He suddenly grimaced as he realized that that was exactly what he had been doing. Right down to the stomping.
Damn.
This was all Darcy Smith's fault. She alone had managed to rattle the icy control he had honed over hundreds and hundreds of years.
"I do not need a babysitter, Viper," he retorted.
"No." Viper regarded him steadily. "What you need is protection."
"From a pack of curs?" His nose flared with wounded pride. "You think so little of me?"
"This has nothing to do with the Weres." Stepping forward, Viper placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are no longer just another vampire, Styx. You are our leader, and DeAngelo is your second in command. He wouldn't be worthy of being a Raven if he had not taken measures to see to your safety."
Styx wanted to argue. On this night he was not thinking as the master of all vampires. He was thinking as a man. A man who wanted to beat the holy shit out of another man.
A night for testosterone, not politics.
Unfortunately, DeAngelo had been within his rights. He could not have known that Styx planned nothing more dangerous than a small squabble with a pack of dogs.
"Very well," he grudgingly conceded. "You can stay here and watch the mold grow if you want."
He shook off his friend's hand and took a step forward only to be halted as Viper smoothly stepped into his path.
"You intend to begin negotiations with Salvatore?" the younger vampire demanded.
"Do I now have to offer you my itinerary as well?" Styx snapped.
"It is a simple question." Viper narrowed his gaze. "Are you here to bargain with the Weres?"
Styx hissed softly. He answered to no one. Not even to a powerful clansman who also happened to be his friend.
"I'm here to make sure that Salvatore understands that the next time he attempts to invade my territory it will be his last."
"He was at the estate?" Viper demanded in surprise.
He should be surprised. Only the very brave, or very stupid, would dare to enter a vampire's lair.
"He slipped into Darcy's room while I was downstairs."
"Did he harm her?"
"No."
"I assume he tried to take her against her will?"
Styx glared with a cold warning. He wasn't about to confess that he had no idea what the Were's devious plot had been. Or that Darcy had deliberately concealed her meeting with Salvatore. Not when the mere thought was enough to make his blood run hot and his fangs ache to sink into warm flesh.
Viper would no doubt lock him in a cellar until his senses could return.
"What does it matter? Isn't it enough that he dared to approach her at all?"
"But isn't that what you wanted, old friend?"
Styx stepped back with a frown. "What did you say?"
Viper gave a lift of his hands. "She can hardly be a suitable bargaining chip if Salvatore is not anxious to get his hands upon her. The fact that he dared certain death to try to retrieve her means that he will concede to any demand that you make of him."
Styx turned on his heel to pace down the alley. He didn't want Viper to see his expression. Not when it was bound to reveal his sharp flare of fury at the mere notion of handing over Darcy to the pureblood.