Otherwise it would mean…

A sudden pounding on the door interrupted the terrifying thought.

“Cezar.” A male voice floated through the air, making Cezar lift his head with a blast of dark curses.

“Si?” he bit out.

“Sorry to intrude, but we have a situation.” Styx’s commanding voice carried through the door with remarkable ease.

There was another string of curses as Cezar grudgingly released his hold on Anna and surged from the bed.

“I’ll return in a moment,” he muttered, heading for the door.

Following in his wake, Anna reached for the robe that Darcy had kindly loaned her and, shoving her hands into the sleeves, silently assured herself that the shivers that wracked her body were nothing more than relief.

Only they didn’t feel like relief.

They felt like gut-wrenching frustration that was settling in for a good long stay.

“Wait, Cezar.” She forced herself to reach out and lay her hand on his arm. “If this concerns me then I want to be involved.”

Coming to a halt he turned to stab her with an impatient gaze. No. Not impatient. Frustrated. The same expression that was tightening her own features.

She didn’t doubt if she glanced down she would discover he was still hard and aching to be inside her.

With an effort she squashed the urge to confirm her theory and instead concentrated on holding that burning gaze.

“Querida…” he began, only to give a startled blink when she pointed a finger directly in his face.

“I mean it,” she gritted. “The days when I was forced to beg on my knees for a bit of food and shelter are long over. These days I take care of myself. I won’t give that up.”

Something flashed through his dark eyes. Something that might have been disappointment? Pain? Wounded pride?

“You refuse my assistance?” he demanded softly.

She ignored the odd prick of regret. She couldn’t have hurt him. The man was arrogant, and aggravating, and utterly impervious to anything remotely resembling human emotions. Except for desire. Hell, hadn’t he seduced her and then abandoned her for nearly two centuries?

Still, she found her voice softening despite her best intentions. “Of course not, I’m not stupid. I don’t even know what I’m up against.” She gave an awkward shrug, tugging the belt of her robe tighter. “But, accepting your assistance is considerably different from being ordered around and kept in the dark. We’re either partners or I’m leaving.”

A tense silence filled the room. It was obvious that Cezar’s arrogant need to be in charge was grimly warring with the knowledge that she wasn’t jerking him around. She fully intended to walk if he didn’t agree.

Expecting an angry response, Anna was caught off guard when his lips at last twitched with a wicked amusement.

“Partners, eh?” he murmured, his hand reaching up to trail through the tangled strands of her hair.

Her eyes narrowed with a wary uncertainty. This all seemed waaaay too easy.

“I’m not kidding, Cezar. I’d rather be dead than back to feeling like a beggar.”

His gaze deliberately skimmed down to the deep vee of her robe. “You know, I wouldn’t mind doing a little begging if you would…”

Reaching up, Anna slapped a hand over his mouth. His low voice was a nearly tangible caress that flowed over her sensitive skin, bringing with it thoughts of pushing him back onto the bed and crawling on top of him.

They were both nearly naked. It would only take a few tugs and…

Focus, Anna. Focus.

“Do we have a deal?” she rasped, gritting her teeth at the knowing expression on his face.

He could sense the desire that still pounded through her, but strangely he didn’t try to take advantage. Instead he gave a small shrug. “I’ll try.” He abruptly lifted his hand as her lips parted. “Hear me out, Anna. I’ve been alive a long time.”

“How long?” Anna demanded, unable to halt the question. She’d had a lot of time to think and brood over this man. Her curiosity went way beyond casual.

“Over five hundred years.”

She studied the bronzed, breathtaking beauty of his face. “Were you a conquistador?”

His brows lifted at her words. “When I awoke after the transformation I wore the uniform of a conquistador.”

“You don’t remember?”

“We have no memories of a life before becoming a vampire.” His lips twisted in a wry smile. “A good thing, actually.”

His confession startled her. How odd to simply have your life erased. Surely they must be curious as to who and what they had been before?

“Why is that a good thing?”

He nodded his head toward the door. “Because my king is an Aztec.”

“Ah.” A grudging smile touched her lips. “Yeah, I suppose that could be trouble.”

His hand shifted to grasp her chin between his thumb and finger, his gaze shimmering with his restless energy. Despite Hollywood’s depiction of vampires, they weren’t walking corpses. Their skin might be cool to the touch, and their hearts might not beat, but they possessed a frenetic power that surrounded them like a force field. In truth, being close to Cezar was like being next to an electrical charge.

“My point is, that I have a tendency to act first and think later,” Cezar said with a grimace. “Trust me, I’ve learned to regret the habit, but it hasn’t changed who I am. I can’t promise you I won’t…”

“Be a pain in the ass?” she finished sweetly.

He gave her chin a pinch. “Something like that.”

There was another rap on the door. “Cezar?”

Ignoring the distinct edge of irritation in his king’s voice, Cezar stepped close enough to shock her with the force of his nearly bare body.

“A minute,” he rasped, his eyes glittering as he stared down at Anna’s pale face. Without warning he leaned down and captured her lips in a rough, demanding kiss. Anna gave a soft moan of pleasure, but before she could even begin to respond, his head lifted and he was regarding her with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat. “You will never be a poor relation again, Anna Randal,” he whispered. “You were born to rule the world.”

She gave a small jerk at his outlandish words. Or maybe it was just a delayed reaction to his scorching kiss.

Holy crap, her lips would be tingling for a month.

“What did you say?”

He smiled mysteriously, but didn’t bother to answer her question.

Of course not. She could threaten and demand all she wanted, but the whole partner thing would be at his freaking convenience.

Turning, Cezar pulled open the door, revealing the towering vampire who waited in the hall with a grim impatience.

“My lord, you have news?” he demanded.

Anna resisted the urge to back away from the leather-clad giant who turned to stab her with a searching gaze. Yikes. He looked quite capable of sacrificing her on the spot.

“What of the female?”

Anna’s quaking knees stiffened. Female? Female?

The oversized vampire was lucky she didn’t have full use of her powers. He would look mighty funny plastered to the ceiling or tumbling down the hall like a soccer ball.

Perhaps sensing her flare of annoyance, Cezar reached out to grasp her hand, giving her fingers a little squeeze.

“She insists on knowing whatever information you have.”

A heavy, chiseled brow arched, but rather than the argument she was expecting the demon merely offered a smile. A smile that might have been more reassuring if it hadn’t included a pair of lethal fangs that could bite through a tank.

“Very well.” His unnerving attention switched back to Cezar. “The fairy is dead.”

“Sybil?” Anna breathed in shock.

Styx gave a short nod, his long braid threaded with turquoise beads swinging across his back. “Yes.”

“Good God.”

Cezar’s face revealed no shock. Instead it was a hard mask of granite that sent a chill down her spine.

“How did it happen?” he demanded in flat tones, his body coiled with anger. “You said her cell was protected.”

A matching anger briefly touched Styx’s eyes. He seemed like the sort of man who disliked it when things didn’t go as he planned.

“It was, and I don’t have a clue as to how she died. She has no visible wounds, and Gunter swears that no one entered or left the cell. She’s simply dead.” Styx reached up to touch a medallion that hung around his neck. “I’ve called for Levet to come and examine the body once night has fully fallen.”

“Levet?” Cezar scowled at the other man. “Dios, why?”

“He can sense magic that we cannot,” Styx said.

Anna struggled to keep track of the conversation. Inside she was a quivering mess. Sybil was dead. Granted there’d been more than a few times she would have willingly choked the life from the annoying bitch. And the knowledge she would never again have to look over her shoulder and discover the woman lurking in the shadows offered a sick sort of relief, but…dead? And while she was protected in this house where Anna had been sleeping like a baby?