Malibu, California
“WHAT DAY IS TODAY?”
Cyn glanced up at Raphael’s muttered question. It was their first full night home, and they were sitting in his office, both of them going through a week’s worth of accumulated mail. Anything urgent had been forwarded by Raphael’s staff, but that still left substantial piles of mail and messages to wade through.
Half of it went right into the shredder to be recycled. She’d only heard Raphael’s mutter because it had fallen into a lull in the whirring blades.
Cyn thought for a moment. “Wednesday, why?”
Raphael was flicking a formal invitation between his fingers. The heavy white stock and gold framing looked familiar, and she realized she had an identical invitation in her own mail. She picked it up and slid a fingernail beneath the envelope flap, then eyed the invitation it contained.
“You want to go to a charity ball?” she asked in surprise.
“Not really,” he admitted. “But this is one of Dakin Corporation’s pet charities. Their entire board will be there, including Marty Holdrige, who’s heading up the new slate at the shareholder’s meeting. I wouldn’t mind meeting him in person to get a better feel for his character.”
“As in, you want to read his mind to see if he’s a crook or not.”
Raphael looked up and flashed her a devastating grin. “That, too.” He seemed to notice for the first time that she held the same invite. “You’re a shareholder, my Cyn?”
“Apparently. Probably one of those family trust things. If you’re nice to me, I’ll vote my shares with you.”
He gave her a smoldering look—and no one could smolder like Raphael. “I promise to be very nice to you.”
Cyn’s heart fluttered in her chest, and she suddenly wished they were downstairs in the privacy of their bedroom.
Later, Raphael’s expression seemed to say, then he swiveled around and checked the calendar on his iPad.
Cyn propped her head on her fist and fought the urge to laugh at the sight of a 500-year-old vampire lord flipping pages on his iPad.
“This Sunday,” he murmured, then glanced up at her. “Would you like to dress up this weekend, my Cyn?”
“This Sunday?” she repeated, checking her own invite. “Is that—”
But Raphael had already picked up his cell phone and hit speed dial. “Jared, we’ll be attending the Dakin event this Sunday evening. Make the appropriate arrangements, please.”
“What about Luther Mars?” Cyn asked when he hung up. “He’s still out there somewhere. We’ve barely started the search for him, and I’m of a mind with Juro. I know you need to prove a point, to flip the finger at Klemens, but it doesn’t need to be at a crowded venue like this. It would be too easy for him to come at you.”
Raphael tossed the phone onto his desk. “It’s actually the perfect place for me to be seen with minimal risk. A private affair, invitation only. Mars can hardly walk in and request a table. With all of the money and politicians in evidence, security will be tight, and I’ll have my own security with me, as usual. We’ll be as safe there as we would be remaining here.”
Cyn doubted that, but Raphael seemed particularly determined on this one point. He wanted to be seen, to thumb his nose at Klemens. And he was right about one thing. Security would be tight. She just hoped it was tight enough.
CYN CROSSED HER legs, letting the heel of her open-toed pump dangle loosely over the rail of the padded bar stool as she looked around, amazed at what the event organizers had accomplished. They’d somehow managed to get permission to erect a fully-functioning banquet tent in the middle of the polo field at Will Rogers State Park. She wondered how much of a donation that had cost.
“Juro sends word that Raphael’s meeting is breaking up, Cyn,” Elke said from over her shoulder. “They’re on their way back now.”
Cyn nodded and took a sip of ice water, which was all she’d permitted herself tonight. Raphael might be casual about the danger, but she wasn’t. She would have preferred that he remain inside the tent, but when the potential new Dakin board chairman had invited him to talk, he could hardly refuse. He’d taken all of his security with him, which eased her concerns somewhat, but she was ready for him to get back inside now. There were too many dark hidey holes on the hills surrounding this park.
“How come none of these people came to my fundraiser?” her friend Lucia asked peevishly. Luci had joined Cyn at the bar only moments before, having lost her own date to his mother, who’d taken the opportunity to catch up on several weeks of unreturned phone calls.
Cyn scanned the crowded tent idly, noting several familiar faces. “Hate to burst your pity-filled bubble, Luce, but a lot of them did. Besides—” She halted mid-sentence as Lucia’s eyes went big with alarm.
Cyn and Elke both started to turn. “What are you—” Cyn began.
“Sssst,” Luci hissed. “Don’t look, either one of you! Don’t even twitch, maybe she won’t . . . ooh, too late. Holly alert.”
“Fuck me,” Cyn swore softly. “What’s she doing—”
“Cyndi!” Her sister Holly’s voice was as welcome as nails on a blackboard. Cyn hadn’t seen Holly, who was actually her half-sister, since she’d caught her trying to steal some of Cyn’s private files to sell to the tabloids over a year ago.
Holly stepped directly into Cyn’s line of sight, so she could no longer pretend she hadn’t heard her sister call her name.
“Holly,” she acknowledged.
“Cyndi, you know my fiancé don’t you? Charles Bennette the third. Chucky, honey, this is my sister Cynthia . . .” Holly paused, her face screwed up in exaggerated puzzlement. “It’s still Leighton, isn’t it, Cyndi? You’re not married yet?”
Cyn did a mental eye roll at Holly’s oh-so-obvious dig. Like she gave a flying fuck what Holly or anyone else thought about her marital status.
“Hey, Chuck,” Cyn said casually, mentally comparing Chucky to the Pillsbury dough boy he so obviously resembled. “Holly, you remember Lucia, and this is Elke.”
Holly barely glanced at Elke, while Charles’s eyes widened in alarm, and he took a step back, neatly placing Holly between himself and the dangerous vampire. What a prince.
Cyn exchanged an amused glance with Elke, then addressed her sister. “So, you two kids are getting married, huh?”
“Chuck asked me last week,” Holly confided, then plopped her hand out to show off the ring.
Cyn was feeling just petty enough that she made a point of using her left hand to examine Holly’s ring, which put her own elegant set of diamonds on display right next to her sister’s rather conventional engagement ring.
“Isn’t that charming,” Cyn cooed, which everyone knew was code for “my, what a lovely little diamond.”
Holly snatched her hand back.
Ever the peacemaker, Lucia asked, “When’s the big day?”
Like she cared, Cyn thought in disgust.
“We were thinking a spring wedding, hopefully next month.”
“Not much time to organize a wedding,” Cyn observed, suddenly interested. “Is there something I should know, Holly?” she asked with a not-so-subtle glance at her sister’s abdomen.
Holly’s expression tightened in anger, but smoothed out quickly. Too quickly. The rapid shift put all of Cyn’s senses on alert. Either her sister was performing for Chuck—who hadn’t said a word so far—or she wanted a favor.
“Actually, it is rather short timing, and it’s just good luck that we ran into you tonight. I was going to call you next week anyway. We were thinking how romantic it would be to get married on the beach, and since Raphael has that wonderful estate—”
“No,” Cyn interrupted.
Holly blinked several times. “What?”
“I said no, Holly. There will be no wedding at Raphael’s, and no wedding at my condo, either. You’ll have to find someplace else.”
“But this close to the date, every venue is booked.”
“Not my problem.”
Holly’s lips pinched tightly, causing white lines of strain to arrow unattractively from the corners of her mouth to her anger-reddened cheeks. “You always were a selfish bitch,” Holly hissed, showing her true colors. “Don’t hold your breath waiting for an invitation.”
Cyn stared at her half-sister in amazement, but then, Holly had always lived in her own self-centered little world. The truth was they’d have had to drag Cyn kicking and screaming to that wedding.
But all she said was, “I’ll live.”
“Come, Charles,” Holly said huffily. “We’ve more important people to talk to.”
“Do you think Chucky ever speaks?” Lucia asked thoughtfully, as they disappeared into the crowd.
“That’s your sister?” Elke asked, disbelief evident in her voice.
“Half-sister,” Cyn corrected her. “And, yeah.”
“You don’t look anything alike.”
“Different fathers.”
“Huh.”
“And, no, Luci, I think Chuck spends all of his time eating.”
“He does look rather . . . doughy.”
The three women burst into laughter.
“I can’t believe she thought—” Cyn’s voice choked to a halt as a searing pain suddenly stabbed through her chest, and she doubled over in agony.
“Cyn?” Luci said urgently, grabbing her friend.
“Raphael,” Cyn whispered, sitting up, her gaze going unerringly in the direction of where she’d left Raphael grilling the potential new Dakin Chairman. She stood, holding on to the bar stool, fighting for balance.
“You need to sit,” Luci said, urging her down.
“No,” Cyn insisted, then again, “No,” more strongly this time. “Elke!” She took off running through the crowd, vaguely aware of Elke running next to her. People scrambled to get out of her way, which was made more difficult by the screams of guests who were shoving their way back into the tent, trying to escape whatever was happening outside.
“Elke!” she called, and the vampire bodyguard was there. “I need to get to Raphael!”
Elke took her arm and shoved people aside, ignoring the cries of protests and outrage. They finally broke free of the mob and found themselves in near total darkness, with not a soul in sight. Why did it seem so dark suddenly? Hadn’t there been lights out here before?
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.
“Mr. 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.”
He yanked her against him, his grip so tight it almost hurt. “I would search to the ends of the earth for you,” he growled. “You cannot hide from me.”
“I don’t want to hide from you,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion. “I love you.”
He studied her silently, his eyes flashing as silver as the moon on the waves. “I’m sorry,” he said finally. “But there was . . .” He drew a deep breath, then said instead, “I am sorry, lubimaya.”
Cyn swallowed hard, knowing how difficult it was for him to apologize for anything. He was a vampire lord, a king in his own realm. But taking a stand against him had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, too.
“It’s nearly dawn,” Raphael said, meeting her gaze. He let go of her and stepped back, holding out his hand.
Cyn looked at it, her sight blurry with tears. Earlier, she’d gone so far as to consider leaving the estate and going to her own condo for the night. But he would simply have chased her down, and she didn’t want to leave anyway. She’d never believed problems could be solved by storming out and refusing to talk.
But more than that, if she refused Raphael’s apology, refused to sleep with him this morning, it would cross a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. And it would hurt him. She didn’t want him hurt. She just wanted him to trust her enough to be honest with her.
She reached out and took his hand.
“I love you, my Cyn.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I love you, too.” But she couldn’t help wondering if loving each other would be enough.