Roke stiffened, his pride offended. “I understand my duty.”
“But?”
“But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Trust me, Roke, none of us like the waiting.” Styx laid a comforting hand on his companion’s shoulder. “But then I doubt we’re going to like what comes next any better.”
Outside Styx’s lair
Gaius circled the brick walls that surrounded the Anasso’s vast mansion, careful to remain out of sight of the security systems. Both demon security and the more high-tech kind.
On his third trip around the estate, he halted in a small patch of trees, his hands clenched in frustration.
“Dio,” he muttered. “Where is the fool?”
There was a stir of air before the thick shadows near the brick wall suddenly dissipated to reveal an overly muscular male body covered in black fatigues. Gaius’s gaze lifted to the square face that reminded him eerily of his own.
Dark, finely hewed features and black hair that was currently pulled into a tail at his nape had a distinct hint of Roman ancestors. But it was the soulless black eyes that captured Gaius’s attention.
Psychopath.
Always the most dangerous creature.
“You really should pay better attention, Gaius,” the large vampire mocked, strutting forward with the confidence of a demon who thought he was cock-of-the-walk. “Who knows what might be lurking beneath your nose?”
Gaius managed to crush his instinctive urge to teach the arrogant bastard just who was in charge. He could prove who had bigger balls once they had managed to steal the child. And if he didn’t, the Dark Lord certainly would.
Instead, he concentrated on the man standing before him. Just because he was a blustering idiot, not to mention a supposed partner in crime, didn’t make him any less dangerous.
“A Hunter,” he said. He’d never met one of the elite vampires who were as secretive as they were lethal, but he knew that there wasn’t any other vampire who could cloak themselves so thoroughly.
“Not just a Hunter,” the vampire corrected, his tone harsh and his dark eyes flashing with a fury that he could barely contain. “My name is Kostas.” He waited as if expecting Gaius to recognize the name. “I was the Ruah. The ultimate leader of the Addonexus and commander of all Hunters.”
Gaius wasn’t nearly as impressed as the man no doubt expected him to be. “Was?” He deliberately latched onto the revealing word. “I assume you were demoted?”
Kostas’s growl echoed through the trees. “My position was stolen from me by the King of Vampires.”
“Ah.” Gaius smiled without humor. “And now you want your revenge?”
“I want the bastard to suffer.” The man’s anger swept through the trees, snapping off several branches. “And I want that suffering to last for an eternity.”
“And I thought the cur was unbalanced,” Gaius muttered, irritated by the thought of being saddled with yet another moron who was clearly at the mercy of his emotions.
Kostas moved with shocking speed to clamp his fingers around Gaius’s arm. “Don’t mistake me for a pathetic dog.”
With a sharp blow to the vampire’s chest, Gaius sent Kostas’s large body crashing into a nearby tree. He waited for the man to rise back to his feet before pointing a finger in his direction and allowing his power to sear over Kostas’s flesh.
“Don’t think the Dark Lord can save you if I decide I want you dead,” he warned.
Kostas lifted a pleading hand. “Stop.”
Gaius allowed the pain to continue for longer than necessary before he lowered his hand and regarded his companion with an imperious smile. “Tell me your plan.”
Kostas’s eyes smoldered with the desire to rip out Gaius’s throat, but proving he wasn’t a complete idiot, he managed to leash his bloodthirsty urges. “As you have seen for yourself, I’m capable of shrouding myself in impenetrable shadows,” he said between clenched fangs.
Gaius studied him in suspicion. “Then why do you need a distraction?”
“I can’t walk through walls. The guards are bound to notice the doors opening, unless they have something else to occupy their minds.” There was a moment of silence, as if the vampire was weighing how much he had to reveal to pacify Gaius. “Besides, I can maintain my shadows for a considerable length of time if I’m standing still, but when I’m forced to move it becomes more draining on my powers. And once I’m carrying the child it becomes even more difficult.”
“How long?” Gaius pressed.
“Ten, maybe fifteen minutes,” Kostas grudgingly answered.
“That’s not very long.” With a frown Gaius glanced toward the sprawling mansion, easily sensing the labyrinth of tunnels that ran beneath the grounds. “What if you have trouble locating the child?”
“Trouble?” The man’s conceit returned with a vengeance. “I’m a Hunter. There’s nothing I can’t track.”
“And this is the Anasso’s lair,” Gaius pointed out. “Who knows what sort of spells and hexes he’s placed around the nursery?”
“I’m trained to avoid such traps.”
“Fine.” Let the bastard have his heart carved out by the King of Vampires. And, if by some miracle he did survive and escape with the baby, Gaius would be happy to claim the rewards from the Dark Lord. “Where will we meet after you’ve escaped with the babe?”
“I’ll contact you . . .”
“No.” Gaius pointed a warning finger. “We’ll arrange a meeting place before you enter the house and you will be there waiting for me with the child. Is that clear enough?”
“You don’t trust me?” Kostas sneered.
“I don’t trust anyone.”
“Neither do I. How do I know you won’t double cross me?” Kostas tilted his chin to a belligerent angle. “And believe me, I’ll know if you’re lying.”
Oh, Gaius believed him.
The same rumors that whispered of a Hunter’s ability to cloak himself in shadows, also hinted that they could smell a lie a mile off. Not that it mattered. If it came to the point he had to lie to the miserable SOB he would just kill him.
“My command is to take the babe to the Dark Lord,” he said. “Do you truly think I would defy our master?”
Kostas didn’t look happy, but he knew this was a battle he wasn’t going to win.