Later, he would find a surrogate for Dara who was more pleasing to his taste buds. Then he could take full pleasure in draining this one dry.
Catching the sound of approaching footsteps, Gaius extracted his fangs and released his hold on the female. Boneless from her sexual reaction to his bite and her sudden drop in blood pressure, the female sagged against the chains that were all that kept her off the floor.
Not that Gaius noticed.
The woman was forgotten as he straightened his clothing and turned toward the door. He already sensed the reason for the witch’s untimely approach.
With a brief rap on the door, Sally pressed it open, her gaze flicking toward the unconscious prostitute before meeting Gaius’s sardonic smile.
“Our guests have arrived,” she said stiffly.
His nose flared at the stench of dog already tainting his lair. “Curs?”
The witch didn’t look any happier than Gaius. But then, why should she? Curs didn’t like magic-users any more than vampires did.
“A matched set.”
Gaius frowned. “I beg your pardon?”
She rolled her eyes. “You have to see it to believe it.”
Not about to play guessing games, Gaius brushed past her to step into the hall. “Bring them to my study.”
“What about the whore?”
He glanced back at the female, who hung from her shackles like a broken doll. “She will remain here.”
Sally wrinkled her nose. “But . . .”
“If she dies I will see to her removal,” he interrupted in impatient tones. Humans were annoyingly squeamish when it came to corpses.
“Charming,” Sally muttered.
Without bothering to reply, Gaius headed down the stairs and into the small library he’d taken as his study.
Not that he would ever consider the long room lined with shelves and furnished with a walnut desk and two matching chairs as more than a temporary place to conduct his business. Once Dara was returned to him, he would take her back to their vast palace hidden among the hills of Italy.
His lavish home possessed a library that was twice the size of this entire house and filled with thousands of precious books that dated back to the invention of the printing press. That did not even include the fragile scrolls that were kept protected in his vault.
Unfortunately, “beggars couldn’t be choosers” and until the Dark Lord was satisfied that Gaius had fulfilled his side of the bargain, he was stuck in this backwoods swamp.
And worse, stuck with allies he neither wanted nor needed.
Leaning against the desk, Gaius smoothed back his dark hair and squared his shoulders as the stench of cur filled the air. There was a sharp knock on the door, but he waited for several long minutes before answering.
He was a master tactician who knew that the most subtle power plays were the most effective. Anyone could be a bully. It took cunning and patience to be a leader.
“Enter,” he at last commanded.
A young man who looked to be thirty in human years entered first. He was built on muscular lines with a square head that was propped on a thick neck. His hair was blond and buzzed in military fashion that was matched by the green T-shirt and cammo pants.
Behind him was a smaller, female version of him, down to the military buzz and cammo pants.
Cristo. He understood Sally’s comment that they were a matched pair.
Strolling forward, the twins halted to stand side by side, their arms folded over their chests.
“Vampire,” the male said with a respectful dip of his head.