“Of course, not. But I left my jacket in the car, and—”
“Jackets, we have.”
They’d been having most of this conversation with Lucas directing his words at the jealous Tromluí, but now he turned and called down the aisle, “Judy!”
“Yeah, boss?” Judy Peterson’s head popped out from the tack room. He’d known she was back there, because he’d heard the television. She liked to hang around in the evening just in case he managed to get down to the stables. Usually, if he didn’t make it in the first couple of hours, he wouldn’t be coming at all, or if he did it would only be to visit Tromluí, not to ride.
“Saddle Sassy for Kathryn, would you?” He turned to Kathryn. “You do ride western, don’t you? You’re not one of those horse snobs?”
“That’s hardly snobbery, Lucas, but, yes, I ride Western, as well as English.”
“If it’s English, a cuisle, it’s not worth doing.”
Kathryn rolled her eyes at him, but he only grinned and turned his attention back to the stallion. “What do you say, Tromluí? Nothing like a fine moonlight ride with a beautiful woman, is there?” He stepped back enough to open the stall. The stud surged out as soon as the gate was wide enough, but Lucas was ready for him. It was a little trick his horse liked to play. The animal had a bit of the devil in him—more than a bit to be truthful—and he did love to see the silly humans run.
Lucas didn’t run from anyone. He grabbed the stallion’s head and brought their faces together. “You be good now. You’re embarrassing me in front of the lady.”
He knew the horse didn’t actually understand what he said, but his tone got through well enough. Tromluí rubbed his big head against Lucas’s chest.
“Aye, I love you, too, boyo.” He grabbed the stallion’s bridle from the hook next to the gate and was about to slip it on when his cell phone rang. He frowned. Most of his calls were routed through the main number at the house, so this could only be Magda or Nicholas, both of whom rarely disturbed him when he went riding. Lucas pulled the phone from his pocket.
“Nicholas?” he answered.
“I’m scrambling the troops, my lord,” Nicholas said urgently. His voice was jumping, as if he were running as he spoke. “We just got a call—”
And that quickly every plan Lucas had made for the evening was changed. He stopped listening to his lieutenant, his mind already searching the thousands of vampires in his territory for whatever it was that had Nicholas gearing up for battle.
“Fuck,” he swore softly. The compound in Minnetonka, Minnesota was under attack. It was filled with civilians, which should have put it off limits, but Klemens was breaking all the rules in his hunger for power. Civilians wouldn’t stand a chance against Klemens’s fighters, but at least the compound’s leader, Thad, had some combat experience. And the compound itself should have had security in place. “Who called us?”
“Some kid, my lord. Says his mom’s mated to one of ours—”
“Dex. His mom’s been with Thad since the kid was a baby. Not mated, though. What’d he say?” Lucas began walking Tromluí toward the open barn doors at the other end. He walked the stallion out and released him into the big paddock which was always empty and reserved for him. The horse would throw a major tantrum if Lucas tried to put him back into his box stall now, and Lucas didn’t have time for it.
“They hit a half hour ago. Thad rallied a defense, but the kid doesn’t know how long they can hold it. He was pretty upset. A lot of screaming in the background.”
“Where is he?”
“He was on his way home from a friend’s. Saw Klemens’s troops arrive and was smart enough not to go running into a situation he couldn’t change.”
Lucas walked back into the barn and caught Judy’s attention. “Judy,” he said in an aside as he listened to Nicholas. “I have to leave. Let him run awhile, then bring him inside. I won’t be back until late, if at all.”
“Yes, my lord,” she said briskly and immediately began putting away the saddle she’d just gotten out for Kathryn.
“What’s our ETA?” Lucas asked, going back to Nicholas.
“Sikorsky’s on its way—” The big helicopter rumbled by overhead, preparatory to swinging around for a landing in the flat field behind the main house.
“Just landed,” Lucas said unnecessarily. “Flight time?”
“Two, two and half hours. Good news is we can land directly on-site. Thad’s got that field he uses for baseball in the summer.”
“Baseball,” Lucas muttered. “Might just save his life tonight. All right. Give me five, and once we’re in the air, I’ll do what I can from there.”
Lucas hung up and caught sight of Kathryn eyeing him like a woman ready to go into battle.
“What’s going on?” she asked, matching his running pace out of the barn.
“Nothing you can help with,” Lucas said, forcing himself to maintain a human’s slow speed.