Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity #4)(42)

“Leave me?”

“I hope I won’t be gone long, but…”

Anna surged to her feet, her stomach clenched with a sense of sick dread.

“Oh no, Conde Cezar, not again,” she hissed.

With a far more elegant motion, Cezar was standing directly before her, appearing like some god rising from the water as his bronzed skin glowed in the dim light.

“Anna, I must leave,” he said darkly. “When the Oracles call, no demon can ignore their commands. Not unless they’re in a hurry to be planted in their grave.”

She stepped back, until her legs hit the edge of the tub. She was furious, but the temptation to reach out and stroke that perfect bronze skin was nearly overwhelming.

“Oracles.” She gave a short, bitter laugh. “Jeez. At least think of a new excuse to dump me. God, I’m such an idiot. You’re the master of hit-and-run sex and still I let you…”

“God dammit, Anna, this is not some scheme to try to sneak away.” He easily closed the space between them, his hands reaching out to grasp her shoulders in a near painful grip. “If there were any way I could tell the Oracles to go to hell and stay here with you I would. And I swear on my very life that the moment I am free I will return to you here.”

“Like you did last time?”

He jerked as if she had slapped him, then without warning his hands lowered and he was sliding the heavy signet ring from his finger.

“Here.”

She frowned as he pressed the ring into her palm and closed her fingers tightly around it.

“What are you doing?”

“That ring has been upon my finger since I first awakened as a vampire. It’s an intimate part of me.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“You possess the blood of the ancients, elemental magic.” He peered deep into her eyes, his power tingling over her skin with a cool breeze. “With this ring you could find me no matter where I might be in the world. Just as Sybil was capable of following you. It would even call to me between dimensions.”

She frowned, glancing down at the heavy gold ring with its strange scrolling.

“How?”

“I have no talent for magic, but I know you possess the skills.” His finger slipped beneath her chin and tilted her face up to meet his stark expression. “Anna, I will return to you, I swear it.”

Instead of replying, Anna stepped out of the water and reached for one of the terry cloth robes that were placed neatly on a shelf. Tugging it on, she at last turned to regard him with a suspicious frown.

Deep inside, she knew innately that he wasn’t lying. She could physically sense the sincerity etched across his heart. But she had had two hundred years to build up a healthy distrust of this man. One bout of mind-blowing sex wasn’t going to erase that.

Maybe if they could have two or three bouts…

She abruptly thrust the distracting thought away.

“What do these Oracles want of you? And why now?”

“Who knows?” His expression hardened. “They rarely feel the need to explain their actions.”

“Are they very powerful?”

An odd, mysterious smile touched his lips. A smile that said he knew something she didn’t. “The most powerful of all demons.”

Powerful? She was suddenly struck with a brilliant thought. “Then maybe they could help me.”

Stepping from the tub, Cezar swiftly dried his smooth skin. “I will request their assistance, but don’t get your hopes up. The Oracles only interfere when they believe it their duty.”

The brief hope sputtered and died. “Convenient,” she retorted dryly.

The dark eyes flashed. “There’s nothing about the Commission that is convenient.”

She followed as Cezar returned to the obscenely large living room and watched as he tugged on his jeans and white shirt. For a moment she couldn’t concentrate on anything but the sight of the reverse strip-tease, shocked to discover it was as erotic as watching the clothes being taken off. Maybe the realization that he was commando beneath those tight black jeans had something to do with it.

Wondering how the room had suddenly become so hot, Anna cleared her throat and struggled to think of something beyond that hard male body.

“You said that the Oracles came for you that first night we were together.”

Tying his hair back with a leather thong, he gave a short nod. “Si.”

“Do you…are you one of them?”

His lips twisted in a strange, annoying smile. “I don’t have the power to become an Oracle, I’m merely a servant.”

She snorted at the ridiculous words. “You a servant?”

“I didn’t say I was a very good one.” Tugging on his boots, Cezar crossed to lightly touch the puncture marks on her neck. A strange thrill of pleasure raced through her. “Anna, I must go. If they are forced to call for me again I will be suffering for days.”

For a moment she tried to hold on to her suspicion. Maybe because it was her last line of defense against the potent obsession with this vampire that threatened to consume her. Then, heaving a deep sigh, she gave a nod. “Go.”

“I’ll have dinner sent to you.” He brushed a tender kiss over her lips before lifting his head and regarding her with a worried gaze. “Don’t leave these rooms. And if you need something there will be a guard at the door. If you scream she will come running.”