Embrace the Darkness Read online

  Shit.

  Chapter Six

  Viper couldn’t deny a thrill of excitement as he wrestled with the beautiful Shalott.

  No doubt he should be furious at her attempted escape. He had, after all, done everything possible to make her comfortable in his presence. From ordering the necessary food, to having her room decorated, to filling her closets with clothing. He had devoted weeks, not to mention a small fortune, to pleasing the ungrateful brat.

  To top it off he had behaved as a perfect gentleman when his dark hungers had howled in frustration.

  What other demon would have treated her with more consideration?

  Oddly, however, he found it was more of a predatory anticipation than fury he felt as he had started in pursuit of his renegade slave.

  There were few things that stirred his blood more than a cunning, dangerous woman.

  Especially when she happened to be beautiful in the bargain.

  Not a bad bonus.

  Holding her captive in his arms he slowly smiled into the golden flash of her eyes.

  “Do you want to continue, pet, or are we done with our fun and games?”

  She held herself so stiff it was a wonder she didn’t get a cramp. “What I want is for you to release me.”

  “Not until we’ve had a little chat.”

  She angrily squirmed against him. Viper gave a soft moan. His last few lovers had been vampires and he had nearly forgotten the pleasure of feeling himself drenched in such heat.

  “Dammit, Viper, let me up.”

  “No. You’ve already tried to run away once tonight.” His arms tightened about her. “Once is all you get.”

  Something that might have been outrage rippled over her delicate features. “I didn’t run away.”

  “You waited until I could not halt you and you slipped from my home. What would you call it?”

  Her lips thinned with annoyance. Clearly she disliked being accused of slipping away like a thief in the night.

  A demon with a sense of honor.

  “I had a few errands to run. Surely I’m allowed some freedom?”

  “That depends. What are you doing here?”

  “I left something behind.”

  “Something?”

  If her arms had been free, Viper didn’t doubt she would have given him a solid punch to the nose. Which was precisely why her arms weren’t free.

  “A friend,” she at last gritted.

  Friend? Viper turned his head to regard the small, fluttering gargoyle who was attempting to hide in the branches of a nearby tree. He had spotted the demon when he had come from the tiny opening, but he had dismissed him once he had caught sight of Shay.

  She managed to drive most things from his mind when she was near.

  A rather dangerous realization.

  “You mean the gargoyle?” he demanded with a hint of surprise.

  “Yes.”

  “He belongs to Evor?”

  “Yes.”

  He gave a slow lift of his brows. “If you had requested, I would have bought him last night. There was no need to endanger yourself.”

  She blinked in astonishment at his soft words. Even her muscles relaxed as if she temporarily forgot he was the enemy.

  Viper silently savored the feel of her body pressed close against him.

  “Evor has never attempted to auction Levet.” Remembered pain flashed through her eyes. “He prefers to leave him as a treat for his goons to torture.”

  His arms loosened their hold enough to allow his fingers to trace a light pattern up her spine. He didn’t like seeing that hurt darken her eyes. It made him want to drain someone.

  Beginning with the pasty-faced troll.

  “For the right price, Evor would sell his own mother” he growled.

  It took a moment before she grudgingly met his steady gaze. “I could hardly be expected to know you would be willing to grant your slave such a favor.”

  His hand shifted to cup the back of her head. “Why are you so determined to consider yourself a slave when I have yet to do so?”

  She blinked at his blunt demand. “What else could I be? You bought me from a slave trader. You possess the amulet that keeps me chained to you regardless of my own desires.”

  “Would you prefer that I return you to Evor? You would rather possess a different master?”

  “Does it matter what I want?”

  “Answer the question.”

  Despite the darkness Viper could easily read the emotions rippling over her face.

  Confusion. Embarrassment. And at last a reluctant acceptance.

  “No,” she whispered so softly that if he hadn’t been a vampire he would never have heard her. But he was. And he did. And it was enough to make his hand tighten on the back of her head to press her head downward.

  Her breath came in a rush as he captured her lips, captured the heat of her, and pulled it deep within him. She tasted of warm honey and life. A taste sweet enough for a vampire to drown in.

  Thrusting his fingers into her hair Viper allowed his free hand to sweep down to cup her hip. He wanted her here, now. He wanted her with a raw ache that was nearly frightening in its intensity.

  Gently parting her lips with his tongue he searched the moist cavern of her mouth. He groaned deep in his throat as her hands clutched at his arms and for a startling moment she returned his kiss with the same frantic need that pulsed within him.

  Heat flared between them, and then with a startled gasp Shay was abruptly wrenching her lips from his own, and regarding him with something perilously close to horror.

  “Viper.”

  He swallowed a curse as his body clenched in protest before he was sternly chastising his unruly passions. What the devil was the matter with him?

  He was a centuries-old vampire with endless power and sophistication. He did not indulge in public orgies. No matter what the temptation.

  “You are right, this is hardly the setting for a romantic tryst,” he muttered. “Nor is it the time to be distracted.”

  She sucked in a deep breath, the motion pressing her small, firm breasts tightly against his chest.

  Hell’s bells.

  “How did you find me?” she demanded.

  “I told you that I had the grounds guarded.”

  Her brows lifted. “I was followed?”

  “Yes.” Viper deliberately turned to regard me tall, silent vampire that stood in the distant shadows. Not surprisingly Shay stiffened with wary unease.

  Santiago was an impressive sight with his leather pants and black T-shirt designed to reveal his thick muscles. His face was narrow with high cheekbones and his eyes the deep brown of his Spanish ancestors.

  It took only a glance to know precisely what he was.

  A trained warrior who would kill to protect those of his clan.

  Shay swallowed heavily. “He’s a vampire, he couldn’t possibly have been patrolling when I left.”

  “This isn’t the Stone Age, pet,” Viper drawled. “The grounds are guarded by a very high-tech system that includes motion sensors, silent alarms, and a series of cameras that are constantly monitored. Santiago was deep underground when he spotted you leaving.”

  “Why didn’t he send someone to try and stop me?”

  “I told him not to.”

  Her gaze snapped back to regard him with open suspicion. “Why?”

  “I knew I could easily track you.”

  “You wanted to spy on me.”

  “I will admit to some curiosity, but more than that I wanted to prove to you that you are a fool to try and escape.”

  Her expression abruptly hardened. “I know I can’t escape. You don’t need a guard. You have only to use the amulet and I will be forced to return.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “Then what is?”

  His hands shifted to cup her face, his eyes narrowed. “There is a powerful force that has tried to capture you more than once. Until we discover what it is you will not
be allowed to travel on your own.”

  He was prepared for her anger. Slave or not she was not the sort of demon to mildly accept any sort of restrictions. Even those meant to keep her safe.

  Astonishingly, however, he could read nothing but a flare of concern in her beautiful eyes.

  “You believe I’m still in danger?”

  “Don’t you?”

  She chewed on her bottom lip before at last heaving a sigh. “Okay, point made. I was an idiot to take off on my own. You can let me up now.”

  Pleased that she seemed capable of allowing logic to overrule her fiercely independent nature, Viper slowly smiled.

  “It seems a pity.” His hands brushed down to the tempting curve of her throat. “I’ve thought about having you in this position for a long time. Of course, my fantasies didn’t include either of us in clothes, or a hovering gargoyle.”

  “I told you to—”

  Her heated words were brought to an abrupt halt as a soft breeze rippled through the air and Viper was swiftly on his feet pushing Shay behind him.

  “Master,” Santiago called from the shadows.

  “Yes, Santiago, I smell it.”

  He felt Shay grasp the back of his silk shirt. “Smell what?”

  “Blood. Fresh blood.”

  “Crap.”

  —

  A shiver raced down Shay’s spine as Viper slowly turned to face her. Until the past few moments she had managed to forget the hovering evil that seemed intent on capturing her. She had been so intent on how she could manage to rescue Levet from Evor that she had forgotten she possessed yet another enemy.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  And embarrassing that Viper had remembered when she had not.

  “Did you kill Evor and his trolls?” he demanded.

  His tone was merely curious. As if he didn’t give a bloody hell if she had slaughtered the trolls.

  And probably he didn’t.

  “No, I didn’t even catch sight of them.”

  “So you saw no one? Heard nothing?”

  “No.”

  His head tilted to one side. “And you did not think that unusual?”

  Shay shrugged, thinking back to her swift trip through the auction house. “They rarely enter the auction house before dark. Besides, I used the back entrance and went straight to the dungeons. You think they were attacked?”

  “Something was.” He glanced back toward the silent building. “Wait here.”

  Shay watched as Viper collected his vamp and they moved through the darkness. Within a heartbeat they had melded into the shadows, and not even her enhanced vision could make out their silhouettes.

  She wrapped the cloak tight about her oddly chilled body as Levet fluttered onto the ground beside her.

  “Maybe we should just leave,” she muttered.

  “Do you think?” Levet slapped his hands on his hips and regarded her with a narrowed gaze. “Oh, wait. Why would we leave when we can linger in the backyard of our enemies and play suck face with whatever vampire happens by? And after that we can douse ourselves with gasoline and play with matches. The fun, as they say, never ends.”

  Shay felt a ridiculous blush touch her cheeks. She had not played suck face. Well, at least not on purpose.

  “Don’t push it, Levet.”

  “Or what? You’ll hold me down and kiss me to death?”

  “You can be returned to your cell, you know,” she growled.

  “Sur le corps.”

  Over his dead body? Shay gave a lift of her brows. “That could be arranged as well.”

  Perhaps sensing he had touched her last nerve Levet lifted his hands in a purely continental gesture.

  “Now, now, ma cherie. There is no need to be testy.”

  Unconsciously, Shay glanced toward the last spot she had seen Viper. “Actually there seems to be any number of reasons,” she muttered.

  “Yes, I suppose there is,” he murmured softly. “Your new master is an oh-so-hated vampire.”

  “So it would seem.”

  “A clan chief.”

  Shay’s attention sharply returned to the gargoyle at her side. “How can you tell?”

  “I can smell the mark of CuChuIainn upon him.”

  Shay licked her suddenly dry lips. She had never attended the gladiator games. Few demons were considered worthy to attend the most elite of competitions. And even fewer allowed to participate.

  Those who walked out alive were feared and respected by all.

  They were warriors worthy of the title master.

  “He has gone through the Battle of Durotriges?”

  “And lived to tell the tale. Quite impressive.” Levet regarded her with a knowing expression. “A wise demon would not wish to anger such a champion.”

  The very fact he was right only deepened Shay’s frown. Even if she were a pure blood Shalott she could never hope to best a clan chief.

  Somehow the knowledge annoyed the hell out of her.

  “Thanks, Levet.”

  He blew her a kiss. “Anything to be of service for you, ma cherie.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Remind me why I bothered to rescue you.”

  The tiny, oddly lumped face became somber. “Because you cannot bear to see another hurt. Even if it means sacrificing yourself.”

  Shay shifted with a flare of discomfort. She wasn’t a saint. Far from it.

  The simple fact was that she had precious few friends. Demons considered her blood tainted and humans considered her some sort of freak. When she did find someone willing to accept her for whom and what she was, she would do a lot more than risk Evor’s fury to keep them safe.

  Uncertain how to break the uneasy silence, Shay was almost relieved when she felt the cold chill that proceeded Viper’s silent return.

  Of course, that didn’t halt her treacherous heart from giving a lustful leap as the moonlight spilled over his silver hair and perfect profile.

  Vamp beauty.

  It was a damn pain in the ass.

  Giving an unconscious shake of her head she cleared her ridiculous thoughts.

  “Did you find Evor?”

  His expression was oddly guarded. “Not precisely.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think you should see this. Perhaps you can shed some light on what has happened.”

  Shay hesitated only a moment before following his tall form toward the auction house. She didn’t doubt there was something horrible awaiting her. Something that might very well give her nightmares.

  But even as she forced her feet forward she couldn’t deny a ridiculous flare of warmth. Dammit, she was Viper’s slave. His possession. But at every turn he made her feel as if she were something more. Something… worthy.

  Deep within her she understood that the sensations he stirred were far more dangerous than if he locked her in a cell and beat her every day.

  Turning her head to ensure that Levet was safely following behind them, Shay allowed Viper to lead her into the dark auction house and up the stairs to Evor’s private quarters. As he threw open the door, she nearly gagged at the overwhelming stench of blood and gruesome death.

  She had expected bad, but this went way beyond bad.

  Her hand clamped over her mouth as she struggled not to hurl up what was left in her stomach.

  The once elegant room was now splattered with bits and pieces of trolls. Blood, limbs, and body parts that should never be seen, were so mixed together it was impossible to even know how many had died in the attack.

  Forcing herself to study the nightmare, her disbelieving gaze at last halted on the black marble mantle and the head of the mountain troll that had been stuck there like a trophy.

  The red eyes were open and a snarl revealing his open teeth, as if he were damning the soul of his killer.

  Whatever he had been doing it hadn’t saved him or the other bodyguards. They had been butchered with violent ease.

  The nausea rolled through her stomach once again.
r />   “Blessed saints. This is impossible.”

  Taking her arm Viper gently pulled her from the room and closed the door. Then, as if sensing her weakness, he pressed her into a chair and crouched down before her.

  “There are few things that can kill trolls with such savagery, but there is no doubt they have been well and truly slaughtered.” He studied her face with a searching gaze. “Do you sense anything that might give a clue to what or who was responsible?”

  With an effort, she battled back her crawling horror and forced herself to think with what logic she could muster.

  “It wasn’t a human. They wouldn’t have the strength to rip apart a troll with their bare hands.”

  “Was it a spell?” Viper demanded.

  “No.” She took in a deep breath. “There is no magic in the air.”

  Viper gave a nod of his head. As a vampire he had no ability to sense magic. Which was no doubt one of the reasons why he wanted her along.

  “So it had to be a demon that possesses incredible strength, and the ability to mask their presence from a vampire,” Viper murmured. “That narrows the list but leaves far too many suspects.”

  Shay shivered as she wrapped her arms about her. The shock was beginning to recede and the full impact of the savage attack hit her with an alarming force.

  “Oh, my God “ she whispered.

  Viper reached out to grasp her shoulders. His touch was cool but surprisingly comforting.

  Perhaps because it had been so incredibly long since anyone had touched her in anything but anger.

  “I should not have brought you to see this. Forgive me.”

  She gave a shake of her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s Evor.”

  “Evor? Why… ah.” Viper slowly nodded. “He’s not among the dead.”

  She gave a short, unsteady laugh. “Obviously not. I think I would know if I had suddenly become a corpse.”

  “Yes, it’s rather hard to miss,” he said dryly.

  She grimaced, struggling to regain control of her raw nerves. Holy crap, but it had been a close call.