Sophia

by D. B. Reynolds

  “Well, I’ll tell you, Mister Pulaski,” Leighton snapped suddenly. “This is a murder investigation. You might not care for vampires, but they’ve got rights whether you like it or not. And if you know something about what happened out there and don’t tell us, that’s called conspiracy after the fact . . . or maybe you did a little conspiring before the fact? Maybe Murphy here should snap some handcuffs on those skinny, white wrists of yours and haul you into town. Shouldn’t take too long for the County boys to arrive, make a proper arrest. A‘course,” she said, mimicking him, “ . . . it might take a bit more than a day, don’t you think? Might get dark in the meantime, and I don’t think that jail I saw at Murphy’s office would do much to keep the vampires out. What do you think, Robbie?”

  “Hard to say, Miz Cynthia,” Robbie drawled. “But them vampires are hellacious strong. Why I’ve seen ‘em rip iron bars like that right out the walls. Hell, they probably won’t bother with the bars a’tall. Probably just bust right through them walls.” He paused, as if thinking about it. “Yep, that’s what they’d do, all right.”

  “So what’s it gonna be, Mister Pulaski? You want to answer a few questions for us? Or wait until after dark?” She regarded him lazily, a smug smile playing around her mouth. “Personally, I’m hoping you wait.”

  Pulaski gave her a hate-filled glare, but not before Colin caught the flash of fear on his face.

  “Just tell me what you know, Hugh,” Colin said patiently. “It’ll go no further than the four of us here.”

  Hugh shifted his gaze to Colin, back to Leighton and over to Colin again. He took a step back and away from Leighton, his fingers tightening on the gun at his side. Robbie saw it, too. “Cyn,” he said sharply, touching her arm and stepping in front of her again.

  The bodyguard’s reaction pleased Hugh and he had a sly smile on his face when he looked back at Colin. “The ones doing this aren’t from around here,” he said abruptly. “Outsiders barging in and taking over like they belong. Shoved aside those of us who’ve lived here all our lives like we were nothing. Brought lots of money and guns, all kinds of equipment and shit I’ve never seen before.”

  “You didn’t recognize anyone? Why would they choose Cooper’s Rest, if they’re not from around here?”

  “Wouldn’t tell you if I did know ‘em. But I didn’t. As for why Coop’s? Hell, Murphy, it’s ‘cuz of those damn vampires moving in with their big, fancy house and their fucking fancy whores.” He looked at Leighton when he said those last words, giving her a sneering up and down appraisal. “You be careful there, missy,” he said. “A looker like you whoring yourself out, those righteous men might just do to you what they did to Mariane. Woman’ll take it from a vampire, she’ll take it from just about anyone.”

  Leighton didn’t even flinch. She just met old Hugh’s gaze and bared her teeth, her eyes going cold and flat. Colin had seen that look on a lot of faces before, but never from a woman.

  Not trusting what might happen next, he said, “Fine, we’re outta here. You watch who you keep company with, Hugh. This is gonna go badly for anyone involved with what went down out there.”

  Robbie was already hustling Leighton back to the truck, opening the door to the backseat and urging her inside. He slammed the door and waited until Colin was behind the wheel before holstering his weapon and sliding into the truck himself. “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he snarled.

  Colin reversed out of the clearing in front of Hugh’s house, not willing to take his eyes off the old man until they had some distance between them. Once he hit the narrow private road, he backed off the road enough to get some turn around room, then headed out toward the highway.

  “So how’d white boy back there know about Mariane?” Leighton said. She had scooted to the edge of the back bench and was leaning between the two front seats.

  “This is a small town,” Colin said, turning off Hugh’s drive and onto the highway. “Everyone knew everything there was to know about the attack on Mariane and Jeremy within hours. Maybe not every little detail, but a rough idea of what had happened and who was involved. What’s more curious is that Hugh didn’t even flinch when I mentioned Marco and Preston. He already knew they were dead, but I didn’t even know it until you told me yesterday and I’ve told no one else. He might not be directly involved in these crimes, but he knows what they’re doing. Maybe—probably—he’s just sitting at a table in the shadows and eavesdropping.”

  She made an exasperated noise and pushed herself back against the seat behind her. “So, you’ve got some white supremacists operating in your back yard. But how the hell does that tie in to what happened up in Vancouver?”

  “What happened in Vancouver?”

  Leighton just looked at him.

  “Come on, Leighton,” he said, eyeing her in the rear view mirror. “You want cooperation from me, it’s a two-way street. What happened in Vancouver?”

  She met his reflected gaze. “Your girlfriend Sophia didn’t tell you?”

  Colin gave her a cold stare. “She’s not my girlfriend,” he said evenly. “And you’re avoiding the question.”

  Leighton shrugged, stretching out her legs before answering. “Three more vampires were killed,” she said. “That’s why Sophia’s here. She thinks, and I tend to agree, that whoever killed the vamps up there has decided to spread the joy southward.”

  “Shit.”

  “That doesn’t begin to cover it. You’ve never seen what happens when a vampire gets really pissed, Colin. I have. They don’t believe in trial by jury and they don’t give second chances. These killers, whoever they are, sealed their fates the minute they decided to cross into Raphael’s territory. This isn’t going to be pretty, no matter how you look at it.”

  “Yeah? Well, I’ll tell you how I look at it, Leighton. I saw what they did to Mariane. So, as long as the only ones getting bloodied are the animals who did that, I say let the bloodletting begin.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sophia checked herself in the mirror critically, using both hands to pull her hair out of the high-necked sweater she’d chosen for tonight’s hunt. It seemed foolish to think of it as a hunt, especially in this day and age, but she didn’t have any other word for it. Raphael’s vampires were going to hunt down the humans who’d crossed the line of civility and started the killing. It seemed clear, to Sophia at least, that the motive for these crimes was simple hatred. The things they’d done to that child Mariane were proof of that, if any further proof was necessary. She thought Raphael agreed with her, although it was difficult to know for sure since she was still frozen out of any serious discussions.

  The western vampire lord didn’t trust her, not even after last night when she’d shown her own trust by admitting him not just to Lucien’s territory, but to the heart of his nest. Trust came hard to vampires. She had to remind herself of that now that she was back in Vancouver. She’d spent too many years down in Brazil, a country ruled by a vampire lord so laid back he barely qualified for the title.

  She should have remembered, though. Should have remembered that village in Central America and the night she’d been given a choice—leave now or swear loyalty to a new master. That region’s vampire lord hadn’t been laid back. He’d been unwilling to tolerate her presence in his territory as long as she was sworn to Lucien. And Sophia had had no intention of forsaking her Sire, not when there were so many other places in the world she could live peacefully.

  Of course, leaving the hostile vampire lord’s territory had meant leaving Colin, too. She’d rationalized the decision in her head a million times over the years. That he was human, that he wouldn’t understand, that he wouldn’t want her if he knew what she was. Or that he’d have left her soon, anyway, called away by his own masters in the United States military. But every one of those excuses still left a bad taste in her mouth. She could have handled it differently. Should have handled it differently. But when the fire had struck, it had seemed like a gift, a sign from the Fates tha
t this was the right path for her to take.

  But then, she’d never expected to see him again, never expected to feel that punch in the gut when she’d walked into the room upstairs and seen those blue eyes accusing her.

  She turned away from the mirror, no longer willing to see the accusation in her own reflection. Maybe she should talk to him again. Try to make him understand. She snorted delicately. As if Colin hadn’t made his own feelings on the subject perfectly clear already.

  Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway outside, reminding her of the night’s coming festivities. She ran her hands over her hips, pulling the sweater into place. Thank God she’d thought to pick up some clothes in Vancouver last night. She’d never planned on being in Raphael’s territory this long, but it looked as if she’d be staying here at least a couple more nights. She didn’t think they could wrap this up before then, not even with Raphael’s power and resources on their side.

  She’d worn casual clothes tonight—jeans, flat-soled boots and a thick sweater. The hunt was likely to involve a lot of tramping through the woods, especially since there wasn’t much other than woods around here. The clothes made her look much younger—something she usually avoided in her never-ending quest to be taken seriously in the male dominated world of vampires.

  And it was definitely male dominated. Witness the thumping footsteps outside her door just a moment ago. For centuries vampire lords had chosen their minions with physical defense in mind, which meant the bigger the better, and that equaled male. Modern times made that less necessary, but the tradition continued, because the vampire lords controlled who got turned and the lords were mostly old traditionalists. Raphael’s people were a very good example of the testosterone-laden ranks of Vampire. Sophia had seen only one female among all the vampires he’d brought with him from California.

  For her part, Sophia was more powerful than most of the vampires she met, but female still equaled weak in most vampires’ eyes. She could have gone the route of Raphael’s lone female, Elke, who appeared to be every bit as muscled as the males she worked with. But Sophia had grown up in a culture where beauty was a woman’s best, and sometimes only, weapon. And she knew she was beautiful, just like she knew it fed the males’ misperception of her weakness. But then her beauty was something she’d learned to wield long before she’d ever become Vampire. And she’d never enjoyed lifting weights.

  But tonight, she’d forgone appearances in favor of practicality. She had no intention of trudging through the underbrush in four inch heels and a silk blouse. Her only concession was her hair, which she’d left hanging down her back instead of the more practical braid she usually adopted in such situations. She told herself it had nothing to do with the possibility that Colin would be around, that he’d remember how much he’d loved her long hair when they were together.

  She was usually very good at lying when it served her purposes. But she’d never been very good at lying to herself. She soothed her vanity with a final glance in the mirror, then opened her door to an empty hallway. Apparently Raphael’s vampires were all upstairs already.

  Climbing the steep stairs from the basement level, Sophia admired again the degree of security in the compound and the comfort afforded even a visiting vampire like herself. Raphael took good care of his people. That was his reputation, so she shouldn’t have been surprised. But the reality had exceeded even the reputation. She was impressed in spite of herself and feeling slightly disloyal to Lucien because of it.

  She heard laughter as she came around the corner, the sound chased into the building on a wash of cold air. Recognizing Colin’s deep voice, she looked up eagerly . . . and frowned. Colin was there all right, but he was with Raphael’s woman, the two of them laughing and talking like old friends, as if they hadn’t just met two days ago. Sophia’s eyes narrowed in displeasure, but she quickly erased the expression. If Colin wanted to waste his time on Raphael’s woman, that was his choice.

  Listening carefully, while pretending not to, Sophia heard the woman Cynthia bid Colin a good night and head across the wide expanse of the great room, accompanied by another one of Raphael’s hulking bodyguards, this one human. They were met by the pale, blond Elke, who was dressed in a suit just like the males wore. Sophia watched somewhat enviously as Cynthia and the black bodyguard greeted Elke, spending a few minutes more in cheerful conversation. Did she have any friends like that? Sophia wondered. Or even acquaintances? Anyone with whom she could exchange a few moments of lighthearted conversation? The answer was no. Not in Vancouver, not even in Rio which had been her home for years. She had no one. What startled her was that she had never noticed the lack until now.

  She studied the small grouping. Raphael’s mate was beautiful. Sophia had never minded acknowledging beauty in other women. She had her own beauty, after all, and so recognized it in others. But this Cynthia used her beauty differently than Sophia did, less consciously, perhaps, but she used it all the same. It gave her a breezy confidence that made others accept her more readily, that let her take chances a less self-assured person would never have dared.

  Sophia glanced around, noting the number of eyes watching the exchange. Eyes which included Colin’s. She frowned, feeling the jagged edge of jealousy scrape across her gut, something she rarely experienced. As if aware of her reaction, Colin glanced over, his gaze meeting hers for a long moment. Sophia started toward him with a smile, but before she’d taken two steps, he shook his head in disgust and spun away from her, pushing through the doors and admitting another gust of cold, damp air to swirl around the sparsely furnished room.

  Sophia’s mouth tightened in irritation. So he could spend an entire day with this Cynthia, who was clearly off limits, but he couldn’t spare a moment’s greeting for Sophia? As Raphael’s Cynthia had been heard to say . . . Fuck that!

  She scanned the great room and spied Wei Chen heading toward the winding stairs up to the second floor. With a burst of speed, she cut him off before he reached the first step.

  He recoiled a bit at her abrupt appearance, but then acknowledged her politely enough. “Sophia,” he said. “Is there something you require?”

  “A car,” she said simply. “Not one of those enormous trucks, but a simple sedan will do.”

  The Seattle compound leader seemed confused. “It was my impression you would be accompanying the others on the hunt tonight. The trucks are unwieldy but—”

  “Later,” she interrupted. “I need to run an errand first. Your Sheriff Murphy and I are old acquaintances.”

  Wei Chen’s eyebrows shot up. He couldn’t have missed the obvious tension between her and Colin the other night. No doubt, he’d already had his people searching out every detail of her history and relationships, as well as Colin’s. By now he, and by extension Raphael, knew more about her former lover than she did.

  “Of course,” Wei Chen said amiably, recovering from his surprise. “Would you like someone to drive you—”

  “No,” she said quickly. The last thing she needed was more witnesses. “Although, I am unfamiliar with the roads here. If you have a car with a GPS device, that would be helpful, and perhaps someone to program the relevant addresses?”

  Wei Chen’s already small mouth pursed tightly. “You do know how to drive?”

  Sophia gave him a flat stare. “Of course,” she said in as patronizing a tone as she could muster. “We do have cars in Brazil.” Not that she actually drove them, but he didn’t need to know that, the supercilious little prig. In truth, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d driven a car. But there wasn’t that much traffic here in the woods and the darkness would be no impediment. How hard could it be?

  “Very well.” Wei Chen took a cell phone out of his pocket and spoke rapid Chinese for several minutes before hanging up. “One of my people will have a car waiting for you on the ground level of the garages just outside to the left. He’ll program Mister Murphy’s address, as well as that of this compound for your return. You have a cell phone, of co
urse, so if you get lost, give us a call and someone will guide you in.”

  Sophia narrowed her gaze, feeling a streak of familiar resentment. Wei Chen was an officious little bastard. Probably very good at what he did, but his attitude was typical in its paternalism. She kept her face carefully blank, while imagining all the ways she could make the little prick pay. Not the least of which would be to seduce him and then leave him with a handful of hard dick. She smiled at the thought, letting him see it. He blushed as red as a schoolgirl, which made her feel far better than it should have. He was her host, after all. So, she thanked him prettily and headed for the garages.

  Colin Murphy might think he could avoid her. But Sophia hadn’t survived this long by letting others dictate to her. Not prissy, little Wei Chen and not Colin Murphy either.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Raphael felt Cyn’s arrival back in the compound, knew when she entered the building and when she lingered outside the elevator upstairs speaking with Elke and the others. He was egotistical enough—and he knew it was ego—that it irritated him to have her gone when he woke for the night, to have her chatting upstairs rather than coming down directly to greet him. His mouth quirked in a half smile as he considered her probable reaction to his irritation.