Savage Redemption - By Alexis Morgan Page 0,19

eyes that still saw more than she wanted him to, like the tears trickling down her cheeks. A few seconds later, she heard the scrape of his chair as he stood up and walked out.

* * *

Cyrus Eddington’s jaw ached from clenching his teeth. That phone call with Rafferty hadn’t gone at all well. Like every damn vampire Cyrus had ever met, Rafferty didn’t care about anything other than his own agenda. Of course, thanks to a lifetime measured in centuries, a vampire could afford to wait out the competition. As a human, Cyrus had far more limited time to accomplish his goals.

Where had he gone wrong? He’d started off the call with every intention of being civil and reasonable, making a polite request for the release of the woman to his custody. Coalition business, nothing personal.

That had worked for all of thirty seconds before Rafferty had gone on the offensive, demanding to know why Cyrus had any interest in the woman at all. Not that it was any of the vampire’s business, and in the end that’s what Cyrus had told him. Egotistical jerk. Even the threat of a formal complaint against Rafferty’s clan hadn’t fazed the fanged bastard.

All things considered, the call had been a mistake.

He poured himself a big glass of scotch and chugged half of it. How dare that low-life vamp question a member of the Coalition Council’s reasons for doing anything! As far as he was concerned, Rafferty was nothing but an ex-con upstart.

Cyrus had heard rumors about Rafferty’s enlightened attitudes about how he treated the humans on his estate, not to mention all those mongrel chancellors he’d hired to police the place. Undoubtedly, it was all a ruse to get the poor mortals to work themselves to death for the privilege of making the rich bloodsucker even richer. And everyone knew that chancellors were all vampire-wannabes.

What horrors would an in-depth investigation into the practices on the O’Day estate reveal? After all, Rafferty was populating the place with the culls from other estates and families. There had to be a reason behind him hiring all those disposable people.

Enough about that. Once Cyrus recovered the data that Kat Karr had stolen, there wouldn’t be a vampire or chancellor left who would dare treat Cyrus with the casual disrespect that Rafferty just had.

What was the next logical step? If civility failed, that left a show of strength. Those mercs weren’t busy right now. All they were doing was costing him money, so why not throw them back into the fray?

He reached for the phone and dialed his assistant. On the tenth ring, the call went to voice mail. Damn it, was nothing going to go right today? What was Cyrus paying Richie for if not to be at his beck and call?

“Call me. I stirred up a hornet’s nest when I called Rafferty. However, I did verify that the woman is alive and well on her way to recovery. They’ve either already notified Ambrose O’Brien about her presence on the estate or they will do so shortly. That doesn’t leave us much time. Get your mercs out to Rafferty’s gate and demand Kat’s release, and don’t forget about those mongrel nieces of hers. I want them all in my custody within the next twenty-four hours. I’ve already sent a warrant to your inbox.”

He waited a few seconds to see if his assistant would finally pick up. When that didn’t happen, Cyrus snarled, “I don’t pay you that big salary to talk to your voice mail. Next time I call, you’d better answer.”

Then he disconnected the call and finished off his drink. As he savored the slow burn of some of the

Coalition’s finest scotch, he solidified the next stage of his plan. If the mercs made a big enough show of strength, it was always possible that Rafferty would surrender the woman and those two brats.

Not likely, though, so he wouldn’t count on that happening. Therefore, he’d have to figure out some way to apply pressure on Rafferty. Maybe threatening his credit line with the Coalition would work.

He hoped it didn’t come to that. Although he was on the Council, none of this was actually Coalition business. In fact, if he succeeded in reaching his long-term goals, there wouldn’t be a Council anymore.

He poured himself another glass of scotch and held it up in salute to that glorious day when the whole Coalition came tumbling down.

* * *

When Conlan entered Seamus’s office, Rafferty and the doctor looked up