A small, knowing smile twitched at Viper’s lips. “Of course.”
Cezar waited for the vampire to slide behind the wheel before he bundled Anna into the backseat and settled himself next to her, his arms tugging her close. Within moments they were speeding out of the estate and heading toward the south of the city.
Leaving the elegant neighborhood behind at a speed that would curl Jeff Gordon’s hair, Viper glanced briefly over his shoulder.
“I don’t mean to pry, Cezar, but if I’m to find the best place to stash your companion then I need to know what I’m hiding her from.”
“Morgana le Fay.”
Viper’s attention returned to the road as he squealed around a corner, choosing the narrow side streets that were empty of traffic.
“Anna’s a fairy?” he demanded, a faint hint of surprise in his voice.
Like any vampire he was accustomed to his senses giving him precise details of the living creatures that surrounded him. Most vampires could even read the souls of others, always presuming the creature possessed a soul.
“We’re still searching for her heritage, although we suspect there’s a connection between the two,” he said carefully, shielding his mind so that the vampire wouldn’t suspect there was more to his interest in Anna than the obvious desire that was impossible to hide. He couldn’t risk Viper suspecting any connection to the Commission.
A beat passed before Viper flashed another curious glance over his shoulder.
“You suspect that she possesses the blood of the ancients?”
“She does command the powers of an elemental.”
“Truly?” A hint of respect entered Viper’s voice. “A rare talent and one that suggests she’s more a warrior than a mere fairy.”
“Hey.” Finding her voice despite her obvious fright at traveling at light-speed through the dark streets, Anna elbowed Cezar in the side. “I’m right here, you know.”
Viper gave a low, husky chuckle. “Forgive us, Anna Randal. We have been friends for many centuries and have often enjoyed long debates over the mysteries that life offers.”
Cezar made a rude noise. “Some might call them arguments.”
Viper narrowly dodged an oncoming car. “Philosophy does tend to be a heated subject.”
Cezar glanced toward Anna, who was staring at him with an odd expression. “He once threw a priceless Fabergé egg at my head.”
“I knew it couldn’t damage that thick skull,” Viper retorted.
Anna gave a shake of her head, as if clearing it of cobwebs. “You’re interested in philosophy?”
Cezar reached up to tug on a honey curl that had strayed from her ponytail.
“Despite your belief that I’m a shallow, womanizing lech, I do have interests outside the bedroom.”
Viper laughed. “Oh yes, Cezar once had interests that spanned every room in the house.”
“Oh, really?” Anna drawled, flashing Cezar a dangerous glare.
“Of course now he’s been all but neut…”
“Shut up, Viper,” Cezar growled.
Viper gave a soft curse. “She doesn’t know?”
“Know what?” Anna demanded.
Cezar allowed his power to fill the car, making the nearby streetlamps shatter from the pulse of energy.
“Was there a part of shut up that wasn’t clear?”
Anna stiffened at his side, her tiny features hard with suspicion. In that moment Viper was lucky that Cezar possessed an aversion to killing his brothers.
Not that he was averse to a good ass-kicking.
“I knew there was something you were hiding from me,” she hissed.
His arms tightened around her taut body, catching and holding her wary gaze.
“This has nothing to do with you, Anna, I swear,” he said softly, grudgingly turning his head toward the window as Viper made another sharp turn. They were driving down a ramp to an underground parking lot. Although he couldn’t sense the spells that were wrapped around the building to repulse humans, he knew they would be in place. What he did sense, however, was the nearly overwhelming scent of vampires, blood, and fairies. A combination that could only mean one place in Chicago. “Dios,” he breathed in shock. “What the hell are you doing, Viper? This place is filled with fairies.”
Skidding to a halt directly in front of the bank of elevators, Viper switched off the car’s engine.
“Precisely.”
“The point is to keep Anna away from Morgana and her subjects.”
Viper flashed a smile that would have sent a chill down the stoutest spine.
“Trust me.”
“Great,” Cezar muttered, reluctantly sliding from the car and taking Anna’s hand as she joined him.
She glanced around the lot, her brows lifting as she noted the dozens of gleaming cars that only the Fortune 500 could afford.
“What is this place?”
“The Viper Nest,” Viper said with a smug smile.
Her gaze turned to Cezar. “A blood bar,” he grudgingly revealed.
“Again I ask, what is this place?” she muttered.
Viper shrugged. “Fairies, like humans, can become addicted to a vampire’s bite. My little establishment provides the service they desire.”
Her face paled. “Addicted?”
Cezar cursed beneath his breath. Why couldn’t Viper be one of those silent, brooding sort of vampires? The kind who preferred to keep his lips shut.
He gave Anna’s fingers a small squeeze. “You are far too stub…strong-willed to ever become addicted.”
Viper gave a sharp burst of laughter. “You at least learn fast, Cezar.”
Anna sucked in a deep breath, ignoring the smell of exhaust and oil as she watched the tall, silver-haired vampire pull a small keycard from his pocket and insert it into the card reader next to the elevator.
Demon or not, he truly was a stunning creature. Like a Raphael angel. Of course, no angel had such dark, wicked eyes or a smile that could make a woman think of black satin sheets and flickering candles.
Strangely, however, he didn’t stir her senses. Not like another dark-eyed vampire whose lightest touch could make her heart quiver and skip and sometimes come to a complete halt.
Her gaze shifted back to Cezar, her mind a tangled mass of confusion.
On the one hand was her annoyance at the sheer number of things he continued to keep hidden from her (not the least of which was the fact she might have become addicted to his bite) and on the other hand was the grudging acceptance that, for the moment, she depended upon him.
And of course, there was that whole he didn’t abandon her like a piece of trash newsflash that she still had to wade through.
Belatedly realizing that both vampires were regarding her as she stared at Cezar like a mindless idiot, Anna wrenched her gaze toward the open elevator and allowed Cezar to lead her into the dark-paneled lift.
With a whisper of sound the doors closed and they were whisked to the top floor. Anna shivered. The elevator was as large as some apartments, but being enclosed with two powerful vampires made her skin prickle and the hair on the nape of her neck stand upright.
Even more disturbing was that in the sheen of the silver doors she could see nothing but her own reflection. As if she was eerily alone.
God, she had come to Chicago to find answers and instead…
She swallowed the hysterical urge to laugh.
Instead she had well and truly fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole.
The doors slid open and her wacky thoughts were shattered by the sight of the long hallway lined with glass walls. Behind the glass were elegantly appointed rooms, all of them different. One looked like something out of Versailles, all gilt and delicate furnishings, the next was a jungle theme with towering plants and zebra-striped couches, the next a tawdry Los Vegas hotel room.
All incredibly beautiful, but what caught and held her eye was what was within those beautiful rooms.
Vampires. Male or female, tall or short, slender or muscular, they all shimmered with that sexual potency and unearthly beauty that marked them as clearly as if they wore nametags.
“So what happens?” she demanded as they headed down the hall, her eyes flitting from one glass room to another. Inside the vampires lounged on sofas, flaunting their perfect bodies or else…
A sudden heat touched her cheeks as she realized that some of the rooms held couples. Naked, entwined, groaning couples.
And drinking blood was not all that the vampires were doing.
She cleared her throat, her eyes trained firmly on Viper’s velvet-clad back as they moved deeper into the building.
“Fairies come here to get bitten?” she asked, hoping to distract herself from those writhing bodies. God, she was hot and bothered enough just being next to Cezar. The last thing she needed was up close and personal displays of what she was denying herself.
Viper gave a low, husky laugh, as if he knew exactly what was going through her fevered brain.
“There are a variety of entertainments offered.”
Cezar didn’t laugh. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her close. His sandalwood scent made her heart pound, but his touch offered a comfort she couldn’t yet explain.
