She turned the ignition and picked up her cell phone, realizing as the call went through that it was probably too early, that as a young vampire, Mirabelle wouldn't be up yet. She left a message and turned for home, with nothing in mind but a hot shower and fresh clothes. She might have spent her first night in jail, but she didn't have to smell like it.
Chapter Thirty-seven
After a shower, Cyn drove into Malibu and had breakfast ... or dinner. Whatever she called, it, several days of odd hours and erratic meals had left her feeling drained of energy. So she sat at an actual table, with a bacon and cheese omelet, several pieces of wheat toast smeared with fresh peach preserves and a fresh carafe of hot coffee. Thus fortified, she was back on Pacific Coast Highway when her phone rang. A glance at the display told her it was Mirabelle returning her earlier message, so she let it go to voice mail and made a quick left turn onto the narrow entrance lane for Raphael's estate. Mature trees arched overhead, so thick and close they formed a living tunnel. Some nights, it was so dark beneath these trees that her headlights barely managed to light the way. Tonight, with some of the trees bare for the winter and the moon waxing toward full, bits of light filtered through the evergreens to glint silver on the naked, pale trunks of sycamore and birch.
Deep among the trees was the main gate, beyond which the grounds were nicely manicured and artfully lit, a graceful roll of verdant lawn to the main house, with the dark forest behind it concealing Alexandra's manor house.
The guards must have called ahead because Mirabelle was waiting when she arrived. She met Cyn halfway down the driveway, jittery with excitement. “Lord Raphael's home, Cyn, did you know? They kept him in jail all day! My God! Everyone here was totally upset, even Alexandra was jumpy tonight, and she's usually so cool. I thought for sure the vampires were going to go to war or something. You should have seen it!"
Cyn eyed the girl silently and heaved a deep sigh. She was thrilled Mirabelle had recovered so quickly. Really. She was. Her mouth curved in a fond smile. “But he's back now, right, Mirabelle?"
"Right. He got home hours ago. Everyone rushed over to the main house. They all wanted to be there to greet him. Kind of spooky, really. All these vampires standing there waiting for him, totally focused, not saying a word. And then suddenly this big black SUV pulls up and he gets out and ... I swear, Cyn, it was like they all breathed at once, a big sucking air sound.” She shook her head. “My heart was pounding like crazy, I was so happy to see him. You think that's what it's like?"
Cyn considered the question. “What what's like?” she asked finally.
"Having a master, you know. Being pledged to someone like Raphael. Like you can't breathe if he's not around."
Since Cyn herself had trouble breathing when Raphael was around, she took the idea seriously. She thought about what Duncan had told her once, about his unswerving loyalty to Raphael, about the absolute power Raphael had over every single one of his sworn vampires. “You know, Mirabelle. I think that's probably exactly what it's like."
"Cool."
Cyn raised a skeptical eyebrow. “If you say so. I don't suppose you've heard from Liz?” she asked hopefully.
"But, I did! I was about to call you yesterday when this whole thing with Raphael blew up."
Cyn stared at Mirabelle. Forget about breathing, was this what happened between a master vampire and his children? All of Mirabelle's loyalty and affection, so utterly destroyed by Jabril's casual cruelty, was now being resurrected and channeled completely to Raphael. Was this the kind of undiluted allegiance that Raphael enjoyed from all his vampires? Good gods, there were thousands of them! No wonder he was such an arrogant bastard.
"Anyway, yeah,” Mirabelle was continuing. “Liz left me a message. Some guy's letting her stay at his place, says he's going to help her get her money once she's eighteen.” Mirabelle rolled her eyes. “As if. I told her that was a really bad idea and that we're here in California and Raphael's really cool, but she doesn't believe me. So I told her—"
"Wait. How are you having this conversation? Did she call you?"
"Oh, no. We met in a chat room earlier tonight. That guy's letting her use his computer. Hers was stolen, like you said. Anyway, so I told her to call that friend of yours, Luci. She said she would, but then we got kind of cut off, and word came up from the main house that Raphael was on his way and I didn't want to miss that, so..."
Cyn paused, trying to absorb the rush of information. “Okay. Let me call—"
Her phone trilled, interrupting. She checked the display and flipped it open.
"Hey, Luce."
"Hi, Cyn. Listen, I think I have your lost chickie here.” Cyn looked over at Mirabelle and pointed at her meaningfully. “She's a bit twitchy,” Luci continued softly, “but I'm trying to convince her you're one of the good guys."
"I appreciate that. Can I talk with her?"
"Not yet. In fact, why don't you drop by later? She's pretty stressed right now. The guy she was staying with kind of freaked out on her."
"Is she hurt?"
"Not physically, no. A couple of scratches, some bruises, but I don't think he gave them to her, not directly anyway. Not from what she'll tell me. Scared mostly."
"Let's hope she's telling the truth. When should I come by?"
"Give us an hour or two. I'll call, but I think she'll be okay meeting you."
"Can the sister come?"
"She's a vamp, right?'
"Right."
Luci was silent, thinking about it. Cyn could hear television in the background, punctuated by the occasional loud comment. “That's probably not a good idea,” Luci said finally. “Let her see you first, nice human that you are, and then we'll see after that."
"Right. Talk to you then.” Cyn never questioned Luci's instincts when it came to this sort of thing.
Mirabelle was on her as soon as the phone flipped closed. “Liz?"
"She's at Luci's place. I'm heading over there."
"All right! Let's go."
"Um, yeah, about that. Luci thinks, and I agree, it's better if I go alone first. She's safe at Luci's, so there's no reason to push right now. I'll meet with her later and we'll see where it goes from there. She's kind of jittery about the whole vampire thing."
"She knows I'd never hurt her,” Mirabelle protested.
"Not on purpose, no. But come on, Mirabelle, she runs away to California and suddenly here you are. For all she knows, Jabril sent you to find her and take her back to him."
"Oh, right, like Raphael would ever—"
"Liz doesn't know anything about Raphael; she doesn't even know who he is,” Cyn said with waning patience. “She only knows what you told her, and she can't trust that.” She looked up as Alexandra appeared in the driveway. “Nice, Alexandra,” she said, pointing at the topiary garden rapidly taking over the old courtyard.
"Yes, it's going well. I got the inspiration from a book I read while we were in Colorado. One of the other vampires recommended it. The author's name was King, I think."
Cyn blinked, a purely instinctive chill rippling her skin and raising goose bumps. She looked up to find Alexandra studying her with an amused expression and kept her own face carefully blank. Alexandra looked so demure that it was easy sometimes to forget she was old and deadly in her own way. But Cyn didn't appreciate being toyed with by anyone.
"Looks like we've found Liz,” she said instead. “Or she found us. Mirabelle can give you the details.” Her cell vibrated, indicating an incoming message, and she pulled it out, checking the display. “Right. That's Luci, so I'm out of here. I might see you later, depending. If not, then tomorrow.” She looked at Mirabelle. “I'll call you, Mirabelle, after I talk with Liz, and tell you what's up. In the meantime, don't worry."
Chapter Thirty-eight
Cyn hurried up the steps of the house she and Luci had bought and renovated several years ago. It was a fifties-era structure, two-stories with a wide, old-fashioned front porch and wood siding. The half acre lot was in a part of L.A. that had once been the neighborhood of choice for doctors and lawyers. But the city had changed, the doctors and lawyers had all moved south and west, and a lot of these old houses had been divided into apartments for nearby university students. She and Luci had gotten a good price on this one, mostly because it had been in such lousy shape. The elderly lady they bought it from had lived there over sixty years, and hadn't put a dime into upkeep for at least twenty.
She opened the door without knocking and went straight back, passing through a large living area. A wide-screen television was exploding with the color and sound of a movie Cyn didn't recognize. Couches, chairs and floor were filled with teenagers who gave her no notice as she walked by, although she suspected it was more a matter of choice than attention span.
Luci's office was at the back of the house near the kitchen, in a small room that had once been a butler's pantry or something. They'd ripped out the plumbing and put in windows for Luci's many plants which were threatening to overrun the tiny space.
Luci was sitting at her desk, her back to the door. A teenage girl sat in the chair next to her, and the resemblance to Mirabelle was undeniable. She looked up when Cyn entered the room, her eyes weary and suspicious. Cyn gave her a little nod, looked at her friend and said, “Luce."
Lucia spun around, concern dissolving into a welcome smile. “Cyn,” she said warmly, standing and coming over for a hug. Luci was a very huggy kind of person. Cyn really wasn't, but she tried for Luci's sake. Liz watched the exchange closely.
"Liz, this is my very good friend Cynthia Leighton. She and I opened this house together, lo those many years ago."
Liz's big blue eyes studied Cyn carefully, checking her mouth, her hands, even her eyes. Looking for vampire indicators, Cyn thought. Not that she was offended by it. She'd have done the same thing.