“No,” I whispered while Ian clutched his head and more blood poured from him. My Netherworld-warden father had removed Ian’s memories to limit the trauma he and the other resurrected souls had experienced while trapped inside Dagon . . . and to keep them from knowing the extent of the power they’d consumed while devouring their way out of the demon. So why would my father give Ian back some of those memories? More important, why hadn’t he told me?
Ian stopped clutching his head with the same suddenness that he’d dropped to the floor. He was on his feet before I could speak, flicking the blood from his face and frowning at the crimson stains on his white shirt.
“Don’t know why I bother wearing anything other than black.” Then his brow arched as he took in me and Mencheres, still on the floor. “Not dallying there long, are you?”
“Dallying?” I repeated. “Do you have any idea what just happened to you?”
He shrugged. “Vampire version of a nasty migraine. Nothing to fuss about.”
“Nothing to fuss about?” Now Mencheres was the one incredulously repeating Ian. “This is very serious, Ian!”
He rolled his eyes. “Since when did a little blood give a pair of multimillennia-old vampires the vapors? Really, I’m starting to be embarrassed for the both of you.”
“Enough.” Mencheres’s voice was harsh. “I can stand no more of your mockery.”
“Then don’t stand it,” Ian said with equal harshness. “I told you not to appear before the council with me today. You came anyway. I also told you not to follow me and Veritas here, but here you are. Enough, yourself, Mencheres. Let me be.”
“Not until I discover if she played a part in you bargaining your soul,” Mencheres replied in a blistering tone.
Aw, fuck, I thought, just as Mencheres’s power lashed out to immobilize me. That same power caught Ian in its invisible vise, freezing his hands in what looked to be mid tactile spell. Even Silver was trapped by Mencheres’s telekinesis.
I glared at Mencheres. He glared back, now so dispassionate it was unnerving. “I will free your mouth if you promise not to speak a word of a spell against me. Blink once for yes.”
I blinked once. That punishing pressure relaxed from my mouth. “You overstep, Mencheres,” I said with cold fury.
“You have no idea how far I am prepared to ‘overstep’ if it means saving Ian’s soul,” was his equally icy reply.
“I’d be a lot angrier at you if I didn’t feel the same way about him.” Then I paused. Why had I told Mencheres that? Especially with Ian close enough to hear it?
Mencheres came nearer. “Did you play any part in Ian bargaining away his soul to a demon?”
“No.” Who had told Mencheres about that? Ian? I couldn’t ask him. It was clear Mencheres hadn’t released his mouth. It was frozen in a tight-lipped line as Ian glared at his sire.
Mencheres was now right behind me. “Do you know why Ian struck that deal with Dagon?”
“Yes,” I replied, then would have slapped myself if I could have moved my arms. I’d sworn never to tell Mencheres this! So why had I just admitted knowing it?
“Then tell me the reason,” Mencheres all but purred into my ear.
I had to slam my jaws together to keep from replying. Even then, grunts I had no control over came out between my clenched teeth. That’s when I realized what he’d done. At some point, Mencheres had cast a truth spell on me. Good one, old friend!
Still, I wasn’t about to break my vow. You should’ve been more specific about the promise you forced from me, I thought grimly. I don’t need to speak a spell to free myself.
I let my hidden power free. Time froze in the room. Mencheres’s hold over me snapped as it immobilized him in the moment. Freed from his grip, I walked to the door, calling out for Silver.
The Simargl flew over to me just as Ian took a step forward, stopped as if he was stunned that he could move, then took another step, this time in my direction.
I was also stunned. “How are you now immune to time freezing?” As soon as I asked it, I knew. Ian must have absorbed this immunity from Dagon. What other abilities did Ian now have?
He flashed a quick grin at me. “Must be the demon brands. They do have their perks before the bill comes due.”
He still thought Dagon owned his soul? I’d clear that up later. Right now, I had to get away from him. I grabbed Silver, opened the door and stepped over the villa’s threshold.
Ian was in front of me in the next instant, shocking me again. Had he . . . had he just teleported?
“What’s this?” he snarled when he reached for me, but couldn’t get past the threshold.
“Insurance,” I replied in an even tone. “I spelled the villa. Anyone can enter, but no one aside from me and Silver can leave until after dawn.”
He gave me a look of such frustration, I almost smiled. Now he knew how I’d felt the past twenty-four hours. “That’s why you insisted on coming back here,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Yes. I even have my bags already stowed in my car,” I added in a mocking tone. If I were lucky, I’d make Ian so angry, he’d never want to see me again. “This villa’s privately owned, so demons can’t enter unless invited, but do yourself a favor when the spell lifts. Leave the country and then lay low. You’ve already put yourself in danger by broadcasting your whereabouts with this lawsuit. Don’t make it easier on the demons looking for you with more splashy public appearances.”
Something gleamed in his eyes. An expectant light that belied his trapped circumstances. “We’re not nearly finished with each other, my clever, calculating wife.”
I flinched at the “w” word. His mouth curled when he saw it. Then I forced myself to smile back as if I hadn’t a care in the world. “As I said, the spell that’ll keep you inside the villa abates at dawn, but the time-freezing spell will drop soon after I leave. I’m sure Mencheres will enjoy having your undivided attention for the next several hours.”
“Clever, calculating, and cruel.” Ian’s voice dropped to an insinuating purr. “No wonder I married you.”
Damn him! I couldn’t stand to be reminded that I had the legal status of something denied to me in every way that counted—a place in his life. To cover that, I gave another fake smile.
“Good-bye, Ian.”
“For now,” he said in a tone that reminded me of velvet-lined whips. “But not for long.”
Chapter 6
He’s bluffing.
I repeated that over and over during my drive to Mycenae. As luck would have it, one of my leads on another possible resurrected soul was only about two hours away. I drove straight there since I’d already lost over a day dealing with the disastrous court hearing. Silver would just have to wait in the car while I found out if this was a real sighting or another false lead. Either way, once I was finished, I intended to follow my own advice and get the hell out of Greece.
I hoped Ian did, too, as soon as the spell lifted. He couldn’t be so reckless as to stay and keep looking for me, could he? My stomach clenched. Yes. Ian was fearless and he didn’t remember how powerful Dagon was. Or how vindictive.