Lachlan

by D. B. Reynolds

  “Emphasis on the moon. Okay, baby. I’ll be leaving for DC tonight, then. I was going to meet Raphael first, but that won’t be necessary now. I’m going to hold you to that two months, though. I’m your father. I need to meet this vampire of yours.”

  “I love you, Daddy.”

  “I love you, baby girl. Stay in touch.”

  IT WAS HOURS LATER before Lachlan picked up the phone in his office and punched in a number he had no business knowing. He only did because he’d entered Erskine’s Edinburgh office a few years back, when the former vampire lord had been conspicuously on the phone. He’d made a big show of saying Raphael’s name before he hung up. He’d then told Lachlan to wait while he passed on some intelligence that Raphael had shared with him, and left the office to stand out of view in the hall, murmuring to Tucker.

  Lachlan had taken advantage of the moment to hit redial on the landline phone Erskine had been using. He’d memorized the displayed number, then hung up before the call went through. He didn’t hang up this time, however. He waited as the phone rang. Raphael wouldn’t recognize his number, but he wouldn’t have to. Lachlan was calling on a rarely used phone, since it included an accurate caller ID.

  “Lachlan, I presume,” Raphael answered, his deep voice unmistakable.

  “Raphael,” Lachlan said, the absence of a title making it clear that they were now equals. Not in terms of power. No vampire alive matched Raphael’s strength. But they were both vampire lords, and that made them equal in vampire society.

  “Congratulations,” Raphael said. “You’ve saved me a trip.”

  “So I hear. You are, of course, welcome to visit at some time in the future. Julia and I both appreciated your recent hospitality, as well as your assistance.”

  “In the future,” Raphael agreed vaguely, though they both knew it was unlikely to happen. “My Cyn does ask me to pass on a request for Julia to call her.”

  Having heard Leighton’s voice before Raphael had spoken, Lachlan knew the request had been phrased less delicately, but he said only, “I’ll tell her. Thank you again.”

  “It was my pleasure, in more ways than one.”

  And then he was gone. A vampire of few words. But then, it wasn’t as if the two of them had anything in common, other than a friendship between the women they loved. He looked up as his own love strolled into his office. “Leighton wants you to call her.”

  She smiled and walked around to prop her sweet ass on his desk. “Tell me, do I have to stand next to you now, like a proper bodyguard? Or do I sit on your lap?”

  “The bodyguard is a definite no.” He pulled her onto his lap. “But my lap is always open.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder. “Do you have to work tonight?”

  “Not tonight.” He stood, swinging her easily up into his arms. “Tonight, I’m going to teach you how vampires mate.”

  Epilogue

  Somewhere in Europe

  THE SCOTSMAN entered the bar with his usual caution, searching every dark corner before moving from the doorway. There was a modest crowd, but not unusual for a late Thursday night. Even dedicated drinkers needed to work the next morning, or at least most of them did. The rest sat at the few tables or lined the bar, some sharing the occasional laugh with a companion, the others focused solely on their drinks.

  But none of these were what brought him to this place on this night. A glint of red from the vampire bartender’s glance and a tip of his head toward a closed door on the far wall told the Scotsman where his purpose lay.

  Opening the door, he paused to scan the room beyond and found exactly what he’d expected—a gathering of roughly twelve vampires, all of them strong, some more than others, although a few were almost certainly shielding their true strength. It was no matter to him. He was here as an observer only, sent by his own Lord Lachlan to judge the possible repercussions of this meeting for the vampires of Scotland. As he closed the door behind him, an unknown vampire addressed the group, speaking English, which was the best bet for a language they all understood.

  “Look, if we do nothing, we’ll end up with Raphael’s hand-picked vampires ruling all of us.” The vampire pushed his chair away from the table in disgust, then looked up to meet the Scotsman’s gaze in silent accusation.

  “Lachlan’s got no allegiance to Raphael,” the Scotsman said. His tone was flat, his stare uncompromising. He and his lord might have little riding on the decision these vampires made, but he wasn’t about to let them insult the new Lord of Scotland.

  “It’s simple.”

  Several of the vampires twisted their heads from side to side, trying to figure out who’d spoken, before a dark-haired vampire sitting in the shadows below a shuttered window continued.

  “You think you’re the first to consider sending an assassin after Raphael? Have any of you ever even seen him up close?” When no one spoke up, he said, “Well, I have, and I’ve never felt such power. And that was at a formal affair with no threats about.” The vamp stroked one finger along the grain of the table in what appeared to be a habitual gesture. “No,” the vampire said, his face still obscured by the darkness. “What we should do is take a page from our North American brethren and organize ourselves the way they have. With an alliance. An agreement to stand together against outside threats.”

  “No one has suffered more from the foolish attempts by certain of our leaders to invade North America than my people,” interjected a vampire with a strong French accent. “Attempts that not only failed, but cost hundreds of vampire lives. If anyone should want revenge on Raphael, it is the French.” He sipped from the full glass of wine standing in front of him, one of several drinks along the table, many of which hadn’t been touched. They were there mostly for show, in the event some human opened the wrong door. “But I’m telling you,” the Frenchman warned. “The path of revenge will bring nothing but a quick death. Leave it alone. Raphael doesn’t care what happens here, as long as it remains here.”

  “Agreed,” the vampire in the shadows said, drawing everyone’s attention back to him, despite his quiet voice.

  That one has power, the Scotsman thought to himself, and turned his focus to studying the stranger. If anyone was going to unite these vampires in a common cause, that would be the one.

  “We should create an alliance of our own,” the vampire continued.

  “There are too many of us,” someone protested. “North America has only eight lords, we have—”

  “Hundreds,” the dark-haired vampire supplied. “Many of whom are too weak to be called ‘vampire lord,’ and everyone in this room knows it.”

  “You’re proposing war.”

  “No, I’m proposing peace. Do what you want in your own countries, but I plan to rule mine. And no one else’s. If you leave me and mine alone, I’ll do the same. But if you attack . . .” He turned his head from side to side, making it clear that no one was excluded from his warning. “I will destroy you and everyone who followed you. I want peace, and I intend to get it if I have to leave mountains of dust across Europe.” He stood, fingertips pressed to the table in front of him. “I bid you fair traveling, gentlemen.”

  He left as quietly as he’d spoken, and would have closed the door, but spying the Scotsman leaving behind him, he paused to give a knowing smile. “My regards to Lachlan,” he said, then walked away.

  The Scotsman watched as the vampire left the bar, making mental notes of everything he’d heard from this one, knowing Lord Lachlan would want to know. He waited long enough to ensure the vamp wouldn’t think himself followed, then exited to the street, eager to begin his journey back to the Highlands. Given the late hour, it would be the next night before he got there, but he could at least cover the distance to the port before dawn.

  THE DARK-HAIRED vampire watched the Scotsman stride away, confident his message would be delivered—n
ot only to Lachlan, but to Raphael, as well. He hadn’t lied to the assembled vampires. He did want peace. But he intended it to be on his terms. Raphael’s alliance wasn’t the only model for what he wanted. Raphael himself was, too, though he didn’t fool himself by thinking his power was equal. He didn’t believe there was another vampire alive who could match the North American vampire lord. On the other hand, he’d weighed his own power against everyone in that meeting, just as he’d weighed it against every strong vampire he’d ever met. And he’d never found one he couldn’t have killed, if it came down to it.

  Yes, he wanted peace. He wanted an alliance. But he intended to be the one leading that alliance, the one making the critical difference, the tough decisions. Just as Raphael did.

  Once the Scotsman was out of sight, the vampire moved out of the shadows, slid behind the wheel of his very fine European sedan and took off into the night to pursue a revolution.

  To be continued . . .

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  Acknowledgements

  As always I need to thank my editor, Brenda Chin, first and foremost. Especially on this book, she worked with me to make it so much better. I’d hate to do this without her. My thanks also to my publisher, the multi-talented Debra Dixon at BelleBooks, for her patience in working out my due dates, even when they slip, and for the always gorgeous covers she designs. And, of course, everyone at BelleBooks, all of whom work to keep things flowing in the right direction.

  Love and gratitude to my friend and fellow writer, the brilliant Angela Addams (you really need to check out her Witch Hospital series) who’s conveniently located in a different time zone, so she can “listen” to me moan and curse via messenger in the wee hours of the night. Thanks once more to John Gorski, who saved me from shoving the wrong kind of bullets into my characters’ guns, to Annette Stone who cheerfully gets out newsletters and contest notices at the last minute (my fault,) and to Karen Roma who’s the best beta reader an author could ask for, and whom I hope to be seeing in Brisbane 2020!

  To Julie-Anne Wilson, a friend who goes back to our days on Kelley Armstrong’s chat board, which is many more years ago than I like to think about, with apologies for my bastardized Scottish Gaelic.

  To my lovely Leah Peterson who gave me so many tips about traveling in Scotland, including the best shortbread bakery you will ever find. It’s worth a trip back to Edinburgh just for that.

  To my large and extended family who are always there for me, in good times and bad, I love you all.

  And finally, this book is dedicated to all the wonderful people I met in Scotland, who made my journey an enchanting and fascinating experience, but especially to Jane Sanderson, Blue Badge Guide extraordinaire, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of Edinburgh. We walked all over the city and climbed to the very top of Edinburgh Castle, where she pointed out a wet and slippery Arthur’s Seat and wisely advised me not to try climbing it. And to Jean Blair, the incredibly knowledgeable Blue Badge Guide who traveled the Highlands and more with me, through rain and floods and the occasional sunshine. Through castles and luggage stores, from leaping salmon to whisky that almost killed me, and gorgeous vistas that filled my heart with joy. It was a wonderful and exciting adventure, and I can hardly wait to call you up and do it again.

  About the Author

  D. B. REYNOLDS arrived in sunny Southern California at an early age, having made the trek across the country from the Midwest in a station wagon with her parents, her many siblings and the family dog. And while she has many (okay, some) fond memories of Midwestern farm life, she quickly discovered that L.A. was her kind of town and grew up happily sunning on the beaches of the South Bay.

  D. B. holds graduate degrees in international relations and history from UCLA (go Bruins!) and was headed for a career in academia, but in a moment of clarity she left behind the politics of the hallowed halls for the better paying politics of Hollywood, where she worked as a sound editor for several years, receiving two Emmy nominations, an MPSE Golden Reel and multiple MPSE nominations for her work in television sound.

  Book One of her Vampires in America series, RAPHAEL, launched her career as a writer in 2009, while JABRIL, Vampires in America Book Two, was awarded the RT Reviewers Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance (Small Press) in 2010. ADEN, Vampires in America Book Seven, was her first release under the new ImaJinn imprint at BelleBooks, Inc.

  D. B. currently lives in a flammable canyon near the Malibu coast. When she’s not writing her own books, she can usually be found reading someone else’s. You can visit D. B. at her website www.dbre
ynolds.com for information on her latest books, contests and giveaways.