When Darkness Comes

"A gift from a voodoo priestess."

Dante frowned. "What's in it?"

"A variety of nasty bits and pieces that are used to animate the dead," he drawled, a cynical smile tugging at his lips. "It allows me to pass as a living being."

A handy little object, Dante acknowledged. And precisely the sort of trinket that Viper would collect. He watched as Viper tucked the bag beneath his shirt. His brows abruptly snapped together.

"Bloody hell, what happened to you?" Dante demanded as he studied the charred burns on the smooth flesh.

With a flick of his hands, the older vampire closed his shirt to hide the marks.

"The dark wizard and I had a mild disagreement."

"What sort of disagreement?"

"I thought he should be dead and he disagreed."

Dante smiled wryly. There was little use in lecturing Viper in taking such risks. Once he was on the hunt, nothing could halt him.

"I presume you convinced him to your way of thinking?"

"Eventually." A flare of annoyance rippled over the pale features. "I was careless. His power was greater than I expected."

So the dark wizard was gone. One less problem to deal with.

"What are you doing here?"

Viper's presence suddenly seemed to fill the room. Even the candles dimmed.

"Before I ripped out his throat, the wizard swore that the witches intended to banish us all to the depths of hell. I decided that I wasn't ready to go yet"

Dante clapped a hand on Viper's shoulder. There was no need for words. They would hunt together as they had centuries before.

Few things could have given him more hope.

"The witches have Abby," he said.

"Where?"

Dante took a moment to reach out to his mate. "Below us. A cellar."

Viper gave a slow nod. "Can you fight?"

"I can't harm the witches who were part of the spell binding me to the Phoenix. The newer witches should prove no problem."

Viper smiled to reveal his fangs. "Leave them to me."

"There is also a demon," he warned. "We'll need to make sure it isn't planning a nasty surprise."

Viper tilted back his head to deeply sniff the air. The silver eyes widened in shock.

"A Shalott. So, they haven't all vanished. How very intriguing."

Dante grimaced at the fevered glitter in the midnight eyes. Shalott blood was rumored to be an aphrodisiac to vampires. Which no doubt explained why they had chosen to leave with the dark lord. Without his protection, they would be hunted to extinction by vampires.

'You take care of Edra; I will see to the demon," Dante said sternly.

"Why, Dante, don't tell me you've been seduced by the creature?" Viper mocked. "Whatever will Abbysay?"

"She wants the demon spared."

Viper stilled. "Why?"

"Because she could have killed us and didn't."

"Humans." Viper gave a shake of his head even as an unreadable emotion darkened his eyes. "So weak."

Squaring his shoulders, Dante glanced toward the door.

"Are you up for this?"

Viper moved to stand at his side.

''What's the plan?"

Chapter 24

Abby bit her bottom lip as the hair on the nape of her neck stirred and her palms began to sweat.

It was the same sensation she had experienced when she had been five and had entered a carnival's haunted house and spent nearly two hours huddled in a dark corner, too afraid to move so she could bolt for the door.

She hadn't known why she was frightened. She had only known that she sensed something out in the darkness waiting to devour her.

Of course, with the wisdom of age, it was simple to look back and realize her fear had been caused by a combination of overstimulation, the smothering darkness, and being abandoned in the house by her mother.

Still, the sense of being devoured had been very real.

Just as it was at this moment.

Grimly squaring her shoulders, Abby allowed herself to be led through the dark, empty rooms until the elderly witch at last paused to open a dooi and began to climb down the narrow stairs.

She was no longer a child.

She didn't huddle in corners.

She fought back with a vengeance.

Well… maybe not a vengeance. More of a combination of bumbling, fumbling, and flaying.

But she would never again be a willing victim.

A musty smell of damp earth and mold rolled over Abby as they reached the bottom of the steps. She hesitated as the utter darkness momentarily blinded her.

"Don't be afraid," Edra whispered, her ancient face becoming suddenly visible as a fire bloomed to life in a large brazier. "There is nothing here that would ever harm you."

Nothing but you, Abby whispered silently.

"Why are we here?"

The witch moved across the floor. "I have something I wish to show you."

Edra was walking toward what appeared to be a large slab of marble set next to the brazier. It appeared all the world like something you would put on top of a grave.

Along the edge of the marble were precisely arranged black candles and dried herbs. And in the very center was a strange symbol drawn with a thick, clotted liquid that gleamed with a reddish-black hue.

Abby's stomach clenched as she reluctantly followed in the woman's wake.

<cWhat is this?"

"My modest altar." The witch reached out to stroke the cold stone with a reverent hand. "Not what I desired to present to the beloved Goddess, but I was forced to leave much behind after the attack by the wizard."

"Why are we here?"

The tiny head turned to stab Abby with a glittering gaze. Abby grimaced. In the shifting candlelight, the woman looked like a shriveled lizard.

And just about as warm.

'To change the world, my lady."

Abby shifted uneasily. 'That's a little vague."

"It's time that the full glory of the Phoenix be revealed. Her power will cleanse the world."

Cleanse the world.

It certainly sounded nicer than mass murder.

"Cleanse the world of what?" she demanded, needing to hear the woman admit her black-hearted intentions.

"Evil."

"Again, a little vague." She wrapped her arms about her waist. Any dark and dank cellar was creepy, but with the candles and mortician slab and some goo that might or might not be blood, this took creepy to a new level. "Precisely what evil are we cleansing?"

"The demons, of course. And those who worship the dark lord."

"The dark lord has been banished from this world."

Impatience as well as something that might have been anger tightened the older woman's lips. Obviously she was not a big fan of having her decisions put up for debate.

"His foulness still taints the very air we breathe. He calls to his disciples and they answer. They must all be brought to an end," she rasped.

Abby licked her lips. "And you expect the Phoenix to do this?"

"Of course. The beloved Goddess was meant to rule." She held out her gnarled hands as if accepting worship from some unseen disciples. 'Just as I was meant to rule. Our time has at last arrived."

Good God, the woman was certifiable.

Hurry, Dante, she silently breathed. Please hurry.

"I understand your desire. It is no doubt admirable, but there are surely other means of battling evil?" she attempted to soothe. Pacify the crazy person. That was always her motto.

Absurdly the witch appeared outraged rather than soothed.

"Understand?" She moved to stand directly before Abby. "What could you possibly understand, girl?"

"I understand right from wrong."

"Until a few days ago, you thought demons to be nothing more than fairy tales."

Abby found her terror being swallowed by a growing anger. Dammit. She hadn't wanted to be some stupid Chalice. Or to have monsters chasing her around. Or to be some sort of savior of the world.

But now that she had been forced into this position, she wasn't going to be bullied into becoming the evil they were supposed to be fighting.

"Perhaps I didn't know, but now I realize that there are many sorts of demons. Not all of them bad."

"The vampire," Edra hissed. "He has seduced you."

Abby clenched her hands. "This has nothing to do with Dante. I will not be a part of wholesale murder."

The witch stepped close enough to cloak Abby in the sour scent of sweat and cloves.

"Have you battled against darkness for the past three centuries?" she rasped. "Have you given your very soul to keep the horror at bay? Have you watched innocent women slaughtered like pigs beneath the magic of a foul wizard?"

In spite of herself, Abby stumbled backward. Her eyes might tell her that she could pick up the frail old woman and rattle her silly. Her heart warned her that the witch could wave a wand and squash her like a bug.

I'm the Chalice," she bluffed. "You can't force me to perform a spell."

"I would prefer that you join with me." Edra raised a hand to point her finger directly between Abby's eyes. "But we can do this the hard way."