A vampire who had gone mad from his own twisted addictions.
"Are you here to have the return of your clansmen or to debate my rights of leadership?"
The vampire smiled. "The truth?"
"If you can speak it."
"I am here to take your so-called rights away from you."
Styx frowned. Damn. He had come here believing that this vampire was merely flexing his muscles in an attempt to retrieve his clansmen. Now he realized that it was a far more dangerous situation.
Dangerous and potentially lethal, he acknowledged as he covertly glanced toward the circling vampires, who continued to point their weapons directly at his heart.
"Is this some sort of jest?" he growled.
With an aggravating smirk, Desmond glanced toward the towering vampire at his side. "Jacob, am I jesting?"
The large vampire with lank black hair and dull brown eyes gave a slow shake of his head. Styx didn't have to look closely to realize that this was a vampire who had been broken of all will.
At one time it had been accepted that the stronger vampires would brutalize and enslave the weak. A chief would rule by terror, and those beneath him obeyed or paid a ghastly price.
Over the past centuries Styx had slowly, and at times painfully, tried to change such practices.
Unfortunately, it appeared that Desmond held on to the old ways, and his entire clan suffered for his arrogance.
"No, my lord," the servant intoned.
"There, you see?" Desmond taunted. "No jesting."
Styx regarded the vampire with a cold disdain. He could think of nothing he would enjoy more than ripping out the throat of the filthy braggart. Unfortunately, the half dozen crossbows currently pointed at him severely limited his options.
"What is your plan?" he demanded. "That you kill me and then step into my shoes?"
"Something like that. It is what you did, after all. I always learn from a master."
"You truly believe that the vampires will follow you simply because you claim yourself the Anasso?"
"Why not?" Desmond pretended to study his manicured nails. "They follow you, don't they?"
Styx gave a short, humorless laugh. "When it suits them to do so."
"Nonsense, my lord. You are far too modest. Your reputation has spread far and wide. All vampires know-that to cross your will is to dig their own grave. Indeed, your name is used to make foundlings shiver in their shoes." He lifted his gaze to reveal a hectic glitter in the green eyes. A glitter that Styx was beginning to suspect was due more to sheer madness than simple ambition. "Which means that the vampire who manages to slay you will prove to all that he is even more dangerous, even more brutal. The perfect leader."
Okay, he truly had plummeted over the edge.
Styx took a moment to consider his options. There weren't many. He could no doubt cloud the mind of a handful of the vampires, or stun them with his power, but not all at once. There were simply too many enemies to battle his way free. And not even he was fast enough to outrun a crossbow.
His only hope seemed to be convincing the rabid vampire he would never pull off such a daring scheme.
Perfect.
"You are pathetic," he at last said with a sneer of his own.
"I am pathetic?" Fury rippled over the gaunt face even as Desmond struggled to appear indifferent to the insult. "Strange, I am not the one currently being held hostage, am I?"
Styx shrugged. "You can kill me if you wish, but the vampires will never follow you."
"Why not? One Anasso is as good as another to most of your brothers. What does the name matter as long as he upholds the laws for all?"
"If that is true what is to keep another chief from coming along and taking the position by the same treacherous means as you?"
"I am wise enough not to lock myself away in damp caves and play the aloof, mysterious monk." He flicked a dismissive glance over Styx's large form. "The humans have proven that you do not need to be a kind, or an intelligent, or even a competent ruler. How many buffoons and idiots have sat on a throne? You only have to win the goodwill of your people and they will follow."
Styx gave a sharp laugh. By the gods, this vampire had allowed his ability to terrorize his small clan to go to his head.
"You really think you can play human politics among demons?'"
"Well, there will be a few tweaks here and there." A cruel smile touched the thin lips. "And, of course, I shall ensure I have enough enforcers to convince those who might have issues with my leadership style."
He thought a handful of bullies would ensure his position as Anasso?
"I was wrong. You are not pathetic; you are a fool." Styx deliberately leaned downward, emphasizing his own size as he spoke directly into the man's ear. "You would be dead within a month. If not from a clan loyal to me, then by my Ravens. They would never rest until each and every one of you is dead."
Desmond took a hasty step backward before he could halt the revealing movement. His face tightened with annoyance as his hands smoothed over his shirt in an effort to pretend the embarrassing incident had never occurred.
"Yes, I must admit the Ravens have troubled me. They are a formidable enemy," he conceded in a sharp tone. "Not only are they well trained, and loyal beyond reason, but they would never be stupid enough to attack in a fury of revenge. Oh no, they are the sort to hide in the shadows and pick off my clan one by one."
Styx smiled coldly. "They would hound you for all eternity."
"As I said, a problem. Unless..."
Styx didn't like the smug glint that smoldered in the green eyes. It warned that the surprises were not over for the night.
A pity.
He was way past his limited tolerance for surprises already.
Any more and he was bound to become extremely violent.
"Unless what?"
"Unless you were kind enough to proclaim me as your heir," Desmond said, with a mocking smile. "In writing, of course, since you sadly will not be here to make the pronouncement yourself. The Ravens will then have no choice but to accept my position. Perhaps I will even make them my own personal bodyguards."
Styx gave a slow shake of his head. This went way beyond mere crazy. The vampire was downright delusional.
"You intend to kill me, but before I die you expect me to name you my heir?" he demanded, unable to halt his sharp laugh. "And people call me arrogant."
The green eyes narrowed. "I did not claim you would be pleased to obey my command, but you will do it."
Styx flashed his fangs in warning. He had sacrificed everything he held dear to save the vampires from a psychotic madman. He wasn't about to hand them over to another.
Not even if it meant his own death.
"Never."
"A vampire should know never to say never." Desmond gave a snap of his fingers. "Jacob, fetch paper and a pen."
"At once, my lord." The large vampire gave an awkward bow before lumbering up the stairs and disappearing into the house.
Styx took a step forward, smiling with cold amusement as Desmond stumbled back.
"You are wasting your time," he hissed.
Desmond glared with annoyance before regaining his brittle smile. "I think not. After all, I may not possess your strength, but I happen to be very, very clever. I never openly battle an opponent unless I have absolute insurance that I will win." His smile widened. "In this case I have the insurance of a pretty little blond who seems to have caught your fancy."
Styx stiffened as a numbing shock raced through him.
"Darcy?" he breathed.
"Such a charming name."
Panic threatened to rise before Styx firmly gained control of his senses.
No. It wasn't possible. Styx wasn't sure how Desmond managed to learn of Darcy, but there was no way he could get his filthy hands on her.
This was nothing more than a ploy to provoke him into doing something stupid.
Well, something even more stupid than charging into a blatant trap set by a vampire with a God complex and his band of idiotic merry men.
"Yes, and safely under the protection of the Phoenix," Styx drawled. "Or did you intend to battle the goddess?"
"Certainly not." The man possessed the nerve to smirk. Jackass. "Thankfully you made sure that such a horrible fate would not be necessary."
"I ..." Infuriated by the mere suggestion that he would somehow endanger Darcy, Styx came to a sudden halt. Abruptly he realized how the vampire had known of Darcy. And how he had known exactly the moment that he would be with Viper so that he could be easily lured into tracking the renegades to this house. "Your clansmen," he rasped with a flare of self-disgust.
"Precisely," the soon-to-be-dead vampire drawled. "By believing their pathetic story and putting them in Dante's home you gave them the perfect opportunity to discover your every weakness. And, of course, the perfect means of capturing your beloved Darcy. Even now they are collecting her so that she can join us during this momentous occasion."
Styx slowly sank to his knees as a cold lethal fury raced through him.
