He sighed. The last thing she needed was a man's hands on her, but the sun was rising and he had to get inside. “I'm sorry, sweetheart,” he said. He scooped her up easily, silencing her cries with a quick, mental jab that stole her consciousness and left her limp in his arms. It was crude but effective, and time was running out.
As he sped down the side streets toward his hideaway, racing the sun, he thought to wonder what he was going to do with her now that he'd saved her.
Chapter Sixteen
Buffalo, New York, present day
Raj pulled into the curb near Krystof's and turned off the engine, climbing out of the car to lean against its warmth in the chilly, early morning, waiting for Jozef to appear. He sometimes thought about the men who'd attacked Emelie all those years ago. They'd been ordinary men—sons, fathers and brothers. Some of them had no doubt died in the war. Others would have come home, raised families and grown old. One way or another, they were almost certainly dead by now. Had they ever remembered that night in the alley? Had they ever watched their own daughters grow and been ashamed of what they'd done? There were people who called him a monster, people who would have wiped out every vampire on Earth. But did they ever look at their own neighbors and wonder?
He looked up as the front door opened on silent hinges. A deeper shadow resolved into Jozef's bulk, reminding Raj that Jozef too possessed the power to manipulate shadow if he chose. But Jozef wasn't the assailant. Raj dismissed that idea almost as soon as it occurred. Jozef was powerful enough, but it took intelligence and discipline to climb high in the vampire hierarchy. And that's where Jozef fell short. He was the perfect tool—reliable but completely without imagination. It was both an asset and a weakness in a security chief. He would never stage a rebellion, but he might not see someone else's rebellion coming either. In Raj's estimation, no one knew this better than Jozef himself. He had a good position here with Krystof and a vested interest in keeping it that way. The security chief passed between the twinkling lights along the front walk, cutting across the yard, making directly for him.
"Raj,” Jozef said when he got close enough. “It's been awhile since you visited Buffalo."
Raj smiled to himself. Like Krystof, Jozef preferred it when Raj was far away from the city. He shrugged carelessly. “The old man doesn't like me around, and I'm content with Manhattan."
Jozef raised his eyes to meet Raj's. “So how can I help you?"
Help me get back to Manhattan, Raj thought, smiling. “I see a lot of new faces,” he said.
The other vampire didn't respond immediately, turning to gaze up the street instead. Raj didn't hurry him. If Jozef wanted Raj gone, this was the best way to make that happen. Eventually, his mind would work around to that conclusion. In the meantime, Raj waited.
"Too many new faces,” Jozef said abruptly. “Krystof's turning five, sometimes ten a month, and every one of them's as stupid as that idiot Morales,” Jozef continued.
"An army?” Raj asked sharply.
"Cannon fodder more likely, but against what threat? None that I know of."
Raj considered this in light of his suspicions. “Any new vamps move into the area? Anyone who's strong enough to challenge Krystof?"
Jozef barked a laugh. “Other than you, you mean?"
"It can't be me he's worried about. I've given him no reason.” Yet, he added to himself. “I'm talking about someone else, an outsider. Maybe someone in town unofficially."
Jozef's gaze sharpened. “You know something I don't?"
Raj shrugged and said, “I went by the house where Cowens's daughter was taken last weekend. The sign was old, but there had been someone there. Someone strong enough to stalk his prey undetected on an empty street."
Jozef stiffened. “If Krystof thought someone was poaching, someone who could do what you say, I'd have heard about it. You know how he is. If there was any real danger, he'd be shoving everyone he could find between him and the threat.” He paused, making the connection. “You think that might be what this is? Why he's got all this new meat hanging around? But why not tell me about it?"
Now that was a good question. Krystof understood Jozef's limitations every bit as well as Raj did, which was why he kept Jozef close and Raj far away. But if the vampire lord truly was falling into senility, he might not be thinking as logically as he once did. Raj scraped his fingers back through his hair in frustration. Damn that old man.
"Okay, look, I'm going to talk to some people about these missing women. Witnesses, family members, the usual. I will find whoever's doing this, and if it's one of us, I'll make him go away.” He paused thoughtfully, remembering that too sweet cologne. “Or her."
Jozef's head came up. “Her? You think it's a woman?"
"No, I don't. But I can't rule it out either,” he added, thinking of Emelie—not as a suspect, but as an example. Like humans, female vampires were generally weaker than their male counterparts, but if the vampire had enough power, physical strength became less important, especially if the victim was a little girl like Patricia Cowens.
Jozef frowned, as if trying to wrap his mind around the idea. “Are the cops really letting you in on their investigation?"
"No, they're not. They pretty much just wanted to go through the motions so they could say they'd tried. But I don't need their permission to ask questions.” He started to say something about Sarah, but changed his mind. He might not trust her right now—she was definitely keeping something from him—but he still wanted to keep her as far away as possible from Krystof and his clowns.
Frowning, he tossed his keys up and caught them. “I've got to go. You stay in touch, Jozef."
He spun around without waiting for Jozef's reply, walked around the car and opened the driver's door. By the time he was pulling away from the curb, the other vampire was already gone and Raj was wondering why the very idea of another vampire coming anywhere near Sarah made his hackles rise.
Chapter Seventeen
Sarah struggled to keep her eyes open the next day, listening with only half an ear as the faculty meeting droned on. She'd gotten little sleep last night, partly because she was afraid the dreams would come back. The other part was because she'd tossed and turned like a silly teenager, thinking about Raj and slow, soft kisses. She told herself it was just because she hadn't had a serious relationship with a man in a very long time. Not since college, and even then it hadn't been really serious. She'd learned early on to avoid close friendships, because questions always got asked about the past, about where she grew up, where her family lived. The kind of questions Sarah didn't have good answers for. Cyn had been an exception to the rule, because simply put, Cyn didn't pry. And now, of course, there was her new friend, the incredibly sexy Raj.