He ignored her muttered sidebar.

“You’ve been outed, my sweet. Far too many demons now know that there’s a mongrel Jinn on the loose with a child that has the potential to resurrect the Dark Lord.” He cupped her face in his hands, holding her gaze as he sought to make his point. No matter how ruthless he had to be. “There’s nowhere you can hide the baby that it will be safe.”

Fear flashed through her eyes before she was stubbornly hiding it behind her ready temper.

“If there’s nowhere safe then why would the vampires want to get involved? Or can I guess?” Her eyes narrowed. “As soon as I’m stupid enough to reveal where the baby is hidden you’ll turn the both of us over to the Commission. Tell me, Tane, do you get a bonus for a package deal?”

“You must have an addiction for playing with fire,” he warned, his voice soft.

“Just the opposite.” She knocked away his hands. “All I want is peace and quiet and a place where I can keep the baby safe.”

He clenched his teeth. He wouldn’t let that hint of wistful yearning tug at his heart. “An impossible dream.”

“Perhaps for the moment, but eventually I’ll manage to provide us with a home. I’m not helpless.”

His lips twisted in a humorless smile. “I’m painfully aware of your powers, but I’m not willing to turn a blind eye to the dangers that stalk you. I’ll bet my favorite Rolex that Marika and her mage are in search of the child.”

Without warning she turned on her heel and paced across the office, her beautiful features set in lines of grim determination.

“No, they’re looking for me,” she corrected. “I’m the only one who can touch the baby. They need me.”

Fear feathered down his spine.

“Stop right there, Laylah.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “What?”

“I’m beginning to recognize that expression.”

She abruptly returned to her pacing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

With a blinding speed he was across the room, yanking her around so she wouldn’t miss his don’t-screw-with-me frown.

“You’re hatching some insane scheme and I won’t allow it.”

“Won’t allow it?” The air filled with dangerous prickles. “I ought to fry you just for being an arrogant ass.”

“And I ought to lock you in the nearest dungeon.” With an effort he loosened his grip on her arm, leashing his Neanderthal urges. “Laylah, you aren’t going to make yourself bait.”

She paused. Perhaps weighing the pleasure of zapping him with lightning against the less lethal, yet more terrifying delight of trapping him in the mists between worlds.

“It will only be long enough to lead Marika and Sergei away,” she at last broke the silence. “Once they’ve lost my trail I can return to collect the baby and disappear for good.”

His power blasted through the room, knocking priceless first editions off the shelves and making the lights flicker.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?”

She paled, but held her ground. “I’ll admit it’s not the best plan …”

“It’s a suicide mission and you know it,” he snapped.

“There’s no need to be so melodramatic. I’ve survived on my own for a long time.”

“Shit ass luck that’s bound to run out eventually.”

She sucked in a furious breath as she surged onto her tiptoes and stabbed a finger into the center of his chest.

“I wasn’t asking your permission, He-man.”

He grasped her arms and lifted her until they were nose to nose. Glare to glare.

“Then obviously you’ve forgotten you’re my prisoner. You’re not going anywhere.”

“Don’t you have that backward?” she ground out, drowning him in the delicious sensation of heat and furious woman. Even when she was frustrating the hell out of him the image of spreading her across Styx’s desk and thrusting deep into her body was searing into his brain. “You’re in my power and I command that you let me go.”

He claimed her lips in a kiss of blatant ownership. “Checkmate.”

Her lips softened in a brief moment of madness, then she was pressing her hands against his chest.

“Tane …”

“No Laylah, you won’t be charging off alone.” He returned her feet to the fancy carpet, but he held onto her arms, unable to let go. Dammit. There weren’t any good choices. Not so long as the Commission considered her a danger. What he needed was time to convince the damned Oracles this female was not a threat. And more importantly, the ability to keep her from getting herself killed before he could do it. “There’s nowhere you can go that I won’t follow.”

She frowned at the harsh warning in his voice. “Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Chapter 12

It was his simple honesty that stole her breath.

Along with her higher brain functions.

I don’t know …

She could return the sentiment.

The damned vampire had her so twisted in knots she didn’t know if she was coming or going.

One minute she wanted to zap him into a little pile of dust and the next she wanted to back him against the nearest wall and do wicked things to his hard, perfect body.

Lost in the honey gaze, Laylah nearly came out of her skin when Styx’s voice boomed through the intercom.

“Tane. I need you upstairs.”

Tane stiffened, his grip tightening on her arms.

“Not now,” he growled.

“Now,” the ancient vampire snapped back.

“Damn.” Tane abruptly stepped back, his expression tight with frustration. “I won’t be long.”

“I’ll come with …”

“No, my sweet.” Tane firmly overrode her words, folding his arms over his chest. “If Styx wanted you to join us then he would have asked for you.”

She frowned, her mood tilting toward the whole turning him into toast rather than licking him from head to toe.

“So I’m supposed to wait here like a good girl while you decide my future?”

“It’s much more likely that this has nothing to do with you, Laylah.”

Her hands clenched at her sides. “Yeah, right.”

“Have you forgotten that Styx is the King of Vampires and I’m his Charon?” He held her gaze, his painfully beautiful face impossible to read. “Stay here.”

Her heart forgot to beat.

Shit. Did he think that made things better?

“Tane,” she said as he headed toward the door.

He halted and turned to meet her worried gaze. “Yes?”

“What if this is vampire business?”

He shrugged. “Then I’ll do my duty.”

She was standing directly in front of him without knowing how she got there.

“A Charon’s duty?”

Another shrug. “Yes.”

Let him go, a voice whispered in the back of her mind.

With Styx and Tane distracted she would have the perfect opportunity to escape. Perhaps the only opportunity.

But instead she grabbed his arm, her gaze glued to his face as if she were desperate to memorize every elegant line and curve.

“What does that mean?”

“Now is not the time …”

“Please, I need to know.” She tightened her grip until her nails dug into his flesh, already suspecting that his position among vampires not only was one of power, but of intense danger. “What exactly does a Charon do?”

She felt him tense, as if he were startled by her fierce reaction.

Hell, he couldn’t be any more startled than she was.

Minutes ticked by until at last he brushed his fingers through her spiked hair.

“It’s not common knowledge, but there are vampires who become addicted to the blood of alcoholics and drug users,” he said, his voice instinctively lowering as he shared the private weakness of vampires. “It eventually drives them mad. If I don’t track them down and kill them before it’s too late they will go into complete bloodlust.”

A ball of ice formed in the pit of her stomach. “What happens?”

“They will go on a mindless rampage and they will destroy everything and everyone in their path.” She sucked in a shocked breath. She was prepared for dangerous. Not for mindless rampages.

“And it’s your job to stop them?” Her voice was thick.

“There’s no choice.” His fingers absently outlined the shell of her ear. “Once a vampire’s crossed the threshold into madness they won’t stop the massacre until they run out of victims or they’re decapitated.”

His touch held its usual magic, sending tiny jolts of pleasure through her, but she was consumed by the terror at the insane risks this vampire took with his life.

“Why you?”

His honey gaze bored deep into her wide eyes, seeming to seek the truth of her tangled emotions. Yeah, good luck on that. “Me?” he rasped.

“Why do you have to be the one to hunt down the mass-murdering psychos?” “Because I’m a Charon.”

Her breath hissed through her clenched teeth. He was being deliberately evasive.

Which meant he was hiding something. “Were you drafted or was it a volunteer program?” “Styx approached me about the position and I accepted.” “Just like that?”

“Why do you sound so skeptical?”

“Because I don’t think anyone would willingly put themselves in a position of being an executioner.”

He dropped his hand, his expression closing up like the proverbial clam.

“It has to be done.”

Her dread deepened at his flat statement. It was the sort of thing a man said when he didn’t intend to be reasonable.

“I’m not arguing the legitimacy of the job, just why you would choose to do it.”

“Why not?” The honey gaze shifted to somewhere over her shoulder. “Every vampire loves the thrill of the hunt. Styx has tried his best to civilize us, so it’s a rare treat to pit my skills against a worthy opponent.”

She snorted. Only an idiot would doubt that Tane was aggressive enough to enjoy ripping the throat out of an enemy. But there was no way she could be convinced that he would take pleasure in putting down a brother who was crazed with bloodlust.

Besides, no one would deliberately take a position that would have them shunned by their own family.