Sophia (43 page)

“That won’t be a problem.”

* * * *

Raphael crouched by what remained of Garry McWaters. The human’s intestines had been shredded and were gushing poison into his system. Raphael had especially wanted him to experience the precise agony he had inflicted upon Cyn. Every bone in his body had been broken, as well, but the human was still alive, his spine still intact to ensure he felt every ounce of pain. Raphael had made sure of it. He’d also made sure to retrieve every bit of information the human possessed about this plot against his vampires.

“One last lesson before I send you to hell,” Raphael said, pushing his coat back behind him to get it out of the way.

“Never, ever, touch what is mine.”

He slammed his fist into McWaters’s chest, grabbed his heart and squeezed. The human screeched feebly, the only sound he had the strength left to make. Raphael looked up and captured the man’s gaze, and then he ripped the beating heart from his chest and stood, eyeing it dispassionately.

“Do you think my Cyn would like a souvenir?” he asked Duncan.

Duncan leaned sideways to study the dripping organ. “Probably not, my lord.”

“No,” Raphael agreed. He exerted a small amount of power and the heart went up in flames, turning to ash in seconds, soon joined by the rest of McWaters’s body.

Raphael brushed his hands off briskly and looked toward the house. The remaining humans were huddled against its walls, rendered harmless by terror. They still had weapons, but were unable to muster the will to use them as long as Duncan and the other vampires filled their heads with nightmare visions of what awaited them.

“Shall we deal with these others now?” Raphael asked, flashing Duncan a quick grin. “I didn’t bring my hunters all the way out here only to watch.”

He gave Duncan a nod and stood back, smiling in satisfaction as his vampires howled their release, as the shackles of civilization fell away and they were given free rein to hunt, to rip and tear, to drink blood flowing hot and fresh from the vein, as the heart of their prey fluttered beneath their palms. Willing donors were fine, far better than bagged blood, but nothing beat the viscous gush of heat as a vampire tore out the throat of his prey and reaped the reward of a successful hunt.

Raphael leaned against the SUV and waited, as the human killers were freed from their nightmares and the true terror began.

Sometime later, Duncan appeared from beneath the trees, strolling over to where Raphael sat in the open door of an SUV.

“Judging by the photographs in Cynthia’s cell phone, my lord, I would estimate that the bulk of her attackers were here. The hunters with Sophia and Mister Murphy may be disappointed.”

“Perhaps,” Raphael said absently. His attention was on the distant compound where Cyn was beginning to stir from the deep healing trance he’d woven around her. He turned back to focus on Duncan. “Is that everyone?”

“Yes. Juro is cleaning up the last of them now. By morning, there will be no trace that anyone was here, other than their vehicles.”

“Any blood traces?”

Duncan nodded. “Both inside the cabin and in two of the trucks. All human, none of them ours.”

It was a delicate way of saying there was no scent of Cyn on the premises or in the vehicles. Raphael debated what to do next. He could leave things the way they were, or torch both the cabin and vehicles, leaving nothing but a blackened pile for anyone who came looking. But there would be no bodies either way.

A very few of the humans had invited death, cowering inside the cabin, believing they’d be safe there, that his vampires couldn’t enter the dwelling. Unfortunately for them, once McWaters died, the cabin was no longer anyone’s home, which made it akin to an office building where anyone could come and go—including vampires.

The rest, those who had come outside with McWaters in the first place, had at least fought back and provided his vampires with a good hunt. Not that any escaped. That was never even a possibility. And once the hunting was done, Duncan and Juro had incinerated the bodies, just as Raphael had disposed of McWaters. Not every vampire had the power to do so, but Raphael surrounded himself with power, not with weakness.

“Leave the cabin as it is,” he said finally. “Have one of the vehicles dropped in the bar’s parking lot. It will give the investigators something to think about when they discover the owner’s body there. Leave the rest of the vehicles here. But make very certain the bodies are gone and any other evidence as well, Duncan. The human authorities may have their suspicions, but they’ll have no proof we were here.”

“Of course, my lord.”

Raphael turned in the direction of the compound once again, drawn almost against his will. Cyn wasn’t doing it consciously, but her need called to him and that was enough.

“I need to return,” he said abruptly. He started around the SUV intending to drive himself, but Duncan issued a sharp command and two vampires appeared out of the darkness, their black combats reeking of blood and violence. Raphael glanced down at his own clothes. He would have to shower before seeing Cyn.

 
* * * *

Raphael leapt from the SUV while it was still rolling, his cell phone to his ear.

“My lord,” Saephan’s voice answered immediately.

“I’m in the building,” Raphael said as Juro’s twin held the door open for him. “I’ll shower in the guards’ quarters and be there momentarily.”

He didn’t bother asking his guards if anything had happened while he was out. If it had they would have contacted him. Instead, he took the left-hand hallway out of the great room, heading for the wing opposite the one where he had his private quarters, hitting the door to the basement stairs at a near run.

He slammed open the door of the first room he came to, noting absently that it was currently in use by one of his male vampires. The odds had favored him, but it was fortunate all the same, because he intended to borrow some clothes. Equally fortunate was the fact that this section was reserved for Raphael’s personal security and those vampires tended to be bigger than average.

He tore off his bloodied and filthy clothing, dropping it into a pile. Someone would retrieve it later. What could be saved would be cleaned and returned to him. Anything else would be burned. He stepped into the shower while it was still warming up, soaping his body and washing his hair with quick economical movements. He could feel Cyn’s restlessness. On some level, she knew he was near and she wanted him closer. And, although he’d been gone only a few hours, he needed to see her again, needed to see with his own eyes that she was well, before the sun rose and deprived him of his senses.

He rubbed a towel over his wet hair as he rummaged through the available clothing. A pair of sweats and a T-shirt came to hand, which was all he needed.

Two minutes later and he was back upstairs—barefoot, his hair still wet, towel in hand, heading across the great room to his private quarters in the opposite wing. Wei Chen stepped out of the office as Raphael strode by. The Seattle nest leader opened his mouth to say something, probably to ask about the hunt, but Raphael spoke first.

“The human woman you have working for you,” he said. “Will she be here tomorrow?” He didn’t slow down, forcing Wei Chen to hurry along next to him.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Find an excuse to keep her tomorrow until after sunset. I’ll have someone follow her when she leaves. And I’ll want to meet with you privately first thing. Bring her records. Do you understand?”

“Of course, my lord. Is there anything—”

“Nothing.” He turned his attention away from the Seattle leader, nodding instead to Elke who looked as if she hadn’t moved the entire time he was gone. He hurried past her and entered the code to call his private elevator, waiting impatiently for it to arrive. The ride down was interminable and he shot through the opening doors as soon as they’d widened enough to accommodate his shoulders.

Dr. Saephan stood, calm despite Raphael’s precipitous arrival. No doubt he’d heard the elevator’s departure and known what it meant.

“Lord Raphael,” he said, bowing slightly.

“She is well?”

“Very well, my lord. I’ve removed her IV for now. The bag would have needed changing during the day, and she’ll be fine without it for those few hours. What she needs most she will have, and that is you, my lord. Speaking of which—”

Saephan paused as if gauging Raphael’s mood before continuing. Raphael tore his gaze away from Cyn to give him an inquiring look.

“There is blood in the refrigerator, my lord, if you have need of it.”

Raphael didn’t move. Under normal circumstances, he took blood from his mate and no other. But that was obviously impossible in her current condition. So either Saephan feared that Raphael’s hunger would drive him to take blood from her anyway, and thus endanger her life. Or he was honestly concerned that Raphael might be neglecting his own health in his preoccupation with healing Cyn.

Raphael chose to believe the latter.

“Thank you, Doctor,” he said, his gaze meeting Saephan’s without blinking. “We’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Raphael waited until he heard the doors open upstairs and close again, confirming with a quick probe that the elevator was empty. He then called it back and locked it down for the night, pulling the vault door across the small vestibule and securing that as well.

Stripping off his borrowed clothes, he slipped into bed next to Cyn. She was wearing one of Raphael’s t-shirts, obviously selected by Dr. Saephan after bathing her. Cyn rarely wore nightclothes of any kind and almost certainly had not brought any with her on this trip. Raphael experienced a surprisingly visceral pleasure at seeing her in his clothes and mocked himself silently. Perhaps he wasn’t as far above primitive man as he liked to believe.

He slid closer, wrapping his body around her carefully. “I’m here,
lubimaya,
” he said unnecessarily. Cyn’s entire body relaxed as she turned into him, her breath running out in a long, slow exhalation that warmed the naked skin of his chest. Raphael closed his eyes in relief and placed a gentle hand beneath the shirt she wore, resting it against the bare skin of her lower back. They both needed the contact. But in this case, his need might have been greater than hers.

“I love you, my Cyn,” he murmured. He fell asleep to the strong beat of her heart against his ribs, not even noticing when the sun began its daily ascent.

Chapter Forty

Colin sat in the front passenger seat, giving Robbie directions to the next address on the list Raphael’s tech had provided. Sophie sat behind him. She didn’t say anything, but he was exquisitely aware of her, almost as if she was touching him even though she wasn’t. He wondered if it had something to do with the blood she’d taken from him. Had it linked them somehow?

Robbie made a turn and Colin looked up. They were heading for Curtis Jenkins’s place, but several people on the list were on the way, so they were stopping at those addresses as they came up. They’d already checked a couple off and it had taken no time at all, since no one had been home.

There had been no word from Raphael and his party yet, but it was still too early to expect anything. After all, both of McWaters’s old family places were pretty far out. Maybe he expected more because of Duncan’s assertion that the vampires could come to his assistance in only minutes, no matter where they were. Or maybe it was because he was sure on some level that Garry was at one of those hidden cabins, and that his old buddy wouldn’t survive the night if Raphael had anything to say about it. And Colin was pretty sure Raphael had a lot to say on that particular subject.

Not that Colin blamed him. Garry and his newfound friends had tried to murder Leighton. They’d killed Leon, as well as Marco and Preston. And Garry had all but bragged about what they’d done to Mariane. But after so many years of covering his back . . . Hell, maybe that was the real reason he’d suggested splitting into two groups. So he wouldn’t have to face up to his friend’s execution. Or, rather, his former friend. He might have mixed feelings about Garry’s death, but he had none at all about the past tense of their friendship.