Читать книгу Darkness Revealed - Alexandra Ivy - Страница 9

When Cezar had told Anna that they would be staying with his vampire friend, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Where did vampires live? Crypts? Sewers? The fiery pits of hell?

Turns out that vampires live in huge, elegant estates with iron gates, hidden cameras, vampire security guards, and a freaking lawn that was bigger than most third world countries.

And no doubt worth twice as much.

If Anna hadn’t been so weary and hungry and downright crazed from the strange night, she might have balked at being led up the winding tree-lined drive to the sprawling Colonial mansion.

As it was she was just so happy at the thought of a warm bed and a roof over her head that she numbly returned the greetings of the towering Styx and his pretty mate, who met them in the marble foyer and after one glance at her wan face had her whisked up the curved staircase to a guest bedroom.

The room with its connecting bathroom was as large as her apartment in L.A., but she had no time to appreciate the lavender and ivory décor before she was soaking in a tub that could hold the Chicago Bears with room for a cheerleader or two.

When she had soaked herself into a prune, Anna at last pulled on a terry cloth robe conveniently left on the counter, and made her way to the wide bed. Her stomach growled as she perched on the edge of the mattress, but she found her feet reluctant to carry her from the welcome peace of the room.

Beyond the door was a plethora of creatures that most people believed were nothing more than myths. Vampires, werewolves, fairies…

Granted, Anna had already suspected that there were more than humans walking around. Hell, she was living proof. And over the years she had more than once considered the possibility that Cezar was a vampire.

But suspecting that Hollywood monsters might creep around in the dark was considerably different from being their houseguest.

She was still weighing the pros and cons of cowering in the bed, when the door to the room was pushed open and Styx’s mate, Darcy, peeked her head inside.

“May I come in?”

Anna instinctively smiled. Darcy didn’t look like a werewolf. Actually, she looked like an adorable urchin with her spiked blond hair and huge green eyes in a heart-shaped face. She also possessed one of those in-love-with-life-and-everyone-in-it personalities that made you melt on the spot.

Even the grim-faced Styx hadn’t been able to conceal his absolute adoration for the woman.

“Of course.”

Pushing the door wider with her foot, Darcy entered with a large tray that she set on the bed next to Anna.

“I thought you might be hungry.”

Anna sucked in a heady breath of the delicious scents filling the air. “Actually, I’m starving.”

“Good.” With a charming lack of formality, Darcy planted herself on the bed, tucking her bare feet beneath her and staring openly at her guest. Anna hid a smile, thinking the woman looked more like a teenager than a fearsome beast in her ratty jeans and T-shirt. “I brought a fresh-fruit salad and zucchini lasagna. I’m afraid I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t have any meat in the house at such short notice, but I can get whatever you want tomorrow.”

Anna blinked in surprise. “But I thought…”

“Yes?”

Ducking her head in embarrassment, Anna took a bite of the lasagna. “Nothing.”

“Please ask me whatever you want, Anna.”

Anna swallowed, inwardly wondering about the etiquette of asking about a person’s species.

“I just thought that Cezar said that Styx’s mate was a werewolf.”

“I am.”

“Oh.” Anna lifted her head to meet the amused green gaze. “But you don’t eat meat?”

Darcy wrinkled her tiny nose. “I won’t bore you with my life history, but basically I was genetically altered so that while I possess a few werewolf traits I never shift and I never feel the pangs of bloodlust.” She gave a sudden chuckle. “Well, except on those occasions when my mate needs to be put in his place.”

Ah, a woman after her own heart.

Anna smiled as she took another large bite of the pasta. “If he’s anything like Cezar I would think that he needs to be put in his place on a daily basis.”

“It does seem to be a vampire trait.”

Actually Anna was quite certain that it was a man trait.

She popped a piece of watermelon in her mouth. “This is delicious.”

“I can’t take credit.” Darcy reached out to nab a breadstick. “I lured away Viper’s housekeeper, who happens to be an artist in the kitchen. She’s helping me to open a new health-food store that offers prepared meals.”

Anna polished off the last of the lasagna before her sticky-fingered companion could snag a bite. “If this is anything to go by it’s going to be a fabulous success.”

Together they demolished the fruit salad, and with a deep sigh of pleasure Anna wiped her hands and set aside the tray.

Once Anna was comfortably settled on the mound of pillows at her back, Darcy returned to gazing at her with that open curiosity.

“Cezar mentioned that you are a lawyer?”

“In L.A.”

“Do you like it?”

Anna shrugged. She had chosen to enter law school only after a large corporation had purchased an entire block of low-rent apartments where she was living and happily tossed the elderly and poor onto the street so they could make a profit.

There would always be injustices in the world, but Anna was tired of sitting on the sidelines. She had decided that day it was past time to get into the game.

“I like it when I win,” she admitted with a rueful smile.

“That makes sense.”

There was a short silence as Darcy tilted her head and studied Anna with a strange intensity.

At last, Anna cleared her throat in discomfort. “You can ask whatever you want, Darcy,” she said, repeating her guest’s words.

“I was raised to believe I was human so this whole demon world is new to me,” she admitted, startling Anna. “I know you’re not a vampire or werewolf, but…”

Anna recalled Darcy mentioning that she had been genetically altered, which would explain why she hadn’t realized her heritage. It made Anna feel even closer to the woman. She wasn’t alone in this wild and wacky world. Darcy would understand her confusion.

“Actually, I don’t know what I am,” she confessed, feeling oddly relieved to unburden the secret that had kept her trapped and separated from the world for so long. It seemed that the truth really did set you free. “I hoped that Cezar could tell me.”

Darcy didn’t appear at all shocked. Actually she looked nothing more than curious.

“Why Cezar?”

Anna blinked at the unexpected question. “We knew each other long ago. Centuries ago. When I spotted his picture in the L.A. Times, which mentioned that he was in Chicago, I flew here to confront him. I thought…” She grimaced at her naïve assumptions. “I blamed Cezar all these years for making me different.”

“Why would you blame Cezar?” Darcy wondered, then as Anna blushed at the intimate memories, she offered an impish smile. “Ah, never mind.”

“I was a fool to come here.” Anna gave a shake of her head. “I came here for answers, but every time that vampire makes one of his cameo appearances in my life everything goes to hell.”

“You weren’t a fool, Anna.” Darcy reached out to lightly touch Anna’s arm. “As difficult as it might be to discover the truth, anything is better than wondering and fearing that there’s something wrong with you. Trust me, I know.”

“Yes.” Anna managed a weary smile. “You’re right.”

“And you can be certain that both Styx and I will do everything in our power to keep you safe.”

“You’re very kind.”

Darcy waved aside Anna’s sincere gratitude as she rose to her feet, a smile on her lips. “And you know, Cezar is rather fine even in the vampire world, where fine has a whole new definition. There’s no reason you can’t enjoy the view while you’re here.” She ignored Anna’s startled expression as she crossed to the door. “I’ll let you relax in peace and return later with something for you to sleep in. If you need anything just poke your head out the door and give a yell. I have excellent hearing.”

Anna couldn’t help but laugh. The woman was simply impossible not to like.

“A werewolf thing?” she teased.

“There are some good points to being special, although if you call me Cujo I won’t be happy.”

“Special?”

“That’s what we are, Anna, don’t ever believe otherwise.”

Special? Hmmm. Better than freak, but still a big, fat leap from normal.

“I’ll have to take your word for it.”

Cezar paced Styx’s private office with a restless impatience. Under normal circumstances he might have been delighted to have the opportunity to explore the rare scrolls that were carefully stored in a glass case, or the vast leather-bound tomes that lined the walls and detailed the history of vampires. Or even the stacks of petitions that were piled on the mahogany desk.

As the king of all vampires, Styx possessed the grueling burden of leadership, but he also was given access to the priceless treasures that had been collected over the millenniums.

Tonight, however, Cezar couldn’t appreciate his surroundings. Instead he battled the searing need to bolt from the room and find where Anna had been taken.

Was she alone and afraid in a strange room? Had she been fed? Did she need…

Dios. He growled deep in his throat. The woman was driving him nuts.

Thankfully his dark broodings were interrupted as Styx entered the room and firmly shut and locked the door. Cezar was certain that the room had been soundproofed and suitably hexed to make their privacy complete.

Styx was nothing if not thorough.

“You have the fairy secured?” Cezar demanded as Styx crossed the room to perch on the edge of the desk. Dressed all in black, the king appeared precisely as he was. A large, lethal predator who would kill without mercy.

A hard smile touched the vampire’s lips. “She is in a cell that has been built specifically to dampen her magical abilities.”

“There might be those who will attempt to rescue her.”

“The estate is fully monitored and I left a guard at the door to the cell. Trust me, no one will get past Gunter.”

Cezar offered a small bow. He had chosen wisely in coming to his leader. “Thank you, my lord.”

Styx gave a wave of his hand. “You have only to ask, Cezar, and I will do whatever is in my power to assist you.”

“For now my greatest request is that you protect Anna.”

“Of course.” Styx folded his arms over his chest. “Have you discovered who is threatening the woman?”

Cezar grimaced as he slipped off the jacket to his tux and tossed it aside. The white satin tie was given the same treatment.

“Morgana le Fay.”

A shocked silence filled the room. The Queen of Fairies was shrouded in mystery to most demons. Although it was rumored she could enchant with a glance and lure even the most powerful of demons into her clutches, she so rarely left her secret lair it was impossible to know what was genuine fact and what was mere legend. She was as much mist and smoke as real woman.

“You’re certain?” Styx at last demanded.

“As certain as I can be at this point.” Cezar gave a furious shake of his head. “Dios, I have been so stupid. So blind.”

“How could you have known?”

Cezar returned to his pacing, knowing that he couldn’t keep secrets from Styx if he wanted his help.

“I met Anna nearly two hundred years ago in London,” he grudgingly confessed, twisting the heavy signet ring on his finger. “At the time I didn’t realize that she was anything more than a beautiful woman that I desired.”

“What happened?”

“I seduced her.”

“Hardly an unusual activity for you during those days,” Styx pointed out dryly. “As I recall you seduced several London ladies.”

A smile touched Cezar’s lips at the memory. Ah, yes. For nearly three hundred years he had used his powers to indulge his love for women. It hadn’t mattered if they were human or demon. Just so long as they were beautiful.

They had been fine years, but the insatiable desires that had once plagued him had come to an end the night he had met Anna Randal.

She had taught him that there were depths to passion he had never before experienced.

And while he had been reveling in the taste and feel of her, he had been oblivious to the evil that hunted her.

“Not like Anna,” he rasped. “I sensed she was more than a mere mortal the moment I touched her, but I ignored my instincts. I wanted her and nothing was going to stop me. If I had just listened…”

“What?”

“She told me of her cousin Morgana, but I never considered the possibility that it could be the queen.” His hands clenched at his side.

Styx pushed from the desk to cross the room and lay a heavy hand on Cezar’s shoulder.

“Why should you?” he demanded. “Humans have always believed her to be nothing more than myth and legend. They readily name their daughters after the treacherous bitch even today.”

Cezar smiled wryly. “I think it was more the fact that I was fully distracted at that precise moment. And, of course, there was that nasty meeting with the Oracles only moments after enjoying the delights that Anna had to offer.” He shuddered at the memory of the brilliant flash of light followed by the entrance of the eight ancient Oracles. He had been lying in the bed naked and utterly sated when they arrived, their grim expressions revealing the depth of their anger. “They were not happy that I had tasted of the next Commission member.”

Styx gave a lift of his brows. “They actually came to the room?”

“After they had made sure that they had put Anna into a deep sleep.”

“So that’s why you were forced to serve them.”

It was certainly what Cezar had believed for the past two centuries. And the Oracles had done nothing to disabuse him of that belief.

But the moment that Anna had walked into that Chicago hotel, he had been drowning in his awareness of her. His every sense had been tuned to her as if she were the only woman in the whole damn world.

“I’m beginning to suspect that there was more to it than that,” he muttered.

Styx regarded him with a lift of his brows. “Such as?”

“There are some things I refuse to discuss even with you, my lord.”

A smile that was almost smug touched the vampire’s mouth. “Ah.”

Cezar frowned, fiercely refusing to consider what might be behind his friend’s amusement.

It couldn’t be good.

Instead he turned his mind to more important matters. “It was not just that night that Anna spoke of her cousin,” he said, once again cursing his stupidity.

“What else did she say?”

“That after our night together she returned home to find it burned to the ground. She assumed her aunt and cousin died in the flames. She was no doubt right about her aunt.”

“The work of Morgana?”

A sharp, biting fury raced through Cezar at the realization that he had come so close to losing Anna. He would kill anyone who threatened her.

Even the Queen of Fairies.

“She couldn’t have known that dutiful Anna was locked in a magical sleep in another house, rather than sleeping in her own bed,” he bit out, his fangs fully extended. “It was the first attempt on Anna’s life.”

Styx gave a slow nod. “The queen must have believed her dead.”

“Until Anna’s powers began to surface. Once the queen sensed them she sent out word to her fairies to search for the one who possessed the blood of the ancients.”

“Blood of the ancients.” Styx furrowed his brows, his gaze shifting toward his vast collection of books. “I thought Morgana to be the last of the line?”

Cezar shrugged. “So did I.”

“You think it is true that they’re related?”

“They must be in some way.”

“And now she is destined to be an Oracle.” Styx returned his attention to Cezar, his dark gaze smoldering with his lethal power. “Intriguing.”

“Not intriguing, dangerous,” Cezar corrected. He recognized that expression on his friend’s face. It usually preceded the vampire calling his brothers to battle. And while Cezar was all for the Bitch of Fairies being butchered, preferably while he watched, he needed answers first. Otherwise he couldn’t be certain that the threat to Anna would die with the queen. “I don’t know what Morgana le Fay wants of Anna, but I intend to find out. Once we know we can invite her to a little family reunion.”

Styx slowly smiled. “I vote we make it a barbeque.”