He stepped within only to come to an abrupt halt on the threshold.
A sharp stab of unease clenched his chest as his gaze moved over the rumpled, empty bed and the equally empty room.
Had she slipped away while he had slept? Had Salvatore managed to sneak through the security and take her?
On the point of calling for every vampire in the state to begin an all-out search, Styx paused as he caught the unmistakable scent of fresh flowers.
"Angel?" he said softly.
The door to the connecting bathroom opened and Darcy entered the room covered in nothing more than a fluffy white towel.
Styx clenched his hands at his sides as his fangs instinctively lengthened.
There wasn't much of her, even for a human. Still, he couldn't deny a fierce fascination with the pale, delicate limbs and faint curves annoyingly hidden beneath the towel. And that face . . .
His body hardened as he studied the wide, innocent eyes and the full lips. Lips that made a man dream of having them exploring all sorts of intimate places.
"Cripes." Not seeming to share his immediate flare of desire, she clutched the towel tighter and glared at him in annoyance. "Have you ever heard of knocking? Even a prisoner should be allowed some privacy."
He ignored her bad temper as he moved forward to hold out his gift.
"I brought you a robe. I thought you might wish to have something to cover you so that you can leave these chambers."
She tentatively took the beautiful garment and regarded it with an odd expression.
"I'm sorry," she at last said softly.
"What?" '
"I'm not usually so bitchy." She lifted her head and offered a wry smile. "And despite the fact that you totally deserve it, being angry is bad for my karma."
He gave a bemused shake of his head. He could speak a hundred languages fluently, but he was beginning to suspect that Darcy spoke a language entirely her own.
"Your karma?"
She shrugged. "You know, my life force."
"Ah." Styx smiled wryly. "I fear I don't recall any life force I might have had."
Her expression was more curious than horrified at the reminder that Styx was no longer human.
"You were a human once, weren't you?" she demanded.
"A very long time ago."
"But you don't remember?"
"No." Styx struggled to concentrate. Hell, what man wouldn't struggle when there was a beautiful, half-naked woman standing so close he was wrapped in the scent of her warm, tempting skin? "When a human is ... transformed into a vampire there is no memory of any past life."
"No memory at all?"
"None."
"That's strange."
He smiled wryly. "No more strange than waking up a vampire in the first place."
"How did it happen?" She ran an absent hand through her short, spiky hair. Styx had always liked long hair on women, but the style seemed to suit the tiny, pixie face. Not to mention the fact that it gave a delicious view of her slender neck. "I mean, how do you become a vampire?"