Darkness Unleashed Page 0,3

them they have a potential Oracle?”

Viper arched a warning brow. “Only if you want me to lock you in a cell with Levet for the next century.”

Styx gave a sharp bark of laughter. “A nice bluff, but Levet has decided that he is the only one capable of tracking Darcy’s missing sister. He left for St. Louis as soon as Salvatore informed me that Regan had slipped from his grasp.”

“Perfect, now we have two loose cannons charging about Missouri. I’m not sure the natives will survive.”

“You believe Jagr is a loose cannon?”

Viper grimaced, recalling the night that Jagr had appeared at his lair requesting asylum. He had encountered any number of lethal demons, most of whom wanted nothing more than to kill him. He’d never, however, until that night, looked into the eyes of another and seen only death.

“I think beneath all that grim control, he’s a step from slipping into madness.”

“And yet you allowed him to become a clansman.”

Viper shrugged. “When he petitioned, my first inclination was to refuse. I could sense he was not only dangerously close to the edge, but that he was powerful and aggressive enough to challenge me as clan chief. He’s a leader by nature, not a follower.”

“So why allow him into Chicago?”

“Because he swore an oath to disappear into his lair and not offer any trouble.”

“And?” Styx prodded.

“And I knew he wouldn’t survive if he were without the protection of a clan,” Viper grudgingly admitted. “We both know that despite your attempts to civilize the vampires, some habits are too deeply ingrained to be easily changed. A rogue vampire with that much power would be seen as a threat to any chief. He would be destroyed.”

“So you took mercy.”

Viper frowned. He didn’t like being thought of as anything but a ruthless bastard. He hadn’t become clan chief because of any sensitivity bullshit. He was leader because the other vampires were scared he’d rip out their undead hearts.

“Not mercy—it was a calculated decision,” he growled. “I knew if the need ever arose, he would prove an invaluable ally. Of course, I assumed that I would need him as a warrior, not as a babysitter for a young, vulnerable Were. I’m not entirely comfortable sending him on such a mission.”

Styx grasped the medallion that always hung about his neck, revealing he was not nearly as confident in his decision as he would have Viper believe.

“I need Regan found, and Jagr has the intelligence and skills that are best suited to track her and keep her safe. And he possesses an even more important quality.”

“It can’t be his sparkling personality.”

“No, it’s his intimate knowledge of the anguish Regan has suffered.” Styx regarded him with a somber expression. “He, better than any of us, will understand what Regan needs now that she has been freed from her tormentor.”

Chapter 1

The campground a few miles south of Hannibal, Missouri, was like any other campground.

Oversized RVs parked on the barren ground, a row of portable potties in the back, and a small shack near the front entrance where the humans paid for the privilege of being crammed next to people they wanted to throttle by the end of their vacation.

Regan Garrett knew all about the throttling thing firsthand.

Granted, she wasn’t human, but she had spent the majority of her life in one campground or another. They were breeding grounds for homicide.

Indifferent to the threat of impending mass murder, Regan swiftly jogged through the neat columns of RVs. She had deliberately waited until it was late enough that the old folks would have their dentures in a glass and their wrinkled asses in bed, while the younger parents would be comatose after a day of unrelieved suffering at the hands of their children.

Midnight in Hannibal, and not a creature was stirring.

Reluctantly, she turned to jog back toward the shack that had its door closed against the late March air. The chill didn’t trouble Regan, despite the fact she was wearing nothing more than a pair of jeans and a sleeveless knit top. She might not possess the ability to shift or procreate, but she did have most of the werewolf’s talents.

She was faster and stronger than humans, temperatures didn’t trouble her, she could see perfectly in the dark, and she had a remarkable ability to heal any wound not inflicted with silver.

Her feet briefly faltered. It was that ability to heal that had…

No. Not now.

She had to focus. She would grieve the past once Culligan was dead.

For the past ten hours