Cyn closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down, letting the blood bond give her a direction. Her eyes opened, and she raced around the tent to the grassy hillside above the polo field. And there they
were,
Raphael’s vampire security, fangs in full view as they clustered in a tight circle around . . .
“Raphael!” she cried and ran up the hillside. Her spike heels dug into the soft dirt, but she refused to take the time to stop and remove them. Raphael needed her. His security parted before her as she skidded to a stop, going down onto her knees. There was blood everywhere, gleaming black in the moonlight. It soaked Raphael’s jacket and spread in a dark stain over his white shirt.
“He’s all right,” she heard someone say, and glanced up to see Jared kneeling across from her.
“Don’t tell me he’s all right,” she snapped. “He’s bleeding. Do you have a knife?”
“A knife?” he repeated, puzzled. “Why would—”
“Because he needs blood.
What the hell—”
“
Lubimaya
.”
Raphael’s voice was quiet, but his grip on her hand was strong. His eyes opened, and she saw his power in the silver stars burning there. “I am well.”
“You’re not well,” she said, tears filling her voice as she leaned across his body, as if to protect him from further attack. “Were you shot? I told you it wasn’t—”
“He took a hit in the shoulder.
Nine millimeter hollow-point at close range.
He was going for the heart, but Raphael deflected the shot,” Jared confirmed in a businesslike tone. “
Juro’s
got the shooter in custody.”
She raised her gaze to Raphael’s new lieutenant in confusion. Why wasn’t he more upset? Why were they all treating this like it was no big deal?
“Luther Mars,” Jared clarified.
“The sniper from
Colorado
.
We caught—”
“You knew,” she said, staring at Jared,
then
at the vampires all around until her gaze returned reluctantly to meet Raphael’s. “You set this whole thing up.”
“Cyn,” he began, but she shook her head. She couldn’t deal with this. Not here, not now.
“Never mind,” she said briskly. She would have pulled her hand away from his, but he wouldn’t let her. “Where’s the limo?” she asked Jared, swallowing the feeling of betrayal that was choking her. “And where’s
Juro
now?”
Jared touched the earpiece he wore that connected him to the rest of Raphael’s security team. “
Juro
will meet us back at the estate. He’s taking Mars directly there. We’ll put Raphael in one of the SUVs. It’s more secure.”
Cyn wanted to snap that it was a little late to be worrying about security, but she didn’t, only looking up as the big SUV rolled toward them, disregarding event security and everyone else in its determination.
“Let’s go,” Jared said, indicating the surrounding vampires. He leaned down and hooked his arm under Raphael’s uninjured shoulder, then stood, bringing the wounded vampire lord with him.
“Wait!” Cyn said frantically.
“It’s all right,” Raphael reassured her calmly. “I can walk, my Cyn, and it is better that I do so.”
She looked up and met his eyes almost unwillingly.
“Walk with me,
lubimaya
,” he requested, his gaze never wavering.
Cyn looked away, but she nodded once and took his other side, sliding under his injured arm carefully.
It seemed to take forever to walk the few steps to the SUV. Cyn was conscious the whole time of the many curious human eyes, knowing they’d be watching to see if the vampire lord was truly as indestructible as rumor said he was. She was pretty sure they couldn’t see much, not with Raphael’s hulking bodyguards on all sides, but she pasted a smile on her face just in case, so that anyone watching would see nothing amiss.
Of course, that wasn’t true. There was a lot amiss about this evening. But it had nothing to do with vampire politics.
* * * *
Raphael strode into the basement holding cells, his bloody clothing gone, replaced by jeans and a sweater. He didn’t want to deal with this now, had no patience for a long interrogation. Something was going on with Cyn, something bad. He could feel her emotional turmoil, her mood swinging from anger to despair and determination all at once. It worried him more than he wanted to admit. He hadn’t told her of his plans for the Dakin charity event, certainly hadn’t told her they were hoping to draw the sniper in. They’d made a point of putting the word out, in circles both high and low, that he’d be there. They’d even gone so far as to have Lonnie start a rumor at the blood house, and the party had been the perfect venue. Will
Rogers
State Park
was hilly and filled with trees, giving a potential assassin plenty of places to hide. It was impossible to secure, no matter how many guards one posted.
Juro
had argued against keeping Cyn in the dark about the plan, but Raphael had overruled him. Cyn would never have agreed to put Raphael at risk, and it was necessary this time. He’d had to dispose of this assassin as quickly as possible.
Had to send a message to
Klemens
that he had failed, and that Raphael now stood with Lucas in their ongoing hostilities.
He wanted
Klemens
to worry, and he wanted Lucas to win.
He sighed and stared through the window into the interrogation cell. There was no escape from here. These cells had been designed with vampires in mind. No human could hope to get out. Not as long as he was still among the living.
But escape wasn’t an issue tonight, because this particular human prisoner wouldn’t live to see the next dawn. Raphael wanted only one thing from this man before then, and that was the name of the vampire who’d hired him. He would leave the rest to
Juro
and the others. He needed to get upstairs, needed to talk to Cyn before her anger took her away from him.
He opened the door to the cell without warning and went inside, along with
Juro
and Jared. Luther Mars sat in the corner. His gaze skittered over the three vampires, but settled immediately on Raphael. Mars was a big man, but muscled under the fat. His face bore a scar along one cheek that bisected his
jawline
and throat before disappearing beneath his T-shirt, and his eyes had the flat gaze of a man who had faced death and escaped. He wouldn’t be escaping this time, but maybe he didn’t realize that yet.
“Mister Mars,” Raphael began, “you don’t seem very worried.”
“Hey, I figure I’m still alive, so you must need me for something,” Mars said, shrugging as well as he could within the chains binding him to the chair. “Maybe you want me to carry a message back to the vamp
who
sent me?”
“Indeed,” Raphael agreed. “Although perhaps not the message you imagine.”
Mars gave a short, cynical laugh that told Raphael the human knew exactly how this night was going to end. “It was worth a shot,” Mars sighed out. He winced as he attempted another shrug. “If I cooperate, will you kill me quick?”
“You tried to assassinate my Sire,” Jared said in disbelief.
“Yeah, well, that vamp bastard offered me a whole heck of a lot of money to do it.”
“And what bastard might that be?” Raphael inquired.
“You’ll make it quick?”
It was Raphael’s turn to shrug.
“Certainly quicker than if I had to drag it unwilling from your mind.
And don’t bother trying to
lie
, Mister Mars. I assure you, it won’t work.”
Mars sighed deeply, and for the first time since Raphael had been observing the human prisoner, he saw defeat in the droop of the man’s shoulders, the dullness of his eyes.
“What the hell. Bastard’s name is Alfonso
Heintz
, or at least that’s what he told me. I only met him once, at a bar outside
St. Paul
. Everything after that, including money and instructions on where you’d be and when, was done by an e-mail dead drop.”
“Thank you,” Raphael said, then reached out with his power and stopped the human’s heart. Mars slumped against the chains, dead.
“Sire!”
Jared protested.
“I don’t have time for this, Jared,” Raphael said, his tone making it clear there’d be no arguing. Besides, what was the point? The human was dead. He pulled the cell door open, anxious to get upstairs to Cyn.
Behind him, Jared asked “Do you want me to call Lucas and tell him about
Heintz
?”
“No,” Raphael called over his shoulder. “I’ll call him myself later.”
* * * *
Cyn shivered in the wet air and hugged the blanket more tightly around her shoulders. She knew she should go
inside,
or at least put on a jacket, but she couldn’t bring herself to move from this spot. The
Malibu
coastline was beautiful tonight. The moon was high, and the black water shimmered like silver, so bright it was nearly blinding to look at.
The sliding door opened behind her, but she didn’t turn around.
“
Lubimaya
,” Raphael’s deep voice rumbled as he stepped up and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her back against his chest.
She didn’t resist, but she didn’t relax, either.
Raphael sighed, his breath warm against her neck. “There was no real risk, my Cyn. I was never in danger.”
“You got shot,” she scoffed.
“In the shoulder.
I was already healing by the time we reached the estate.”
“How fortunate that it didn’t hit a few inches lower.”
“Cyn, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what? What is
this
, Raphael? What if Mars had been smart enough to use the same ammo I do? You never saw
Jabril
after I shot him that night in the desert, but he was definitely dead. The stake I drove through his heart was pure overkill. You’re not invincible, Raphael. You can be killed.”
“Cyn—”
“No,” she said and shoved away from him. He held on briefly,
then
let her go, but not before she caught his wince of pain. Apparently, the shoulder wasn’t as healed as he claimed. He’d concealed that from her, too.
She wasn’t even surprised. She met his eyes as she faced him. She had something to say, and it needed to be said face to face.
“You promised, Raphael. And you lied to me.”
“I don’t require your permission for my operations, Cynthia,” Raphael said tightly.
“And I’m not asking for that. But don’t tell me one thing and then do another. Don’t lie to me about—”
“As you’ve done so often in the past, you mean?” he asked, his own anger rising. “How many times have you slipped out during the day, hell bent on endangering yourself against my wishes?”
“Not since
Seattle
,” Cyn protested. “Not since . . .” She looked away, unable to finish.
“Not since you almost died,” Raphael provided. “Say it, Cyn.”
“Fine.
You’re right. Not since I almost died. I heard every word you said when I was lying there in that bed, Raphael. How you swore to take yourself and everyone else down with me if I died. And all I could think about was how selfish I’d been. All those times I defied you, it was a game to me.
Just a game.
But suddenly it wasn’t a game any longer, and I didn’t want you or anyone else to die because of my stupidity.
“I’m not asking you to clear every decision with me,” she continued quietly. “I know you can’t do that. But don’t lie to me. I may not agree with your decisions, but I’ll handle it. And if you don’t think I’m up to dealing with the reality of your life, then tell me that, too, and I’ll leave now and get out of your way.”
“I don’t want you out of my way,” he snarled.
Cyn stepped up and grasped his sweater in her fist, pulling his face down to hers. “I love you more than life, Raphael. But I won’t be dismissed like some piece of fluff whenever it’s convenient.”
“I did not—”
“If you ever do something like this again, I’ll be gone before the next sunset. It will break my heart, and I’ll miss you every day for the rest of my life, but I’ll do it.”