Raphael closed his eyes against the searing heat of the rising sun that was blazing inside his skull. He fought it as long as he could, straining to remain awake, to give voice to the alarm bells clanging in the back of his mind. But this was one foe he could never defeat, and sleep claimed him before he could warn her that among vampires even friends could be enemies.
Chapter Nine
“Fuck,” Robbie muttered, as he climbed from the SUV and stood staring at the debris scattered in front of Lucas’s homestead house.
Cyn ignored him as two of Lucas’s daytime security guards walked over to join them. She recognized both of them from the previous morning, and smiled a greeting.
“Okay with you if we look around a little?” she asked, although the request was mostly for form, because the visit had been arranged in advance.
“Help yourself,” one of the guards said. “Lord Donlon cleared it already.”
“Thanks. You all haven’t seen anyone snooping around, have you? Maybe a vehicle headed this way in the distance that turned around suddenly?”
The guard shook his head. “See for yourself. Line of sight goes on forever here. We’d definitely notice.”
“Okay. We’ll poke around a bit, and get out of your hair.”
“Holler if you need anything.”
Robbie didn’t look up when she rejoined him. Eyes on the ground, he grumbled, “Whose idea was it to search through this stuff anyway? Oh, wait,” he continued, slanting a look at Cyn. “It was yours.” He leaned over to push aside a piece of tire, then grunted in disgust.
Cyn glanced over at what appeared to be a piece of human rib bone with bits of meat still attached.
“I’m surprised there are any body parts left,” she said absently, returning to her own search. “I thought the animals would have dragged it away or eaten it by now.”
“A visual I could live without,” Robbie groused. “You know, Cyn, when you called this morning, you said we were going hunting, not picking through some guy’s barely dead remains.”
“We’re not picking through remains, we’re looking for clues. And then we’ll go hunting.”
“You sure the big guy knows you’re doing this?”
“Absolutely, and he agreed it was necessary.”
Robbie sighed. “All right, what the hell are we looking for again?”
“I think our best bet is finding something from the truck. It looked like a personal vehicle to me. I had other stuff on my mind at the time, but I remember it as being fully loaded. Shiny paint, lots of chrome, big tires. Somebody’s baby.”
“Nothing from the plate?”
Cyn closed her eyes briefly, trying to replay what she’d seen in those few minutes of panic. “What’s the South Dakota plate look like?”
Robbie frowned. “Mount Rushmore, I think.”
Cyn stared at him without seeing. “Yeah, that could be it. Blue sky, with something gray. It might have been Rushmore.”
“Great. That narrows it down to only a few hundred thousand vehicles.”
“Don’t be snarky. It was dark, and he turned his lights on when he got closer. Not to mention the bomb he was carrying.”
“Excuses,” he tsked, shaking his head.
Cyn grinned despite herself. “Okay,” she said, scouring the scattered debris. “Our best bet—and I know it’s a long shot, so no smart ass remarks—would be even a small piece of the plate. The back end was loaded with explosives, not to mention the gas tank, so that probably blew all to hell, but the front plate might have been thrown out of the immediate blast range.”
“No problem,” Robbie said absently, reaching into his pocket and pulling on a latex glove. “I’ll get right on that for you.”
Cyn’s laugh trailed off as he held up a bloody piece of something.
“Unless you’d rather have this,” he said, grinning. “I do believe it’s a thumb.”
She hurried over. “I think you’re right,” she said. She retrieved a bottle of water from the SUV, and poured it over the gruesome appendage, washing away the dirt and grime.
“Could be someone else’s, I guess,” Robbie said.
“Nah, it’s too fresh. Let’s see if our guy’s in the system, shall we?”
She whipped out her cell phone, took the thumb in her own gloved hand, and pressed it to the screen, scanning it quickly before handing it back to Robbie. The image was automatically sent to her laptop, which would then query every fingerprint database she had access to, and that was most of them.
“Ain’t technology great?” Robbie commented. “Should we save this thing?”
Cyn dug a plastic baggie out of her pocket. “Just in case.”
“Speaking of cases,” he said, dropping the thumb into the baggie, “how come the local cops aren’t all over this? That explosion was visible for miles. We saw it from the ranch.”
“Kathryn says Lucas is friends with the mayor. He made a few calls, and voila, no police were dispatched. Your tax dollars at work.”
“More likely it’s Lucas’s political contributions at work. Corruption is everywhere.”
“Yeah, well, get over it and help me decide what to do next, because we have a winner, boys and girls.”
They both peered down at the ID displayed on Cyn’s cell phone. “Matthias Hoover,” she read. “He has an old DUI conviction. No surprise that one would hit first. There’s an address, but this record is old. Let me see …” She tapped the screen rapidly, accessing the local white pages, and found a listing under the same name, same address.
“I love people who stay in one place. Incoming,” she murmured and sent the address to Robbie’s phone, which pinged almost immediately.
“Got it,” he said. “What now?”
“We check out the house.”
“Cyn,” Robbie said in clear warning.
“If it looks like Magda or any other vampire is using the place, we won’t go inside,” she promised. “We’ll wait until sunset, and let the big guns handle it.”
“Promise?”
She scowled. What was it with everyone demanding promises from her? It’s not like she did crazy stuff all the time. Well, not anymore.
“Scout’s honor,”’ she told Robbie.
“You were never a scout,” he snickered as they climbed into the SUV and drove away from the wreckage.
“It’s a saying, Robbie. Sheesh. You know where you’re going?”
“No, but the Nav system does. Sit back and enjoy the ride.”
* * * *
Enjoy the ride, Cyn thought to herself. What was there to enjoy? She’d never been a fan of the kind of dry, barren country she was seeing outside the truck window. She could admire the spires and pinnacles in the distance, but the view was mostly hills covered with dry grass with blotches of snow. In the spring, it was probably lovely and green. In a few weeks, pretty and snow-covered white. Today? Splotchy brown and boring.
She caught Robbie checking his rearview mirrors and frowned, thinking she’d seen him do that one too many times.
“Problem?” she asked, cutting a glance at her own side mirror.
“That blue sedan three vehicles back. I’m sure it was behind us earlier.”
Cyn studied the car in question, angling her head for a better view. There weren’t a lot of vehicles on the road, but enough that someone could tail them if they were smart about it.
“What do you think? You want to drive around a little?”
“Our exit’s coming up. Let’s see if they follow us.”
Robbie slowed, exiting to the right, and making an immediate right hand turn. Cyn didn’t even look where they were going, too intent on watching their potential ghost.
“He kept going,” she said, twisting around to look out the back window. “Hold up a minute.”
Robbie pulled to one side, and they waited, until she couldn’t see the blue sedan anymore.
“Looks like we’re clear.”
He did his own quick scan, then nodded. “I’m going to drive aro
und a bit before going to Hoover’s house just to be safe, but I think you’re right.” He put the truck in gear and pulled back onto the road.
By the time they reached Matthias Hoover’s address, they were confident they’d lost their tail, assuming they’d ever had one. They parked about a quarter mile away on the opposite side of the street, and under the stark cover of a bare-limbed black walnut tree.
Cyn raised a pair of binoculars to her eyes and scanned the house. It was small and old, and stood alone, separated from its nearest neighbor by several hundred yards of scrub. It was in desperate need of a paint job, and if it hadn’t been for the light dusting of snow on the ground, Cyn was pretty sure the front yard would have been nothing but dirt and a few scraggly bushes.
Well, that and the two human guards lurking around the perimeter, which told her this wasn’t exactly an ordinary human dwelling.
After watching the guards silently for a few minutes, Cyn lowered her binoculars. “What does that look like to you?” she asked quietly.
“Looks like a big comedown for someone who used to live on Lucas’s ranch,” Robbie said, studying the house through his own binocs.
Cyn swallowed a chuckle. “Tell me about it. But I’m talking about the guards.” She lifted the binoculars again.
“Is that what they’re supposed to be?”
Cyn eyed the two human guards who were standing at opposite corners of the house, not even trying to look alert. “Point taken.”
“Probably a vamp house, though,” Robbie agreed. “Shades are all down, and why else have guards at all? Unless it’s drugs, but that sort tend to have a more effective watch than those two.”
“Assuming it’s vamps, and I think it is, it doesn’t have to be Magda. There’s no reason for her to hang around. She could have sent Hoover off on his suicide mission, and moved on to Chicago. Whoever’s in there might just be some flunkies she left behind to keep an eye on things.”
“Or maybe she wanted to be close to the action. If the bomb had succeeded in taking Lucas out, the territory would be up for grabs, right? Maybe Magda figured she could swoop in while everyone was still reeling.”
Cyn pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Maybe. Or maybe this house is all she can afford. After all, it was Lucas’s money that subsidized her lifestyle before. Maybe she’s a shopaholic and spent all of her salary on clothes.”
“Bummer.”
“Doesn’t matter why, or even if, she’s here, I guess. Doesn’t matter how many are in there either, because Raphael doesn’t approve of killing vamps while they sleep, not even the assholes.” She stared at the house thoughtfully. “Although …”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” he said worriedly.
“… it might be useful to know how many vampires are in there. You know, so Raphael will know what he’s dealing with.”
Robbie huffed dismissively. “Yeah, right. Because Raphael and Lucas would just have one hell of a time coping if there’s too many of them low-level vamps in there.”
“Spoilsport. But you’re right, damn it. Hey!” she said, brightening. “What if when we go back to the ranch to tell Raphael, Magda wakes up, and is gone before we get back here?”
“Nice try, babe. How about if we use a cell phone to tell Raphael instead? And that way no one can sneak away.”
“No, I promised Raphael I’d be there when he woke up.”
“Okay, so I drop you at the estate, then come right back here. I’ll keep watch just in case that Magda bitch is an early riser. If they take off, I’ll follow.”
“You sure?”
“You worried about me, Cyn?”
“Always. It’s a pain in the ass to train a new bodyguard.”
“Love you, too, babe. You just wake the big guy and bring reinforcements. I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Ten
Cyn propped herself on Raphael’s chest and watched him sleep. Some might argue that what he did wasn’t a true sleep, since he couldn’t wake up. But he dreamed, and it was restful for him, and that was close enough for her.
Her eyes cut to the digital clock on the bedside table. She was like a walking Farmer’s Almanac these days, at least when it came to the sun. She heard the minute click of the clock as the time changed, and then Raphael’s arms came around her, and she smiled. It was always the first thing he did. His midnight eyes opened, and his big hand rested familiarly on the curve of her butt.
“Hi,” she said happily.
“Good evening, my Cyn.” He tugged her higher until their mouths met in a soft, welcoming kiss.
“And how was your hunt today?”
“Good. We’re pretty sure we found the house where Magda’s holed up.”
He eyed her cautiously. “And is she still there?”
“If you’re asking if we went into the house, the answer is no. We decided to wait for you guys.”
He studied her for a moment, his handsome face drawn into a scowl. “Where is my Cyn, and what have you done with her?”
She slapped his chest.
“On second thought,” he said, rubbing her butt, “I recognize this ass. So why the suddenly sensible approach?”
“It was Robbie’s influence. He’s determined to be the voice of reason.”
“And what does that make you?”
“Alive. Because everyone knows the voice of reason is the first to die when the monsters come.”
He blinked, then shook his head. “I don’t want to know. Tell me where this house is, and I’ll let Lucas know. Magda is his child, after all. He’ll want to deal with her.”
“But we have to go back there, too,” she said urgently, raising herself enough to stare into his face. “Robbie’s waiting for us.”
“We’re leaving tonight. You can call Rob, have him meet us at the airport.”
She gave him a narrow-eyed look. “You’re doing this on purpose, to torment me.”
“Am I? Maybe it’s a test of your new cautious nature.”
Cyn made a dismissive noise. “I never said anything about being cautious, fang boy, so put that idea right out of your head. We could easily have taken Magda’s human guards, but I know how you feel about killing vamps while they sleep, so there was no point in going inside. So there.”
He laughed. “Welcome back, my Cyn.”
“You’re awful. How am I supposed to become a better person?”
“You don’t need to get any better,” he said, his voice deep and silky as he buried his face against her neck. “I love you exactly the way you are.” Without warning, he rolled her beneath him. “You’re wearing clothes.”
“You’re not,” she said, flexing her hips playfully, feeling the hard length of his arousal.
“I need to shower.”
“Hmmm, I’m feeling a bit gritty myself. That explosion site was pretty gruesome.”
“We could shower together.”
Cyn flexed her hips again. “It might take longer that way.”
Raphael stood, taking her with him. “Then we should get started.”
* * * *
“What’s taking them so long?” Cyn sat with Elke on the stairs of Lucas’s big house, watching Raphael and Lucas discuss how to proceed with the night’s hunt, and thinking Kathryn would be sorry to miss this. Especially if it turned out to be Magda in that house. Cyn had gotten a clear impression that there was no love lost between the two of them. Unfortunately, Kathryn had been called into the agency this morning, so she was going to miss the big takedown.
Assuming it ever happened.
The vampires all stood at the bottom of the stairs, near the several big SUVs which were waiting to take them away … once they finished negotiating. Jared and Juro were there with Raphael, and Nicholas from Lucas’s side. It was all terribly civilized, which struck Cyn as rather anticlimactic under the circumstances. They were about to hunt down and kill some rogue vampires, not rendezvous for dinner at the local steak house.
“What the fuck?” she demanded irritably
. “Robbie’s been sitting on that house all alone for hours. We need to get there.”
“It’s a question of precedence,” Elke said. She sat one step higher than Cyn, leaning back on her elbows with her legs stretched out in front of her. To all appearances, she was completely relaxed, but Cyn knew she could be on her feet in mere seconds if a threat manifested. She also could probably hear every word the two vampire lords were saying.
“What precedent?”
“Several actually, that’s the problem. Raphael is Lucas’s Sire, which gives him precedence. But this is Lucas’s territory, and Magda is his child. And though Raphael was followed from the airport, most likely with nefarious intent, the other far more dangerous attacks affected both lords equally, whether intentionally or not.”
“Jeez, sign a fucking contract why don’t they? If I’d known they were going to call in a mediator, I’d have taken care of it myself while the sun was up. Can we go now?” she called loudly.
Raphael said something that made Lucas laugh. She gave him a squinty look. “What’d he say, Elke?”
“I couldn’t hear.”
“Bullshit.”
“You’re like a sister to me, Cyn—”
“I hate my sister.”
“Okay, bad analogy, but I’m not telling you anyway. You’re a friend. But Raphael owns me body and soul.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She glanced at Elke over her shoulder. “Think your lord and master is going to get his very fine ass in gear any time soon?”
“Are you ready, my Cyn?” Raphael said from way too close, his deep voice laced with amusement.
Her head snapped around to find him standing right in front of her, one hand held out. She scowled as she let him pull her to her feet. “I hate it when you do that,” she muttered as they walked toward the waiting SUVs. The two lords were traveling in separate SUVs. They’d agreed on that much early on. Ostensibly, this was because Raphael and his party would be going directly to the airport after dealing with Magda. But Cyn knew the real reason was because they were getting on each other’s nerves. She could feel their growing tension like a constant, and fucking irritating, buzz over her skin. It was a relief when they finally climbed into their respective vehicles and drove away from the house, putting some distance and cold metal between the two powerful lords.
Hunted (A Cyn & Raphael Novella) Page 8
