“Tony isn’t smart enough to commit murder and get away with it. He drinks too much and he talks when he’s drinking. No one would help him cover up a murder.”
Colby let her breath out slowly. “If it’s that worm Clinton Daniels causing all the accidents to my ranch, how are we going to catch him? He’d send Tony or one of his other men—he’d never dirty his own hands.”
“Whatever you’re thinking about doing, Colby,” Ben warned, “don’t.”
“Well, someone has to stop him. I’m not going to be happy putting Tony in jail if Daniels put him up to it.”
Rafael, always a shadow in her mind, touched on her plans, irritated that Ben could read her so easily. He caught her thoughts, meeting Daniels casually for a drink, flirting with him, trying to get information on tape from him. Could she kiss him? She wasn’t certain she could go that far.
I do not think so. I would have to kill him.
Rafael was matter-of-fact about it.
And then you would have to deal with my wrath.
Spare me the male drama. This is serious. Clinton Daniels is a snake. I’ve struggled for months trying to hold things together.
“You stay away from Daniels, Colby,” Ben said. “I’m not putting up with your shenanigans in the middle of dead bodies and disappearances.”
Colby grinned at him. Ben had used his sternest voice on her. “Ben, darling, no one says ‘shenanigans’ anymore.”
She felt the darkness then, heard the roar of a beast. Rafael turned his face away from her, staring out the window, his back to them, but she knew fangs exploded in his mouth. He was fighting a dark instinct that seemed to be riding him hard.
What?
She pushed a hand through her hair, irritated all over again.
You call this man by an endearment when you will not even contemplate the possibility of caring for me. How do you expect your lifemate to react?
It was almost a snarl. Her heart thudded hard against her chest.
Ben? You’re jealous of Ben? Are you nuts? Ben thinks I’m loony. He loves me like a sister or something. And I love him back the same way.
Do not speak to me about loving another man when you refuse to love me.
Rafael, Ben does not try to take over my mind and rule me like I’m some brainless sex toy. Maybe you should try to learn a little something from him.
Ben does not try because you do not belong to him.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Exasperated, Colby jumped up. “Men are idiots. I can’t take this. I really can’t. Ben, go away and take Rafael with you.”
Ben looked completely confused. “You never make any sense, Colby.”
“I make perfect sense, Ben. Men don’t make sense. I need rest. I’m upset and I’m cranky and frankly if you don’t get out of my house, I’m setting the dog on the both of you.” She glared at Rafael, her hands on her hips.
He straightened slowly. It was a lazy movement, but catlike and sensual. Or predatory and sensual. Colby couldn’t decide which. Whatever it was, she could hardly breathe with him staring at her. Devouring her. Stripping off her clothes and
claiming her with his black hungry eyes. He took one step toward her and stopped abruptly, the smoldering intensity fading from his gaze, replaced by ice-cold calculation. She instantly felt the darkness creeping through the sky, invading her lands.
What is it?
But she already knew. It was out there, maybe watching, maybe after Paul again. The vampire had risen.
He knows I am not yet at full strength and he wishes to test me in battle. The vampire will always take the advantage.
“Then don’t go. Stay here with me.” Colby crossed the small distance between them, catching his arm. “Wait until you’re stronger.” It was perverse, and totally an about-face, her emotions swinging wildly out of control at the thought of Rafael in danger. She couldn’t stop herself from clinging to him even though she’d wanted him gone only moments before.
Ben threw his hands into the air in exasperation. “Two minutes ago you were throwing us out and setting the dog on us, now you want us to stay. Colby, get a handle on your emotions.”
Rafael bent his head toward Colby. He framed her face with his hands. “You know I have to go,
meu amor.
Paul is in too much danger to let this pass.”
“Then call Nicolas.”
He pressed his forehead against hers, blocking out Ben, the vampire, everyone, until there was only them. Colby and Rafael. “You know I cannot. He is too weary, too far gone. He fights the darkness every moment.”
“He’ll fight it more if anything happens to you,” she whispered. “Rafael, don’t go alone. That’s what he wants.”
“Do you know something about these disappearances, De La Cruz?” Ben demanded. “If you’re meeting someone dangerous, I’ll go with you.”
Rafael didn’t turn his head, but kept his gaze fixed on Colby’s. “I thank you for your concern but I must handle this problem alone. Perhaps you could drive to the Everett ranch and take Colby with you. Tell Juan and Julio to watch the boy.”
He kissed her. Took possession of her mouth the way he did with no coaxing, no light foreplay, instead claiming her, branding her, his mouth hot and hungry and demanding a response. Colby wrapped her arms around his neck, her body melting into his, completely oblivious to Ben’s presence.
Rafael put her from him and turned and walked out. Colby went to the window to watch him go. He simply dissolved, was no longer there, but she caught sight of a harpy eagle winging across the sky.
“I hope to hell you know what you’re doing, Colby,” Ben snapped.
“I hope so too,” she said absently.
“Come on, I’ll take you to the Everett ranch.”
“I can’t go, Ben, but will you make certain Paul and Ginny are safe?”
“Are you sure?” He shoved his hat on his head.
“Very.” She didn’t turn her head, just watched out the window until the giant bird had disappeared behind the foliage of the trees. Her heart sank. “I have too much to do.”
“Be careful, Colby, and take care of that leg.”
She’d all but forgotten about her leg. Rafael had healed the cut. Long after Ben had driven away Colby continued to stare out the window into the night, blinking back tears. She finally put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper with Natalya’s cell phone number.
16
R
afael. Come out
and play with me.
Harsh laughter echoed across the valley and rang in the mountains. Clouds spun dark webs in the sky overhead as the harpy eagle winged away from the ranch toward the higher reaches.
Always a pleasure, Kirja,
Rafael answered. He pitched his voice low, a soft melody of purity he knew would grate on the ears of a vampire.
I miss the old days when I had a challenge occasionally. Most vampires are so easy to defeat for one with my skills.
Deliberately he taunted Kirja, playing on their old friendship, the days of boyhood dares and one-upmanship.
You will not find me so easy.
There was arrogance in the tone.
Rafael caught a faint scent and switched directions, using a slow, steady circle.
I would hope not. You were a great fighter, Kirja, always one of the best. There would be no joy in an effortless victory.
Rafael flattered him, knowing vampires were very vain. Kirja had always been especially competitive.
Join us. Your brother Zacarias was wrong to say we should live with so-called honor. He was brainwashed by a ridiculous code. The prince sent us away because he feared our power. Why do you think he kept Lucian and Gabriel? He knew he would never defeat our combined strength. He cowered behind their protection, knowing already, even then, we were stronger. Join us, Rafael. You can have any woman you choose. You do not have to hide from our prey, but you can use them the way they should be used, as servants to do our bidding.
And you would welcome me after all this time? After I have hunted and destroyed so many of your pawns?
Kirja was much closer now, somewhere just ahead, in the thick grove of trees. His presence was a foul stench in the crisp air. Rafael could see where the grass had shriveled, retreating from the presence of evil. Kirja had always favored surprise simultaneous attacks from both above and below. He couldn’t stage his preferred ambush in the thicker groves—the trees would hinder his efforts—yet perversely, the groves were exactly the place Kirja’s presence seemed the strongest. Rafael didn’t trust the evidence Kirja left for him to find.
From his position in the sky, Rafael studied the ground below him with a keen eye. The groves of pine trees formed a large, loose ring around a small cleared area. Kirja’s scent was strong in the trees. Rafael knew he would expect the hunter to approach through the clearing in the form of an animal or reptile. It was unlike Kirja to give away his presence as he was apparently doing in the trees and Rafael mentally shook his head at his old friend. He must have fought unwary hunters, those without much skills in such things, to believe Rafael would fall for such a trick. Rafael would not go out in the open in any form where he would be vulnerable to the style of attack Kirja favored.
Still in the form of the harpy eagle, Rafael made a wide circle around the area and in midflight shifted into a much smaller bird, one native to the mountains. He landed in the tree with the thickest foliage and the most interwoven branches. Hidden among the branches and other resting birds, he listened to the whisper of the leaves and the quake of fear running through the tree trunks. Insects, frogs, and other small creatures rustled in the twigs on the ground as they tried to creep away from the clearing. He watched several lizards transverse the wide open space, skittering in stops and starts through the grass, freezing often and testing the air and feel of the earth before they rushed forward, only to stop again.
Rafael took in the signs of distress. The lizards felt the
threat, but couldn’t identify it. Safe within the flock of birds, he waited.
I await you, Rafael. Have you decided you cannot dispose of me without your big brother to protect you?
There was a sneer, a challenge in Kirja’s tone.
Rafael sent his voice to the south, careful not to give away his presence in the grove.
There is no honor in defeating the vampire. It is merely a job, Kirja. Well you know the truth of that. Whether it takes one hunter or ten makes no difference. We mete out justice according to the law.
Above the clearing, where the clouds spun dark threads, the sharp eyes of the bird picked up a glinting flame at the edge of the turbulent mass. Kirja was up to his old tricks and the battlefield was already prepared.
I tire of waiting for you, Rafael.
Rafael duplicated the grove of trees, a difficult and extreme feat that only the oldest and most powerful Carpathians could execute. Trees sprang up in the clearing, long spearlike roots stabbing deep into the ground, winding to form a barricade beneath the earth, while the branches spread out, lifting arms to the sky, forming a nearly impenetrable barrier.
Shrieks of pain and anger rose from the ground as Kirja’s serpents burst through the surface, an ugly mass of scales and teeth, writhing and coiling as they tried to escape the relentless roots. They thumped against the ground, striking repeatedly at empty air, sinking their razor-sharp teeth into each other in a mindless need to kill anything close.
Insects swarmed up from the ground, millions of them, large scorpions and a river of ants, a poisonous army determined to kill everything in its path. Rafael countered the move with nature, setting the sap running from the trees and spreading into a lake of liquid amber, trapping the lethal little bugs and containing them within the battle zone before they could spread out and cause harm.
That was not nice, Rafael. How unkind to all those living creatures.
Have your memories of me faded so much that you make them up? I was never nice, Kirja, nor have I ever learned how to be.
Join us.
The voice whispered the temptation.
Fulfill your destiny. You were always greater than Prince Vlad, and now his sniveling son, Mikhail, has taken his place. He has no one who can adequately protect him. Gregori is too young and not experienced with ancients. He hones his skills on the young, never realizing we exist. He is complacent in his battle skills, thinking he knows all, yet he has only managed to defeat lesser vampires. Those he thought were true masters are our puppets to be used for fodder to gain our goal. You and I both know Gregori is nowhere near our skill and could never defeat us. Join us, Rafael. Accept your true destiny.
The vampire attacked from the sky, raining fire on the clone trees, slamming bolt after bolt of lightning into the large tree trunks so that they burst into flames and blackened under the heavy assault. The trunks split apart, some falling under the blasts from the sky. Rafael nodded the bird’s head toward the spinning clouds, releasing the rain to put out the fire.
The droplets fell, dark and ugly with acid, hissing as they burned through the trees and foliage on the ground, withering every plant in their path and burrowing deep into the earth, infecting the very soil with poison.
Very nice.
Rafael kept his admiring tone coming from the south, wanting Kirja to believe he was orchestrating the battle from a distance.
I thought you would like that.
Kirja gave the impression of taking of bow.
Rafael stared up at the sky from the refuge of the bird’s body within the grove of real trees. The rain ceased abruptly as a wind came from the south, ferocious as it hurtled with hurricane force through the acid clouds, scattering them across the sky, bringing with it a churning storm. Lightning forked in the clouds and crystal-clear rain fell once again, pouring down onto the fires and leaving a crisp, fresh scent behind.
Lucian and Gabriel have risen. They will battle for their prince. Falcon is alive, as is Traian. They will fight.