Raphael dropped his arm over Cyn’s shoulder and tightened his hold, effectively pulling her hand away from Duncan. She smiled privately. His move seemed casual enough, but she knew he’d planned it. His vampire possessiveness couldn’t permit even Duncan to hold her hand for long. Which brought her back to her biggest complaint about this whole affair.
“I still don’t see why he has to go there all alone. Why can’t some of your people—”
“It’s taken care of, lubimaya,” Raphael said patiently. “You must trust us.”
Cyn tightened her lips against the automatic comeback that came to mind. She did trust them, but it was always possible they hadn’t thought of some detail or other. Sometimes these guys couldn’t see the forest for all those testosterone-laden trees.
Juro appeared at Raphael’s elbow. “Everything is set, my lord.” He gave Duncan a brief nod. “Good fortune, Duncan,” he said, then walked back to stand near the waiting limo.
“Sire,” Duncan said, straightening into something like attention and bowing slightly from the waist. “It is has been an honor to serve at your side for so long.”
“The honor has been mine, Duncan. But Cyn was right. We’ll see you often.”
Cyn put a gloved hand over her mouth, trying not to cry. Now that the time was here—
Raphael tugged her back against his chest, wrapping both arms around her. “Go while you can, Duncan. I believe my Cyn feels another hug coming on.”
Duncan laughed and gave her a wink, then spun on one heel and, with vampire speed, disappeared into the Learjet in the blink of an eye. The pilot made a brief appearance in the hatchway as the stairs retracted and the hatch was sealed, and before she knew it, the jet was taxiing out of the hangar and Duncan was gone.
She turned in Raphael’s arms, burying her face against his neck. “I feel like a mother sending her baby off to college or something,” she muttered, rubbing the tears from her eyes on the soft wool of his coat.
Raphael chuckled and gave her a tight hug, before leading her over to the limo. Cyn paused long enough to look up at him and say, “Duncan tells me I’m supposed to take care of you now that he’s gone.” As she slid into the cushy interior of the limo, she saw Raphael stiffen in reaction to her comment and grinned in satisfaction.
“What was he thinking?” Raphael muttered before he ducked inside and pulled the door closed.
“I heard that,” she said as he settled her in the curve of his arm.
“Of course, you did.”
She huffed a laugh, then pulled back to see his face. “I love you, you know,” she said seriously. “Even when I’m a bitch, I still love you.”
Raphael touched his lips to hers in a lingering kiss. “And I love you, my Cyn. Always and forever.”
The big vehicle rolled away from the airport, winding its way down the hill to Marina del Rey and through Santa Monica before they finally hit Pacific Coast Highway. Raphael held her against his side the entire ride, one hand stroking absently up and down her arm, as he stared at the dark city rushing past. Cyn was quiet, too, content to be with him, and to know that, like her, his thoughts were with Duncan far overhead as he winged his way into the most dangerous challenge of his long life.
Chapter Two
A few miles outside Washington, D.C.
The Learjet rolled up to the darkened hangar, a pale ghost of a plane appearing out of the shadows of a moonless night. Miguel Martinez scanned the private airfield, his vampire sight piercing the near darkness easily. The place was nearly abandoned. No one around but the lone tower controller who’d been paid well to look the other way and ask no questions.
He returned his gaze to the arriving jet. It was running nearly as dark as the night, with nothing but the gleam of the cockpit’s instrument panel through the windshield to light the pilot’s way into the black interior of the hangar. It should have been impossible. It would have been if the pilots had been human. But, like Miguel, they were vampires and starlight was enough to see by.
The aircraft eased to a gentle stop, its engines a loud burr of sound that hurt the ears and echoed off the flat spaces and high walls of the empty hangar. The pilot shut down the engines and the sudden silence was nearly as shocking as the noise had been.
Miguel crossed the bare concrete of the hangar, nerves singing with excitement, with the awareness that his Sire was here at last. He fisted his hands at his sides and straightened his back, determined to make a good impression, to prove himself worthy of the honor he’d been given.
The hatch opened. Miguel took one step and then another, until he was only a few feet from the open door. The stairs deployed with a hydraulic hiss.
A figure appeared in the hatchway, a tall and broad-shouldered male, little more than a darker shadow against the unlit interior. He paused briefly before ducking his head to clear the low overhead, then took the stairs downward quickly and with purpose.
Miguel went to one knee. “Sire,” he said reverently, pleased that his voice revealed none of the jittery nerves making his muscles twitch beneath his finely tailored suit.
“Miguel.” A hand touched the back of his head. “Now, get up and give me a proper greeting.”
There was laughter in his Sire’s voice, and Miguel jumped to his feet with a grin, reaching out to take the proffered hand, feeling himself pulled into a quick embrace.
“Duncan,” Miguel said. “It’s so very good to see you.”