Of course, it would have been even more convenient if she’d been able to fly to Texas, or even Mexico, from Rio and gone on from there to Vancouver. She could have limited her flying time to the hours of darkness. But the North American vampires, unlike those in most of South America, were obsessively territorial. She couldn’t even pass through one of their stupid airports without getting permission, something she wasn’t willing to do. Not for this trip.
There were too many unknowns this time. She didn’t know what her Sire, Lucien, wanted. Didn’t know why he’d issued such an urgent summons and then disappeared on her before she could even get ahold of him. But there’d been an undeniable note of desperation to his mental call, a desperation reinforced by the fact that he’d contacted her at all. Lucien was her Sire, and her loyalty was his alone, but she hadn’t even spoken to him in half a century. And now this. Whatever this was.
The ground rushed up to meet the plane and she closed her eyes, feeling every bump and skid as it finally came to rest. Sophia breathed a deep sigh of relief and whispered a superstitious prayer of thanks to the God of her childhood that she’d survived once again.
She only hoped she’d also survive whatever Lucien had waiting for her.
* * * *
“What do you mean, you don’t know where he is?” Sophia demanded darkly.
“Do we need a translator? Is that the problem, Sophia? I don’t f**king know where he is, okay? He doesn’t exactly check in with me.”
Sophia leveled a flat stare at the vampire sitting across from her. Darren Yamanaka was Lucien’s lieutenant. In name only, she thought viciously. She could squish him like a bug. She’d probably quite enjoy it, in fact. Her eyes narrowed appraisingly, but Darren met her gaze without flinching. He wasn’t as powerful as she was, but he wasn’t weak either. And he had courage. She’d give him that. What he didn’t have was even the slightest clue as to the whereabouts of their mutual Sire.
“When did you last see him?” she asked with forced patience.
“I’ve already told you, and no matter how many times you ask, the answer will be the same. Lucien walked out that very door eight days ago.” He pointed dramatically across the big conference room and through the open double doors to the heavy front door of Lucien’s Vancouver headquarters. “He said he was off to meet another of his women. You, of all people, should remember how fond Lucien is of his women.”
Sophia held back the snarl rising from her throat, forcing herself to remain calm. She hadn’t flown halfway around the world, risking her long immortal life, to lose her temper with this pipsqueak of a male. Everybody knew Lucien loved women. Hell, Lucien loved men, too. But the fact that Sophia had once been his lover, and that he’d made her Vampire because he’d been unwilling to lose her to human age and frailty . . . that was not something everyone knew. Although, Darren clearly did. Lucien had been telling tales before he’d disappeared, the bastard.
“Was he alone when he left? Not even a bodyguard?”
“No,” Darren admitted reluctantly. “He usually took someone with him, but not this time. He claimed the woman was someone he’d known a long time, that it was safe. And that he could defend himself if it came to it. I argued with him. But . . . you know Lucien.”
She did know Lucien. He was handsome, brilliant, utterly charming, and sometimes a complete idiot. Especially if a woman was involved.
“Why do you think he called me?”
“I have no f**king idea. I don’t even know if he really did. It’s awfully convenient that Lucien disappears and now you show up. How long’s it been, Sophia?”
“Not long enough, Darren,” she said with saccharine sweetness, before her voice hardened. “But if you’re suggesting I have in any way harmed our Sire, you should say good-bye to whoever is foolish enough to care for you because I will kill you where you stand.”
He stood, leaning across the table, his eyes gleaming yellow. “You can try, bitch.”
Sophia felt his power pressing against her, felt her own surging to meet his. She also stood, matching his aggressive stance, and pushed back just enough for him to feel the weight of it.
Darren’s eyes widened in surprise, and he froze for a full minute before he slowly sank back into his chair. His gaze was riveted on her, like an animal that has just discovered a predator hiding in its nest.
Sophia smiled pleasantly and sat back down, satisfied for now. She didn’t want to kill Darren. Not if she could avoid it. What she wanted was to find Lucien and discover what the hell was going on.
“Have you looked for him?” she asked in a mild voice.
Darren blinked, then said, “Of course I have. We all have. He’s alive, but you know that already. It’s odd, though—”
Sophia’s gaze sharpened. “Odd? What’s odd?”
“Have you searched for him since you’ve been in the city?”
She frowned, puzzled. “I haven’t, no.”
“Try. Then tell me what you find.”
Sophia regarded the other vampire silently. Obviously, she couldn’t trust him, but his concern for Lucien seemed real enough. And there was definitely something weird about all of this.
“Is there somewhere secure?” she asked abruptly. A thorough search for her Sire would require a level of consciousness that was almost a meditation. She would be vulnerable to attack, especially in this house.
Darren nodded. “I’ll show you.”