"the gargoyle?" he gave a lift of his brows. "i didn't know he cared."

"he thought that i was with you."

"ah." viper frowned. "what of dante?"

"he is gathering your clan. once the sun sets levet will return to chicago and lead them here."

he cupped her chin in his hand. "and it never occurred to you to wait for dante?"

her eyes narrowed. never a good sign. "you might very well have been dead."

"but you would have been safe," he growled. "dammit, shay, i will not have you risking yourself-"

"no." she jerked her chin from his grasp. "you might hold my amulet, but you have promised that i am not your slave."

he gave a hiss of exasperation. "of course you're not."

"then i'm free to make my own decisions. and if that means coming here to rescue you then that's exactly what i'll do."

it was without a doubt the most ridiculous argument that viper had ever heard. and he had heard a lot of them over the centuries.

he gave a disbelieving shake of his head. "even if it means being captured and drained?" he demanded harshly. "that's exactly what will happen if we're caught. you should have returned to abby. you would have been safe there."

indifferent to his dangerous mood she boldly poked him in the chest. poked him. one of the most feared predators in all of chicago. no. in all the world.

"no, i would not have been safe." she said.

he took a step back. the poking didn't hurt, but it did little to help his wounded pride.

"shay, not even styx and the ravens would dare attack the phoenix. that's exactly why he lured us out of her house in the first place."

"he might not attack the phoenix, but it doesn't matter how many goddesses i surround myself with if they decide to kill evor."

viper's muscles tensed. "evor? you know where he is?"

"i think he's here."

"no." viper gave an adamant shake of his head. "styx said that they never managed to get their hands on the troll."

shay gave a short, humorless laugh. "and you believed him after he captured and tortured you? did he also have some swampland to buy?"

his lips thinned. he fully intended to deal with his old friend. but not now.

"styx might torture me, he might even kill me, but he would never lie. not intentionally."

"charming."

realizing that it would be impossible to explain styx's complex morals, he turned his attention to her startling claim.

"why do you believe he holds evor?"

"because i smelled troll when i came through the caves."

a cold chill arrowed down his spine. "you're certain?"

her eyes narrowed. she didn't call him thick-skulled, but it was implied.

"it's a fairly unique odor."

and one shay would be all too familiar with.

viper clenched his fists as he paced across the narrow tunnel. he couldn't begin to guess how evor could be close by without styx knowing, but he had to at least search for the rotten troll.

"damn."

"what is it?" she demanded.

"where's levet?"

she regarded him suspiciously. "playing statue in a cave that leads out of the bluffs. why?"

"i don't suppose i can convince you to join him while i go in search of this mysterious troll?"

"no."

"shay..."

"no, no, no." she moved to stand directly in front of him, although there was thankfully no more poking. "i'm not some helpless idiot that has to be shooed out of the way whenever there happens to be a bit of danger."

"a bit of danger?" he deliberately flashed his fangs. "these caves are crawling with the most dangerous vampires to walk the earth."

"and for now they are all safely tucked in their coffins."

"you want to risk your life on that?" he rasped.

"it's my life to risk. not yours."

he closed his eyes and battled back the urge to howl in frustration. devil's balls, but the woman was destined to drive him to his grave.

"the ravens should take lessons from you, pet. they're amateurs when it comes to torturing a man."

"are you going to sulk or are we going to find evor?" she demanded as she marched blindly down the tunnel.

viper was in swift pursuit. a fortunate thing as she suddenly halted and nearly fell to her knees.

with a blinding speed he moved forward to wrap her in his arms. "shay?"

she gave a shake of her head. "i'm sorry. i just suddenly felt dizzy."

viper's brows snapped together in sharp concern. even in the darkness he could detect her sudden pallor and the film of damp sweat feat coated her skin. she was obviously ill. and just as obviously attempting to hide just how bad she was feeling. it took him a stupid moment before he realized what was plaguing the woman.

"damn, i'm a fool," he gritted as he plucked her of her feet and cradled her against his chest. using his senses he searched for an empty cave nearby and headed down the tunnel

she squirmed in his arms. "viper."

"shh, hold still for a moment."

"what are you doing?"

"we need someplace to rest."

"we can't rest now," she protested in shock.

his arms tightened. "we can and we will."

viper heard her bream rasp between clenched teeth. "you are annoyingly fond of handing out orders."

"no, i'm annoyingly fond of you, pet, and i should be staked for not having realized how weak you must be."

his blunt words momentarily stole her annoyance. a rare trick and viper was swift to use the distraction to turn into a low, side tunnel. from the number of cobwebs brushing against his face he was confident that no one had been this way for years.

"i told you i'm just dizzy," she at last managed to mutter although her voice had lost some of its sting.

"shay, you've spent the night dodging demons, fighting trolls, and tracking me across half the state. put on top of that donating a great deal of blood to a wounded vampire it's a wonder you're even on your feet." he touched his lips to the top of her head. "even the most powerful warriors must occasionally recover their strength."

"but we have to get out of here."

viper ducked as the tunnel became even more cramped. "we have time. as you pointed out the vampires will be in their coffins, and i cannot leave the caves until the sun has set."

there was a pause before she heaved a reluctant sigh. "maybe we could find someplace to rest for a few minutes."

"an excellent notion."

she nudged him with her elbow. "don't be patronizing."

"me?" his expression was pure innocence. "patronizing?"

"drop it."

"whatever you command, pet." at last coming to the end of the tunnel viper glanced about the small cave. it was rocky and damp and seemingly created for discomfort. but it had the benefit of being remote from the other caves with only one entrance. no one would be able to sneak up on them.

setting her onto the hard ground viper moved to settle beside her and pulled her into his arms.

"close your eyes and rest, shay," he murmured. "i will keep watch."

as a testament to just how weak she truly was shay didn't even attempt an argument. settling her head on his shoulder she gave a small sigh and promptly fell asleep.

levet might not be hideously large, or blessed with the sort of frightening power of his ancestors, but he had more than his fair share of intelligence. not a bad trade-off, all things considered. which was why he wasn't particularly surprised when he awoke to discover shay missing in action.

whatever her pledge of being careful he had known quite well she wouldn't wait hours to rescue her oh-so-delectablevampire. what few wits she had once possessed were now evaporated to the mists of oblivion. she would happily charge into any danger to rescue viper.

gak.

it was enough to make any decent gargoyle want to hurl.

still, he wasn't about to let her fall into the hands of evil vampires just because she was stupid enough to fall in love. he didn't have many friends. okay, he'd never had any friends until shay. he couldn't afford to lose her.

shaking off the bits of stone that clung to his skin levet carefully unfolded his wings and made his way to the nearby opening. he had to get into contact with dante, and quickly. they hadn't expected viper to be hauled so far from the city. even if they left this moment it would take hours for the clan to make their way to the isolated farmhouse. he couldn't afford to lose time in trekking all the way back to chicago to give directions.

once out of the cave he crept along the line of the bluff, his tail twitching as he easily caught sight of the vampire standing guard in the shadows of the farmhouse. he had to get to the river, but he preferred to do it without having a herd of angry vampires on his heels.

stealth for the moment trumped speed.

remaining in the deepest shadows levet moved with near painful slowness. vampires were near perfect predators. they could use all of their senses to detect prey. it would take only one stray pebble being dislodged, or one wayward breeze blowing his scent the wrong direction and his head would be decorating the farmhouse wall.