Startled by the interruption, Abby turned her head to regard Dante slowly strolling toward them. With a casual motion, he tossed the suitcase he held in his hand onto the sofa, never pausing in his approach.

More relieved than she cared to admit at his return, Abby drank in the pale, wicked countenance. As ridiculous as it might be to accept, it was almost as if a part of herself had been missing during his absence. A part that now felt fulfilled.

She was barely aware that Viper had moved to stand behind her, his hands resting lightly upon her shoulders.

"So you return at last, Dante," Viper murmured. "We were worried."

The silver gaze narrowed as Dante pointedly glanced toward the hands intimately grasping Abby's shoulders.

'Your concern is quite touching, Viper." He slowly arched a brow. "And speaking of touching…"

There was no mistaking the menacing edge in the satin voice, but Viper merely laughed.

"You cannot blame a vampire for admiring such purity. It is quite… intoxicating."

'Then perhaps you should get a breath of fresh air to clear your mind," Dante warned.

"Always the warrior." Viper reached to pull Abby's fingers to his lips. "If you decide you prefer a poet, be sure to call for me."

"Viper," Dante growled.

With that mysterious smile, Viper offered his fellow vampire a faint bow before moving toward the door.

"I shall leave the two of you to rest. Don't worry that you'll be bothered. I promise to keep the wolves, or in this case the demons, at bay."

Left on their own, Dante paused a moment before he moved to take the hand that Viper had so recently caressed.

"You must forgive my friend," he said with a wry smile. "He believes himself to be irresistible to women."

Smothering the urge to reach up and touch the sculpted face, she offered a distracted shrug. "He is rather fascinating,'' she felt bound to admit. Surely not even a babbling idiot would believe she was utterly indifferent to the beautiful fallen angel?

"You find him attractive?"

"In an undead sort of way."

His expression hardened. "I see."

Abby shivered. "He also terrifies me. I think he would destroy anything or anyone in his path if it suited his purpose."

A smile touched his lips. "He will not harm you. Not as long as I am near."

"Where have you been?"

He gave her fingers a slight squeeze before moving back to the suitcase he had left on the sofa and sweeping it open.

"To Selena's to retrieve a few belongings I thought we might need." He pulled out several pairs of jeans and casual cotton shirts that had once belonged to her employer. "They might not be a perfect fit, but they should do."

She heaved a sigh of sheer relief at the thought of clean clothes. A small slice of paradise.

"Thank you."

He reached back into the suitcase to pull out a small plastic container. "I also brought you this."

"What is it?"

"Something I believe you shall soon have need of."

Hoping against hope that it was a hot fudge sundae, she took the container and slowly pulled off the lid. Her nose Wrinkled at the foul smell that wafted from the green goo that most certainly was not a hot fudge sundae.

"Ugh. This is that vile stuff Selena used to drink."

"It will give you nourishment."

She hastily put the container onto a nearby table. "So will a cheeseburger and fries, and without any icky green aftertaste."

"Abby." Oddly Dante turned to pace across the large room, his fingers running a restless path through his long raven hair. "There is something you need to know."

Her blood froze at his raw tone. She might not know jack about vampires, but she did know that tone. It meant trouble. It always meant trouble.

"What?"

Slowly he turned to study her with a somber expression. "When Selena was dying, she touched you."

Abby reluctantly recalled those horrible moments in Selena's charred bedroom. It was something she had tried to put from her mind.

She gave a nod of her head. "Yes, I remember. Her fingers were moving, and then she grabbed my arm. It hurt."

"That was because she transferred her powers to you."

"Her… powers?"

"The spirit of the Phoenix," he said. "It now resides within you."

She stumbled backward as she waited for the punch line to the sick joke. There had to be a punch line, didn't there? Otherwise Dante would be serious. And that would mean she had some horrid creature setting up camp inside her.

Abby clutched her throat with trembling hands. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

"No," she at last managed to gasp. 'You're lying."

Easily detecting her distress, Dante moved forward, his hands held out. "Abby, I know this is difficult"

Abby loosed a hysterical laugh even as she bumped painfully into the paneled wail.

She had thought there was nothing left to shock her. How could it? Nothing could be worse than demons and vampires.

Or so she had thought.

Now she gave a violent shake of her head. "What could you know? You're not even human."

Chapter 5

Dante suppressed the urge to growl in frustration.

During his hurried excursion to Selena's, he had prepared himself for this confrontation. He hadn't pretended that Abby would do backflips of joy at being the Chalice for the Phoenix. Or thank him for offering the truth.

He knew she would be upset, even hysterical.

But that sudden fear in her eyes as she backed from him was enough to stir his most primal feelings.

Bloody hell, why did he care if she had returned to thinking him a monster? He had endured over three hundred years chained to the Phoenix without giving a damn about Selena as a person. Unless one counted the delicious dreams of draining her dry.

She had been no more than his captor. The tangible source of his smoldering fury.

But Abby…

It did matter, he grimly accepted. It mattered too damn much.

Reluctantly he studied the fragile, too-pale features, knowing he would do whatever necessary to ease her distress.

"Please listen to me, Abby," he murmured.

She gave another shake of her head. "No, just stay away from me."

Stay away? The irony-brought a wry smile to his lips.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. We are now bound together. Neither of us can leave the other. It's part of the spell."

Her eyes widened in horror before they abruptly narrowed. "Now I know that you're lying. "You did leave me."

"I did not go far, and it was with the knowledge that I would soon return to your side," he said softly, subtly moving forward. "Had I deliberately intended to flee, the pain would have been unbearable. Trust me, I tried enough times over the centuries to be certain."

She licked her dry lips. "No."

"Abby, can you tell me honestly that you did not feel my absence? Deep within you?"

The truth was etched upon her pale features even as she shook her head in denial. "This… can't be. I would know if some creature was living inside me."

"Do you want proof?"

She pressed even tighter to the paneling. "What do you mean?"

Dante slowly held out his hand. "Gome."

Abby paused, staring at his hand for long moments before at last placing her fingers on his own. Dante felt a rush of warmth at her unspoken display of trust. And another rush of warmth at the sensation of her soft skin brushing his own.

Heady stuff for a vampire who had been cold for an eternity.

With a gentle tug, he led her across the room to the large mirror hanging above the marble fireplace. Then, stepping behind her, he placed his hands upon her shoulders.

"Tell me what you see," he commanded in low tones.

She gave an impatient sound. "I see… oh." She leaned forward to peer into the mirror. "God, you have no reflection."

Dante rolled his eyes heavenward. "Of course not, I'm a vampire."

"It's just so weird."

"Abby, look at yourself," he rasped.

"What?" Her brows drew together. 'You want me to see I'm a wreck? News flash, I already knew that."

"Look at your eyes."

"My eyes? I—" Her words abruptly broke off as she reached with shaking fingers to touch her reflection. And no wonder. The soft brown eyes that had always fascinated him were now a brilliant, sapphire blue. The same blue that had marked Selena. A visible sign of the Phoenix that she could no longer deny. "No. No, no, no."

She stumbled backward, straight into his arms. Gently Dante turned her about and pressed her head to his chest as he brushed his hand over her curls.

"Easy, love," he murmured. "It's going to be okay."

A violent shiver raced through her body before she pulled back her head to stab him with a tearful glare.

"How? How is it going to be okay? I have some…

creature inside me." She gave a sudden gasp. "Oh God, that's why the demons were trying to Mil me, isn't it?"