Beyond the Darkness. Alexandra Ivy

shoved his fingers through his hair.

      He couldn’t agree more.

      Harley reached the top of the stairs when Caine appeared in the hallway, a pair of faded denims riding low on his hips, his hair still damp from the shower.

      “I heard the alarm.” His eyes darted to the door she’d just closed behind her. “What the hell is going on?”

      Harley blocked the door, her emotions in an unpleasant jumble. And all because of that stupid Were.

      Wasn’t it bad enough that he’d managed to make her question everything that Caine had ever told her? Not that she had ever been fully on board with Caine’s smooth stories. They had changed too often over the years to be completely believable.

      But to use his kingly mojo or whatever it was to make her melt beneath his kiss.

      It was despicable.

      She lifted a hand and pressed it to her lips. They still tingled with pleasure. And they weren’t the only thing tingling.

      It had to be that damned musky smell of his. It was some sort of Were aphrodisiac or something.

      Stirring up her anger to cover the craving that still prickled through her body, Harley pointed a finger in Caine’s face.

      “I warned you that your delusions of grandeur were going to get you killed,” she snarled. “Salvatore has dropped in for a visit.”

      “Shit.” Caine’s face paled. “Did you get him? Is he caged?”

      “Do you mean did I save your ass from certain death? Yes, I did.”

      Caine glanced toward the closed door to the basement, his brow furrowed.

      “I need to make a phone call.”

      A phone call? Harley narrowed her gaze. The cur was acting strangely, even for Caine.

      “Fine. I’ll keep an eye on the prisoner.”

      Like a striking snake, Caine reached out to grab her arm. “No.”

      “Why not?”

      His smile was strained. “You think I would risk you being in the same room as a rabid Were who has sworn to kill you?”

      “He’s locked in a silver cage. For the moment he’s helpless.”

      “A pureblood is never helpless.”

      Harley studied the too-handsome face. Caine didn’t want her near Salvatore. The question was, why?

      “If you’re afraid he might escape, that’s all the more reason I should keep watch on him.”

      The blue eyes glowed in the dim light of the hall. “I have curs to take care of guard duty. You have better things to do with your time.”

      She shrugged. “Not really. Besides, I want to talk with the Were.”

      “Talk to him about what?”

      “Does it matter?”

      His fingers tightened on her arm. “Of course it does.”

      “Why?”

      “I don’t want you exposed to the filth he’s bound to spew.”

      Harley snorted. Like most nonhumans, Caine managed to adopt the social norms that flowed and changed with the passage of time, but every so often he showed his age. The older demons were even worse.

      “Spew?”

      The glow in his eyes shimmered with blue fire, revealing he was hanging onto his wolf by a thread. Curs were always at the mercy of their emotions.

      “Salvatore is notorious for fabricating lies that hide his evil nature. The Weres would never have allowed him to stay in power otherwise.”

      She yanked her arm out of his grasp. “Do you mean lies like the fact that two of my sisters are alive and well, and currently living in Chicago?”

      Chapter Three

      Harley watched the anger ripple over Caine’s face before he clenched his jaw and studied her with a wary gaze.

      “You already spoke to Salvatore?”

      “It was a brief discussion.”

      “What else did he say?”

      “He mentioned that far from wanting me and my sisters dead, he has been trying to save us.” She deliberately paused. “From you.”

      His false laughter echoed through the hallway. “That bastard. He would say anything to save his worthless hide. You weren’t stupid enough to believe his lies, were you?”

      “Of course not.” Harley smiled, able to lie with the best of them.

      At the moment, she didn’t know what she believed.

      She didn’t trust Caine. And she sure as hell didn’t trust Salvatore.

      All she knew for certain was that she wanted answers.

      “Good.” He brushed the back of his hands down her cheek, allowing his fingers to linger on the curve of her neck. “He’s dangerous, Harley. You need to stay away from him.”

      “If he’s so dangerous, why don’t you just kill him?”

      “And have every Were in the world wanting to nail my ass to the wall?” he smoothly demanded. “No, thank you.”

      Yeah, right. She narrowed her gaze.

      “Holding him captive isn’t going to make the Weres any happier.”

      “Who will know that I’m holding him?” His hand deliberately encircled her throat. “He was alone, wasn’t he? I assume you would have mentioned if he had his pack of curs with him.”

      Harley abruptly recalled the tiny gargoyle. After capturing Salvatore, he’d slipped her mind.

      She knocked Caine’s hand from her throat. “Yeah, completely alone.”

      “There you go then.”

      “The vampire chasing you will suspect you’re involved in Salvatore’s disappearance.”

      She could sense him scrambling for a suitable lie. “Not if I force the dog to call his pack and assure them that he’s fine and on my trail. By the time they figure it out, we’ll be long gone.”

      She snorted at his ridiculous boast. Caine might be a bad-assed cur, but he was a pale imitation of Salvatore Giuliani.

      “You think you can force the King of Weres to do anything?”

      Without warning he moved forward, his pride clearly pricked by her patent disbelief. He crowded her against the wall and lowered his head until he was speaking directly against her mouth.

      “Never underestimate my powers of persuasion.”

      She lifted her hands and pressed them against his bare chest. “If you want to keep those lips, then you’d best remove them.”

      He stepped back with a mocking smile. “Someday, sweet Harley.”

      “Don’t you have a phone call to make?”

      “I want your promise you’ll stay out of the basement.”

      She met his gaze squarely. There was something going on, and she suspected she was involved, whether she wanted to be or not. She intended to discover what the hell it was.

      “Fine.”

      “Your promise.”

      She brushed her fingers over her chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

      “Be careful of your words.” His low voice was thick with warning. “Death can lurk in the most unexpected places.”

      Her