He gave her a puzzled look, shrugged and said, “Then I will see you Sunday."
Cyn watched them drive away before walking slowly down the alley and out onto the street, to emerge more than a block away from the para facility. She crossed to the other side and went quietly over to her Land Rover. Her body protested as she climbed into the truck. She was stiff and sore after another day of little sleep, and that spent on a narrow ledge not even wide enough for Raphael alone, much less both of them.
She turned the ignition and picked up her cell phone, realizing as the call went through that it was probably too early, that as a young vampire, Mirabelle wouldn't be up yet. She left a message and turned for home, with nothing in mind but a hot shower and fresh clothes. She might have spent her first night in jail, but she didn't have to smell like it.
Chapter Thirty-seven
After a shower, Cyn drove into Malibu and had breakfast ... or dinner. Whatever she called, it, several days of odd hours and erratic meals had left her feeling drained of energy. So she sat at an actual table, with a bacon and cheese omelet, several pieces of wheat toast smeared with fresh peach preserves and a fresh carafe of hot coffee. Thus fortified, she was back on Pacific Coast Highway when her phone rang. A glance at the display told her it was Mirabelle returning her earlier message, so she let it go to voice mail and made a quick left turn onto the narrow entrance lane for Raphael's estate. Mature trees arched overhead, so thick and close they formed a living tunnel. Some nights, it was so dark beneath these trees that her headlights barely managed to light the way. Tonight, with some of the trees bare for the winter and the moon waxing toward full, bits of light filtered through the evergreens to glint silver on the na**d, pale trunks of sycamore and birch.
Deep among the trees was the main gate, beyond which the grounds were nicely manicured and artfully lit, a graceful roll of verdant lawn to the main house, with the dark forest behind it concealing Alexandra's manor house.
The guards must have called ahead because Mirabelle was waiting when she arrived. She met Cyn halfway down the driveway, jittery with excitement. “Lord Raphael's home, Cyn, did you know? They kept him in jail all day! My God! Everyone here was totally upset, even Alexandra was jumpy tonight, and she's usually so cool. I thought for sure the vampires were going to go to war or something. You should have seen it!"
Cyn eyed the girl silently and heaved a deep sigh. She was thrilled Mirabelle had recovered so quickly. Really. She was. Her mouth curved in a fond smile. “But he's back now, right, Mirabelle?"
"Right. He got home hours ago. Everyone rushed over to the main house. They all wanted to be there to greet him. Kind of spooky, really. All these vampires standing there waiting for him, totally focused, not saying a word. And then suddenly this big black SUV pulls up and he gets out and ... I swear, Cyn, it was like they all breathed at once, a big sucking air sound.” She shook her head. “My heart was pounding like crazy, I was so happy to see him. You think that's what it's like?"
Cyn considered the question. “What what's like?” she asked finally.
"Having a master, you know. Being pledged to someone like Raphael. Like you can't breathe if he's not around."
Since Cyn herself had trouble breathing when Raphael was around, she took the idea seriously. She thought about what Duncan had told her once, about his unswerving loyalty to Raphael, about the absolute power Raphael had over every single one of his sworn vampires. “You know, Mirabelle. I think that's probably exactly what it's like."
"Cool."
Cyn raised a skeptical eyebrow. “If you say so. I don't suppose you've heard from Liz?” she asked hopefully.
"But, I did! I was about to call you yesterday when this whole thing with Raphael blew up."
Cyn stared at Mirabelle. Forget about breathing, was this what happened between a master vampire and his children? All of Mirabelle's loyalty and affection, so utterly destroyed by Jabril's casual cruelty, was now being resurrected and channeled completely to Raphael. Was this the kind of undiluted allegiance that Raphael enjoyed from all his vampires? Good gods, there were thousands of them! No wonder he was such an arrogant bastard.
"Anyway, yeah,” Mirabelle was continuing. “Liz left me a message. Some guy's letting her stay at his place, says he's going to help her get her money once she's eighteen.” Mirabelle rolled her eyes. “As if. I told her that was a really bad idea and that we're here in California and Raphael's really cool, but she doesn't believe me. So I told her—"
"Wait. How are you having this conversation? Did she call you?"
"Oh, no. We met in a chat room earlier tonight. That guy's letting her use his computer. Hers was stolen, like you said. Anyway, so I told her to call that friend of yours, Luci. She said she would, but then we got kind of cut off, and word came up from the main house that Raphael was on his way and I didn't want to miss that, so..."
Cyn paused, trying to absorb the rush of information. “Okay. Let me call—"
Her phone trilled, interrupting. She checked the display and flipped it open.
"Hey, Luce."
"Hi, Cyn. Listen, I think I have your lost chickie here.” Cyn looked over at Mirabelle and pointed at her meaningfully. “She's a bit twitchy,” Luci continued softly, “but I'm trying to convince her you're one of the good guys."
"I appreciate that. Can I talk with her?"
"Not yet. In fact, why don't you drop by later? She's pretty stressed right now. The guy she was staying with kind of freaked out on her."
"Is she hurt?"
"Not physically, no. A couple of scratches, some bruises, but I don't think he gave them to her, not directly anyway. Not from what she'll tell me. Scared mostly."
"Let's hope she's telling the truth. When should I come by?"
"Give us an hour or two. I'll call, but I think she'll be okay meeting you."
"Can the sister come?"