Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity #4)(44)
Author: Alexandra Ivy

Cezar narrowed his gaze, stepping in front of Anna. “You better start praying to whatever god you serve that you don’t miss your target, imp.”

Troy shrugged. “I never miss my target, Cezar, but I didn’t come here to kill you.”

Cezar frowned, wondering how the hell the demon knew his name. “That might be a little more convincing if the building wasn’t being overrun by homicidal imps.”

The pale, perfect features hardened with fury. “When the queen calls I must respond, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tweak her nose when the opportunity arrives.”

Cezar stilled. So, the rumors of the bad blood between fairies and imps weren’t an exaggeration. This prince was not a bit happy with his queen.

That didn’t mean, however, that Troy wouldn’t kill them if there were some advantage to be gained. Imps had few morals and would sell their own mothers if they could make a profit.

“Tweak her nose?” Cezar demanded, keeping a close eye on the arrow pointed directly at his heart.

Troy gave an offended sniff. “I don’t like being given orders. Especially not by Morgana le Fay.” His eyes narrowed as he peered over Cezar’s shoulder at the silent Anna. “Are you the one responsible for bringing her to Chicago?”

Cezar growled low in his throat, not giving Anna time to respond. “You even glance in her direction again and you’ll be Troy, the dead Prince of Imps.”

“You’re not mated. What do you care?” The emerald eyes that held centuries of knowledge studied Cezar before his lips twisted in a wry smile. “I’ll be damned. Why is it that every time I finally find a decent screw they’re always taken?”

Cezar lifted a hand, not about to discuss his strange, unpredictable emotions toward Anna with a damned imp. Prince or not.

“Tell me what you want, imp.”

Troy studied him for another long moment before he unexpectedly lowered the bow and strolled forward.

“As I said, I can’t ignore the queen’s command to send my minions into battle, but she can’t force me to play the game entirely by her rules.” Troy buffed his nails on his skintight T-shirt, his expression smug. “I’m here to make sure that you and your little sweet pea get out of here alive.”

His little sweet pea gave a small snort of disbelief as she moved to stand at his side. She was beginning to learn that in the demon world, if something seemed too good to be true it really, really was too good.

“Why would you help?” Cezar demanded, not bothering to hide his suspicion. “You wouldn’t risk your life if there wasn’t something in it for you. Something beyond tweaking Morgana’s nose.”

Troy flashed his white teeth. “That’s true enough. I’m doing this as a favor to a friend.”

“What friend?”

“The Chalice.”

Cezar slowly allowed his coiled muscles to ease. He might not have to kill the imp after all.

A pity.

“Abby sent you?”

“I contacted her when Morgana called for the imps to attack the Viper Nest. I thought she might be interested considering that her mate is a clan brother to Viper, and I was right.”

“And what do you get out of this?”

“She’s promised me a favor if I manage to get you out of here.”

“A favor?” Cezar briefly wondered just how unhappy Dante was to know his mate had been bargaining with an imp. And if he intended to take that unhappiness out on Cezar. “What kind of favor?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” the imp purred. “I like knowing a goddess is in my debt.”

“I can imagine,” Cezar said dryly.

Stifling a yawn, Troy glanced toward the door. “So, are we done with the chitchat so we can get the hell out of here, or would you rather hang around until my clueless infantry manages to stumble across us?”

Chapter 13

Anna decided that being a demon must be a good gig.

Contrary to Hollywood’s ridiculous insistence on portraying them as creepy, brimstone breathing, eternally damned creatures who hid in damp graveyards, they lived a hell of a lot better than the majority of humans.

What wasn’t to like about eternal life, cool powers, and a lush lifestyle that included a seemingly endless supply of elegant cars and gargantuan houses?

Crawling out of Troy’s sleek Lamborghini Murcielago after a hair-raising ride through the busy Chicago streets, Anna gaped at the lavish mansion that seemed to consume an obscene amount of space.

Jeez.

She’d always thought fat-cat corporate executives lived the good life. Now she had to accept that not even the fattest corporate cat could keep up with these Joneses.

Which was a good thing, she decided.

The lush excess didn’t really bother her as much when it came to demons. She happened to like them a lot more than the CEOs she’d met. Well, except for the demons who kept trying to kill her.

She didn’t like them.

“Anna?”

The soft female voice had Anna abruptly turning to watch the dark-haired woman with stunning blue eyes, and a tall, wickedly handsome vampire with long raven hair and gold hoop earrings, cross the drive toward her.

In some ways the vampire reminded Anna of Cezar. There was the same hint of arrogant confidence etched on his perfect features and the same sensual promise smoldering in his eyes. The same elegant saunter that revealed he knew all too well that he was irresistible to women.

“Yes?”

“I’m Abby, and this is Dante.” The woman held out her hand in greeting. “Welcome to our home.”

Despite the lavish house, Abby was dressed in casual jeans and T-shirt, and her smile was warm.

Anna shook the slender hand, her own expression rueful. “Thank you, but you might not be so welcoming once you get to know me. I seem to bring disaster wherever I go lately.”

Abby and Dante shared a glance that was filled with the sort of intimate amusement that only truly happy couples ever shared.

“Dante and I wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves if we weren’t in the middle of some disaster or another. And I can at least promise you that only the most desperate demon will try to enter this estate.” She wrinkled her nose. “They usually try to avoid me like the plague.”

Anna gave a tiny jerk. “Oh, I forgot you’re a goddess. Am I supposed to kneel or something?”

“Only if you want to piss me off,” Abby said with a laugh, reaching out to take Anna’s hand. “Come on, I’m in the mood for a stiff drink, what about you?”