering shadows, no doubt sensing her growing feeling of unreality.
“A vampire always makes sure he has a few escape tunnels in his lair,” he whispered close to her ear.
Anna sucked in a deep breath of his sandalwood scent, oddly comforted by his presence. As much as this vampire aggravated her, she knew she would be a nervous wreck without him at her side.
“A few?” She gave a shake of her head as they walked through the tunnel, an occasional steel door set in the walls. “The entire city of Chicago could evacuate to Mexico in these.”
Cezar flashed a wry smile, but before he could respond Styx halted before one of the steel doors that was guarded by a tall, blond-haired…well, Goth was the first thought that popped into Anna’s mind. Not the Goth of today, but the ancient Germans who’d battled the Roman Empire.
Tall and muscular with dark blond hair spilling down his nearly naked body, the vampire looked like he had been carved from sheer granite. And he was a vampire, she silently acknowledged. Even standing several feet away, she could feel that electric buzz filling the air.
Of course, the fact that he was heart-stopping, knee-melting gorgeous was clue enough.
Styx spoke with the vampire in a strange language. Then, with a faint nod, he pushed open the door to the cell.
“This is it.” He pointed toward the gargoyle. “Levet, come.”
The gargoyle tossed his stunted arms in the air, but he wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the stark command. Shuffling forward, he stomped past the looming vampires, his tail twitching in annoyance.
“You do know that I’m not a dog?” he muttered, his voice lowering to sound remarkably like Styx. “Come, Levet. Sit, Levet. Roll over, Levet.”
Without warning Cezar was moving forward, reaching out to grasp the tiny demon by one horn. He lifted the gargoyle until they were eye to eye and even Anna shivered at the expression on the dark, beautiful face.
“This is no time for your peculiar sense of humor, gargoyle. You will shut your mouth and do your thing or you will answer to me. Is that clear?”
Levet gave a tiny squeak. “Ah…very clear. Clear as crystal. Clear as…”
His words trailed away as Cezar lowered him back to the ground and he was able to scurry into the cell with his tail between his legs.
Styx and Darcy entered behind the demon, but as Anna moved to follow them, she felt a restraining hand on her shoulder.
“Anna, there is no need for you to go in there.”