Well that seemed . . . redundant.

"Why?" She gave an impatient lift of her shoulder. "We've been linked together since our birth."

Yannah nodded. "Yes, your minds, but not your souls."

"Our souls?"

Yannah grimaced. "For lack of a better word."

Kata froze, a sick dread forming in the pit of her stomach. "What exactly does that mean?"

"Marika wanted to make sure that Sergei couldn't kill her without risking you as well."

"So if she dies . . ." Kata couldn't finish the sentence. It was too horrible.

Yannah, on the other hand, didn't have a d.a.m.ned bit of trouble.

"You get sucked into the underworld with her."

Kata surged to her feet, panic screaming through her body as she headed across the small cell.

"Blessed G.o.ddess."

"Where are you going?"

"I have to get out of here," she muttered, tugging at the handle of the lead-lined door.

"You can't outrun the spell."

"If I can find a witch she can break the spell."

"There's no time." Yannah made a sound of impatience. "Where is that vampire?"

Swearing at the lock that refused to budge, Kata turned to glare at the tiny demon standing in the center of the spa.r.s.e cell.

"Vampire?"

"He's late. Really, I cannot be expected to take care of everything," Yannah muttered, making Kata wonder at the woman's sanity. That was all she needed. Yet another crazy demon interfering in her life. Then abruptly Yannah's expression cleared. "Ah."

Kata frowned, her non-demon hearing belatedly picking up the sound of shouts from the Sylvermyst guards and the unmistakable clank of swords slamming off one another.

"Fighting?" she whispered in confusion. Who the h.e.l.l would know where she was? Let alone try and battle past the layers of protection Sergei had placed throughout her prison. "Someone is coming."

"I would move away from the door," Yannah warned.

"Why?"

The question had barely tumbled from her lips when there was the G.o.d-awful screech of twisting metal as the ma.s.sive door was forced off its hinges. With a gasp, Kata managed to leap to the side, avoiding being squashed beneath the wreckage. She couldn't, however, avoid the large man who charged into the cell directly behind the door.

With the force of a cement truck he slammed into her, sending them both crashing onto the hard floor.

"Oof." The air was painfully knocked from her lungs and her head smacked against the floor.

It took a moment before the fog in her brain cleared enough to take stock of the heavy beast crushing her against the lead floor.

And even longer to convince herself that she wasn't imagining the breathtakingly beautiful face that hovered a mere inch above her.

An angel . . .

What other creature possessed such pale, exquisite features? Or dark eyes as soft as velvet? Or a halo of burnished brown curls?

Her heart forgot to beat as she became lost in those beautiful eyes, her breath once again squeezed from her lungs.

He was just so . . . beautiful.

Straight out of a fantasy, how-do-I-get-him-in-my-bed-this-second gorgeous.

Desire, raw and demanding, pulsed through her. Dear G.o.ddess. His hard body fit against her with tantalizing perfection. And his scent. A rich musk that made her blood heat with a potent hunger that was as shocking as it was unfamiliar.

Kata knew that she had only to close her eyes to become lost in his dark enchantment.

Then the cold blast of his power filled the room and her insane thoughts were shattered.

A vampire.

A d.a.m.ned vampire.

It was no wonder he could melt a heart at a hundred paces.

The evil creatures used their beauty as a lethal weapon.

She pressed her hands against his hard chest, too late realizing her danger. But oddly he didn't strike, despite the terrifying flash of his huge fangs. Instead he regarded her with a horror that matched her own.

"You," he breathed, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. "b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l."

"Who did you expect to land on top of?" she snapped, her terror of vampires overwhelmed by a bizarre annoyance that her first reaction had been "oh-my-G.o.d-please-take-me-now" while his had been pure male disappointment. "Lady GaGa?"

He blinked, clearly startled by her grip on the modern world and pop culture.

"I was told you were caught in a mage's spell."

"Who told you?"

"Your supposed daughter."

"Laylah." An instant warmth curled through the center of her heart. She had known that Laylah was in the company of a vampire before she'd lost contact with her, but she hadn't expected her daughter to send a bloodsucker to rescue her. It was . . . touching. "I should have known that she would . . ." Her brows abruptly snapped together as his words truly sunk in. "What do you mean supposed?"

He stared down at her with a predictable arrogance. Vampires had I'm superior to you stamped into their DNA.

"We have no proof beyond the word of a treacherous vampire, a psychopathic mage, and a female who magically appeared in a vision at a suspiciously opportune moment to reveal she is Laylah's mother and being held hostage by her evil twin sister." His lips twisted to a sneer. "It's like a bad fairy tale."

Kata slammed her hands against his chest. She loved her daughter, but Laylah obviously had p.i.s.s poor taste in choosing a Knight in Shining Armor.

"Get off me, you oaf."

"Not until I'm certain this isn't a trap."

She shifted beneath his heavy body, futilely trying to wiggle away from him. If the brute thought he could knock her to the ground and then insult her, then he was in for an unpleasant surprise. She might not possess the strength of a demon, but she wasn't entirely helpless.

"Do you know what I am?" she hissed.

Concentrating on her efforts to escape, Kata missed the sudden stiffening of the vampire's body and his m.u.f.fled groan.

"Is that an invitation for further exploration?" he demanded, his low voice suddenly thick with awareness. "A little blatant for my taste, but I'm willing to play."

She told herself that it was shock that made her stomach clench and her heart race. And as for the sizzle of excitement that shot through her . . . well, that had to be anger.

Anything else would be sheer insanity.

"It's a warning that unless you get off of me this instant I will curse your most prized possession," she said between gritted teeth. "And I'm not talking about your sword."

Chapter 4.

Uriel glared at the woman pinned beneath him.

Nothing had gone right from the minute he'd left Victor's lair.

He'd journeyed directly to Stonehenge only to run headlong into a brick wall.

Literally.

The d.a.m.ned mage had left a dozen different snares to trap the unwary. Twice Uriel had been dropped into hidden pits. The first one had been lined with bricks embedded with silver spikes that had seared away the flesh of his palms and feet before he'd managed to climb his way out. The second pit had been filled with rabid h.e.l.lhounds he'd been forced to fight through to get to the door that led to the cell he could sense deep below ground.

It had taken days to heal his wounds and gather enough strength to continue his trek downward. It had taken even more days to dodge the Sylvermyst who patrolled the tunnels and then, at last, barrel his way through the heavy door.

Was it any wonder he wasn't in the mood for surprises?

And Kata was a surprise, he grudgingly admitted.

He'd expected her beauty. She was a twin to Marika, after all, and as much as he might detest the cold-blooded b.i.t.c.h, no one could deny she was stunning.

But while Kata shared Marika's glossy curls and midnight eyes set in a pale, perfect face, they had nothing in common.

Marika was cold arrogance edged with the promise of pain.

Kata was . . .

Heat and pa.s.sion and the promise of endless pleasure.

He bit back another groan as she wiggled her lush, s.e.xy body beneath him.

Dammit.

This was supposed to be a simple snag and bag.

Kata should have been playing Sleeping Beauty so he could toss her over his shoulder and get the h.e.l.l out of the cramped prison. From there it was a straight shot back to Victor's lair and wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am he was washing his hands of the unpleasant duty.

Instead she was very much awake and wiggling beneath him in a way that had him painfully aroused and a breath from ripping off her too-thin nightgown and easing the sharp hunger that had slammed into him without warning.

What was wrong with him?

Debating that pertinent question, Uriel belatedly caught the odd scent of brimstone. Jerking his head to the side he watched as a tiny female demon in a white robe crossed the cell to regard him with a mysterious smile.

"I just knew the two of you would hit it off," she murmured, her voice a low sing-song. "But you might want to brace yourselves. We're about to be sucked into h.e.l.l."

His brows snapped together. "What the . . ."

"h.e.l.l?" The woman smiled to reveal an impressive set of razor sharp teeth. "Yes, I just said that."

"Who are you?" he growled, instinctively shifting so his body was shielding Kata. And how crazy was that? "Actually, let's start off with what are you?"

"I'm Yannah. And as for what I am . . . hmmm." She tapped a finger to her chin. "Do you believe in fairy G.o.dmothers?"

"No," he snapped.

She sighed. "A pity."

Beneath him, Kata used the sudden distraction to scramble free from the weight of his body, her gaze pinned on the far wall of the cell.

"Yannah," she breathed, "something's happening."

"The gateway is opening," the tiny demon announced.

With a liquid motion Uriel was on his feet, yanking the large sword from the scabbard angled across his back.

He'd packed light when he'd left Victor's lair. A pair of jeans, a black T-shirt, combat boots, and his weapons.

What else did a vampire need?

"Gateway?" he growled.

Yannah nodded. "To the underworld."