Embrace The Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #2)(69)

Appearing at his side, Shay regarded him with a dark frown. "What have you done to Levet?"

Picking up his bag Viper turned and tossed Shay over his shoulder. They only had a few moments before the hellhounds realized that Levet was not only inaccessible, but very much alone. Then they would be on their heels.

"I don't have time to argue with you, either," he muttered as he took off toward the nearby streets.

"Dammit, put me down." She smacked the middle of his back with her fists. "I can't fight like this."

She couldn't fight? Her punch would have been enough to break a rib and puncture a lung if he hadn't been a vampire.

"We're not going to fight, we're going to run."

"Levet..."

"The hellhounds can't reach the gargoyle. Besides he is immortal. We can't be certain you are."

His blunt words managed to steal at least a portion of her anger. A rare event and one that Viper was swift to take advantage of as he flowed down the darkened streets. He had managed to put a considerable distance between them and the hellhounds before she heaved a frustrated sigh.

"Can I at least know where we're running to?" she demanded.

"I have several businesses on the south side. If we can reach one of them, my clan will protect us."

"Your clan?" She gave a choked noise of disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all."

"You intend to surround me with a bunch of hungry vampires? Why don't you just leave me for the hellhounds and be done with it? At least I have a shot against them."

Viper never slowed his pace although his grip on her instinctively tightened. He wouldn't put it past her to make a sudden bid for freedom despite his assurances. She possessed a prejudice against vampires, that went way beyond logic.

"You will not be harmed," he assured her.

"And how can you be so certain?"

"Because you are mine. They will obey my commands."

He could actually hear her teeth grinding at his offhand arrogance. Of course, that was preferable to the alternative. Having her hanging over his shoulder ensured her feet were dangling perilously close to his more sensitive body parts. Even a vampire could be brought to his knees by a well placed kick.

"Oh, right. Like I have ever encountered a vampire who obeys anyone," she muttered. "If they decide to make me a tasty smorgasbord, there's not a damn thing either of us can do to stop them."

Viper angled through the shadows of an empty office building as he considered his response. Vampires rarely revealed the inner workings of their culture. Not even to other demons. The Secret Service had nothing on them. Unfortunately, he would have to give Shay some reassurance or she was bound to fight him the entire way.

"I'll agree that vampires can be independent, but I am a clan chief," he at last said.

"And?"

"And to challenge my authority is to challenge me."

He wanted that to be the end of the conversation, but of course it wasn't.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that they must either confront me one on one, in direct combat, or leave the clan," he grudgingly confessed "There are few who would dare either fate."

"They're that frightened of you?"

He paused at a corner, carefully surveying their surroundings. It was late enough that most humans were tucked in their beds leaving behind a shadowed landscape of silence. Prime hunting ground for all sorts of demons. Some that might not be interested in a vampire and a Shalott unless they were stupid enough to stumble over them.

Assured the way was clear he headed swiftly toward the closest alley.

He felt her fist punch him in the middle of his back. "Answer, the question or put me down " she commanded.

His own teeth did a bit of grinding. "Being clan chief has given me ... powers beyond most vampires."

"What sort of powers?"

"It is individual for each chief and never spoken of."

She made a rude noise at his response, but for once accepted he would reveal no more.

"What if one of them wanted to become clan chief themselves?" she instead pressed.

"They must first enter the Battle of Durotriges. If they survive, they can establish their own clan as I did, or challenge another chief to the death."

"Have you ever been challenged?"

"It has been several centuries."

"I take it that you defeated them?"

"Yes"

"So now you're a major badass that no one wants to challenge?"

Viper gave a choked laugh. He had been called many things over the years, but he wasn't sure that badass had ever been among them.

"I can be a . . . badass when necessary, but in truth most in the clan are simply content." He weaved through the narrow alleys, his swift speed taking them into the less savory neighborhoods. "I am not an overly demanding master and unlike many I have no wish to acquire more power. They do not fear being tossed onto the bloody frontlines of a clan war."

"A benevolent dictator?" she muttered.

He resisted the urge to give her backside a smack. He didn't want to risk a revolt at this point.

"You sound disapproving. Would you rather I was a tyrant?"