"No." He dropped a kiss on the top of her curls, thankfully not insulted. "Turning someone is a bit more complicated. And it would not even be possible as long as you are the Chalice. The Phoenix would do whatever necessary to protect itself."

Reassured that she wasn't about to morph into anything else inhuman for the moment, she snuggled closer to his hard body.

"I wish we could just stay here."

"Hide from the world?"

"At least an extended vacation." She pulled back her head to meet his silver gaze. "I think we deserve a few days off, don't you?"

He regarded her with a hint of regret. "I can't think of anything that would please me more."

"But?"

He blinked. "How did you know there was a but?"

Abby heaved a sigh. "In my world, there's always abut."

"You're a very odd woman at times, lover."

"I thought I was beautiful and courageous and sexy as hell?"

"All of the above," he swiftly agreed, a faint smile playing about his lips, "and occasionally odd."

"Rather ironic coming from a vampire."

He bent down to press a swift kiss to her lips. Too brief.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we must not linger any longer."

That wasn't what she wanted to hear. Not when she felt warm and fuzzy and, best of all, safe.

"We have to leave now?"

"It's too risky to stay here for long. If the house is being watched, then we could find ourselves surrounded by the sort of nasties that no one wants to meet on a dark night."

"They couldn't get in here, could they?"

He gave a lift of his shoulder. "Probably not, but we'll eventually have to leave."

Dante rolled off the bed, and before she could even appreciate the sight of his hard, alabaster body, he was impeccably attired and looking Gucci yummy.

Damn. That was starting to be a real sore spot with her.

"If we're safe, why do we have to leave?" she demanded.

He gave a lift of his raven brow. 'You don't want to be locked in a room with a hungry vampire, lover. Even if I can't drink human blood, I don't doubt I might get a bit testy. Besides, I doubt that the witches will be considerate enough to make an appearance upon our doorstep."

Heaving a sigh, Abby sat up and pushed her tangled curls out of her face. "Fine, go ahead and make sense. At least you can hand me the clothes you ripped off me."

"Your wish is my command." With a flourishing bow, he bent to retrieve the clothing that had been scattered across the floor.

'Isn't that what a genie is supposed to—" Her teasing words trailed away as she watched Dante scoop the clothes in his hands and then slowly stiffen. With a strange expression, he pressed her shirt to his nose. 'Dante? Are you sniffing my shirt?"

His silver eyes shimmered with a dangerous glow. It smells of demon."

Abby stiffened. Did he just say she smelled like a demon?

She had probably suffered worse insults, but she couldn't think of one at the moment.

"Excuse me?"

He took another deep sniff. "I don't recognize the breed, but you have definitely been close to a demon."

Oh. Well, that was better.

Marginally.

"Yeah, I've been close to a demon." She gave him a pointed glance. "About as close as I could get. You don't remember? I know you're old, but holy crap."

His expression remained closed. Hard. "A demon, Hot a vampire."

His blood stirred within her. She could easily sense his lethal focus. A predator on the scent.

'That's impossible," she groused. She would have known if some demon had been rubbing on her shirt That wasn't something a normal woman… "Oh."

"What?"

Abby slapped her forehead with her open hand. Christ She must be losing her mind.

'There was this strange woman who interrupted my spell," she confessed.

"Upstairs?" 'Yes."

Abby shivered as Dante's blood heated with fury. "What did she look like?"

She struggled to recall. She had been just a little preoccupied at the time.

"Human, for the most part, although she was far more graceful than any mere mortal. And incredibly strong."

"She had the shape of a human?"

"Yes. A beautiful woman. She had dark hair and the most amazing gold eyes. Oh, and her skin had the strangest bronze glow to it."

His eyes widened as he lifted the shirt to his nose once again. "A Shalott demon? I thought they had all fled this world. She attacked you?"

'Yes… no."

He stabbed her with a piercing gaze. "Abby?"

She gave a helpless shrug. "I think she was just trying to stop the spell. She could have killed me while you were out, but she ran off. She said someone was calling her."

"Damn."

"What is it?" Abby scooted to the edge of the bed. "Is she dangerous?"

"I don't know, and that's what is driving me crazy." He gave a sharp shake of his head. "We must leave here now."

"Where are we going?"

"To see if I can pick up the trail of the Shalott. When they were in this world, they were assassins. If we can trace her back to her employer, we might discover what she was doing here."

There was an edge in his voice. A sharp thrill for the chase.

"Assassin?" she demanded.

"Very effective assassins. If either of us was her target, we wouldn't be here to tell the tale."

"Crap." Was there any end to the creepy crawlies that roamed the night? "Dante."

'Yes?"

She bit her bottom lip. If this assassin was so deadly, she had no desire to go chasing after it. "Does it matter why she was here? She can't have a connection to the witches."

'There is some connection."

"How do you know?"

'There is a spell upon her."

'You can smell that?"

"I can smell fear. And a Shalott demon fears nothing but magic."

Damn. He was good. "It could be that horrid wizard."

"We would be dead if it was."

There was a dark silence as Abby forced herself to swallow. Dante was right. The psychopathic wizard would have her roasting over a fire or in her grave.

"I suppose."

Dante moved forward to press her clothes into her reluctant hands. "It's the only lead we have at the moment, lover. I think we should follow it."

"Okay."

She knew she sounded petulant, but she couldn't help it as she pulled on her clothes and smoothed back her hair. Her idea of excitement was renting a movie and eating a bowl of popcorn. Not a gladiator session with a pack of demons.

Waiting in silence for her to recover from her bout of self-pity, Dante stepped forward to hand her the sheathed dagger.

"Don't forget this."

"Damn." She heaved a faint sigh. "I should have used it earlier. Some savior of the world I'm proving to be."

Suddenly she was in Dante's arms, and his cheek was rubbing against her own.

"Don't, Abby. There's not another mortal who would still be alive after what you've gone through."

It wasn't true, of course. But it made her feel better anyway.

She laid her head against his chest. "I don't understand how this happened to me. I'm not some chosen slayer or demon hunter. Hell, I didn't even know there were demons." Her lips twisted. "Unless you count my dad."

"Perhaps it was fate," he murmured.

"Then fate sucks."

A chuckle was wrenched from his throat as he pulled back to regard her with a searching gaze.

"Are you ready?"

"No."

He gave a tug on her hair. "Let's go."

Dante had even less desire than Abby to leave the peace of his lair.

What more could a vampire desire?

The woman he had chosen as his mate. A large comfortable bed. No phone, no neighbors, no relatives.

Satellite radio so he would never miss a Cubs game.

Paradise.

Unfortunately there were still hordes of demons, wizards, and zombies just waiting for the opportunity to corner them.

Taking her hand, he led her to the door, pausing as he touched the lock and spoke a low word.

Silently the door slid open, and he took a step forward. At once he realized that something was wrong.

"Wait," he breathed softly.

Abby instinctively froze. "Is there something out there?"

He slowly tasted the air. There were humans near. At least four. And one of them was very familiar.

'The wizard is here. Upstairs."

"Crap." He heard her suck in a deep breath. "Do we wait here?"

He didn't hesitate. "No. The wizard has managed to tap into the power of the dark lord. Given time, he will be capable of discovering this lair."

Her face paled. If she didn't carry the Phoenix within her, he could remove her horrid memories of the wizard and his pack of zombies. For now it was just another burden she would have to shoulder.

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