Page 50 (1/2)

"But you didn’t kill hihed "Who would believe that? Jabril had Mirabelle, but I shall have Elizabeth" He shifted his gaze to her and it hardened "And you too,the taste of her blood "My personal harem"

She wasn’t even surprised "That wasn’t our deal," she rereed "Perhaps I’ll trade you back to Raphael eventually In return for his support" He shifted Elizabeth in his ar now We’ll leave these others for the sun" He turned and walked toward the waiting liun and fired Three shots to the back of his head Bale the barrel up and away froainst his thin chest, but couldn’t help the spray of blood and gore as the vaain, asshole," she hissed

The nascent va Elizabeth and falling on top of her Cyn stood looking down at hi hard, almost unable to believe it had worked With a jolt of fear, she reun raised to shoot But the shock of losing a second ht was too much for the already weakened vampires Both lay senseless in the dirt

Cyn drew a tired breath and wondered where she’d find the strength to finish tonight’s work She leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees, knowing if she sat, she’d never get up again Finally, too weak to carry Elizabeth to the Land Rover, she dragged Asiot a blanket froirl where she lay And then she forced herself to keepand systeh the brain of every vao compartment, she flipped open yet another weapons’ case This one was leather, butter soft and luxurious to the touch, with an elegant tooled design Inside were four lightweight, machine-sanded wooden stakes, each tipped with a folded steel stabbing edge They were beautiful and lethal, especially designed for her by a knife maker who’d taken pride in his product and etched intricate designs all around the band of each blade where it gripped the wood It took strength to stab a wooden stake through a vampire’s chest The steel rabbed all four and went back to her gruesome task A vampire wasn’t dead if he still had a body She wanted nothing but piles of dust on the desert floor

A short time later, Cyn crouched next to as left of her final victiun in one hand, stake in the other All around her, piles of vaan to shift softly as a cool wind blew in across the desert As if danger followed the wind, the night turned suddenly darker and full of threat She spun around Beyond the narrow circle of light cast by the cars’ headlights, the shadowscloser Cyn gripped her weapons tighter, her lip curling in a feral snarl

The wind blew harder, buffeting the cars with its ferocity Cyn’s hair blew across her face, and she brushed it aith an i as a sable ind appeared fro faster, sucking up the darkness as it approached She stood and , her ht wind bleeen the cars Cyn raised her gun And the shadows fell away

Juro un Cyn held in a shaky, one-handed grip Raphael raised a hand and Juro stood aside

"Lubimaya," Raphael said sadly "I’m sorry we’re late"

Cyn blinked Her arms fell to her sides, the weapons she’d wielded so effectively suddenly too heavy to hold Her head drooped and she would have fallen, but Raphael caught her, cradling her in his are one huht

Chapter Fifty-seven

Cyn heard the helicopter rotors winding down outside, as the doors closed and the elevator began toher silently He hadn’t said much since he’d found her amidst the piles of vampire dust in the desert Not that there had beendirectly to the airport Raphael’s personal physician aiting for them there, and while he’d treated Liz, Cyn had tie of clothes The clothes were Winona’s and didn’t fit her, but they were better than what she’d been wearing

After a quick flight to Santa Monica and a helicopter ride out to Malibu, they’d arrived at the estate a little before dawn Duncan and Juro had floith the with Dr Saephan and Liz, but the rest of Raphael’s tea at the airport today There wasn’t tih to see them all safely back to the Malibu estate Souards were already on their way to secure the private hangar and watch over the sleeping vampires

The elevator doors opened on Raphael’s inner sanctu her borrowed jacket as she went Candles scattered throughout the room flared to life as Raphael exerted his will, and she ju at her own nervousness

She couldn’t see too tight, her nerves jangling until she wanted to scream

"Cyn," Raphael said

She stopped and stared at hi school He knee’d be there"

"Yes"

The single as chock-full of information, but she was too tired to parse it all, and Raphael said nothingand Raphael continued to watch silently "Where’s Liz?" she asked distractedly

"Dr Saephan is caring for her His facilities here are quite "

Cyn paused to give him a hard look "You’ll wipe her memories?"

"Her memories will be wiped Not by me personally, no Cyn, it is important, vitally important, that no one knoas you who killed Jabril The others don’t matter, but Jabril"

She crossed to stand in front of hi to wipe htly affronted that she would ask

"What about Lucia? She’ll know so happened; she’s not stupid"