Sophia

by D. B. Reynolds

  “Okay, great, let’s get in there, and—”

  “Listen to me,” she repeated urgently. “You had a taste of what Raphael can do. Just a taste, Colin. If he lashes out at you—”

  “I’m a big boy, Sophie. I can take care of myself.”

  She jerked his arm angrily. “Not from this. But I can. Do you understand what I’m saying? You have to let me protect us if it comes to that. Don’t interfere and don’t try to help.”

  Colin stared down at her. He wasn’t an insecure man and he didn’t feel the need to constantly prove himself. Twelve years with the teams had taught him the value of standing back and letting someone else take the lead when they could get the job done better. But there was a huge difference, a cosmic difference, between his buddies and Sophia. She wanted him to hide behind her while she fought Raphael? The guy who could cause small earthquakes when he got pissed?

  “Colin,” she said. “Please. I know what I’m asking, but it’s the only way.”

  He looked away. “Fuck,” he snarled. “All right, fine. But so help me, Sophie, if anything happens to you, I’ll take you over my knee and—”

  She placed her lips on his, silencing him. “Promises, promises,” she whispered. She froze for a moment and then her head whipped around toward the building. “Raphael,” she said.

  Colin looked over her head and saw Robbie on his knees. “Let’s go,” he said.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Raphael opened his eyes and immediately reached for Cyn. He’d been aware of her lying next to him throughout the day, had listened to her heart growing stronger with every beat. She would live. He knew that now. And she would heal. But it would be a long, slow process, and most likely many months before she was back to full strength. As powerful as he was, there was only so much he could do. His blood could start the process, could keep her alive and accelerate the healing. But with these injuries, her body would have to do some of it at its own pace.

  He wrapped her gently in his arms and leaned over to kiss her forehead. She stirred, but didn’t wake. She knew he was there, though, and that was enough for him. He would rather she save her energy for healing than waste it on unnecessary words.

  Lifting his arm, he used his fangs to slice a vein open and lowered the wrist to Cyn’s mouth. She latched on eagerly, another sign of her increasing strength. One of her hands came up to hold his wrist as she suckled and Raphael noticed how fragile it looked, how she seemed to have lost weight just over the last few hours. Her body was using itself up. He was reminded of Dr. Saephan’s words yesterday. His Cyn was still human. She needed human blood to replace what she’d lost, and she needed nutrition beyond what Raphael could give her.

  Her grip on his wrist loosened as her suckling ceased and she seemed to be falling more deeply asleep. Raphael put his mouth to hers, kissing her, murmuring words of love against her lips. He lifted his head, stroking her hair back from her face.

  “I need to leave you for a short time, lubimaya” he said quietly. “Doctor Saephan will be here with you and Elke will be up above. I need to know how this happened, why Robbie was—”

  Her eyes flashed opened and she grabbed his wrist again. “Don’t hurt them,” she said in a strained voice that seemed to take all of her strength.

  Raphael shushed her, twisting his wrist carefully to take her hand in his. He kissed the back of it. “Who is it you think I’ll hurt, lubimaya? Softly now, I’ll hear you.”

  “Robbie,” she breathed. “Murphy. It wasn’t their fault.”

  Raphael’s mouth tightened and he kissed her eyelids, forcing her eyes to close so she wouldn’t see the anger on his face. He wouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. Not to Cyn. “Sleep,” he urged her and nudged her mind gently under, ensuring she would rest until he returned.

  He waited until she was breathing evenly, then pulled the blanket over her and crossed to the desk, picking up his cell phone.

  “My lord,” Duncan answered immediately. “How is she?”

  “She will live,” Raphael said grimly. “Tell Doctor Saephan to gather whatever supplies he requires. I’ll send the elevator up. No one but the doctor is to come down here, Duncan.”

  “Of course, my lord. Everything is already prepared, Saephan needs only to retrieve the blood from the storage unit.”

  “Once he is here with Cyn, I’ll come upstairs. Where’s Robbie?”

  “He is here, my lord, and ready to accept your judgment.”

  “Is he? We’ll see.” Raphael disconnected, tossing the phone back on the desk. He went first to the vault door, keying it open and sending the elevator up for Dr. Saephan. While he waited, he pulled on a robe, then sat on the bed next to Cyn, holding her hand, knowing she would sense his presence and take comfort in it.

  He heard voices down the elevator shaft, heard Saephan directing others as they loaded up the doctor’s medical supplies. And then the door closed and he heard the motor’s hum as the elevator descended. The doors opened and Peter Saephan stepped out, dropping immediately to his knees.

  “My lord.”

  The doctor was a very smart man. He’d been around powerful vampires enough to know Raphael would be walking the very edge of temper with his mate lying so gravely injured beside him. Raphael stared at Saephan’s bowed head, fighting the instinct to leap across the room and destroy this intruding male presence.

  “Doctor,” he ground out at last. “You said she needed blood. Did you bring it?”

  “Yes, my lord.” Saephan looked up quickly, his gaze torn between Raphael and Cyn, his expression that of a physician who saw nothing but a patient in desperate need of his care.

  And that easily, Raphael relaxed. Saephan wasn’t here to harm Cyn or to steal her away. He was here to help her. He stood and, knowing the doctor would be reluctant to approach with him standing so close, walked to the bathroom door, then turned back to say, “I need a shower. I will leave her to your care for now.”

  Saephan met his eyes for the first time. “I will take care of her, my lord. On my honor.”

  Raphael nodded, his gaze shifting away to rest on Cyn and then back to Saephan. “Thank you, Peter.” He stepped backwards into the bathroom and closed the door.

  Raphael stripped off the robe and showered quickly. Normally, he wouldn’t have bothered since he intended to bathe in his enemy’s blood before the night was over. But he was covered in Cyn’s blood and she was his. Her blood was his, no one else’s. So he let the soap and water sluice over his body, and he swore privately that the blood of those who had harmed his Cyn would run like water tonight.

  He didn’t bother drying off, just wrapped a towel around his hips and yanked the door open, suddenly needing to see for himself that she was well.

  Saephan barely noticed the intrusion. He glanced up absently, but most of his attention remained on his patient. He’d already hung a unit of blood and was checking Cyn’s IV, his dark head bent over her too-thin arm.

  “You saved her life, my lord,” Saephan said quietly. “If anyone else—” He drew a deep breath. “She is your mate, my lord, but she is also my friend and I feared for her.”

  Raphael stood there dripping wet, watching another male touch his mate, and realized he trusted this human more than any other. “My Cyn inspires loyalty in others,” he observed.

  Saephan glanced over at him. “As do you, my lord. Never doubt it.” He turned back to Cyn and when he spoke next it was with the flat, dry delivery of a physician reporting on his patient’s condition. “Her greatest need at this point is human blood. She lost—” His professional demeanor slipped for a moment and he swallowed hard. “She lost a great deal,” he continued, his voice slightly rough. “But, I can replace that. We have plenty on hand, of course, and her type is common. Cross matching is not necessary, because she has your blood to offset any incompatibility. She’s also dehydrated, so I’ll run a second IV and provide some critical nutrition at the same time. Given the severity and type of her injury, I’m going
to add some antibiotics to the mix. Again, with your blood working inside her, this is mostly a precaution. At best, it will be unnecessary, at worst, it will speed her recovery. But, my lord,” Saephan turned and addressed Raphael directly for the first time. “Even with your blood, her injuries . . .” He drew a breath. “She will take a very long time to heal completely.”

  Raphael nodded. “I understand.” He walked over to the closet, rubbing the towel briefly over his body before donning clothing for the night. Jeans, sweater, boots. Black for moving through the shadows; black for hunting his enemies.

  Saephan had bent over Cyn once again. He spoke over his shoulder without turning. “With your permission, my lord, I will bathe her more completely while you’re gone. She’ll rest more easily once she’s cleaned up.”

  Raphael froze in the act of pulling on his boots, once again fighting the instinct to protect his mate. He brushed it off with an effort, swallowing his snarl of frustration to avoid alarming the doctor. “Do whatever you feel is necessary,” he managed, stomping the boot onto his foot and standing to his full height. “But,” he added, “no one except you is to see her like this, Doctor.”

  “Of course, my lord. I would have it no other way.”

  “Elke will stand guard above. You will remain here until I return.”

  “Understood, my lord.”

  “Very well. I leave you to it, then.”

  Raphael crossed to the bed, stroking a hand down Cyn’s cheek. He leaned close enough to kiss her mouth again, whispering against her lips, “They will pay, lubimaya. Those responsible will die tonight.”

  * * * *

  Elke looked up quickly when Raphael emerged from the elevator.

  “My lord?”

  “She will live, Elke. Others will not be so fortunate. Doctor Saephan will stay with her until I return. You will guard this entrance. No one is to come or go from my room, do you understand?”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  He lowered his voice, speaking to her alone. “I know you would rather join the hunt, Elke, but there is no one I trust more to guard her.”

  Elke’s pale eyes turned pink with unshed tears and Raphael blinked in surprise. He’d never seen her exhibit a shred of emotion before, except for anger. “I will guard her with my life, Sire. My place is here.”

  Raphael tilted his head, smiling slightly. He knew Cyn and Elke were friends of a sort. They sparred together in the gym, and because Elke was the only female guard in his inner circle, she was frequently assigned to Cyn. But he hadn’t realized until now the depth of that friendship.

  “Good hunting, my lord,” Elke said.

  Raphael bared his teeth. “The ground will be black with blood tonight, Elke. I swear it.” He clapped a hand on her shoulder and turned a sober gaze across the great room. Duncan was already there, walking toward him. They met halfway.

  “My lord,” Duncan began, but Raphael interrupted.

  “Where is he?”

  Robbie emerged from the large common room. “I am here, my lord.” He took several steps toward Raphael and sank to his knees, his head bowed.

  Raphael stared down at the big bodyguard’s bare neck. “Tell me why you deserve to live,” he growled.

  “Because he didn’t do anything wrong,” another voice interrupted.

  Raphael swiveled his head slowly, looking over his shoulder to where Colin Murphy stood in the open door with Lucien’s child Sophia. Cold, wet air gusted around them, slapping against his legs.

  “You,” Raphael sneered. “Another who somehow survived unscathed while my Cyn was being torn apart.”

  “My lord!” Robbie protested, but Raphael silenced him with a sharp look, exerting just enough power to pin the human in place without harming him. “Be very careful, Robert,” he warned. “The only reason you’re still alive is that my Cyn pled for your life, though she had barely the breath to do so. Don’t make her sacrifice in vain.”

  Raphael turned to face Murphy, giving the human his complete attention. He gathered his power casually, letting a tiny fraction of it swell out into the room, enough to scatter papers and rattle doors.

  To his surprise, Sophia stepped forward, her own defenses rising sharply, expanding to encompass the human male. Her eyes began to glow slightly as her power built, and she stood directly in front of the much larger human, hands clenched at her sides, her chin raised in defiance.

  Raphael blinked lazily and gazed down at her. “Your Sire may have anointed you his successor, Sophia, but never make the mistake of thinking you are my equal.”

  Her shapely jaw tightened angrily, but she gave a curt nod, acknowledging the truth of his words. And then her chin came up again and she said, “You would die to protect your mate, Lord Raphael. I will do no less.”

  Raphael studied her more carefully, noting for the first time the connection between her and Murphy. It was very new and very tenuous, but it was there. He frowned, glancing over at Duncan who was regarding the newly mated pair with open curiosity. Apparently, no one else knew about this either. It wouldn’t stop him from killing her if he had to, but it made him willing to listen.

  “Robbie,” Raphael snapped over his shoulder. “Tell me what happened.”

  Over the next several minutes, Robbie told him in detail the events of the previous day. “We were almost away, my lord,” Robbie said, coming to the end of his tale. He was still on his knees, but his eyes met Raphael’s stern gaze with open honesty. “I had Cyn moving toward the truck door, covering her back, when they opened up on us from a new direction. You know Cyn, my lord. She could have dived into the truck, gone for her own safety, but instead she started firing, covering Murphy’s back. I should have grabbed her, should never have let her go. That’s when—” His voice broke for the first time and he looked down. “I’m sorry, my lord. I failed Cyn and I failed you.”

  “It’s not his fault,” Colin Murphy insisted again. “Dammit, Raphael, you have to listen to me!”

  Raphael’s vampires, already jumpy and ready for the hunt, bristled at the human’s tone, and even Sophia had the good sense to place a cautioning hand on her mate’s arm. Murphy drew a deep breath and continued more carefully.

  “My apologies, sir. But someone I know called me today with information that you really need to hear.”

  Raphael gritted his teeth impatiently. This was taking too long. “Talk,” he demanded.

  “Leighton was specifically targeted,” Murphy said intently. “They knew, or they thought they knew, that taking her out would weaken you personally. They thought your vamps would be leaderless and go nuts, or that you’d join them and start butchering humans indiscriminately. They want a bloodbath. They want headlines all across the television and Internet screaming about vampires prowling the night and slaughtering innocent humans.”

  Raphael flattened his lips thoughtfully. “Stand up, Robbie,” he said without turning. He heard the human coming to his feet behind him.

  “My lord,” Robbie said.

  Raphael turned. “The only words my Cyn spoke this morning were in defense of you . . . and him,” he added, with a jerk of his head toward Murphy. “And your account of events was truthful.” He regarded the bodyguard silently. Robbie had been with him a long time, and he was mated to one of Raphael’s vampires. It was why he’d entrusted Cyn’s protection to him. “We won’t slow down for you,” he told him now. “But you’re welcome to join the hunt for these killers.”

  “Thank you, my lord.”

  “Sir,” Colin Murphy spoke up again and Raphael turned to eye him darkly.

  “They knew about Mariane,” the human said urgently. “They knew what the attack on her did to Jeremy, how it weakened him. They knew where to find Marco and Preston—” He glanced quickly at Sophia before continuing in a quiet voice, “And they knew Leighton was still alive when we brought her here yesterday.”

  Raphael stared at him, slipping easily into the human’s mind despite Sophia’s newly established link. The man was tel
ling the truth as he knew it. And that meant Raphael had a leak inside this compound. His own people, the ones he’d brought from Malibu, were loyal to the core. He would stake his life on it. He did stake his life on it every day. He looked around, noting who was there . . . and who was not.

  “Get Loren on the phone,” he ordered Wei Chen, watching the nest leader’s eyes widen as he searched the surrounding faces and realized Loren was not among them. He pulled a phone from his pocket and paged rapidly through his call list.

  “Loren,” he said, surprise evident in his voice. “Where are you?”

  Raphael took the phone from him in time to hear Loren’s answer. “I’m at Marco’s,” he said. “I got word of a possible break-in.”

  Even over the phone line, Raphael could hear the lie in his words, and it only confirmed what he’d already begun to suspect.