Table of Contents
Praise for D. B. Reynolds Vampires in America...
Also by D. B. Reynolds
Lucifer
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
Please visit these websites for more information about D.B. Reynolds
About the Author
Reynolds Vampires in America...
Praise for D. B. Reynolds Vampires in America...
“Captivating and brimming with brilliance, CHRISTIAN is yet another defining addition to the ever-evolving world of Vampires in America created by D. B. Reynolds.”
—KT Book Reviews
“Did I mention that the sizzling sex factor in this book is reaching the combustible stage? It is a wonder my Kindle didn’t burn up.”
—La Deetda Reads on DECEPTION
“D. B. Reynolds has outdone herself with this exhilarating story; and VINCENT is a worthy addition to Reynolds’s always excellent Vampires in America series.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Terrific writing, strong characters and world building, excellent storylines all help make Vampires in America a must read. ADEN is one of the best so far.” A TOP BOOK OF THE YEAR!
—On Top Down Under Book Reviews
“In one of the most compelling vampire books I’ve read in a while, Reynolds blends an excellent mix of paranormal elements, suspense and combustible attraction.”
—RT Book Reviews on LUCAS
“Remarkably fresh and stunningly beautiful! SOPHIA is as enchanting as she is dangerous!”
—FreshFiction.com
“Move over Raphael, there’s a new Lord in town.”
—Bitten by Paranormal Romance on JABRIL
Also by D. B. Reynolds
Vampires In America
Raphael
Jabril
Rajmund
Sophia
Duncan
Lucas
Aden
Vincent
Vampires in America: The Vampire Wars
Deception
Christian
Lucifer
The Cyn and Raphael Novellas
Betrayed
Hunted
Unforgiven
Compelled
The Stone Warriors
The Stone Warriors: Damian
Lucifer
by
D. B. Reynolds
ImaJinn Books
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events or locations is entirely coincidental.
ImaJinn Books
PO BOX 300921
Memphis, TN 38130
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61194-736-6
Print ISBN: 978-1-61194-715-1
ImaJinn Books is an Imprint of BelleBooks, Inc.
Copyright © 2016 by D. B. Reynolds
Published in the United States of America.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
ImaJinn Books was founded by Linda Kichline.
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Cover design: Debra Dixon
Interior design: Hank Smith
Photo/Art credits:
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Acknowledgements
As always, I want to thank Brenda Chin for her encouragement and support, along with her terrific editing skills. Thanks also to Debra Dixon and everyone at BelleBooks for taking such good care of my Vampires, and my Warriors, too.
Thank you to Michelle Muto and Steve McHugh, my longtime critique partners, and to Karen Roma, for being such a thoughtful beta reader.
Special thanks to Joss Whedon for creating Buffy to keep me company while I write. I’m sure that’s why he wrote it. And to all of the wonderful writers out there who create such beautiful escapes in their stories.
And finally, love and endless gratitude to my big and extended family for all of their love, humor, and support. And love always and forever to my darling husband.
Prologue
Present Day, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
COLIN MURPHY SAGGED against his bonds, the ropes biting into his bare arms, and burning fresh wounds on top of old where they’d cut into his wrists and ankles. And that was the good part. He grimaced at his own twisted sense of humor, but it was the only thing keeping him sane. If he thought about all of the other damage they’d done, all of the other things they’d done . . . .
He shut off his thoughts and reached for the mate bond he shared with Sophia, that shining, indestructible thread that bound them together. It was there, but it had become thin and fragile, and so very distant. It was as if a million minds hung between them, and every one of them was clamoring for attention, blocking his way to her.
It was the blood. His stomach roiled at the memory of how they’d poured the blood down his throat, how they’d forced his body to heal the wounds of their torture night after night. Maybe they’d done it in order to give themselves a fresh canvas for each new, more gruesome session. After all, a kidney could only rupture once; bones could only break into so many pieces . . . unless the body was healed over and over again.
But that was only part of their motivation. In filling him with the blood of another master vampire, in letting that blood heal him time after time, they’d blurred his connection to Sophia, weakening it night by night, until he could barely feel her in the back of his mind.
The door opened. He smelled wet earth and a whiff of rot that spoke to a location well underground. He struggled to open eyes that were nearly swollen shut, the right one so filled with blood that he saw everything through a haze of red. It didn’t stop him from recognizing the vampire who stood in front of him.
“Look at you,” the traitor taunted, fangs bared in a pleased grin. “And still you won’t betray her. Jesus, Colin, if you like vampire pussy that much, I can find you someone who’s a hell of a lot easier to live with. I mean, Sophia’s a fine piece of ass, but, man, she’s got to be totally butch in the sack. Always on top, right?” The traitor snickered at his own pathetic humor.
Colin was barely listening. Hell, he could barely hear. They’d slammed his ears one too many times tonight; the nerves were still numb. He was pretty sure his hearing would return eventually, even without their bloody damn healings. This wasn’t his first rodeo, after all. One didn’t s
pend fifteen years as a Navy SEAL without taking some damage.
Of course, he would only heal if they planned on letting him live when this was all over. Which he doubted. The torture had been purely for their entertainment, continuing long after they’d pretended to interrogate him. They didn’t really need his Intel. The traitor could provide most of the information they needed, while Colin served his purpose simply by sitting in this room, captive. Or so they thought.
They were fools if they thought his Sophia could be so easily diverted from her responsibilities, from her true purpose. She was his lover and his mate, the love of his life. She’d search for him and never give up, despite their weakened link and his deep underground location. But she was first and foremost a vampire lord—Lord of the Canadian Territories, one of the most powerful vampires in North America and the world. She’d understand better than most that his kidnapping was a ploy to distract her from the defense of her territory, and she wouldn’t fall for it.
Sophia would hold her people together, and she’d defeat those who thought to take her territory by force. Then, she’d crush the traitorous bastard standing in front of him into dust. Colin only hoped he’d live long enough to see it. Or, hell, just long enough to see her one more time. Even if it was only to kiss her good-bye.
Chapter One
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
SOPHIA STOOD IN the elevator, the cold of the brushed steel wall behind her seeping into the muscles of her back. She should probably move, but found herself strangely unmotivated.
She needed to focus, to put her game face on. Or one of those other sports analogies that men were so fond of, the ones they used to hype themselves up for a challenge. There would be no challenges tonight from any side, but she still needed to play her part. She was a vampire lord. She couldn’t afford to appear weak or indecisive, especially not in the midst of what Colin would call a vampire sausage fest. All male and all powerful didn’t begin to describe the alpha vampires waiting for her in the downstairs conference room, including the most alpha of them all . . . Raphael.
She sighed inwardly as the elevator slowed to a stop. Her bodyguard, Eleanor, stepped in front of her as the doors slid open to reveal a pair of her own vampires waiting in the corridor just outside. She’d brought the guards with her from Vancouver, because she’d wanted to be certain of their loyalty. Or, at least, more certain than she was of any of the Toronto vampires. They officially owed her the same allegiance as those in Vancouver, but one could excuse her for doubting their loyalty just now.
Eleanor eyed both of the waiting guards carefully before stepping out of the elevator and moving immediately to one side, making room for Sophia to exit into the hallway. Eleanor was the only female vampire on her security detail. She was an incredibly strong one, in terms of pure physicality. That was her gift, rather than vampiric power. She was also fearless, intelligent, and completely loyal. Plus, it was nice to have another female around. No matter what anyone said, women and men simply didn’t think the same way. Sometimes, when Sophia was enduring yet another endless meeting, it was everything she could do not to look at Eleanor and roll her eyes, knowing the other female would understand the sentiment perfectly.
Eleanor hadn’t been selected as Sophia’s bodyguard because of her sex, however. She’d won her position by triumphing over every other candidate in a series of brutal trials organized by Colin specifically for the purpose of filling out Sophia’s security detail. He’d been pleased when Eleanor had come out ahead of all the others, seeming to understand, even before Sophia herself, that a female presence would be useful. That was Colin. He was far more perceptive about people than she was.
That thought nearly made her smile, until the most recent images she’d had of him shoved their way to the front of her brain, wiping out everything else, triggering a pang of fear that squeezed her heart.
Before the events of this last month, she’d have sworn that every member of their carefully chosen security detail was loyal. Now, she didn’t trust anyone except Eleanor.
And that was why this meeting was necessary.
Eleanor leaned close as they walked down the hallway. “They’re all waiting in the conference room, my lady.”
Sophia nodded wordlessly. The stakes tonight were too high, the personalities too touchy, and the vampires too damn powerful to contemplate eye rolling or anything else. She steeled herself for what she had to do and stepped into the conference room, pausing in the doorway to study her fellow vampire lords.
Standing on the other side of the room was Rajmund, Lord of the Northeast. He turned from a subdued conversation with his lieutenant as soon as he caught sight of Sophia. She didn’t know Raj—as he liked to be called—that well. They’d met, of course, at previous Council meetings. But this wasn’t a Council meeting. It was a discreet gathering of certain lords to address a very specific part of a much larger problem. That problem being the damn Europeans who’d somehow decided North America needed a few more vampire lords. They clearly felt it was their duty to fuck up this continent just as badly as they had their own.
Raj was typically less formal than the rest of them, but tonight he greeted her with only a subdued, “Sophia.” Because even he understood that this was a particularly solemn get-together.
Next to Raj was Aden. He’d already been seated when she walked in, but he stood to greet her. Like Raj, he was a very big man, both broad and tall. He was also strikingly handsome, with black hair, and the darkest blue eyes she’d ever seen surrounded by thick black lashes.
“Lady Sophia,” he said, his voice and formal expression giving away nothing of how he felt about tonight’s meeting.
With the formalities observed, Raj and Aden almost immediately leaned into a private conversation, and Sophia stifled a sigh. She didn’t want to talk to them anyway. She hadn’t called Aden or Raj for help with the current situation—she’d called Raphael. He was the one she knew best, the one who’d been there when her Sire, Lucien, had essentially committed suicide and bequeathed her the territory that he’d ruled for hundreds of years before her. Raphael could easily have killed her in that moment, and seized the territory for himself. Instead, he’d offered her a truce. He was very possibly the most powerful vampire in the world, and the unacknowledged head of the North American alliance. As such, he’d chosen to involve Aden and Raj in tonight’s endeavor. And while their presence here indicated their willingness to support her and the alliance, Sophia wanted something more. She wanted Raphael’s guarantee.
He didn’t come politely to his feet to greet her when she entered the room. He sat calmly at the head of the table as if he belonged there, even though this was her territory and, hence, her meeting.
Like the others, Raphael had his lieutenant with him. Jared was a darkly handsome vampire of African descent, who was studying her carefully, as if waiting for her to crack into pieces. Sophia would have liked the luxury of falling apart. But it would have been far too easy, and served no purpose. So it wasn’t going to happen.
Raphael’s mate, Cynthia, was also with him, sitting close enough that they were constantly touching. Her presence was far from typical at a meeting like this, but Sophia wasn’t surprised by it. For one thing, she knew that her request for Raphael’s presence tonight had caught him literally midair, as he and Cynthia—or Cyn, as they called her—were on their way back to California from somewhere in the Midwest. More importantly, Cyn was one of the most dangerous humans that Sophia had ever met, and Colin had always liked and respected her. Sophia also knew that Cyn returned the sentiment. Cyn had been trying almost non-stop to reach Colin over the last couple of weeks, and Sophia knew that the human woman’s concern, and her persistence, were a large part of why Raphael had acted as quickly as he did.
Because Colin’s disappearance was the reason for this meeting. It was why Rajmund was so uncharacteristically serious, and Aden so thou
ghtfully polite. Someone had kidnapped her Colin—her mate, the love of her life. While the four vampire lords in this room exchanged polite greetings and whispered confidences, Colin was being torn apart—bones shattered, organs destroyed, screaming in agony.
She didn’t have to speculate about these things happening. She knew it. Because his captors were providing a running pictorial of his torture, transmitting nightly proof of his treatment at their hands, in the form of photos that not only documented his torture, but left no doubt in her mind that he was being fed some other vampire’s healing blood at the end of every session. On the one hand, she was glad that Colin had even that small respite from his torment. On the other . . . it explained why she couldn’t locate him, why their mate bond was being strained to the point of breaking, but never beyond that point. The vampires who’d seized Colin had the power to weaken her connection to him—imprisoning him deep underground, using the power of the earth itself to obscure the mate bond, weakening it with their blood. But as long as she lived, as long as they both lived, the bond would never break. She wouldn’t let it.
“Sophia,” Raphael said, his deep voice full of unexpected compassion.
Tears stung the back of her eyes, but she didn’t let them fall. Colin didn’t need a weepy woman, he needed the powerful vampire lord who was his mate.
“Thank you for coming,” she told Raphael.
“Of course,” he murmured. “Have you heard anything more?”
She shook her head sharply. “Still no ransom demand. Only the . . . photographs, and then tonight, a short video.”
Raphael exchanged a quick glance with Cyn. His jaw clenched, and when he looked back at Sophia, there was no trace of compassion, only the cold gaze of a supremely powerful vampire. That suited Sophia just fine. She didn’t need his compassion. She needed his insight and his cruelty.
Lucifer (Vampires in America: The Vampire Wars Book 11) Page 1
