When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity #1)(71)

"Well, there is the tail, but once you get used to the wagging, you'll barely notice it's there."

She batted his arm. 'You're lucky you're already dead."

He flashed a grin. "And you are already nagging like a wife."

Her own lips twitched. God, he was so beautiful. And intelligent and strong and tender and… and perfect.

A rush of heat raced through her before she was sternly turning her thoughts to the matter at hand.

'Why are we going upstairs?"

"We can't leave the spell books. They're too dangerous to have lying around."

"No kidding." She gave a shudder as she recalled the strange magic that had gripped her as she read the spell. That was an experience she'd just as soon not repeat. "What do you think Selena was doing with them?"

He paused on the landing and turned to face her. "That's the question, isn't it?"

"Maybe we should review what we know."

"Review what we know?" he repeated with a faint smile. "Law & Order? CSI? Monk?"

"Agatha Christie."

"Ah."

"It might help." She leaned against the wall, suddenly realizing how weary she was. The past few days had taken their toll on her body. "At the very least it couldn't hurt."

He gave a slow nod of his head. "True enough. Where do we start this review?"

Abby blinked. It always caught her off guard to discover Dante's willingness to listen to her opinion. No one, no one had ever done that before.

"I suppose with Selena," she said hesitantly. 'You said you thought she was acting strangely before… the explosion? To be honest, I just thought she was crazy."

He narrowed his gaze as he remembered back. "She was more secretive than usual. She would come and go from the mansion without taking me and then disappear into her rooms for hours."

'You think she was visiting the witches?"

'Yes."

"Did she get the spell booJks from them?"

'That would be my guess."

Abby bit her lip as she attempted to make sense of the strange path of events.

"What sort of spell would she be working on? Was she afraid of something?"

His lips twisted as his gaze flashed over her. "At the time I didn't care. I had more… intriguing matters to consider."

The heat returned, with interest.

Damn but he shouldn't be so distracting.

"And now?" she grimly pressed.

"There's a possibility that the witches might have stumbled onto the wizard and his followers," he said. "If they sensed his power, they would have taken steps to protect themselves."

"That makes sense." She hesitated, sensing the frustration that simmered within him. 'You don't think that's the answer."

He studied her a moment. "Giving you my blood was a dangerous thing."

'Tell me what's bothering you."

He shifted restlessly. "If they were worried about the wizard, they wouldn't have felt the need to hide it from me. More than likely I would have been sent in to deal with the threat."

"And?"

"And the spell you were chanting was obviously intended to harm demons, not humans."

She reached out to touch his arm. She had told him of the demon attacking her, but she had forgotten to confess the wrenching agony that had drilled through her just moments before the spell had been brought to an end.

"Maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was in the middle of that spell, I felt… pain."

His brows snapped together, his fingers reaching out to touch her face as if needing to reassure himself that she was unharmed.

"What sort of pain?"

She grimaced. "Like someone was shoving a hot poker through me."

'The Phoenix?"

She tried to remember back, only to give a shrug. "I don't know. There was just pain, and then the demon hit me from behind and it was gone."

His frustration deepened as he turned to pace across the landing. "This makes no sense."

"After the past few days, you're going to have to be a little more specific," she said wryly.

"We still don't know what the witches were up to, who killed Selena, or what the bloody hell the wizard has to do with all this."

"You're saying we don't know squat."

His low growl made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. "There's a connection. We just have to figure it out." Reaching out, he took her hand and pulled her down the hall. "We need to find those damn witches."

Chapter 20

They moved swiftly through the darkened house, only pausing when they reached the hall where Selena had hidden her safe.

Dante was intent on the scents that filled the air when he felt Abby dig in her heels. He turned to discover her peering uneasily through the shadows.

'You're sure the wizard is gone?" she demanded.

"One way to find out," he whispered directly in her ear. "You go first."

She rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

"If the wizard was near, we would hear him screaming for mercy," he assured her. "Viper doesn't screw around when he's on the hunt."