“Juliet.”
The sound of Levet’s voice whispering through her head had Juliet on her feet, her heart slamming against her ribs in startled surprise.
“Levet,” she breathed, ignoring his rude intrusion as a wave of relief rushed through her. “Oh, thank God. I have been so worried.”
“Indeed?” the gargoyle said peevishly. “If you were so excessively worried then why have you not yet rescued me?”
“You might have mentioned that your captor is a full-blooded Jinn,” she snapped, stung by his unfair accusation.
“Ah…well, I…” He coughed in embarrassment. “Does it truly matter?”
“Does it matter? I very nearly was skewered by a bolt of lightning. If it had not been for Victor I would not have survived to rescue you.”
“Sacre bleu. Why would you tell the bloodsucker that I was captured?” Levet demanded in a horrified voice.
“It was not as if I had a choice. He followed me to the docks.”
“That is no excuse for revealing my very private business. I thought our trust was sacred.”
“Do you wish to be rescued or not, Levet?”
“Oui, but I do not desire to be made the source of mockery throughout London.”
Juliet thrust aside her annoyance, reminding herself that the tiny gargoyle was inordinately sensitive when it came to his manly reputation.
“I can promise you that Victor will tell no one you were captured by the Jinn,” she soothed.
There was a moment of startled silence. “Since when do you speak for the vampires, ma belle?” Levet at last demanded.
“Just be patient. I am coming for you,” she said, in no mood to endure her friend’s outrage when he discovered her recent mating.
Levet detested vampires.
“Please hurry,” he said, then without warning his scream of pain echoed through Juliet’s mind.
“Levet?” She grasped her head, her ears ringing. “Levet?”
“That bastard just destroyed my wing,” Levet panted, clearly in considerable agony. “When I get free I am going to turn him into a pile of steaming fairy dung. No…wait. Let us be reasonable—”
There was another scream and with an unpleasant wrench the sensation of the gargoyle was abruptly gone from her mind.
“Levet?”
She was distracted as the door to the lair was shoved open with enough force to make it snap off the heavy iron hinges, revealing Victor with his eyes glowing and his fangs fully extended.
“What has happened?” he growled. “I felt your distress.”
Juliet shivered, caught between a terrified awe at Victor’s power and a smug pleasure at the knowledge he would battle through the fires of hell to protect her.
“Levet,” she said, forced to halt and clear her throat. “We have to find him.”
Not surprisingly, Victor’s brows snapped together at the mention of the gargoyle.
“I should have known the ridiculous creature would be troubling you the moment the sun set.”
“He has been hurt.”
He planted his fists on his hips, the long caped coat doing little to disguise the various swords and daggers strapped to his lean body. With his hair pulled back to reveal the elegant beauty of his pale face and the lethal shimmer in the silver eyes, he appeared to be an ancient god come to earth.