"What is your interest in my slave?" Viper forced the Lu's attention back to himself. Shay would never forgive him if he allowed the tiny pest to end up in the belly of a demon.

The leviathan head turned back to stab him with a smoldering glare. "That is a matter between my master and the Shalott"

"Your master? Since when have the mighty Lu allowed themselves to call another master?"

"You would be surprised, vampire. Surprised, indeed."

The soft, mocking laughter chilled Viper's already cold skin. He didn't like the idea the demon was hiding something from him. Something that was causing the Lu a great deal of pleasure.

"Why speak in riddles? Is your master so cowardly that he must hide in shadows?"

"Ah no, if you desire answers then you must first defeat me."

Viper held out his sword. "That can be arranged."

The crimson eyes narrowed in a dangerous threat "Foolish, vampire, I will have the Shalott. No piece of steel is going to halt me."

To prove his point, the long snout lashed forward with mind-numbing speed. His teeth bit through Viper's arm before he could leap out of the way. Clenching his teeth Viper stabbed the sword into the exposed throat of the demon. There was a hiss of pain from the Lu before he drew back, leaving deep gouges in Viper's flesh that bled with sluggish pain.

Slammed against the wall it took a moment for Viper to clear his fogged mind. Dammit all. There was more than one means to battle the much larger demon.

"Perhaps steel will not stop you, but there are some forces not even a Lu can battle."

Pointing the sword toward the ground Viper ignored the blood trickling down his numb arm and concentrated his will upon me rich earth beneath their feet. He possessed no magic. No vampire was able to wield spells. Or even to sense them. But they did control ancient powers. Powers that came from the elements themselves.

His fierce will spread from the sword to the ground, churning deep below. The tunnel shook sending a spray of dirt falling from the low ceiling.

"Halt," the demon commanded, his tongue flicking between the sharp teeth. "I will have none of your vampire tricks."

"Unlike you I am my own master and take commands from no demon," Viper gritted.

"Fool."

The Lu struck again but on this occasion Viper managed to slip enough to the side that it was a glancing blow. The teeth raked his shoulder, but he firmly kept the sword pointed toward the now crumbling dirt below the demon's feet.

The earth was moving, but not fast enough, he angrily acknowledged. The power he called on was used by vampires to sink their victims into the soil after a deep feeding. It was never good manners to leave behind corpses to draw attention to a local clan.

Unfortunately, in this day and age most vampires preferred synthetic blood to the dangers of hunting live prey and his skills were rarely called upon anymore. Not to mention the fact that he had never before attempted to bury a creature as large as the Lu.

Still unaware of the ground that was now covering his clawed feet and inching up the thick scales of his legs the Lu gave a hissing growl and struck at Viper's head. It was a killing blow, but jerking back Viper managed to avoid the snapping teeth. His head banged painfully against the wall, a small price to pay for having it still attached.

Grimly clearing his foggy mind he reached down to snatch one of the daggers from his boot. He needed to distract the demon if he wasn't to be shredded into nasty bits.

Never allowing his call upon the earth to waver he drew back his arm and threw the dagger with deadly force. There was a sickening thud and a roar of pain as the dagger sank deep into the Lu's oblong eye.

"You will die for that, vampire," the demon roared, his desperate writhing digging him ever deeper into the ground.

"There is no need for either of us to die," Viper called out, keeping the demon concentrated on him even as he motioned the silent gargoyle back against the wall. If he could manage to trap the Lu, they might survive this relatively intact. He grimaced as he felt the blood soaking through his clothing. Relatively was all he could hope for at this point. "Tell me what you-want with the Shalott, and we might make a deal."

"I said you must defeat me if you wish answers, vampire and I am far from defeated." The serpentine face was a ghastly mask of blood and fury as the Lu glared at Viper with the dagger still stuck in his eye. He made an attempt to lunge forward, only to scream in frustration when he discovered that the ground held him firmly trapped. "Noooo."

"Tell me why you want the Shalott," Viper demanded.

"For this you will die," the Lu snarled.|

Lifting his sword Viper prepared to plunge it into the remaining eye when the narrow head jerked upward and slammed into the ceiling. A shower of earth rained downward and Levet gave a squeak of alarm.

"Mon dieu, has he gone mad?" the gargoyle squeaked.

It did seem a distinct possibility, Viper conceded, as the demon lowered his head and once again reared up to thrust his head into the dirt above. The Lu demons were always unstable. Inbreeding was never a good thing.

He was in the process of deciding whether the Lu was trapped enough to risk a strategic retreat or to use the opportunity to tend a few more blows when the realization hit him. The Lu hadn't gone mad. He was doing precisely what he had warned he was going to do.

Kill him.

The tunnel gave a mighty shake and the earth began to tumble with alarming speed from above. Soon the demon would bring the entire ceiling down upon them. They would be buried beneath the rubble.

But not buried deep enough, he realized as he lifted his eyes upward in alarm. The soil was beginning to split open and when it did it would bring with it the tide of the early morning dawn.

Devil's balls.

"Levet," he called out in warning. The gargoyle would not be harmed by the sunlight but he would return to his statue form. He would be helpless if the Lu decided to carry him off.

Strangely, however, the small demon paid him no heed. Instead he knelt on the heaving earth and muttered beneath his breath.

Viper opened his mouth to offer another warning when Levet threw his arms upward and cried out.

"I call the night."

The words could barely be heard over the sound of the ceiling collapsing. There was no mistaking, however, the thick cloud of inky black that abruptly shrouded about them.

Viper froze in astonishment, his hands clutching the sword as if uncertain whether the foul cloud was a blessing or a curse.

Not far from him he heard Levet give a startled gasp and then a shout of triumph.

"It worked." His wings stirred the dark air with a flutter of excitement. "By my father's stone balls, it worked."

Chapter Ten

Shay had driven a car before. Not often and not well. But she knew the basic method of moving from one place to another.

She had never, however, had her hands on anything like the sleek Porsche. The barest touch on the accelerator and she was hurtling through the cresting dawn at a horrifying speed.

It was little wonder that she had managed to gather a few dents and one busted headlight by the time she arrived at the auction house and gathered her small store of magical potions she had left behind.

A demon was not intended to travel over a hundred miles an hour without some cost, she assured herself as she returned to the decidedly worse-for-wear car and sped back to Viper's estate. Besides which, the silver-haired vampire was bound to be so furious at her return he wouldn't even notice that she had managed to ruin the expensive automobile.

Adding several more dents, a broken window, and a flat tire as she cut through fields and back roads she squealed to a halt inside the garage.

The trip had been made as swiftly as humanly, or demonly, possible. Still, she couldn't deny a sickening dread that clenched her stomach.

A dread that nearly drove her to her knees as she slipped through the trapdoor and into the chamber below. Across the room she could see the door buckled and torn from its hinges by some unknown force. But that was not what made her blood run cold.

Even from a distance she could see that the tunnel had collapsed and morning sunlight was pouring in.

She was hurtling forward before she could even question why her breath was lodged in her throat and her heart was twisting with pain.

It couldn't be the fact she feared Viper would be dead.

That would just be... insane. Wouldn't it?

Refusing to ponder the panic bubbling through her blood Shay carefully cradled the bag to her body and forced her way through the small opening.

She wasn't sure what she expected, but it wasn't the thick cloud of darkness that was nearly tangible in the air.

"Levet?" she called softly. "Viper?"

There was a soft scrape and then the darkness was suddenly pierced by a soft glow. At first she thought someone had managed to light a candle, but as she turned her head she realized the light wasn't a candle.

Not even remotely a candle.

Frozen in horror her gaze ran over the enormous demon with its glowing scales and scarlet eyes. She had never seen anything like it. And never wanted to again.

As she watched, the bloody snout twitched with what she very much feared was a smile of triumph.