Anna stood directly before Cezar as she waited for his answer. She might not know jack squat about the demon world, but she was perfectly capable of sensing when someone was hiding something from her. She was a lawyer, after all.
And Cezar was definitely hiding something.
It was simply too much a coincidence to think he would make a public appearance that was bound to lure her to Chicago, just when her life could be in jeopardy. And even if she were willing to stretch her imagination and assume that it was all one big fluke, why would he make such an effort to protect her? It wasn’t as if she meant anything to him. He’d proved that two hundred years ago.
While vampires might be many things, she wasn’t idiotic enough to believe there was even an ounce of Good Samaritan in their unbeating hearts.
She planted her hands on her h*ps and grimly ignored the sheer beauty of the man standing before her. The lingering feel of his touch was distraction enough.
“Cezar, what are you hiding?”
The bronzed, heart-rending features were smooth, unreadable. “I have told you all I know of Morgana and her threat to you.”
Which was a nice sidestep.
“Cezar…” Intent on grilling him until he was forced to confess the truth or gag her, Anna was abruptly distracted as a soft glow filled the room. Turning her head she realized that the glow was coming from Sybil. Her stomach churned as she watched the strange aura flicker and dance over the dead body. “Good God.”
Cezar was on guard instantly, his eyes darting about the room as he searched for the threat.
“What is it?”
“Sybil.” Anna instinctively backed against a wall. If the dead fairy so much as twitched, she was out of there. “She’s glowing.”
“I see nothing.” Cezar studied her horrified expression for a heartbeat before he was flowing toward the open door. “Levet.”
“Oui?” Entering the cell, the tiny gargoyle instantly turned his attention to the glowing body. “Ew…”
“What is it?” Cezar demanded.
“An Adar demon.” The gray eyes briefly flickered toward Anna before landing on Cezar. “He’s tracking her.”
Cezar muttered a curse, his dark expression not doing a damn thing to relieve Anna’s growing fear.
“What’s an Adar demon?” she demanded.
“Very bad news,” Cezar muttered, turning back toward the door. “Styx.”
The warrior appeared in the doorway. “What?”
Cezar leaned close enough that they could speak in undertones, only an occasional word reaching Anna’s straining ears. Styx muttered something about caves and Commissions and hiding, only to be firmly vetoed by Cezar. Then the word Viper was bandied back and forth. At last Cezar placed his hand on the larger vampire’s shoulder and gave a short nod.
Reaching out, Styx captured the arm of the gargoyle and they disappeared from the room. Cezar headed directly for Anna.
“We must leave.” His expression was commanding, hard. “Now.”
Anna’s instincts screamed in agreement, but she forced herself to ignore the hand that he held out.
She desired the vampire (okay, maybe it was more than mere desire, maybe it was lust on an epic scale) and she was even discovering that she actually enjoyed his company (when he wasn’t being an annoying ass) but that inner voice continued to urge caution.
He had proven over the past hours that he was determined to keep her alive, but the question was…for what purpose?
The alternative to death was not always preferable.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on,” she said, her voice grim with warning. “Why is Sybil glowing?”
She could feel his frustration wash over her in a blast of icy energy. He clearly wasn’t in the mood to offer a reasonable explanation. He was more in the mood to toss out orders and have them obeyed.
Or maybe knock her on the head and drag her out by her hair.