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  Like a dog with a bone, Tonya refused to let it go.

  “Does that look like celebrating?” Once again, she stabbed her finger toward the seething crowd. “Your frustration is contaminating everyone.”

  Santiago couldn’t argue.

  The club wasn’t Disneyland, but it wasn’t usually a bloodbath.

  At least not unless you were stupid enough to join in the cage matches.

  “So what are you suggesting?”

  “You have two options.” Tonya offered a tight smile. “Go kill something, or fuck it. Hell, do both.”

  He snorted. “Are you offering?”

  “I would if I thought it would do any good,” she admitted bluntly. “As it is . . .” her words trailed away as she gave a lift of her hand, gesturing toward a distant corner.

  “What?”

  “I have something more suitable to your current taste in females.”

  Santiago wasn’t sure what he expected.

  Maybe twin imps. He’d always had a weakness for matched sets. Twinning . . .

  Or maybe a harpy in heat.

  Nothing was more certain to distract a man than a week of incessant, no-holds-barred, balls-aching sex.

  Instead a female vampire stepped from the shadows.

  “Mierda,” he hissed in shock.

  Not because the woman was stunning. That was a given. All vampire females were drop-dead gorgeous.

  But this one had an eerie familiarity with her long, black hair and dark eyes that contrasted so sharply with her pale skin.

  Nefri.

  No, not Nefri, a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

  The face was more angular and the approaching female lacked the regal aloofness that shrouded the real Nefri.

  Not to mention the kick-ass power that would have had all of them reeling beneath the impact of her presence.

  But she was close enough to make his gut twist into painful knots.

  “Will she do?” Tonya murmured.

  “Get rid of her,” he commanded, his voice thick.

  Tonya frowned in confusion. “What?”

  “Get rid of her. Now.”

  Spinning on his heel, he headed toward the stairs leading out of the lower levels.

  He had to get out.

  “Santiago,” Tonya called behind him. “Goddamn it.”

  The crowd parted from the force of his icy power, most of them scrambling out of his way with a gratifying haste as he climbed the stairs and entered the lobby.

  Not that he noticed.

  He was way too busy convincing himself that his retreat was nothing more than anger at Tonya’s interference.

  As if he needed the fey prying into sex life. She was supposed to be his assistant, not his pimp. If he wanted a damned female he could get one himself. Hell, he could get a dozen.

  And not one of them would be some pitiful substitute for the aggravating, infuriating, impossible female who had simply abandoned him to return behind the Veil....

  “Trouble in paradise, mi amigo?”

  It was a testament to just how distracted he was that he was nearly across the marble floor of the lobby and he hadn’t noticed the vampire standing near the door to his office.

  Dios.

  If he could miss the current Anasso (the ultimate king of all vampires) then his head was truly up his ass.

  Styx was a six-foot-five Aztec warrior dressed in black leather with a sword big enough to carve through a full-blooded troll strapped to his back. And of course, there was his massive power, which pulsed through the air like sonic waves.

  It would be easier, and certainly less dangerous, to overlook an erupting volcano.

  “Perfect,” he muttered regarding his unexpected guest’s bronzed face, which had been carved on lean, arrogant lines that were emphasized by his dark hair, pulled into a tight braid that fell nearly to the back of his knees. He didn’t look like he was there to party. Which meant he wanted something from Santiago. Never a good thing. “Could this night get any better?” he muttered.

  Styx arched a dark brow. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Share the fact he was no better than a eunuch with his Anasso? He’d rather be gutted.

  And, speaking as someone who actually had been gutted, that was saying something.

  “I most emphatically do not,” he rasped, shoving open the door to his office and leading his companion inside.

  “Thank the gods.” Styx crossed the slate-gray carpet, perching on the corner of Santiago’s heavy walnut desk. “When I took the gig of Anasso I didn’t know I had to become the Vampire Whisperer. I just wanted to poke things with my big sword.”

  Santiago veered past the wooden shelves that held the sort of high-tech surveillance equipment that only Homeland Security was supposed to know about, unlocking the door of the sidebar that was set beneath the French Impressionist paintings that were hung on the paneled walls.

  “I hope you didn’t come here to poke anything with your sword,” he said, pulling out a bottle of Comisario tequila.

  “Actually, I need your help.”

  “Again?” Santiago poured two healthy shots of the expensive liquor. The last time Styx had said those words the Dark Lord had been threatening to destroy the world and he’d been teamed up with Nefri in an attempt to find the missing prophet. “I thought we’d gone beyond the ‘sky is falling’ to ‘yippee ki yay,’ everyone back to their neutral corners so we can pretend that we didn’t nearly become puppy chow for the hordes of hell?”

  Styx hadn’t become king just because he was baddest of all badasses. He was also frighteningly perceptive.

  Narrowing his eyes, he studied Santiago’s bitter expression with a disturbing intensity.

  “Does this have something to do with Nefri and her return to her clan?”

  Nope. Not discussing it.

  Santiago jerkily moved to shove one of the glasses into Styx’s hand.

  “Here.”

  Briefly distracted, the ancient vampire took a sip of the potent spirit, a faint smile curving his lips.

  “From Viper’s cellars?”

  “Of course.”

  Styx’s smile widened. Despite being predatory alphas, Styx and Viper (the clan chief of Chicago) had become trusted friends. It was almost as shocking as the fact that vampires and Weres had become allies. At least temporarily.

  Which only proved the point that doomsday truly did make for strange bedfellows.

  “Does he know you’re enjoying his private stash?”

  “What he doesn’t know . . .” Santiago lifted his glass in a mocking toast before draining the tequila in one swallow. “Salud.”

  “You know,” Styx murmured, setting aside his glass, “maybe I should try my hand at Dr. Phil.”

  Santiago poured himself another shot.

  “You said you needed my help.”

  “That was the plan, but you’re in a dangerous mood, amigo. The kind of mood that gets good vampires dead.”

  “I’m fine.” Santiago drained the tequila, savoring the exquisite burn. “Tell me what you want from me.”

  There was a long pause before the king at last reached to pull out a dagger that had been sheathed at his hip.

  “Do you recognize this?”

  “Dios.” Santiago dropped his glass as he stared in shock at the ornamental silver blade that was shaped like a leaf with a leather pummel inset with tiny rubies. “A pugio,” he breathed.

  “Do you recognize it?”

  His short burst of humorless laughter filled the room. Hell yeah, he recognized it. He should. It belonged to his sire, Gaius, who had once been a Roman general.

  Centuries ago he’d watched in awe as Gaius had displayed the proper method of killing his prey with the dagger. What a fool he’d been.

  Of course, he wasn’t entirely to blame.

  Like all foundlings, Santiago had awoken as a vampire without memory of his past and only a primitive instinct to survive. But unlike others, he hadn’t bee
n left to fend for himself. Oh no. Gaius had been there. Treating him like a son and training him to become his most trusted warrior.

  But all that came to an end the night their clan was attacked. Santiago had been away from the lair, but he knew that Gaius had been forced to watch his beloved mate, Dara, burned at the stake. And, lost in his grief, Gaius had retreated behind the Veil, where he’d sought the peace they supposedly offered.

  Of course, it had all been a load of horse shit.

  Gaius had allowed himself to be swayed by the promise of the Dark Lord to return Dara and he’d gone behind the Veil to betray them all.

  And as for Santiago . . .

  He’d been left behind to endure hell.

  Realizing that Styx was studying him with an all-too-knowing gaze, Santiago slammed the door on his little walk down memory lane.

  “Gaius,” he said, his voice flat.

  “That’s what I suspected.”

  “Where was it found?” Santiago frowned as the Anasso hesitated. “Styx?”

  Styx tossed the dagger on the desk. “A witch by the name of Sally brought it to me,” he at last revealed. “She claimed that she worked for Gaius.”

  “We know he had a witch who helped him along with the curs.” Santiago nodded his head toward the pugio. “And that would seem to confirm she’s speaking the truth. Gaius would never leave it lying around.” He returned his gaze to Styx. “What did she want?”

  “She said she had been using Gaius’s lair in Louisiana to stay hidden in case she was being hunted for her worship of the Dark Lord.”

  “More likely she knew that Gaius was dead and decided to help herself to his possessions.”

  Again there was that odd hesitation and Santiago felt a chill of premonition inch down his spine.

  Something was going on.

  Something he wasn’t going to like.

  “If that was the case then she was in for a disappointment,” Styx said, his expression guarded.

  “Disappointment?”

  “She says that a week ago she returned to the lair to discover Gaius had made an unexpected appearance.”

  “No.” Santiago clenched his hands. This was supposed to be over, dammit. The Dark Lord was dead and so was the sire he’d once worshipped. “I don’t believe it.”

  Something that might have been sympathy flashed through Styx’s eyes.

  “I didn’t either, but Viper was convinced she was speaking the truth. At least, the truth as far as she knows it. It could be that she’s being used as a pawn.”

  Santiago hissed. His clan chief possessed a talent for reading the souls of humans. If he said she was telling the truth then . . . dios.

  “I witnessed him coming through the rift with the Dark Lord, but how the hell did he survive the battle?”

  “Actually, he only survived in part.”

  Santiago struggled against the sensation that he was standing on quicksand.

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “This Sally said that Gaius was acting strange.”

  “He’s been acting strange for centuries,” Santiago muttered. “The treacherous bastard.”

  “She said that he looked filthy and confused,” Styx continued, his watchful gaze never wavering from Santiago’s bitter expression. “And she was certain he didn’t recognize her.”

  Santiago frowned, more baffled by the claim that Gaius had been filthy than his supposed confusion.

  His sire had always been meticulous. And Santiago’s brief glimpse of Gaius’s lair beyond the Veil had only emphasized the elder vampire’s OCD.

  “Was he injured?”

  “According to the witch, he looked like he was under a compulsion.”

  “Impossible. Gaius is far too powerful to have his mind controlled.”

  “It depends on who is doing the controlling,” Styx pointed out. “Sally also said that he was obviously trying to protect something or someone he had hidden in the house.”

  With a low curse Santiago shifted his gaze to make sure the door was closed. No need to cause a panic.

  “The Dark Lord?”

  “No.” Styx gave a firm shake of his head. “The Oracles are certain the Dark Lord is well and truly dead.”

  Santiago’s stab of relief was offset by Styx’s grim expression.

  The Dark Lord might be dead, but Styx clearly was afraid something was controlling Gaius.

  “You’ve spoken to the Oracles?”

  Styx grimaced. “Unfortunately. Since my first thought was like yours, that he’d managed to salvage some small part of the Dark Lord, I naturally went to the Commission with my fears.”

  “And?”

  The room suddenly filled with a power that made the lights flicker and the computer monitors shut down.

  “And they politely told me to mind my own business.”

  He gave a sharp laugh. How many times had Styx been told to mind his own business? Santiago was going with the number zero.

  “How many did you kill?”

  “None.” Styx’s crushing power continued to throb through the room. “My temper is . . .”

  “Cataclysmic?” Santiago helpfully offered.

  “Healthy,” Styx corrected. “But, I’m not suicidal.”

  That was true enough. The King of Vampires might approach diplomacy like a bull in a china cabinet, but he was too shrewd to confront the Commission head-on.

  No. He wouldn’t challenge the Oracles, but then again, Santiago didn’t believe for a second he was going to sit back and meekly obey their command.

  Obey and Styx should never be in the same sentence.

  “If this is none of your business, why did you come to me?” he demanded.

  “Because Gaius is one of mine, no matter what he’s done,” Styx said, his face as hard as granite. “And if he’s being controlled by something or someone I want to know what the hell is going on.”

  “What about the Oracles?”

  “What they don’t know . . .” Styx tossed Santiago’s words back in face.

  Santiago narrowed his eyes. It was one thing to sneak a bottle of tequila from Viper’s cellars and another to piss off the Oracles.

  “And you chose me, because?”

  “You’re the only one capable of tracking Gaius.”

  Santiago shook his head. “The bastard did something to mask his scent along with our previous bonding. I don’t have any better chance of finding him than you do.”

  Styx’s smile sent a chill down Santiago’s spine. “I have full faith you’ll find some way to hunt him down. And, of course, to do it without drawing unnecessary attention.”

  Great.

  Not only was he being sent on a wild goose chase, but he was in danger of attracting the lethal anger of the Oracles.

  Just what he didn’t need.

  With his hands on his hips, Santiago glared at his companion.

  “So you’re not willing to risk the wrath of the Commission, but you’re willing to throw me under the bus?”

  “Don’t be an ass.” Styx allowed his power to slam into Santiago, making him grunt in pain. “If you don’t want to do this, then don’t. I thought you would be eager for the opportunity to be reunited with your sire.”

  Santiago held up a hand in apology. Mierda. He truly was on the edge to deliberately goad the King of Vampires.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry,” he said. And it was true. Styx was right. He’d waited centuries for the opportunity to confront his sire. Now he’d been given a second chance. Why wasn’t he leaping at the opportunity? “It’s . . .” He broke off with a shake of his head.

  “Yes?”

  “Nothing.” He pulled out his cell phone, concentrating on what needed to be accomplished before he could head out. “I need to contact Tonya to warn her she’ll be in charge of the club.”

  “Of course.”

  “Where’s the witch?”

  “She’s at my lair in Chicago. Roke is keeping an eye on her in case this turns out to
be a clever trick.”

  Santiago sent his companion a startled glance. Roke was the clan chief from Nevada and was in an even fouler mood than Santiago since Styx had refused his return to his clan after the prophet had revealed he’d been seen in a vision.

  “The poor witch,” he muttered. “That’s not a punishment I would wish on anyone.”

  Styx shrugged. “He was the only one available.”

  Santiago froze. “Is there something going on that I should know about?”

  A strange expression tightened Styx’s lean features. Was it . . . embarrassment?

  “Darcy insists that I devote my Ravens to trying to locate that damned gargoyle.”

  Ah. Santiago struggled to hide his sudden smile. The Ravens were Styx’s private guards. The biggest, meanest vampires around.

  The fact he was being forced to use them to locate a three-foot gargoyle who’d been a pain in Styx’s ass for months must be driving him nuts.

  “Levet is still missing?” he murmured. The tiny gargoyle had astonishingly played a major part in destroying the Dark Lord, but shortly after the battle he’d disappeared into thin air.

  Quite literally.

  “You find that amusing?” Styx growled.

  “Actually I find it a refreshing reminder of why I’m happy to be a bachelor.”

  Styx’s annoyance melted away as a disturbing smile touched his mouth.

  “Who are you trying to convince?”

  Santiago frowned. “Convince of what?”

  “That you’re happy?” the older vampire clarified. “From all reports you’ve been storming around here, making life miserable for everyone since Nefri returned to her clan behind the Veil. That doesn’t sound like a man who is content with his bachelor existence.”

  Damn Tonya and her big imp mouth. Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Santiago held out an impatient hand.

  “Do you have directions to Gaius’s lair?”

  “Here.” Handing over a folded piece of paper, Styx suddenly grabbed Santiago’s wrist, his eyes glittering with warning. “For now, all I want is information. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal.”

  “The Oracles won’t be happy if they find out you’re trespassing in their playground,” Styx warned. “Stay below the radar, amigo, and be careful.”

  Santiago gave a slow nod. “Always.”