Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity #4)(29)

“You preferred to believe that I was responsible?”

“Yeah.” A faint heat brushed her too pale skin. “I suppose I did.”

“And now?” he prompted.

“Now I don’t know what to think.”

Hardly a rousing vote of confidence. More like a grudging, gun-to-the-temple sort of vote.

“Anna, I would never hurt you. That night…” He bit off his impatient words as he realized that now was not the time.

“What?”

With a smooth motion he rose to his feet and began pacing the cell. Suddenly it seemed way too small. And way too filled with Anna’s sweet, fruity scent.

“There’s more,” he said abruptly. “I think that Morgana was the ‘cousin’ you lived with in London. I believe she burned down your townhouse, killing your aunt and assuming that she killed you as well.”

“No.” She rose to her feet, shaking her head. “That’s not possible. My cousin didn’t look anything like the woman in my dreams.”

“Morgana would be capable of a powerful glamour. She could have altered her appearance so that the human eye would see only what she desired.”

She wrapped her arms around her waist, shivering as if the room were ice cold. “But not a demon?”

“I could have seen through her magic, although she obviously took great care not to allow me to catch sight of her,” he admitted. “You said yourself that first night she had disappeared only moments before I entered the room.”

“That’s true, but…”

Cezar rushed forward as she swayed and nearly pitched face first onto the ground. With a tenderness he didn’t even know he possessed, he was carefully urging her back into the chair.

“Here.” His hands tightened on her shoulders as she struggled to rise. “No, querida, just sit for a minute. Breathe.” He watched as she drew in a shaky breath. “Again.”

In time the greenish tint left her cheeks and she was lifting her head to meet his concerned gaze. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“For acting like a pansy after my big speech about wanting to be Xena Warrior Princess.”

His hands absently stroked over her shoulders, not at all certain how to ease the shivers that still shook her body.

Dammit. He didn’t like seeing her so shaken. It made him want to…kill something.

Preferably something of the fairy variety.

“I don’t know any Xena, but I suspect that even a warrior princess would be a little shaky in your position,” he murmured.

“You mean, if she discovered she possessed a murderous cousin who tried to burn her to death in her own bed and now is on the hunt for her heart?”

“Anna, I can’t be certain that it was Morgana who burned your house.” His hands tightened on her shoulders. “But I think we should at least consider the possibility.”

“Yes. Yes, you’re right.” She lifted her hands to rub her temples. “I need…I need to think.”

“There will be time for that later.”

“Actually there won’t be.” She lowered her hands and glanced at the watch strapped to her wrist. “I have a flight to L.A. that leaves in less than six hours.”

“No.”

Cezar cursed his abrupt response as her eyes narrowed and her expression hardened. After five centuries of dealing with females of every race and persuasion, he should have learned that the one way to make them dig in their heels was to give them a direct command.

“What did you say?” she demanded.

Cezar paused, considering his words with care. It was time for a little damage control. He would prefer not to be forced to hold her against her will.

There were lots of women who found being chained to a bed as sexy as hell, but unfortunately Anna wasn’t one of them.

“Anna, you must remain here,” he said, his voice soft. “At least you will be safe.”

She deliberately glanced toward the dead Sybil. “Not so safe.”

“Then I will take you…”

“No, Cezar.” She wrapped her arms around herself, as if to try and hide her shivers. “I can’t spend the rest of eternity in hiding, or constantly on the run.”

“It won’t be for an eternity.”

“You think Morgana le Fay is going to forget about me?” she demanded. “Or maybe she’ll suddenly have a Dr. Phil moment and decide it isn’t really nice to go around killing her family?”

Cezar curled his hands in frustration. He couldn’t reveal her destiny with the Oracles. Nor the fact that once she became a member of the Commission no demon, no matter how desperate, would dare risk the wrath of the Oracles in an attempt to harm her.

“Your powers will continue to grow every day,” he said, his hand reaching out to lightly stroke her hair. “Soon enough you will be able to protect yourself. Until then you need to remain with those who can keep you hidden from Morgana.”

She rolled her eyes at his perfect logic. “You mean I need to remain with you?”

He stepped closer to her enticing heat, his fingers finding the curve of her cheek.

“Would that be such a terrible thing?”

Her lashes fluttered as she struggled not to respond to his soothing touch. “My life is in California. I have an apartment, a job, people who are depending on me. I can’t just disappear.”