Rajmund (42 page)

Raj could hear Emelie screaming in his head, demanding he take what she offered, begging him when her demands went unheard. He thought of his vampire children, of Cervantes and Danny, of Yossi and his Angel. Of Emelie. What would happen to them, what vengeance would Krystof exact against his people for their master's arrogance? Unacceptable.

He opened himself to the flow of Emelie's power, drinking from the combined strength of his many children, letting his rage fuel his determination as he surged to his feet with a roar that threatened to bring the house down around them. He pummeled Krystof with blasts of power, one after the other, refusing to permit the vampire lord to dictate the terms of this encounter. He fought back in his own way, attacking from every side, forcing Krystof to defend against volleys from all around. The vampire lord howled, desperately fighting to recreate his impenetrable cocoon even as Raj's power ate away at its very fabric.

Krystof dropped finally to his knees in a last ditch defense, sucking power into himself like a vacuum, giving up any attempt to attack in favor of simple survival. When even that failed, he looked up and met Raj's eyes, his mouth open in a bloody grin, the fires in his eyes dying to faint embers. “I wish you joy of it,” he said, and then laughed, howling like a madman as Raj drew his outstretched arms into his body until they were held before him like two fisted pillars of energy. Krystof screamed in agony as a terrible weight crushed him to the floor, every bone in his body cracking beneath the unbearable pressure, joints tearing and lungs bursting, blood seeping from every pore, every orifice, as his body seemed to fold in upon itself. Raj opened one fist wide, his skin whitening with strain, until he snapped the fist closed and Krystof's heart burst into flame within his chest.

The air in the room grew suddenly still, not a whisper of movement, not a speck of dust so much as drifted, and then like a vacuum collapsing in an instant, Krystof's body vaporized and disappeared, becoming no more than a pile of dust and bloody linen on the carpet.

Raj closed himself away from Emelie and fell to his knees, his head falling forward to his chest in exhaustion as he drew a deep breath . . . and screamed in agony. His mind was suddenly filled with thousands of voices as every living vampire in the territory clamored in fear, reaching out to him for sustenance, for protection, for their very lives. He was aware of the office door flying open, of Cervantes and Yossi rushing in to surround him, joining their power in an effort to buffer the overwhelming demands of Raj's new subjects. He rocked slowly back and forth, muscles straining, tendons standing out on his neck as he strove to make sense of what was happening, to bring some semblance of order and reason to the endless cacophony. The wall of power surrounding him grew stronger as Emelie added her own strength, as she channeled the others in carefully, building the wall brick by brick until at last the voices quieted, becoming no more than a steady hum in the background.

Raj remained on his knees, his head hanging forward, chin on his chest. Blood wept from his eyes and welled from his hands where his nails had dug gouges in his palms. He heard voices outside, footsteps pounding down the stairs, and then Emelie was there in the flesh, kneeling next to him.

"My lord?” she said softly. “Raj?” she added urgently, when he didn't respond.

He cracked one eye opened and rasped, “I hate that vampire shit."

She barked a laugh that was more like a sob of relief and called for someone to bring him some blood. More yelling and footsteps, and a bag of warmed blood was thrust into his hand. He ripped it open with his fangs and sucked it down, passing the empty bag and taking another as it was offered until he'd downed six full pints of blood, far more than any single human could have safely provided.

He drew a deep breath and looked at Emelie, his mind clear at last. “Sarah?” he asked her.

"Not in this house, my lord."

Raj swore foully. He'd accessed every filthy corner of Krystof's diseased brain and found nothing there of Sarah's abduction, or of any plot to sell vampire secrets to the drug companies, so where the hell . . .

There was a tumble of footsteps down the basement stairs and more voices arguing. “Damn,” he groaned. “What now?"

Emelie remained by his side, but she spun around into a defensive crouch. Raj looked up and saw nothing but the bodies of his vampires forming a defensive wall between him and whatever was coming. He huffed out a laugh, realizing he'd somehow acquired his own wall of meat. He heard Simon's voice raised among the others. Well, at least his wall of meat had a brain. “Let him through, Em."

Simon squeezed between the bulky forms of Raj's guard, dropping into the clear space around him like a glob of toothpaste from a tube. He climbed to his knees and grinned. “My lord."

"Simon,” Raj acknowledged. “Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"Oh! Yes, my lord. You know I monitor all of the cell phone lines, because one never knows—"

"The
point
, Simon.” The guy was a technical genius, but got lost in his own explanations sometimes.

"Yes, my lord. Sorry. Well, I noticed one number kept coming into your voice mail. Four calls in less than an hour. Of course, I can't access your voice mail, my lord, that would be—"

"The point?"

"I called the number back and it was Kent from the Amherst blood house. He said to tell you it was Jozef."

Raj froze, staring at his tech expert. “What was his message exactly?” he asked softly.

"He said to tell you he found someone who remembered seeing the girl you were looking for and that she left with Jozef."

"Son of bitch.” Raj stood abruptly. It all made sense now. Krystof hadn't been playing a game. The stupid bastard really hadn't known what was going on right under his nose. And that explained why the security chief hadn't been here to defend his master. But did Jozef really believe he could take on Raj? Had he counted on Raj being so weakened by the battle with Krystof that he'd be more easily defeated? “Emelie,” he said.

"Already on it, my lord,” she replied, busily tapping away at her Blackberry. “He's got a house a couple blocks over, but that's not going to be the place. It's too small. Damn."

"Here, let me.” Simon flipped out his own device. “Here it is. There's a house in Clarence, big sucker on three acres. The title's in his wife's maiden name. That's gotta be it.” He gestured at Em. “I'm sending the address to you."

"Should we call first?” Em asked. “Make sure—"

Raj held up a hand. “He's there,” he growled. They'd forgotten. He'd forgotten himself in all the rush. He was now Lord of the Northeastern Territory and his power had grown exponentially with the assumption of that mantle. Just as he provided life and protection to his vampires, so they lent him a reserve of power he could tap at will. He knew where Jozef was, and he knew Sarah was with him. Raj's blood bond with her had been boosted until he could feel her in his head, just like he could every vampire in the territory. Including Jozef. He could have reached out and snuffed Jozef's life with a thought. But what would be the fun in that?

"Emelie."

"My lord?"

"Leave a reserve here to clear out this mess and dispose of anyone who tries to take advantage of the situation. You're with me."

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Something was up. Sarah twisted around on the uncomfortable examining table they'd handcuffed her to and watched that bitch Edwards scurrying around the lab like one of her rats. She was backing up computer files like crazy while grabbing every piece of paper she could get her hands on and throwing it all into packing boxes. Like that was going to fool anyone. She had an entire fricking lab down here. Did she think no one would notice? That she'd actually get
away
with this? The stupid woman had spent months working with vampires and she
still
thought she could hide from them? Her life wouldn't be worth two cents if she went public with any of this stuff.

"They'll kill you, you know,” Sarah said, conversationally. Edwards ignored her, sitting down at her computer and switching out the flash drives. Clearly there was a lot of data. Sarah wondered just how long this project had been going on. Longer than anyone suspected, that was for sure. “They'll hunt you down and kill you. Probably painfully,” she added.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch!"

Sarah smiled. The good doctor was sounding a bit shrill. She hoped that meant help was on the way because she had a feeling these guys wouldn't want to leave any witnesses behind.

The basement windows rattled, as what seemed like a whole convoy of trucks arrived, followed by the sound of several voices. She looked up automatically, but couldn't see anything. The damn windows were completely blacked out. But that didn't stop Edwards from staring up at them in shock, just before she began ripping cables out of the back of her CPU. “Fuck this,” the woman swore beneath her breath. “I'll just take the whole damn—"

Whatever she was going to say next was lost as a wave of power picked up the house and shook it like a child's piggybank, shattering the blackened basement windows and sending shards of glass flying. Edwards gave a panicked shriek and dropped under her desk, arms covering her head. When she finally looked up, her face was deathly pale and the wide-eyed gaze she turned on Sarah was full of fear.

Sarah just grinned. “My boyfriend's back."

Raj glanced around as he slid out of the backseat of the SUV. He'd wanted to drive, but Em had bullied him into the backseat of the big truck, muttering something about how he'd better get used to it. That and more, apparently. When he started up the driveway toward the two-story colonial where Jozef had set up his little project, he was surrounded by a security cordon that rivaled anything deployed for a world leader. He sighed, wondering if he'd ever get to drive his BMW again.

"Em.” She glanced over at him from her position at his left shoulder. “I'll go in fir—” He paused mid-word as she gave him a filthy look. “I have to do this,” he said patiently.

Her mouth tightened in irritation. “At least let us go in ahead of you and make sure there's not some sort of booby trap or something. Fucking Jozef has to know he doesn't have a chance in hell in a stand-up fight."

Raj smiled, amused by her assessment of Jozef. His attention was drawn suddenly to the house and his smile fled. The front door opened and Jozef stood there, flanked by Serge and Charles, who were most obviously
not
being held against their will. He couldn't help wondering if Nina realized that Serge hadn't been taken, but had abandoned her to her fate. Not that the bastard would live long enough for anyone to worry about it.

"Move,” Raj said. His vampire cordon split, and he strode forward until only a few feet separated him from Jozef and his flunkies.

Raj growled. “Where is she, Jozef? I want Sarah out here now."

"Don't listen to him, Joey!” He heard Jozef's wife's shrill voice just before she shoved her way around the vampires and out onto the porch. Her pointed, little face was twisted in outrage, her kinky hair sticking out wildly, looking as if she'd been recently electrocuted. She stepped to the edge of the short porch and screamed at him, spittle flying. “Who the fuck do you think you are to come here and tell my Joey what to do? Are you the one who put up with that crazy old man all these years, bowing and scraping and getting nothing but leftovers?” she demanded. “Not you, not the great Raj. You flew off to the big city, the big man in Manhattan. Well, not anymore. My Joey's taking over here and we'll say what happens, not you!"

Raj was struck speechless for a full three seconds, and then he laughed. “Are you fucking kidding me, Jozef? You let this human bitch talk you into this? Does she understand
nothing?
Do
you
fucking understand
nothing?"
His voice had risen, growing louder and more furious with every word. “ON YOUR GODDAMNED KNEES, NOW!” he roared.

His command hit the house like a tidal wave, a blast of lethal force that shattered every window and sent a rain of glass showering down in the darkness. The three rebellious vampires were crushed by the power of Raj's command, driven to their knees where they cringed away from the rage on his face. Jozef dared to raise his head, but even he could only stare in open-mouthed shock.

"Did you think Krystof gave me Manhattan because he liked me, Jozef?” Raj demanded in a harsh, low voice. “You of all people should have understood his reasons.” He strode forward, taking the steps to the porch to stare down at the defeated trio with utter disgust. “Did you really think you could get away with this?
Are you that fucking stupid?"

With a high-pitched screech, Celia launched herself at his back, blunt teeth bared, red-tipped fingers curving like claws. Raj didn't bother to turn, repelling her with a punch of power that hit like an invisible battering ram, slamming her off the porch to lie on the glass-covered ground like a pinned insect.

"Celia!” Jozef croaked and would have gone to her, but Raj stopped him with a cold look.

"Don't worry, Jozef. She's not dead yet.” Jozef's head swung around, his eyes filled with fear.

"It wasn't her fault, Ra—I mean, my lord. Please, let her live."

Raj stared down at the big vampire, his lip curling in disdain, but all he said was, “Her life is bound to
yours
.” He held out his hand and Emelie slapped a smooth, wooden stake into his palm. He curled his fingers around its cool shaft and said pleasantly, “Go to hell, Jozef."

Jozef found some last shred of pride and snarled, “I'll see you there, you Pollack bastard."

Raj smiled, dipped his head in agreement and said, “Maybe you will.” He swung his arm down in a smooth arc, shoving the stake so hard and deep that his fist hit the vampire's thick chest with an audible thud. Jozef fell backward with a gasp, a look of disbelief flashing briefly across his face before he disappeared in a shower of gray dust. Raj heard a long exhaled breath behind him as Celia died along with her mate, their lives wound far too tightly by the long mating bond for her to survive his death.