On cue, he caught the scent of peaches that always seemed to cling to the witch and moments later there was a light knock on the door.
“Commander?” she called softly.
Gaius’s lips twitched. After two days in his constant companionship the female had lost most of her smug arrogance. There was nothing quite like being trapped with a lethal predator who hated witches to give a person an attitude adjustment.
“Enter.”
He heard her draw in a deep breath before pushing open the door to study him with a brittle bravado that didn’t mask her wariness.
Smart little witch.
Hovering in the doorway, Sally looked like a goth rag doll with her pigtails and heavy black eyeliner and matching lipstick. She was wearing some sort of red camisole with a puffy net skirt.
“It’s time for the ceremony.”
Gaius adjusted the French cuff links, his expression frigidly controlled. There was no way in hell he was going to reveal to the sneaky little bitch just how unnerved he was by the thought of allowing her to perform her magic on him. It was bad enough that he’d gone to his knees to plead for mercy when the Dark Lord had announced that Gaius would be “altered” to better suit the master’s needs.
“You have brought what I requested?” he instead demanded.
Her lips thinned, but she offered a ready nod. Good. The witch was learning. Like any good general, he expected complete obedience from his soldiers.
“I did.”
“Well?”
“She’s in the guest room.”
“Show me.”
The dark eyes flared with annoyance at his imperious tone but, wise enough to keep her mouth shut, Sally turned to lead him down the hallway.
Gaius followed at a measured pace, on full alert despite the supposed security of the lair. He’d learned a cruel lesson in ever lowering his guard the night his clan was attacked.
A lesson he would never forget.
“Have you heard from our companions?” he demanded as they climbed the steps leading to the upper floor.
“Yes, they should be arriving within a few hours.”
His jaw tightened as he glowered at the back of her head. “You still claim to know nothing about them?”
“I know as much as you do.”
“So you say.”
She flinched as his icy power lashed through the air, but hunching her shoulders, she halted in front of a heavy door and pointed at the small window that revealed the metal-lined cell inside.
“The woman is in there.” She waited for Gaius to move to peer through the window. “Is she satisfactory?”
Gaius hissed as his fangs lengthened in primitive hunger. The slender female chained to the wall possessed the long, dark hair that he’d demanded as well as the golden skin and dark, almond eyes that spoke of the Middle East.
She wasn’t an exact match for his beloved Dara, of course.
Her features weren’t nearly so delicately carved and her body was covered by a pair of cutoff shorts and a tiny halter top that his mate would have considered tacky, but she was close enough to stir the lusts that he’d nearly forgotten on the other side.
“Yes, she is . . . satisfactory,” he admitted, his mouth watering as his gaze traced the line of throat. “Where did you find her?”
Sally shrugged. “Where you find everything. The Internet. Lucky for you she makes house calls.” She grasped his wrist as Gaius’s hand reached for the doorknob. “Not yet.”