Compelled (Vampires in America #10.5) (7 page)

She detoured to the bathroom and grabbed a towel to sit on, keenly aware of the sticky wetness between her thighs. No complaints.

Sitting in front of her computers, she saw that while they were both humming along, the hard work had already been done. Her search bot was still scouring the ether looking for tidbits of info on Gary, Jr., but it had already found most of what was out there. Her other system, meanwhile, was now locked onto his cell phone, which had been pinging off the same cell tower for the last twenty-four hours. Gary, Jr. might be a great soldier—she didn’t know either way—but he wasn’t all that good at hiding out. Or maybe they were wrong, and he wasn’t hiding at all. Maybe he was taking a nice spa vacation, celebrating his ill-gotten windfall from the manacles.

“We’ve got Gary, Jr.,” she said over her shoulder.

“Who the fuck is Gary, Jr.?” Raphael rumbled from right behind her.

Sneaky vampire. She forced herself not to react. “Gary Briley, Jr.,” she told him. “The guy who snagged the manacles, and who, we’re now pretty sure, has sold them.”

Raphael lifted her bodily from the chair and sat down so he could see the computer screens. “Sold them to whom?” he asked, ignoring her outraged stare. “They’d have no real value unless the buyer knew what they were.”

“Exactly,” she agreed, then silently picked up the laptop and walked back to sit on the bed.

Raphael grinned and joined her on the bed, bumping hips as he sat down.

She elbowed some room for herself, then continued. “The manacles were offered at auction on a darknet site. Transactions are private, but we know that the manacles’ listing was pulled, which suggests they were sold already. That means Briley must have seen the buyer at least briefly for the exchange of money and goods.”

He studied the screen. “You’re using his cell phone to locate him. But how do you know he’s with his phone? Maybe someone else is using it.”

“Ah, but Junior is a momma’s boy. He calls home every day like clockwork. Sometimes more than once. And Mom’s calling him back, too.”

“Let’s go get him then.” He stood. “You can shower while I shave.” Normally they’d shower together, but the plane’s stall wasn’t big enough for their usual shower time activities.

“Okay.” She reached over and snagged her phone from the bedside. “Let me call Nick—” She managed to bring up Nick’s number, but didn’t get any further before Raphael snatched the phone from her hand.

“Why do we need him?”

“Because we’re working this together,” she said patiently. “And because he knows more about these magical manacles than we do. Unless you’re holding out on me?”

His lip curled in disgust, but he hit the call button on her phone. She reached for the phone, but managed only to tap the speaker button before he yanked it away.

“Raphael,” she said impatiently.

“Cyn baby.” Nick’s cheerful voice came over the speaker. “Are you ready to run away with me?”

“Don’t push your luck, sorcerer,” Raphael growled.

“Oh. It’s you. Where’s Cyn?”

“I’m right here,” she called, ignoring Raphael’s glare. “I’ve locked onto Gary Briley’s location. He’s a couple of towns over, and my guess is that he’s living at a motel and spending most of his time at the same one or two establishments. Restaurants probably, given the time pattern.”

“You discovered all of that from a cell phone?”

“Gary’s not exactly going to be winning his Boy Scout badge for covert action. He’s obviously homesick, calling his mom a few times a day, and even his dad once or twice.”

“I have to say, I’m deeply dismayed to discover that Anna Briley lied to us,” Nick said with false sincerity.

“Well, he’s her baby boy. I’ve heard that mothers do that.”

“I wouldn’t know,” he muttered.

“Yeah? Well, neither would I,” she agreed. “Is there any—”

“We’re leaving within the hour,” Raphael interrupted. “You can meet us there.”

Cyn opened her mouth to argue that they should all go together, but the words died unsaid. First, because she and Raphael were in Kansas City, not in Lawrence as Nick had been led to believe. But second, and more importantly, because Raphael was giving her a death glare that promised all sorts of retribution if she made the offer. She supposed he had a point. And besides, sharing a ride with Raphael and Nick would be sheer hell. She’d end up getting out of the vehicle and walking, while the two of them went their merry way together.

“I’ll text you the location, Nick,” she said instead. “It’s a small town, so you might want to think about renting a different car for the trip. Something that will blend in.”

“Oh right, because the vampire and his blacked-out SUV convoy is low key,” Nick scoffed.

“Don’t worry,” he added, before she could say anything. “I’ll blend, and I’ll see you there.”

“Okay, I’m sending—” But Nick was gone. Raphael tossed her phone on the bed and grabbed her wrist, tugging her into the bathroom. He turned on the shower, letting it heat up.

“There’s not enough hot water,” he snapped. “We’ll have to share.”

“Raphael, there’s no room.”

“There’s enough,” he growled and stepped into the stall, pulling her in after him.

Once they were in, though, he started laughing. He couldn’t even close the damn door all the way. Cyn was slender enough, but Raphael was a very big guy. They could barely move, and with the hot water filling the small cubicle with steam, it was like groping in a sauna.

“I told you,” she said with a grin. Raphael didn’t laugh like that very often.

He rested his forehead against hers. “I hate it when you talk to him.”

“I know. But I don’t know why. I’m yours, fang boy. You’re stuck with me.”

“My heart knows that, but my gut wants to kill every man who’s ever touched you.”

“Aw, that’s romantic . . . in a creepy, stalkerish sort of way.”

His hand moved behind her, and he swore. “Fuck, there isn’t even enough room in here to slap your ass properly.” He shoved the shower door all the way open and stepped out of the stall. “You shower, I’ll shave.”

“In other words, back to the original plan.”

“You know, you and your ass will eventually have to leave that cramped shower stall.”

Cyn shivered dramatically. “I’m so scared.”

Raphael shut the shower door with a muttered, “Smartass.”

Chapter Five

NICK MADE A right turn into the coffee shop parking lot, but not before double-checking the in-dash GPS to be sure he’d entered the address correctly. Cyn hadn’t told him where they were meeting. She’d just texted an address in a town about sixty miles northwest of Lawrence. He’d assumed it would be some shadowy motel parking lot, though he didn’t know why, since a coffee shop made more sense. The last thing they wanted to do was spook Gary Briley into running. Or at least trying to run. Nick was pretty sure that between him and Raphael, they could stop the murdering little weasel from getting away.

But it was the fact that Raphael was part of the night’s festivities that made the coffee shop so unlikely. As far as Nick knew, vamps didn’t drink coffee, and they sure as hell didn’t eat pie.

He parked the boring mid-sized SUV that he’d rented in an effort to
blend in
. He understood now why the vampire had gone with the big Escalade SUVs for his regular transport. At least they had some flash and powerful engines, while he’d been reduced to a mere six cylinders and cloth seats. He didn’t bother to lock the doors when he got out. Maybe someone would steal it, and he could ride back to Lawrence in one of the vampire’s SUVs, which were parked side by side at the back of the lot. Three of them. Talk about overkill.

A little bell on the coffee shop door dinged, announcing his presence. The restaurant was crowded, and it seemed like every person turned to look at him, their gazes lingering suspiciously when they realized he wasn’t one of them.
In more ways that you know,
he thought smugly and made his way to a couple of booths in the back corner, which were occupied by several suspiciously large men and one stunningly attractive woman.

“Cyn darling,” he said, ignoring everyone else as he slid onto the empty bench seat opposite her and Raphael. She just rolled her eyes and took a bite of her toast, while the vampire flexed his shoulders, drawing attention to the fact that it was
his
arm that was draped over the seat behind her. “Casual Friday all around, I see,” Nick commented. Much like himself, Raphael was wearing jeans. But while he’d paired his with a long-sleeved cashmere sweater, the vamp had on a leather jacket over a plain T-shirt. His bodyguards were similarly dressed—all four of them, which, given the three SUVs, meant some of vamps had remained on watch outside.

“You see that motel across the street?” Cyn asked, not bothering with the niceties.

Nick glanced casually out the window. It was a pretty standard American motel—two stories in an L-shape around a parking lot, open walkways with all of the rooms facing out. A blue neon sign announced MOTEL, with a smaller red VACANCY below that.

“I’m assuming that’s where our boy is spending his nights,” he said, signaling the waitress for coffee.

“And this is one of his favorite restaurants,” Cyn told him.

“Ah. Don’t you think he might be suspicious if he waltzes in here and sees
that
?” he asked, nodding in the direction of the bodyguards, who weren’t even pretending not to pay attention.

“Give me some credit,” she said dismissively. “This is his breakfast spot. He likes junk food for dinner.”

“Okay, Nancy Drew, this is your show. What’s the plan?”

“He’s in his room. We watched him come back just a few minutes ago. So, I’m going to walk over there and knock on his door.”

Nick blinked, his gaze shifting to Raphael. He waited for a reaction, for the vampire to shoot down the idea of Cyn exposing herself to danger like that. But there was nothing. The guy seemed perfectly okay with it.

“What if he has a gun?”

She shrugged while she took a bite of scrambled eggs and swallowed. “He probably does, but why would he shoot me? I’m a pretty woman who’s locked herself out of her room and wants to use his phone.”

“Why wouldn’t this woman go to the motel office instead?”

She winked. “Because the night manager takes his dinner break in just about ten minutes. He’ll be gone an hour.”

“How do you know that?”

“The manager told me when I checked in. He was very helpful, offering to fix anything that was wrong with the room, too.”

“I bet he did. Okay, so you’re in the room with Briley. Then what?”

“Well, then I disarm him . . . literally . . . and open the door to you guys.”

“You vamps need an invite?” he asked Raphael.

It was Cyn who answered, shaking her head. “Not necessary. A motel’s like a public place.”

“Do I have time for a piece of pie?” Nick asked, smiling up at the waitress when she delivered his coffee.

“Sure,” Cyn said, finishing off a breakfast that belied her model-like figure. “Knock yourself out.”

“You want anything else, hon?” the waitress asked Cyn. “More coffee?”

“Coffee would be great,” she said, with a smile. “And maybe one of those chocolate cupcakes.”

“You got it. And what about you, handsome?”

Nick grinned. “I’ll have the boysenberry pie,” he told the waitress. “And a scoop of ice cream. Chocolate, if you have it.”

“Sure thing.”

Nick waited until the woman was gone. “My sources tell me the manacles were indeed sold. They’re trying to dig out the name of the buyer, but no luck yet.”

“Briley will know, though, right?” Cyn asked. “You wouldn’t ship something like that with FedEx. It would have to be delivered in person.”

“I’d agree with you, but Briley’s a novice. Who knows what arrangements he’s made.”

“Yeah, but he’s hiding from someone. Otherwise he’d be home with his mommy. That tells me he knows his buyer, or at least knows enough about him to be afraid. I want whatever he knows.”

Nick contemplated that idea. “There are a handful of collectors who’d know enough about the manacles to want them for themselves. Most are human, though there is one other sorcerer operating in North America right now.”

“One,” Cyn said, giving him a puzzled look. “You mean there are only two of you on the entire continent?”

He shrugged. “Two of us who have enough power to matter. I told you, we’re rare birds.”

Raphael made a quiet scoffing noise, so quiet that Nick almost missed it.

“You have something to say, vampire?”

The vampire lord gave him a smug look and opened his mouth, clearing intending to say something snarky, but then Cyn shifted slightly in her seat and did something that changed his mind. He tugged the back of her hair and said, “Even if Briley has a name, it’s mostly likely false. The buyer will have used a pseudonym.”

“True, but as long as Briley can describe him, I’ll know who he is. It’s a small community.”

The waitress returned at that moment with his pie and Cyn’s cupcake, along with a carafe of coffee. She freshened all three cups—Raphael had a cup in front of him that was half-empty, though Nick hadn’t seen him drink from it.

Once she was gone, Nick pulled over the packets of sugar and doctored his coffee. He’d just dug his fork into the pie, when the sound of Raphael’s chuckle startled him into looking up. The vampire was grinning as he watched Cyn eat her chocolate cupcake. She was being all proper, using a fork, but with every bite, she was making a little yummy noise that reminded him of other times and other nights. Nick coughed and took a sip of coffee to distract himself, forcing his thoughts to things that had nothing to do with cupcakes or that sound she was making. Instinct had him glancing up to find the vampire eyeing him suspiciously. Nick was sorely tempted to do something foolish. To give the big bad vamp a lascivious wink, or to grin knowingly. But common sense prevailed. It would have been great fun to taunt Raphael into coming after him, to find out once and for all who really was the stronger of the two of them. But there were too many civilians around, and, besides, they had other business tonight. Damn it.

“Good coffee,” he said instead and focused his attention on the truly excellent boysenberry pie.

“We should move before our boy changes his routine and goes out for the evening,” Cyn said, pushing her plate away. “We’ll leave the vehicles here. The noise of them arriving might make him look out the window.”

“The sorcerer can play guard while he finishes his pie,” Raphael said dryly.

Nick laughed. “In your dreams, vampire. I’m the only one who knows the buyers well enough to tell if Briley is lying to us.”

Raphael snorted dismissively. “
I’ll
know if he’s lying.”

Nick wanted to punch the arrogant asshole in the face. He was halfway out of the booth when Cyn interrupted.

“Yeah, okay,” she said impatiently. “Raphael, let me out. I’m going over there to take care of business. You two can rumble in the parking lot. Maybe find a good soundtrack and turn on the stereo real loud.” She didn’t wait for a response, but got up quickly once Raphael stood to let her out. Tugging at her jacket to be sure the Glock in its shoulder holster was covered, she strode out of the coffee shop.

Nick expected the vampire to storm after her, but he simply stood there watching her walk away, with a bemused little smile on his face, half dopey love and half pride. Nick couldn’t decide if he still wanted to punch the bastard, or if he needed to vomit instead.

“Are you going to let her go over there by herself?” he asked.

The vampire cut his eyes to Nick with a sneering look. “My Cyn is not your concern.”

“Her safety on this mission in just as much my concern as yours.”

“Jeez, you two—” A female vamp with white-blond hair whom Nick hadn’t noticed when he walked in spun away from the counter, giving the two of them a disgusted glance. “—get a room.” She didn’t look back as she followed Cyn from the restaurant.

Raphael laughed, surprising Nick yet again. He’d dealt with plenty of powerful vampires in his long life, and he’d found them to be generally humorless, especially when it came to underlings. He’d have expected Raphael to slap the vamp down for daring to make any comment, much less one that snarky.

Behind them, the rest of the vampire guards were sliding out of their booth with much creaking of leather jackets and clunking of heavy boots. One of them counted out some bills and dropped them on the table, and then they all waited for Raphael to decide what to do.

The vampire jerked his head and started for the door, walking past Nick without so much as a glance. The guards followed, although they paid him a lot more attention. He knew how vamps worked. Those guards were all Raphael’s children—they’d lay down their lives for him in an instant.

Nick sighed. Those damn manacles. He hadn’t even told Cyn how important they were to him. Not the whole truth anyway. But he’d have put up with a hell of a lot more than vampires to get them back. Hell, if it had been only Cyn he was dealing with, he might even have enjoyed this little adventure. But the fucking vampire was a pain in the ass, and so were all of his damn children.

He sighed again, knowing he had to see this through, but also acknowledging to himself the real reason he’d called Cyn to help him out. He hadn’t honestly needed her help, but he was lonely. For the first time in his long life, he actually longed for human companionship. All those centuries ago, he’d never needed anyone but his brothers-in-arms, his warriors who lived as fiercely as they fought. The five of them had been inseparable, drinking and fucking and fighting. And when he’d lost them, when they’d been ripped from his side, it had left an open wound in his soul, a bloody hole in his heart. And no one else had filled even a tiny part of that void for a long time.

But then he’d met Cyn. He’d caught sight of her across the room at one of LA’s trendy clubs, and all he’d seen was a beautiful woman that he wanted to fuck. Until he’d actually
met
her, and she’d been so much more than a fuckable beauty. She’d somehow become a friend, and he’d missed her.

How pathetic was that? And, damn, was he glad at that moment that his mind was impervious to vampire intrusion.

Speaking of which, the vampires had all left the coffee shop, leaving him standing there like an idiot, feeling sorry for himself. Shaking his head in disgust, he pulled out some cash and left the waitress a huge tip, then followed the gang across the street, where he could see Cyn already knocking on Briley’s door.

CYN CROSSED THE main street at a run. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, but there was enough that she had to time it carefully. Elke was right behind her. Apparently, she’d left the sausage-fest back in the restaurant measuring their dicks. The thought made her smile, because she’d seen both of the contestants’ dicks, and . . . She gave herself a mental slap upside the head and shut down that train of thought, just as Elke caught up to her, and the two of them started across the parking lot.

“Stay out of sight,” Cyn said quietly. “He’s already spooked. It won’t take much to shut him down.”

Elke rolled her eyes. “Really? I thought we’d go up to the door together. You know, like in those porn movies where they all end up in bed together.”

Cyn snorted. “What do
you
know about porn movies?

“Hey, Mal has introduced me to a whole new world,” Elke said, referring to the Hawaiian cop who’d followed her home after they’d rescued Raphael and now seemed to be a permanent part of her life.

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Because he’s a sexy hunk of man who’s all mine?”

“Exactly what I was thinking. Okay,” Cyn said, going all business. “You wait over there where he can’t see you.”

“And after you’re in?”

“Once I’m in, I don’t care how you handle it. Though it’s probably better if we don’t alert the neighbors. Raphael will be able to get what we need without resorting to screaming or crying.”