“Noriega had no business entering the challenge,” Christian continued. “You knew him. You know I’m right.”
“Noriega was smart, and he had friends. He wouldn’t have faced you alone.”
“He didn’t. But none of them had the power to back him up, either. He was out of his league.”
“Lord Anthony—”
“Anthony wound him up and sent him out to fight me,” Christian snapped. It was time to end this. “Don’t you wonder why? Don’t you think you should know that, before you become the latest dead pawn in his game?”
Scoville frowned, doubt written on his face. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because someday soon I will rule this territory, and I will not throw vampire lives away for nothing.”
The other vampire stared at him, clearly wavering, but not yet willing to go against his Sire’s wishes.
“I’ll kill you,” Christian warned him. “Not even these others will be enough to stop me. So, ask yourself . . . who will benefit from your death? Anthony obviously wants one of his own to succeed him. But who is it? Not you. You’ll be dead.”
Christian saw the unwelcome knowledge hit Scoville’s expression, followed quickly by betrayal, and then anger. He scowled at Christian, blaming the messenger. But in the end, he was smarter than Noriega. “Damn you,” Scoville whispered sharply. Then he spun on his heel, ordering his backers to follow with a jerk of his chin.
Christian didn’t waste any time watching them leave. With a silent command to Marc, he ran the final distance to Jaclyn’s office, shoved open the door, and stared around frantically. The phone was ringing in an empty office. Where the hell was everyone?
He ran to the conference room where Natalie should have been sitting, but it was empty.
“À la fin,” he muttered. Enough! He gathered his powers, closed his eyes, and concentrated, scanning every room, searching for . . . anyone. There had to be someone left here, someone who knew what the fuck was going on.
“Christian,” Marc said, but Christian shushed him with a hand gesture, then opened his eyes and started forward.
“Two vampires, corner office,” he said and strode down the hall. The office belonged to Jaclyn, and the image he’d gotten had been strong enough that he knew she was there.
Christian reached the closed door of Jaclyn’s office and shoved it open, not bothering to knock. She was inside, and she wasn’t happy. She raced over from where she’d been sitting with Cibor, fangs bared, hands curled into claws, ready to defend her bodyguard who sat on the couch, eyes closed, head back against the cushions.
Christian stepped back, hands raised in a placating gesture. “Jaclyn,” he said quietly. “It’s Christian Duvall.”
She stared at him for a long moment, her eyes gleaming a gold-tinged red, a low growl rumbling in her chest, as she clenched and unclenched her fists in rhythm. And then like a light switching off, her fangs retracted, reason returned to her eyes, and she drew herself up to suck in a deep breath.
“Christian.” She sounded far more exhausted than she should have. Jaclyn had significant power.
“What the hell happened?” He forced himself to be quiet and calm, when what he wanted was to shake the truth out of her. “Where’s Natalie?” he asked, voicing his deepest concern.
“Anthony,” she said, the growl returning to her voice. “He dared . . .” She drew a deep breath, making a visible effort to think rationally and answer his question. “He planted a compulsion in Cibor’s head, in order to get time alone with Natalie.”
“He has Natalie?” Christian experienced an emotion that was nearly foreign to him. Genuine fear.
Jaclyn shook her head, seeming confused. “She left,” she said slowly, as if forcing her brain to recall what she’d seen. “I was with Cibor, but . . . I remember her saying she was sorry, and then gathering her things.” She looked up at Christian. “Sorry for what?”
“I’m going to find out. Did you call Raphael?”
“He called me. He’s already on his way here for the challenge, and says he’ll deal with it when he gets here.”
“He’ll have to stand in line.” Christian spun away, but Jaclyn’s voice stopped him.
“Raphael wants Anthony for this, Christian. If he’s done something to Natalie, you can’t kill him.”
Christian turned and met Jaclyn’s worried gaze. “If he’s done something,” he repeated, but he couldn’t finish the thought. He respected the hell out of Raphael, but if Anthony had so much as touched Natalie, he’d be dead before morning. “Tell Raphael I’ll try to leave Anthony alive for him. But no guarantees.”
She nodded. “She’s blaming herself for all of this, Christian. She needs to understand it wasn’t her fault.”
“Oh, I’ll make sure of that,” he said grimly. “I’ll make sure she understands a lot of things.”