the line. Someone lower on the food chain did his dirty work for him, found the human and hired him for the job. It won’t save his ass, though. I don’t care if he was just obeying orders. Whatever vampire hired the human will die for it, and so will Klemens .” Lucas leaned even closer and said intently, “Let me do this, Sire. Your people can have the human, but I want the vampire who hired him. He’s almost certainly hiding in my territory or Klemens’s .”
Raphael nodded his agreement. After all, Lucas was at war right now because he honored what Raphael was trying to do. Some of his vampires would surely die before it was over, perhaps even Lucas himself. Although if Raphael had truly believed Lucas couldn’t defeat Klemens , he’d have been the first one to talk him out of fighting this war. Raphael had lost too many of his children lately. He didn’t need to add to that list.
But if Lucas was assuming the risks, he deserved some of the honor as well. And it was important to Lucas that he be the one to destroy the vampire who’d gone after Raphael. That death, and the deaths that would surely accompany it, would send a message to Klemens —whether Lucas and Raphael had been
allie
s before the assassination attempt or not, they were now. And Klemens would sleep a little less soundly for knowing that.
At the same time, Raphael knew Cyn would be deeply unhappy at this arrangement. Her mate had been attacked, and she wanted blood. She might well have been a vampire for all her possessiveness when it came to him. Raphael was hers, and she had no forgiveness for anyone who tried to harm him. And he was vain enough that the idea pleased him.
“ Klemens and his vampire fixer are yours,” Raphael confirmed. “But the human assassin is mine.”
“Done,” Lucas said instantly.
“Yes,” Raphael drawled in amusement. “Now we’ve only to find who did it and prove Klemens was behind it.”
“I don’t need proof against Klemens . He dies either way.”
“True enough—” Raphael paused as his cell phone rang. The caller ID told him it was Juro calling, although he didn’t need the phone to tell him that. He hit the answer key. “ Juro ,” he said.
“My lord,” Juro began. “We have recovered the bullet.”
“Excellent. You’re down in Security?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Lucas and I will be there shortly. Ask Cyn to join us, please.”
Lucas looked up expectantly, pretending not to have heard every word of the conversation. Or he might actually have been polite enough to have tuned out the conversation. Most likely the former. This was Lucas, after all.
“Come. Juro has some information for us.”
* * * *
“You call Murphy, yet?” It was the first question Robbie asked Cyn once they’d left the vampires behind and headed for the alcove of the bedroom suite’s main room, where she had her laptop set up on a small built-in desk.
“First thing,” she assured him. “In fact—” She glanced at her watch. “—another half hour, and I’ll call him back.” She settled into the desk chair and rocked back, pulling the laptop onto her lap.
“Tell me everything you know about snipers,” she told him and lifted her fingers, ready to type.
Robbie gave her a bemused look.
“What?” she demanded.
“Cyn baby, I know an awful lot about snipers. Besides, I’m not sure what you’re dealing with here really is a sniper.”
“Who else could it be? When we locate the shooter’s nest in the morning—and we will—I’ll bet it ends up at least 700 yards away.”
“Sweetheart, with the guns we have now, a lot of people could make that shot. Besides, most of the snipers I knew would never have become contract killers. When their tour was up, they went home to their wives and kids. They didn’t start killing people for money.”
“Rob,” Cyn said patiently. “I’m not casting blame on snipers everywhere. I only want the one guy who did this.”
“Yeah, okay. I know you’re
Raphael nodded his agreement. After all, Lucas was at war right now because he honored what Raphael was trying to do. Some of his vampires would surely die before it was over, perhaps even Lucas himself. Although if Raphael had truly believed Lucas couldn’t defeat Klemens , he’d have been the first one to talk him out of fighting this war. Raphael had lost too many of his children lately. He didn’t need to add to that list.
But if Lucas was assuming the risks, he deserved some of the honor as well. And it was important to Lucas that he be the one to destroy the vampire who’d gone after Raphael. That death, and the deaths that would surely accompany it, would send a message to Klemens —whether Lucas and Raphael had been
allie
s before the assassination attempt or not, they were now. And Klemens would sleep a little less soundly for knowing that.
At the same time, Raphael knew Cyn would be deeply unhappy at this arrangement. Her mate had been attacked, and she wanted blood. She might well have been a vampire for all her possessiveness when it came to him. Raphael was hers, and she had no forgiveness for anyone who tried to harm him. And he was vain enough that the idea pleased him.
“ Klemens and his vampire fixer are yours,” Raphael confirmed. “But the human assassin is mine.”
“Done,” Lucas said instantly.
“Yes,” Raphael drawled in amusement. “Now we’ve only to find who did it and prove Klemens was behind it.”
“I don’t need proof against Klemens . He dies either way.”
“True enough—” Raphael paused as his cell phone rang. The caller ID told him it was Juro calling, although he didn’t need the phone to tell him that. He hit the answer key. “ Juro ,” he said.
“My lord,” Juro began. “We have recovered the bullet.”
“Excellent. You’re down in Security?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Lucas and I will be there shortly. Ask Cyn to join us, please.”
Lucas looked up expectantly, pretending not to have heard every word of the conversation. Or he might actually have been polite enough to have tuned out the conversation. Most likely the former. This was Lucas, after all.
“Come. Juro has some information for us.”
* * * *
“You call Murphy, yet?” It was the first question Robbie asked Cyn once they’d left the vampires behind and headed for the alcove of the bedroom suite’s main room, where she had her laptop set up on a small built-in desk.
“First thing,” she assured him. “In fact—” She glanced at her watch. “—another half hour, and I’ll call him back.” She settled into the desk chair and rocked back, pulling the laptop onto her lap.
“Tell me everything you know about snipers,” she told him and lifted her fingers, ready to type.
Robbie gave her a bemused look.
“What?” she demanded.
“Cyn baby, I know an awful lot about snipers. Besides, I’m not sure what you’re dealing with here really is a sniper.”
“Who else could it be? When we locate the shooter’s nest in the morning—and we will—I’ll bet it ends up at least 700 yards away.”
“Sweetheart, with the guns we have now, a lot of people could make that shot. Besides, most of the snipers I knew would never have become contract killers. When their tour was up, they went home to their wives and kids. They didn’t start killing people for money.”
“Rob,” Cyn said patiently. “I’m not casting blame on snipers everywhere. I only want the one guy who did this.”
“Yeah, okay. I know you’re
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