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my men in your barracks.”
    Alex’s set expression softened. “You will have to trust that Gabriella is my friend. I’m just as concerned about her disappearance.”
    Alex reached out, placed one hand on Guntram’s shoulder, and closed his other fist around the crystal.
    White light blinded Guntram for a moment. When his vision cleared, he was in another place. A cave. With Persian carpets on the floor, silk tapestries cloaking rock walls, and fine furnishings.
    The room reeked of sex. Guntram inhaled. Alex and Gabriella had made love here. So had others. But the scents were fading.
    A glance at Alex said the other man knew what he was thinking. His expression remained neutral. He lifted his chin toward the far wall. A bureau laden with decanters of liquor sat below a gilt-framed mirror.
    “Touch the frame of the mirror. A lot will be explained.”
    Guntram stalked toward the mirror, lifted one hand, and pressed his fingertips to the frame. The surface of the glass reflecting his own image shimmered, lightened, and then settled again, offering a view into an orgy of bloodlust and sexual frenzy.
    Guntram’s chest stilled and his gaze skimmed the room.
    “She touched the glass,” Alex said softly, urgently, beside him. “Had to, for it to have happened.”
    “It’s a portal, then? Into hell.”
    “Into the Land of the Dead. Hell, I guess.”
    “She’s not there. Is she already dead?”
    “That she isn’t anywhere in sight is a hopeful sign.”
    Guntram swallowed down the deep emotions that tasted like metal in his mouth. “How do we save her?”
    “Simon, my mage, has a plan.”
    Guntram found it nearly impossible to look away from the awful carnage. But he dropped his hand and spun on his heels, his hand coming up to grip Alex’s throat and lift him off the floor, the tip of his dagger pressing between the vampire’s ribs. “You’re responsible,” he said between clenched teeth. “Don’t think, because you hold my men and we’re only a small force, that our kind won’t seek vengeance.”
    Alex lifted his hands. “The last thing I want is trouble with the Wolfen,” he said, his voice strained. “You have my word we’ll do everything we can to get her back. She’s my friend.”
    “She tried to kill you.”
    “Long ago, yes. But I know she regretted it. I hold no grudge against her. I didn’t intend this.”
    Guntram lowered the knife and dropped Alex on his feet.
    Alex raised the crystal. “Have you seen enough?”
    Guntram nodded.
    Before his eyes could adjust to the dim light inside the council chamber, something hard slammed into Guntram’s side, taking him to the ground. A boot crushed the hand holding the dagger—Alex’s. Nicolas had him pinned.
    Guntram had the advantage of weight and would have liked nothing better than to take out his rage and frustration on them both, but he lay slack until Nicolas gave his shoulders a shove and climbed off him.
    Guntram rose, brushing off his clothing—nothing but an act, because he was already covered with a thin layer of mud. When his gaze met Alex’s again, he let him see his fury. “What is this plan you have?”
    The older man stepped forward. “What we seek to do may be impossible. While demons have punched through to enter our realm from time to time, no one from this realm has entered the Land of the Dead and returned. Not without negotiating a trade. One soul for the soul you would save.”
    “I would take her place,” Guntram said quickly.
    “And then your kind would still have cause to war with us,” Alex said, sounding impatient. “I would attempt to enter in secrecy, find her, and slip back. It hasn’t been done before. But we were fortunate to obtain a device, something sorcerers use to cross between the realms. We sent Inanna and the demon known as the Devourer to the Land using that device.”
    “I will take my men.”
    Alex shook his head. “No, we don’t want to leave a large signature. Two of us will