"I just came from the warehouse. They weren't there yet."

"No, my lord. They were the farthest out, which is why I sent them to the warehouse while we came here. We arrived perhaps thirty minutes ago, but there's been no acknowledgment of our presence. Per your command, we made no attempt to approach the house directly."

"All right—"

Em's phone rang at that moment. She checked the ID, looked up at Raj and said, “Yossi.” She listened for less than a minute and hung up. “He and the others are at the warehouse. Everything appears normal, but they're rousing the rest of the human guards as a precaution."

Sarah was at the warehouse. But he couldn't think about that now. “All right, let's see what the old man wants."

Raj led his vampires around the back and, not bothering to knock, threw open the kitchen door. He stared down the piece of meat Krystof had on guard there and strode past. He didn't run, he didn't fling things about, just walked through as though he had a right to be there and woe to anyone who dared tell him otherwise. He could feel Em and the others behind him, a wall of strength both physical and Vampire. He wasn't like Krystof. He didn't make vampires out of stupid humans and he never turned someone unwilling. His children were both smart and strong and served him out of personal loyalty and, according to Em, affection.

But Simon wasn't Vampire. He was human. He could outthink any of them, but he was not physically strong, which was probably why he'd been chosen as Krystof's sacrificial goat. He hadn't been harmed yet, however. Simon had been with Raj a long time, far longer than appearances would lead one to believe. He received regular feedings of Raj's blood to keep him alive and well, which meant Raj would have known if he'd been hurt.

The room at the bottom of the stairs was as crowded as it had been before, but he made no pretense of friendliness. He let his power swell, shoving everything and everyone out of his way like so much trash on the street—which was pretty much how he saw them. He didn't see Jozef, but perhaps the security chief was inside with his master . . . and Simon.

The door opened before he reached it, swinging wide in invitation. He sneered. If Krystof thought to impress him with a cheap parlor trick, he was mistaken. He gave Em a jerk of the head over his shoulder and knew she'd put the others on the door while following him inside herself. He would have liked it the other way around. Not because he didn't trust Em, but because he did. If it was going to come to a showdown between him and Krystof, he would have liked Em to be away from it so she'd have a chance of saving as many of his children as possible from the backlash. But he wouldn't do that to her. Wouldn't ask her to stay outside while he faced the greatest threat of their lives together.

"Rajmund,” Krystof said smoothly. He was sitting on the same settee where the girl had lain the other night. He leaned back into a pillowed corner, legs crossed at the knee, one hand draped gracefully over the upholstered arm, while the other was on Simon's head, stroking his fine, brown hair as if he were some sort of dog kneeling next to his master. But Krystof wasn't Simon's master.

Raj felt his fury soar and tamped it down, knowing this was the reaction Krystof was hoping for. He watched the old man's face and saw the disappointment there. He smiled. “I believe you have something of mine,” he said mildly.

Krystof laughed lightly, but the look he gave Raj was not amused. “But, Rajmund,” he chided softly, his voice growing hard when he continued, “you're not supposed to have anything of your own."

Raj's smile only grew, and for a moment, he saw a glimmer of fear replace the smug look in his Sire's eyes. “Let's not play games, Krystof. What is it you want?"

The vampire lord shrugged gracefully and stood, leaving Simon behind. Raj didn't move other than to turn in place, keeping Krystof in sight. But he was aware of Emelie as she quickly stepped to his side, putting Simon behind them. Krystof settled at his desk and gestured at Emelie. “You've trained them well, I see. I couldn't even get that human—” He waved at Simon who'd risen to his feet. “—to tell me anything. Of course, I could have forced him."

"You could have tried,” Raj corrected.

Krystof's mouth tightened in irritation. “What I want,” he said, ignoring the truth of Raj's statement, “is a report on your investigation."

Raj gave him a look. “You couldn't phone?” he scoffed.

"I shouldn't have to,” Krystof said petulantly, slapping one hand to the desk. “I brought you here to solve my problem, not to have your people running all over my city poking into my affairs."

Raj couldn't believe his ears. It was a struggle to keep the amazement off his face, and he could only hope Emelie was doing the same. Krystof, a fucking vampire lord, had effectively ceded his territory. He'd not only admitted to knowing about Raj's private army, but had complained, complained, like a child that they were infiltrating his home city.

"What would you like to know?” Raj asked.

"I would like to know,” Krystof said, mimicking Raj, “what you've discovered. Is there a vampire connection to these crimes or not?"

Raj thought about what to say, about how much to admit of what he knew. He hadn't missed the fact that Jozef was nowhere to be found and wondered what that meant. Was the security chief getting ready to attack the warehouse while Raj stood here answering these ridiculous questions? Or had he absented himself as a passive show of support for Raj? Too many unknowns, he thought.

"There does appear to be some vampire involvement,” he said carefully. “I am investigating further and expect to have a resolution within the next forty-eight hours. I'm sure you agree that whoever it is, he must be destroyed immediately."

Krystof looked up quickly at that, and Raj felt him pressing on his awareness, trying to force him to reveal more than he'd said. Raj stared back at him giving away nothing, but that alone spoke volumes. His Sire shrugged and looked away first. “Very well. You will inform me before taking any final action."

"Of course. Emelie,” he said, and waited while she escorted Simon to the door and opened it. He watched in his peripheral vision as Cervantes and Abel grabbed the much smaller human and placed him between them, and he could feel the attention of his people, both vampire and human, focused solely on him, waiting for his command. He felt a surge of pride at their utter discipline and devotion. They would have stood with him at the Gates of Hell if he'd asked it. “We're leaving,” he said.

He gave Krystof a short nod of acknowledgment and started from the room. “I wanted to grab your woman,” Krystof taunted from behind him, “but I couldn't seem to find her."

Raj froze. He looked up and saw Emelie watching him, clearly worried at what he might do. He felt a moment's disappointment that she would doubt him and let it show in his eyes. Em flushed and lowered her gaze.

As for Krystof, Raj spun where he stood in the doorway and said in the coldest voice he could muster, “Don't ever touch anyone of mine again, Krystof. Not anyone."

He pushed through his vampires, hustling Simon ahead of him, feeling the others close in on his back. Emelie led the way up the stairs and through the kitchen, not stopping until they were out of the house and on the street.

"I'm sorry, my lord,” Simon was saying miserably. “I was stupid and got distracted. I didn't see them coming until they were on top of me and—"

"Don't worry about it, Simon,” Raj said. “If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else.” He checked his watch and saw he still had plenty of time to stop and tap a willing donor before the sun forced him back to his lair. He'd use one of the bars; they were always more crowded than the clubs midweek like this, and it was time he got over this fixation with Sarah. “Emelie,” he said, “give Yossi a heads-up and take Simon back to the warehouse. I'm going to—"

Em's phone went off. He frowned but jerked his head, telling her to get it. Damnit, he needed to get going or it was going to get too late to—

He saw Em's face fall, saw her turn to him, her eyes wide with dread.

Chapter Thirty-nine

"Goddamn it,” Raj snarled. “What the hell was she thinking?"

Em was on the phone talking rapidly, as Raj drove like a demon, skimming through red lights and screaming around corners. Sarah was at Kent's blood house. Sarah who was so susceptible to vampire suggestion that she'd almost had an orgasm after dancing with him for five fucking minutes at that Manhattan club. Damn her. He'd warned her about the dangers, but had that stopped her? No. Of course, the fault was at least partly his. He should have known better than to give her even the tiniest bit of information, should have known she'd go charging in and—

Em hung up and punched in another number. Raj looked over at her. “You're sure it's her,” Em was saying. “If it looks like he's going to sink fang, you stop him. I don't care what it takes. We'll be there in fifteen minutes.” She hung up and gave him a worried look. “That was Yossi. He and Gino are at the blood house already. Yossi's inside."

Fucking Kent. He'd kill that motherfucker dead if Sarah had so much as a scratch on her. He took a turn on two wheels and hit the gas pedal, feeling his anger growing hotter with every mile that passed. “What the fuck was she thinking?” he repeated.

"Probably that if you wouldn't tell her anything, she'd find out for herself."

Raj growled low in his chest, sparing her a cold glance. “Don't push your luck, Em."

She shrugged. “I don't know why you're playing this game with her or yourself. You want her, so take her."

"Fuck you.” He pounded his fist on the steering wheel and would have snapped it in two had he not pulled back at the last second. “I'm a goddamn vampire. You think that's what she wants? To wake up every night to a dead man who drinks blood to stay alive? Besides, she accused me of mind-fucking Jennifer Stewart, for God's sake."