"He wants a puppy for his birthday." She didn't understand it, but then, she'd never had children as a mortal, whereas Yevgeny had been a loving father. And she'd taken him away from being able to raise his children to serve her insatiable s.e.xual needs. d.a.m.n, those had been fun years! So of course now he was about to play on her guilt over her own misdeeds to draw her into this birthday present scheme.

"The kid's already a spoiled brat," she pointed out. "If he wants a dog let his parents get him a rottweiler."

"A h.e.l.lhound will help keep him safe." He looked a bit sheepish. "At least it will when it's properly socialized."

Valentine crossed her arms under her ample b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "That's what you came here for? To get me to help you with dog training?"

Yevgeny smiled. "Well, Cesar Millan isn't available."

She had no idea what that meant. "Why do you think I can be of any help?"

"Because back when Conover called himself Corvei you helped him raise the first litter of h.e.l.lhounds."

The problem with having lived with Yevgeny for so long was that there was very little about her she hadn't told him. "We shared too much," she complained. "Strigoi shouldn't be so d.a.m.n-domestic."

He took her hands. "Come with me."

She pulled them away. "I'm busy!"

"Waiting for a man who doesn't want to come back to you?"

"It doesn't matter what he-" She managed to stop herself as she remembered who she was talking to.

He had no qualms about using her hesitation. "Haven doesn't really matter to you or you'd be searching for him yourself instead of sending someone to look for him. Put your time to use and come with me."

The sight of Yevgeny was seductive; his voice was seductive. His needing her was the most seductive of all, even if it was only to help housetrain one of Corvei's nasty little pets. She'd thought she'd put Yevgeny out of her mind as she had every other companion that had gone into the night as a strigoi, but she'd missed him far more than any of the others. She just hadn't realized it until now.

Maybe she could spend a little bit of time with him. It would give her something to do while waiting for Haven's return. "You always could divert me," she admitted. "All right. Fine. I'll help. But if Corvei shows up to kill you to get his puppy back, I will not get in his way."

FIVE.

"YOU ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I HAVE ever seen," Corvei blurted out to the woman who'd entered his cell.

Dark curls swirled down her back and over her rich, round b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her skin truly was alabaster pale, and her eyes huge and black, her mouth full and lush. Her garments were of Seresian silk, bright red embroidered in gold. The cloth was so fine and thin it revealed more than it hid of her firm, perfect body.

She smiled, bringing light into the dark world. "Women come to you often and you service them." She stepped close to him and spoke in a whisper. "I hear even a werewolf b.i.t.c.h takes you into her bed. That's a rare honor for a mortal. So I've come to have a look." She put cool hands on his shoulders and he felt her drawing the heat from his body. She looked into his eyes, and he could not look away. "You are special," she said after a long time. "I am Valentia."

He put his hands where her narrow waist flared into her rounded hips, taking his warmth back from her. "What are you?" he asked.

"I'm not looking for a new lover," she said. "What I'm looking for is an apprentice. But you'll do for both. If you are truly interested in destroying Rome," she added. "And if you want it."

She was asking rather than ordering him. No one had done that for a long time. More important, he knew that her hatred of the empire matched his own. She wanted his help. How could he deny her anything?

DAN relished the memory of their first meeting as well as the thought of seeing Valentine again, even if he didn't completely trust her and hadn't since she'd showed him how to become a vampire. Valentia hadn't explained about the dark magic and the curse of eternity that came with the many gifts she offered. But living forever sounded good to a gladiator who had existed on the sword's edge for five long years. Killing a man to achieve eternal life had seemed no different than what he already did for a living.

Just like becoming a gladiator, becoming a vampire was something he had no choice in, and a little bit of resentment at his maker had niggled at him for a long time.

He could almost hear Valentine telling him to stop being such a wimp while he circled the block looking for a parking s.p.a.ce near her high-rise condo building. He supposed he should stop thinking about her if he wanted his visit to come as a surprise. He didn't know what was going on, whether she'd stolen the puppies herself or why. It was best to approach her quietly and cautiously. He sat perfectly still in his car once he finally found a place to park and didn't get out until he was certain his mental shielding was as tight as he could make it.

It was not that far from midnight and there was very little traffic on the streets of this upscale Los Angeles neighborhood. Night- blooming jasmine and pollution scented the air in almost equal parts. He crossed the street and slipped over a wall into the beautifully landscaped garden that surrounded Valentine's building. It was instantly far darker under the palm trees than out on the street.

It grew darker with every step he took until he was surrounded by a black void. Dan realized he'd fallen into a magical trap, but by then it was too late to avoid it. Instead he stood completely still and let his extra senses roam. It didn't take long before he detected life inside the blackness with him.

Maybe it was a trap, but he had no choice but to go toward the light of a living being.

SIX.

THE MAGIC DIDN'T FEEL LIKE VALENTINE'S. NOT that Tess had ever personally encountered the Ancient Mother's personal energy, but she was certain it wouldn't feel like this if she did. The flow and pulse of the guarding magic didn't have an ancient feel to it for one thing. For another, she'd didn't think she'd be able to detect any spell Valentine cast as quickly as she had this one. And it didn't matter that she'd detected it quickly, she was still stuck in the darkness.

Tess was in a hurry and the inconvenience of the trap did not help her mood. She growled deep in her throat, not something she normally did in human form, but the sound came out anyway.

The last thing she expected afterward was to hear a man say, "Calm down, cub."

The voice was behind her, but where exactly was harder to determine. She was almost dizzy from whirling before she made out another shape in the thick darkness.

"Who the h.e.l.l-" she began.

"h.e.l.lo, werewolf," he said. "Fancy meeting you here."

Her sharp ears detected the remnants of a dozen lifes' worth of accents in his deep voice. She could make out no scent in the magical dark, but it was easy enough to guess what he was. "h.e.l.lo, vampire," she replied.

"Not exactly vampire," he answered. "Although I used to be one."

That revelation was meant to scare her, and it sort of worked. He was letting her know he was one of the vampires who ate vampires-and who knew what else?

"What do you call yourself these days?" she asked. "Enforcer? Hunter? Abomination?" Bravado might not be a good idea, but she just couldn't help herself.

"Dan," he said. "You?"

Oh, s.h.i.t! What the h.e.l.l was Dan Conover doing here? What did he want with her? "Tess," she told him. "What are-?"

"I thought at first that you were part of the trap, but it's more likely that you're as stupid as I was about Valentine's security."

"I don't think Valentine had anything to do with-"

"Geoff Sterling, I bet. He's the apprentice living with-"

"Yes," she cut him off. "Do you make a habit of not letting people finish sentences?"

"I don't spend much time around people. I'm not around one now," he added.

His conversational tone really p.i.s.sed her off.

Then the black bulk of him was looming over her. The darkness made it worse. "Did you take the pups, Tess?"

Though there were none there, she could almost feel hot breath and claws brushing her throat. She was werewolf, she didn't scare easily. This-monster-could certainly do it to her. And why the h.e.l.l did that turn her on?

Tess made herself concentrate. "I'm here to see Valentine about that." She wasn't sure if it was smart to blurt that out, but it was hard not to respond to such an obvious alpha.

"Me, too," he said, and became all mild-mannered. At least he stopped aiming the threat of danger at her. "Let's get out of here and get on with it," he suggested. "You are a witch as well as a werewolf, aren't you?"

"It's going to take me a while to break a spell this strong," she said. "Though I expect that once the sun comes up-"

"I may have all night," he cut her off. "But I'm not planning on hanging around come daylight."

"Then what-?"

"We combine our brains."

She knew what he meant, and what he suggested was even more annoying than his constant interruptions. It was also dangerous-in a very personal way. They could get into each other's heads, under each other's skins. It could make things- complicated. Especially if there was anything even vaguely compatible in their personali- He recognized her hesitation. "I promise not to peek, if you promise, too."

He seemed to already be halfway into her head. d.a.m.n the vampires and their greater telepathic abilities.

"We're wasting time here, weregirl."

She growled-he really brought that out in her-but she had to agree.

"Fine-fangboy."

He chuckled.

Tess took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Which was stupid considering they were already in complete blackness.

The energy that surged through her was pure o.r.g.a.s.mic rush. She didn't know how long she was lost inside pure pleasure inside pure dark.

This is nice. The voice of the vampire eventually floated through the bliss. But . . .

Shut up and let me concentrate, she snarled back, embarra.s.sed at her reaction to this monster's- Do you want me to show you how-?

I'm the witch here, fangboy.

He poured more energy into her. Show me.

She concentrated, wrapped her power around his, discovered she wasn't giving enough to control all the energy. Every barrier she had came down. They blended, but somehow she wasn't lost. She longed to linger within this pulsing, shining vortex but she didn't lose hold of what needed to be done. Reluctant as she was to leave these new, exciting sensations unexplored, she took their mixed energy and pushed-pouring light against the dark, conjuring counterspell against the spell that held them.

The perfectly normal night returned with a lurch that twisted her stomach even as it brought reality back into focus. The dark now had many textures, and there was plenty of light-streetlights and car lights and apartment lights and even the faint glow of starlight high above all the night lights of Los Angeles. Scent returned with vision, as acute as ever. Tess realized she'd missed this extra sense even more than she had the presence of light.

"I hate magic," she muttered. It was a supernatural allergy, really. One that most people had little or no reaction to. She wondered what it would be like to be like most people.

"But you use your allergy well," the vampire behind her said. "And you really don't want to be like everybody else."

"I suppose not, but-" She whirled around to face him and snarled. "You'd better get out of my head now."

He stared at her in shock. His mouth even hung open for a moment.

Tess stared back, absorbing her own surprise that the vampire's scent was-delicious. Where'd he get those s.e.xy pheromones, she wondered. "What?" she demanded as his gaze continued to roam hungrily over her.

"Syrilla?" he questioned. There was the roughness of desire in his voice.

Oh, that.

"My name is Tess Sirella," she growled. She pulled her hair away from her face, revealing the werewolf widow's peak and letting him get a good look at her sharp features.

"You look very much like her."

"Yeah, I'm descended from the old b.i.t.c.h."

He showed fang at her tone. "She was dear to me."

"And b.i.t.c.h isn't an insult among my kind, Conover," she reminded him.

"True." He smiled, and actually had the audacity to pat her on the cheek, only laughing when she snarled. He turned and walked away.

She caught up with him as he reached the entrance of the building. He held a cell phone to his ear.

"Still only getting her voicemail." He flipped the phone closed and put it back in his jacket pocket. "And I've never known anyone who could block telepathic contact as efficiently as Valentine." He looked at her. "What shall we do now?"

"I didn't know we were together," she replied.

"Fortunately I know where she keeps her spare key."

She watched as Conover moved to the brick wall, made the shadows around him darken, and began to climb the side of the building.

"d.a.m.n flashy vampire," she complained as she watched. Her plan had been to first lay a web of watching spells around Valentine's place the way she had around Conover's. She found the vampire's direct method far more tempting.

Tess stepped up to the brick wall, slipped off her shoes, and extended all of her claws. "You're a bad influence on my family, Conover," she said as she began to climb.

I know, he thought back.

"I hope you haven't ruined your manicure," he said when she joined him on Valentine's terrace.

She looked past him at the sliding gla.s.s doors, then flexed her fingers. "As sharp as these may be, they don't cut gla.s.s. Do you have any diamonds on you?"

He chuckled as he removed something from under the base of a potted plant.

"That really is a key?" she asked as he straightened. "Does Valentine let you use this place as a safe house?" She knew a lot about strigoi society.