“He has access to the babe?”

“He assures me that he is capable of sneaking in and out of the lair unnoticed.”

Gaius frowned. “Then why do you need me?”

“You will provide the distraction so no one will notice the absence of the child until he is well away from the lair.”

Which meant he would be the one the infuriated vampires, and perhaps even a few pureblooded Weres, would be chasing. “Perfect,” he muttered beneath his breath.

Sally put a hand on his shoulder, her palm searing a painful heat through the fabric of Gaius’s dressing gown. “Once you’re away from the vampires, you will bring me the child. This time there will be no mistakes. Understood?”

Gaius nodded. The mistakes had been made the moment he’d allowed the Dark Lord to whisper in his ear.

The only question was whether or not it was too late to correct them.

Chapter 14

Styx’s lair in Chicago

Styx and Viper stood in rigid silence as Roke studied the piece of paper Levet had given them. The Las Vegas clan chief was wearing his usual attire of a pair of faded jeans, with his dark hair left loose and his chest exposed to reveal the dragon tattoo that marked his position as chief.

So far as Styx knew, Roke had rarely left the rooms that he’d been given after his arrival in Chicago. No big surprise. The taciturn vampire had never been the life of the party, and being forced to remain so far from his people hadn’t improved his temperament.

Unfortunately for him, Styx had no intention of allowing him to leave. Not until the latest danger from the Dark Lord had passed.

“Is it a prophecy?” Viper demanded, his impatience adding a sharp chill to the air.

Slowly, Roke lifted his head, his lean face hard with concern. “Not so much a prophecy as a warning.”

Styx stepped forward. “What does it say?”

“Beware the shadows.”

“That’s it?” Viper snapped. “Beware the shadows?”

“Yes.”

Viper hissed, clearly not pleased by the vague forewarning. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Roke moved until he was nose to nose with the Chicago clan chief, his smoky eyes shimmering with power. “You asked me to decipher the glyph and I did. It’s not my fault you don’t like what it says.”

“He’s right, Viper.” Styx smoothly stepped between the two. Tensions were riding high and the last thing he needed was two of his most powerful brothers at each other’s throats. Literally. He kept his gaze on Roke. “Is that all you can give us?”

There was a tense moment when Styx prepared for violence. Then, with a tight smile, the younger vampire stepped back, his gaze lowering to the paper still clutched in his fingers.

“I sense the child when I touch the glyph, as if the prophet was thinking of Maluhia when she sent this message.”

Viper was already headed toward the door by the time Roke finished speaking. “I’ll have the guards doubled,” he said.

“Viper.”

The silver-haired vampire turned to regard him with an impatient scowl. “Yes?”

“Tell them . . .” Styx grimaced.

“Tell them what?”

“To look for shadows.”

“They’re going to think I’ve lost my mind,” Viper growled.

Styx shrugged. “They assumed that centuries ago.”

“Thanks.” With a flash of fangs, Viper turned and disappeared down the hall.

At the same time, Roke moved to stand at his side. “Is that all you need from me?”

Styx folded his arms over his chest. “Are you in a hurry to be somewhere?”

“Home,” Roke said, a muscle in his jaw knotted with a seething resentment at being away from those he’d taken as his family. “My clan needs me.”

Styx shook his head. As much as he sympathized with Roke’s fierce loyalty, he needed his talents. Hard times called for hard decisions. “I understand your urgency to be with your people, but for now your duty is here.”

Roke hissed, waving a slender hand toward the glass cases that contained some of Styx’s most treasured artifacts. “So I can sit on my ass, surrounded by your collection of froufrou, just on the off chance you need me to transcribe a prophecy?”

Styx lifted his brows. “First, my collection isn’t froufrou, it’s chichi,” he informed the younger vampire. “Second, you’re here to stop the end of the world. I think that might be worth a few days of boredom, don’t you?”

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.”