A forbidding frown marred Styx’s brow. “You should not go alone.”

“You don’t trust the imp?”

“I never trust those with fey blood.” At Cezar’s warning glance, Styx gave a laugh. “With the exception of your beautiful mate, of course.”

“Of course.” Cezar gave an impatient wave of his hand. He wanted to find out the information and then take a quick peek into the kitchen to make sure that Anna was eating as she should be and not brooding about the night ahead. “I think that I can deal with one imp.”

Styx looked as if he wanted to argue, but at Cezar’s stubborn expression he gave a grudging nod.

Wise vampire.

“As you wish.”

Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Cezar allowed DeAngelo to lead him down the hall to the front of the house. Once again he was struck by the homey feel of the place. It had to be Shay’s doing, he acknowledged wryly. Viper possessed an innate flamboyance that had made his various nightclubs a sensation throughout Chicago.

Halting in front of a closed door, the guard offered a bow before silently disappearing into the shadows.

Cezar paused for a moment, startled to discover his legs felt oddly weak. Damn. It had been too long since he’d last fed. Usually he was meticulous about his feedings. Being a pawn for the Oracles meant he never knew when he would be called to battle. Remaining at full strength was key to his survival.

Besides, if he were perfectly honest with himself, he hadn’t wanted to drink the bottled blood. Not after tasting the sweetness of Anna’s vein.

Which was not only foolish, it was dangerous.

For now, Anna was strictly off the menu.

Promising himself he would feed as soon as he was done with the imp, Cezar shoved open the door and stepped into the long, dark room that was nearly overflowing with Viper’s vast collection of books.

He had no time to appreciate the thick leather tomes as he crossed toward the red-haired imp covered in a heavy black cloak, who was hovering near the window as if ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

Not an uncommon reaction. Most fey were uneasy entering the lair of a vampire, prince of imps or not.

Without bothering with preliminaries, Cezar halted directly before the imp. “You have information?”

A strange smile touched the long, pale face as Troy offered a stiff bow. “Conde.”

Cezar struggled to contain his sorely tested patience. “What is your information?”

Straightening, Troy pressed a hand to his chest, a feverish glitter in his eyes as he studied Cezar with an unnerving intensity.

“First, I must know, did you mate the woman?”

Cezar’s brows snapped together. “What?”

“Did you mate the woman?”

“What the hell business is it of yours?”

“That’s the price for your information. Answer the question.”

Cezar hissed, reminding himself that this imp had helped Anna to flee from Morgana’s assassins. It was the only reason that the creature wasn’t on the floor having the shit beat out of him.

“Yes.”

“Then I have something for you.” Troy took a step closer. “A gift.”

Cezar’s brows snapped together. Goddammit. He’d had enough of this. The imp would reveal his information or he would break the fool’s neck.

“Damn your gift,” he growled. “All I want…”

Moving with an unexpected swiftness, Troy reached out his hand, hidden beneath the folds of his cloak, revealing the silver collar and leash he held in his hands. Cezar attempted to leap backwards, but his utter astonishment, combined with his fading strength, proved to be his undoing.

Stumbling as Troy leapt toward him Cezar managed only one solid blow before he felt the burn of the silver encircling his throat.

“I’m sorry, vampire, but I have no choice,” the imp muttered, his gaze wary as Cezar fell to his knees as the waves of shocking pain raced through him. “This has to end tonight.”

Chapter 19

Anna was polishing off the last of her fettuccini when the first jolt of pain hit her.

It was so unexpected that she actually tumbled from her chair before she realized that it wasn’t her own pain that she was feeling, but Cezar’s.

In unison Shay and Darcy rushed to her side, their expressions concerned.

“Anna, what is it?” Darcy demanded.

“Cezar.”

With a shake of her head, Anna ignored the pain that burned at her throat as she pushed herself to her feet. Dear God, Cezar was injured. She had to get to him. Now.

“Anna…”

Anna ignored the two women as she forced her shaky legs to carry her from the kitchen and back toward the study. Foolishly, a part of her tried to believe that what she was feeling must be some mistake. After all, this was a vampire stronghold and there had been no sounds of fighting. If someone had attacked there would be some sound of alarm, wouldn’t there?

The thought floated through her mind at the same moment her legs broke into a panicked sprint. No amount of common sense was going to overcome the absolute certainty that Cezar was in trouble.

Reaching the study, she burst through the door, her frantic gaze skimming over the three hulking vampires who had all pulled out various lethal weapons at her noisy entrance.

“Where’s Cezar?” she rasped.

Sliding the outrageously large sword back into its sheath, Styx crossed to stand before Anna, his expression hard with concern.

“Is something wrong, Anna?”

“Cezar.” She had to suck in a deep breath. God, her throat hurt so bad, and the sense of Cezar that was tangled in her soul was getting more and more faint. “He’s hurt. And I think he’s being taken away.”

“Damn.” Taking Anna’s hand he turned his head to bark over his shoulder. “Come with me.”

With a sudden jerk on her arm, Anna found herself being hauled back down the hallway, Styx’s long stride making her run for all she was worth to try to keep up. Not that she was complaining. The need to get to Cezar was a burning ache in the center of her heart.

There was a whisper of sound before a vampire guard appeared at Styx’s side, falling easily into step with his master.

“My lord, is there trouble?”

“The imp—where is he?”

“In the library.”

There wasn’t another word spoken as they made their way to the front of the house. Nearing the door, Styx lifted his hand to burst it open so there was no pause as they all charged into the long, book-lined room.

The empty book-lined room.

Anna gave a low cry as she fell to her knees.

“He’s gone.”

“Damn that imp,” Styx muttered. “I’m going to skin him alive and then shove his heart down his throat.”

Anna struggled to think past the terror that clouded her mind. Dammit. Cezar needed her. She could be a babbling idiot later. For now she had to concentrate on finding her mate. Rising to her feet, she blinked back her scalding tears.

“What imp?” she demanded.

“Troy,” Styx hissed, his attention turning toward the vampires gathered behind him. “I knew that son of a bitch couldn’t be trusted.”

“They can’t have gone far,” Viper said, his expression cold with fury. “We can catch him before he leaves the grounds.”

The guard gave a shake of his head. “The imp came by car.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Styx’s smile was bone-chilling as he reached to grasp Anna’s arm. With one motion, he shoved up the sleeve of her sweatshirt, revealing the tattoo that scrolled up her inner arm. “There’s nowhere in the world they can take Cezar that we can’t find him.”

Cezar was astonishingly calm for a vampire being kidnapped.

He’d been an idiot to ignore Styx’s warning about the imp, and an even greater fool to have met him while he was weakened. But now that he was a hostage, he was determined to ignore his blinding fury, and the searing pain of the thick silver collar that had been specifically crafted to imprison a vampire, and consider how best to turn this disaster to his advantage.

Retreating deep inside himself, he allowed Troy to believe he was unconscious as the treacherous imp sped along the dark highway, headed for Morgana’s hidden lair.

His tactic gave him the opportunity to call upon his powers and begin to counter the burning pain of the silver. Few vampires possessed his tolerance for the deadly purity of the metal, and he was counting on the fact that Morgana would be assuming he was completely incapacitated by the collar.

It also gave him plenty of time to think.

There was no doubt that Troy was acting on orders from Morgana. He would never have pulled such a potentially lethal stunt unless he had no choice in the matter. Neither imps nor fairies were particularly courageous creatures, preferring to barter rather than battle.

Still, there had been something…off in the brief encounter.

But what?

Certainly there had been a strange intensity about Troy that had nothing to do with fear. Almost as if he were willing Cezar to read his mind. And there had been his insistence to know if Cezar had mated Anna.