“Unless you wish to be tossed out on your ear, I would suggest you forget what you think you might have seen,” Gideon retorted in smooth tones.
There was a small pause before the lad gave a nod of his head. He was still young enough to accept that there were things in the world that could not be readily explained.
“Me memory has always given me trouble. A terrible thing it is,” the boy retorted, offering Simone an awkward bow before hurrying after the other children into the house.
Turning, he met Simone’s speaking glance.
“I do hope you realize my staff will be in mutiny by the end of the day,” she informed him.
He gathered her in his arms. “What does it matter? We shall soon be wed and we shall have a new staff if we desire.”
“Complete with six page boys?” she said wryly, although she willingly allowed herself to snuggle close to him.
“Six page boys, a vampire and the Guardian of the Medallion. It should be quite an interesting household,” he teased, his hands stroking the satin of her hair.
She gave a small chuckle, her arms rising to wrap about his neck.
“As long as we are together.”
He leaned downward to press his lips to her own.
“For eternity, my sweet.”
Please turn the page for
an exciting sneak peek of
FEAR THE DARKNESS,
the next installment in Alexandra Ivy’s
Guardians of Eternity series,
coming in September 2012!
Prologue
Chapter 1
The abandoned silver mine in the Mojave Desert wasn’t the first place one would expect to encounter Styx, the current Anasso.
Not only was he the King of all Vampires, but at six foot five of pure muscle with the stark beauty of his Aztec ancestors he was the one of the most powerful demons in the world.
He could command the most luxurious lair in the area with a dozen servants eager to do his bidding.
But he wanted his trip to Nevada to be as discreet as it was brief, so ignoring the protests of his companion, he’d chosen to spend the day waiting for his meeting with the local clan chief in the forgotten caves.
And, if he were honest with himself, it was a relief not to be stuck with the formal ceremony his position demanded. He was a fierce predator, not a damned politician, and the need to play nice gave him a rash.
Besides it was always a pleasure to yank Viper’s chain.
Styx made a brief survey of the empty desert that surrounded them, absently knocking the dust from his leather pants that were tucked into a pair of heavy boots. A black T-shirt was stretched over his massive chest with a tiny amulet threaded on a leather strip wrapped around his thick neck. That was his only jewelry besides the polished turquoise stones that were threaded through the dark, braided hair that hung to the back of his knees.
His dark eyes glowed with power in the thickening dusk as he at last turned toward his companion, barely hiding his smile.
Unlike him, Viper, the clan chief of Chicago, had no love for ‘roughing it.’
Dressed in a black velvet coat that reached his knees with a frilled white satin shirt and black slacks, he looked like he was on his way to the nearest ballroom. An impression only emphasized by his long hair the pale silver of moonlight that was left free to flow down his back and his eyes the startling darkness of midnight.
Styx was raw, savage power.
Viper was an exquisite fallen angel who was no less lethal.
With a pointed glance toward the Las Vegas skyline that glowed like a distant jewel, Viper met Styx’s gaze with a sour grimace.
“The next time you want me to join you on a road trip, Styx, feel free to lose my number.”
Styx arched a dark brow. “I thought everyone loved Vegas?”
“Which was why I agreed to this little excursion.” Viper tugged at his lace cuffs, managing to look immaculate despite his hours in the dusty cavern. “You failed to mention I was going to be staying in a damned mine instead of the penthouse suite at the Bellagio.”
“We’ve stayed in worse places.”
“Worse?” Viper pointed a slender finger toward the rotting boards that did a half-ass job of covering the entrance to the tunnel. “It was filthy, it smelled of bat shit, and the temperature was a few degrees less than the surface of the sun. I’ve visited hell dimensions that I enjoyed more than that godforsaken inferno.”
