He opened himself to the flow of Emelie's power, drinking from the combined strength of his many children, letting his rage fuel his determination as he surged to his feet with a roar that threatened to bring the house down around them. He pummeled Krystof with blasts of power, one after the other, refusing to permit the vampire lord to dictate the terms of this encounter. He fought back in his own way, attacking from every side, forcing Krystof to defend against volleys from all around. The vampire lord howled, desperately fighting to recreate his impenetrable cocoon even as Raj's power ate away at its very fabric.
Krystof dropped finally to his knees in a last ditch defense, sucking power into himself like a vacuum, giving up any attempt to attack in favor of simple survival. When even that failed, he looked up and met Raj's eyes, his mouth open in a bloody grin, the fires in his eyes dying to faint embers. “I wish you joy of it,” he said, and then laughed, howling like a madman as Raj drew his outstretched arms into his body until they were held before him like two fisted pillars of energy. Krystof screamed in agony as a terrible weight crushed him to the floor, every bone in his body cracking beneath the unbearable pressure, joints tearing and lungs bursting, blood seeping from every pore, every orifice, as his body seemed to fold in upon itself. Raj opened one fist wide, his skin whitening with strain, until he snapped the fist closed and Krystof's heart burst into flame within his chest.
The air in the room grew suddenly still, not a whisper of movement, not a speck of dust so much as drifted, and then like a vacuum collapsing in an instant, Krystof's body vaporized and disappeared, becoming no more than a pile of dust and bloody linen on the carpet.
Raj closed himself away from Emelie and fell to his knees, his head falling forward to his chest in exhaustion as he drew a deep breath . . . and screamed in agony. His mind was suddenly filled with thousands of voices as every living vampire in the territory clamored in fear, reaching out to him for sustenance, for protection, for their very lives. He was aware of the office door flying open, of Cervantes and Yossi rushing in to surround him, joining their power in an effort to buffer the overwhelming demands of Raj's new subjects. He rocked slowly back and forth, muscles straining, tendons standing out on his neck as he strove to make sense of what was happening, to bring some semblance of order and reason to the endless cacophony. The wall of power surrounding him grew stronger as Emelie added her own strength, as she channeled the others in carefully, building the wall brick by brick until at last the voices quieted, becoming no more than a steady hum in the background.
Raj remained on his knees, his head hanging forward, chin on his chest. Blood wept from his eyes and welled from his hands where his nails had dug gouges in his palms. He heard voices outside, footsteps pounding down the stairs, and then Emelie was there in the flesh, kneeling next to him.
"My lord?” she said softly. “Raj?” she added urgently, when he didn't respond.
He cracked one eye opened and rasped, “I hate that vampire shit."
She barked a laugh that was more like a sob of relief and called for someone to bring him some blood. More yelling and footsteps, and a bag of warmed blood was thrust into his hand. He ripped it open with his fangs and sucked it down, passing the empty bag and taking another as it was offered until he'd downed six full pints of blood, far more than any single human could have safely provided.
He drew a deep breath and looked at Emelie, his mind clear at last. “Sarah?” he asked her.
"Not in this house, my lord."
Raj swore foully. He'd accessed every filthy corner of Krystof's diseased brain and found nothing there of Sarah's abduction, or of any plot to sell vampire secrets to the drug companies, so where the hell . . .
There was a tumble of footsteps down the basement stairs and more voices arguing. “Damn,” he groaned. “What now?"
Emelie remained by his side, but she spun around into a defensive crouch. Raj looked up and saw nothing but the bodies of his vampires forming a defensive wall between him and whatever was coming. He huffed out a laugh, realizing he'd somehow acquired his own wall of meat. He heard Simon's voice raised among the others. Well, at least his wall of meat had a brain. “Let him through, Em."
Simon squeezed between the bulky forms of Raj's guard, dropping into the clear space around him like a glob of toothpaste from a tube. He climbed to his knees and grinned. “My lord."
"Simon,” Raj acknowledged. “Was there something you wanted to tell me?"
"Oh! Yes, my lord. You know I monitor all of the cell phone lines, because one never knows—"
"The point, Simon.” The guy was a technical genius, but got lost in his own explanations sometimes.
"Yes, my lord. Sorry. Well, I noticed one number kept coming into your voice mail. Four calls in less than an hour. Of course, I can't access your voice mail, my lord, that would be—"
"The point?"
"I called the number back and it was Kent from the Amherst blood house. He said to tell you it was Jozef."
Raj froze, staring at his tech expert. “What was his message exactly?” he asked softly.
"He said to tell you he found someone who remembered seeing the girl you were looking for and that she left with Jozef."
"Son of bitch.” Raj stood abruptly. It all made sense now. Krystof hadn't been playing a game. The stupid bastard really hadn't known what was going on right under his nose. And that explained why the security chief hadn't been here to defend his master. But did Jozef really believe he could take on Raj? Had he counted on Raj being so weakened by the battle with Krystof that he'd be more easily defeated? “Emelie,” he said.
"Already on it, my lord,” she replied, busily tapping away at her Blackberry. “He's got a house a couple blocks over, but that's not going to be the place. It's too small. Damn."
"Here, let me.” Simon flipped out his own device. “Here it is. There's a house in Clarence, big sucker on three acres. The title's in his wife's maiden name. That's gotta be it.” He gestured at Em. “I'm sending the address to you."
"Should we call first?” Em asked. “Make sure—"
Raj held up a hand. “He's there,” he growled. They'd forgotten. He'd forgotten himself in all the rush. He was now Lord of the Northeastern Territory and his power had grown exponentially with the assumption of that mantle. Just as he provided life and protection to his vampires, so they lent him a reserve of power he could tap at will. He knew where Jozef was, and he knew Sarah was with him. Raj's blood bond with her had been boosted until he could feel her in his head, just like he could every vampire in the territory. Including Jozef. He could have reached out and snuffed Jozef's life with a thought. But what would be the fun in that?
"Emelie."
"My lord?"
"Leave a reserve here to clear out this mess and dispose of anyone who tries to take advantage of the situation. You're with me."