Chicago, Illinois
CYN HELD RAPHAEL’S hand tightly as they strolled down the hallway. The hotel corridor was empty, despite the number of guests already filling the large ballroom beyond the double doors just ahead of them. Raphael’s security had cleared the way for them, just as she knew others had done earlier that evening. All of the sitting vampire lords had walked down this same hallway this evening. Raphael was only the last.
Some might have thought having all of the lords in one place made them vulnerable, an easy target. But vampire lords were scary powerful. Put them all together, and you didn’t have an easy target. You had a bomb waiting to go off in your face. Except the vampire lords would all be alive and well after the so-called bomb went off, and you’d be dead.
Not that there wouldn’t be violence associated with tonight’s gala. But it wouldn’t be coming from any of the current vampire lords. The sole purpose of this gathering was to launch the competition which would determine who would be the next Lord of the Midwest. Everyone’s power was on full display. No one was hiding what they were, from the lowest minion to the prominent contenders, to the lords themselves, and aggression was running high. According to Raphael, the vampire lords’ presence and power were the only things that kept it from becoming a complete free-for-all.
“Are you ready, my Cyn?”
She looked up and found Raphael watching her with infinite patience. Well, that and the heat that was always there when he looked at her, as if what he really wanted to do was drag her back to their private suite and fuck her senseless. Which he’d already done once this evening. Twice if you included the shower. Which she definitely did. She smiled in recollection, and he smiled back, knowing what she was thinking.
“You look beautiful, lubimaya. As always.”
“So do you, fang boy.” And, God, that was true. Some men were born to wear a tux, and Raphael was one of them.
“The others are waiting,” he told her, although his look clearly said they could wait forever if that’s what she wanted.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Let’s go wow the masses.”
“Or at least a few vampires,” he amended.
Cyn was laughing when they opened the doors. There were smiles and greetings all around as she and Raphael joined the others. Air kisses and hugs, and the enthusiastic admiration of designer frocks, and tuxes, too. Improbably enough, these people had become her friends, and she paused a moment to take them all in.
“My lord,” a deep voice said, and she turned to find Aden waiting to pay his respects. “Ms. Leighton,” he added, smiling.
“I e-mailed you my bill earlier,” she informed him, with a shark’s grin. “You’ll want to be sitting down when you open it.”
Aden laughed cheerfully. “It was well worth the price. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“That’s for sure,” she agreed.
“If you’ve finished, my Cyn,” Raphael said smoothly, slipping his arm around her waist. “We do have business to conduct.” He shifted his gaze to Aden. “I wish you luck, Aden. I’m certain we’ll hear from you before it’s over.”
“Thank you, my lord. I look forward to it,” he said, then bowed again and disappeared into the crowd.
“You think he’ll be the next vampire lord?” she asked Raphael.
“I’m quite certain of it.”
“Will he join us when the time comes?”
“If he doesn’t, he dies,” Raphael said without pause. “There is no room for sentimentality or friendship in the coming battle. He’s either with us, or I’ll kill him myself and find someone who is.”
And then, Raphael tightened his arm around her, and together they returned to their friends and allies, the ones who would stand with them until the end.
Continued in Aden, coming in late 2013 from ImaJinn Books.
The End
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