Chapter 2
A low growl rumbled in Ravyr’s throat. A growl of hung er. Need. Want.
Endless, desperate want.
It’d been over forty years since he’d seen Maya Rosen, but that hadn’t lessened the impact of being in her presence. In fact, gazing down at the impossibly beautiful face, he experienced the same thrill of anticipation as the time he’d been tossed off a cliff during a battle. Plummeting through the air with no idea if he was going to survi ve the landing.
Planting his open hand on the wall, Ravyr leaned forward, effectively caging Maya in place. Not as a threat. But this woman was a powerful mage who possessed the sort of magic and cunning to escape before he could talk to her. Plus, if he was being entirely honest, his reaction to seeing her again had knocked his equilibrium off a bit. He needed the extra balance.
At last regaining control of his composure, Ravyr met his companion’s horrified gaze, trying to recall what she’d said. Something about him being dead, right? Not surprising. He’d gone to a great deal of effort to convince the world he’d perished in Cambodia fo ur decades ago.
“I suppose it’s technically true that all vampires are dead, but it’s not entirely accurate ,” he retorted.
She shook h er head. “How?”
“A story for later. Right now we have to get out of this building.”
“What?” She lifted her hands again to press them against his chest. “Let me go,” she commanded, futilely attempting to shove aside his considerable weight. Obviously realizing it was an impossible task, she tilted back her head to send him a glare that would wither a lesser male. “Are you deaf? I said—”
The sharp, acrid smell of nitrate cut through Maya’s rich scent of orchids. An urgent reminder of why he’d interrupted his original purpose for being in the building to track her down and get her the hel l out of there.
“You can indulge your desire for a hissy fit later.” Keeping one hand wrapped around her upper arm, he tugged her toward the do or. “Let’s go.”
Predictably she dug in her high heels, painful pricks of magic stabbing into his hand.
“Stop it. I’m not going anyw here with you.”
“Fine.” He parted his lips to expose his massive fangs, a gesture of intense irritation. “Enjoy the fiery explosion. You might survive, but I wouldn’t put money on your chances.”
She b linked. “What?”
“Maya, don’ t you feel it?”
He could tell she was forcing herself to battle through her hatred and concentrate on the hum in the air. It wasn’t magic or the power of the Gyre. It wasn’t even the echo of the demons screaming and stomping their feet overhead. It was the buzz of a lethal explosive about t o be unleashed.
“Dammit.”
Maya darted out the door and down the hallway, moving with remarkable speed considering she was wearing heels that could be used as weapons. Ravyr followed close behind, his gaze scanning the area as he searched for a hidden enemy. He didn’t know why Maya was at this particular location, but it had to be shady. No one came here to conduct legiti mate business.
Keeping a respectable pace, they were up the stairs and darting out an emergency exit. On the way, Ravyr hit the fire alarm, hoping at least a few of the demons had enough sense to get out. Then, feeling the pressure build at an alarming rate, Ravyr ignored Maya’s angry tirade as he scooped her off her feet and held her tight agai nst his chest.
She already hated him, what did it matter if he infuriated her by s aving her life?
Running across the street and down the block at a speed no other creature could match, Ravyr vaulted onto the balcony of a towering apartment building. He’d barely landed when he was jumping to the balcony above his head, zigzagging his way upward until they were at last on the top of the roof. A second later the explosion hit.
Ravyr turned his back, keeping Maya wrapped tight in his arms as the searing wave passed over them, busting windows along the block and sending lethal debris flying.
It wasn’t until the last of the tremors shaking the neighborhood settled that he reluctantly lowered Maya to her feet and stepped back. He wanted enough space to defend himself if she decided to strike out. A very re al possibility.
Instead she whirled around to study the empty space where the Slaughterhouse Club had been standi ng minutes ago.
It was a full and utter devastation. Not only had the walls and ceiling collapsed, but they’d also tumbled into the basement, leaving behind a hole that resembled a gaping wound. Smoke billowed from a fire that burned beneath the rubble, tainting the night with the charred stench of burned wood and melted plastic.
Nasty.
At least there were a few customers fleeing down the street, he acknowledged. Several dozen had escaped the inferno and were desperate to disappear before the authorities arrived. Or worse, before Valen, the Cabal leader of this Gyre, made an appearance.
“Is that your work?” she demanded, turning back to him with an accus ing expression.
He wiped his face to an unreadable mask. The next few minutes were going to be ...interesting.
“Why would I blow up a building ?” he demanded.
“You’re a leech.” She lifted her hand to touch the scars on the side of her face. “You don’t need a reason to destroy thin gs. Or people.”
He leaned forward, refusing to offer sympathy. She had survived her past. More than that, she’d thrived. It was nothing less than a miracle.
“Still bitter after all these years, May a?” he drawled.
Narrowing her eyes, she refused to back away. In fact, she stepped closer, blatantly proving she wasn’t going to b e intimidated.
“Not bitter, just reconciled to the fact that vampires are ruthless, untrustworthy bastards who will sacrifice anyone and everyone to gain power.”
Her smile widened a millisecond before the spell smashed into him with shocking force. Ravyr used his specialized skill to absorb the magic, oddly pleased to discover it was a defensive spell rather than an attempt to genui nely hurt him.
Wrapping his arms around her slender body, he contained her struggles, careful not to bruise her delicate skin. He needed to talk to her before she managed to escape, but he wasn’t going to ri sk hurting her.
“Glad to learn that some things never change,” he murmured, lowering his head until their lips were ne arly touching.
“Same.” She jerked her knee up, trying to smash h is tender bits.
Ravyr lifted her off her feet, chuckling even as he tried to remember that Maya Rosen wasn’t the reason he traveled to New York. Even if he wished things coul d be different.
“I’ll release you if you swear not to use your magic to hurt me ,” he murmured.
Her eyes smoldered with a fury that had been festering for years. But with an inner strength he’d always admired, she battled back the ferocious desire to lash out at him. Grinding her teeth, she released a slow breath th rough her nose.
“I...” A word appeared to stick in her throat, but stiffening her spine, she at last managed to spit i t out. “Swear.”
He resisted the urge to close the small space and claim a kiss. He’d spent far too many nights fantasizing about the precise taste and feel of this woman’s lips to ruin the moment by taking what she was unwi lling to give.
Instead, he slowly lowered her to her feet, reluctantly loosening his arms and taki ng a step back.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Her jaw clenched, emphasizing the silvery scars. “I will kill you.”
It wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.
Ravyr’s lips twisted. Fate had created them to be enemies. It wouldn’t be easy to overcome that destiny.
“Perhaps someday, but for now I need you to explain why you were in that bui lding tonight.”
She made a sound of disgust. “You should know. You’re the one who paid to have me lured into a trap by that pathetic excu se for a mage.”
He studied her in confusion. He had no idea what she was talking about. He’d been at the fights to track down the magic that had lured him to New York. It’d been a genuine shock when he’d caught the familiar scent of orchids when he’d entered the basement.
Of course, he’d known she lived in the area, but he hadn’t expected to encounter her. Just the opposite. The plan was to go out of his wa y to avoid her.
At least until he realized the building was ab out to explode.
Then nothing would have stopped him from getting her to safety.
“If I wanted you trapped, why would I pay some one to do it?”
Her brows snapped together. “You don’t expect me to believe it was just a coincidence that I happened to be led into that particular building at the same time y ou were there?”
Ravyr stiffened. “You’re right. It seems highly unlikely,” he slowly admitted. Was it coincidence that the two of them had been in that building together? Or a deliberate ploy? “How were you lured to this area?”
“Why should I answer y our questions?”
“The sooner I know the truth, the sooner I’ll disappear,” he promised. “That’s what you want.” He lowered his gaze to her li ps. “Isn’t it?”
She trembled. Desire? Or fury. He allowed her delicate scent to flood his senses. C harred orchids.
A combination of d esire and fury.
Interesting.
“The m age you hired—”
He immediately interrupted. “She wasn’ t hired by me.”
“Fine,” she snapped, clearly willing to do whatever was necessary to get rid of him. “I discovered a new employee was sneaking into the private vault beneath my shop. Naturally I followed to ask her a few questions. That’s when she lured me to the Slaughterhouse and trapped me in the basement.”
“You walked into a trap?” He arched a brow. “Sloppy.”
“Of course not,” she retorted, clearly insulted. “I knew from the minute Courtney took a job at the Witch’s Brew she was trouble. I followed her to discover why she was spying on me and who she wa s working for.”
That explained why Maya had been at a fight club, but not how her presence might be connect ed to his prey.
“Tell me about this Courtney,” he abr uptly demanded.
Maya shrugged. “Young. Arrogant. Mediocre magic.” Her lips curved into a humorless smile. “She claims to be a mage assassin.”
“You don’ t believe her?”
“If she is one, she’s not very good.”
“Not many can compare to you, Maya,” he pointed out in dry tones. She blinked, as if she wasn’t fully aware that her magic was off the charts. “Was this Courtney a local mage?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure. I’ve never se en her before.”
“What did she want from you?”
“She claimed she’d been hired to kidnap me, but she didn’t know the identity of her client.”
Ravyr felt a pang of frustration. Of course it couldn’t be easy. Like a name and location of whoever had lured her to this location.
After chasing shadows for the past forty years, he was accustomed to smashing into one dead end after another.
The sto ry of his life.
“Do you have any enemi es?” he asked.
“Hundreds.”
He arched a brow. “Any who would be willing to blow you up in a building?” He tried to narrow the list of pote ntial suspects.
“Hundreds, but we don’t have any proof it exploded because of me,” sh e reminded him.
“True.”
It didn’t feel like a coincidence that they were both in the same location when someone decided to plant a bomb, but then the explosion could have been intended to destroy him, while killing Maya wa s just a bonus.
Considering the limited number of suspects who would know they were acquainted, let alone that they had a complicated past, it should be a si mple matter to—
“Why w ere you there?”
The sharp question cut into Ravyr’s musings. He glanced across the street, where fire and smoke continued to belch out of the large crater. In the distance he could hear sirens screaming through the air as a crowd of humans gathered along the sidewalk to watch the show.
“Vam pire business.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You forced me to explain why I was there. I insist you offer me the s ame in return.”
“Insist?”
She folded her arms over her chest, her expression defiant as the emerald necklace hanging around her neck glow ed with power.
“I don’t remember you being hard of hearing, Ravyr,” she taunted. “Of course, that was a long time ago and you were old even then.”
His gaze focused on the soft curve of her mouth, the scent of her desire abruptly s picing the air.
“Dangerous g ames, my Maya.”
As expected, she went rigid with outrage. At the same time, Ravyr sensed...something. A strange layer of power that shrouded her. As if she was being protected by som e unseen force.
“Never yours,” she h issed. “Never.”
Without warning, she turned and with one fluid motion dove over the edge of the building and plummeted toward the ground. Muttering a string of ancient expletives, Ravyr rushed forward, glancing down just in time to see Maya land feet first on the cement parking lot before disappearing into the shadow s of the night.
Ravyr shuddered in relief. She’d used a spell to eas e her landing.
Not that he was entirely happy. She’d used that same spell to escape him, which broke her promise. Then he shrugged. Actually, he’d only demanded that she swear not to use the magic on him , he reminded himself, not a ban on magic in general, so...
“As charming as ever, Ravyr,” a deep male voice drawled f rom behind him.
Ravyr slowly turned. He’d already sensed Valen’s approach when Maya took her nosedive over the edge. Now he studied the slender male with pale hair that lay smoothly against his head and chiseled features that gave him an austere beauty. His eyes were the precise silver of the moonlight that pooled over the rooftop, and his gray suit, along with his crisp white shirt, was hand tailored.
The Cabal leader of the local territory possessed an elegant sophistication that disguised the power that roared just below the pol ished exterior.
“I’ll agree my charm is dubious, but that’s not why the lady jumped,” Ravyr said. “We h ave a history.”
Surprise flickered through the silver eyes. “Interesting.”
Sensations that Ravyr hadn’t felt in years jolted through him. He shuddered, not sure if it was a good or bad thing. It was certa inly dangerous.
He’d been chosen to complete a delicate mission because of his unique skills that included a mastery over his emotions.
“You have no idea.”
“Actually I do,” Valen insisted, his expression wry. “Maya is the best friend to my mate, Peri, and fiercely protective of her. She scares the s hit out of me.”
Ravyr congratulated his companion. “I always suspected you were smarter than you look.” Only a fool would underestimate Maya Rosen and the damage she would do to keep her friends a nd family safe.
A dead fool.
Valen hesitated; then, obviously sensing that Ravyr wasn’t going to share any details of his relationship with Maya, the older male glanced toward the smoldering hole across the street. Several firefighters had arrived and were gathering to assess the flames that continued to shoot upward while cops were climbing out of their vehicles and heading toward the gawkers with their hands raised in a futile effort to push them away from th e destruction.
“Are you responsible for the explosion?”
Ravyr folded his arms over his broad chest. “Why do people keep a sking me that?”
“Something that deserves some deep introspection, old friend,” V alen murmured.
Ravyr shook his head. “I assume Sinjon told you I was entering y our territory?”
Sinjon was the current leader of the Cabal and the reason that Ravyr had spent the past four decades on a frustrating search for an enemy that stayed jus t out of reach.
“Yes, but not the reason why,” Valen admitted. “Or why the world thought you’d perished along with Bat u in Cambodia.”
Ravyr shrugged. The death of Batu, the Cabal leader of Cambodia, had been a perfect opportunity for him to become a ghost so he could continue his position as Sinjo n’s hidden spy.
Or at least, tha t was the hope.
Lately he wasn’t so sure they’d b een successful.
“He likes to keep his business quie t,” Ravyr said.
“Too quiet,” Valen groused.
Ravyr sensed that the older male wasn’t discussing the rumors of Ravyr’s death, but rather Sinjon’s decision to send several Cabal members to discover the danger that Valen’s mate, Peri, posed to the vampires with her wild magic. And the disaster that had been nar rowly avoided.
“I’m sure Sinjon would be happy to discuss a change in leadership if you’d like to take over the Cabal,” Ravyr assured him. “Last time we spoke, Sinjon was telling me about the lair that he’s building on a private island in the Mediterranean. He’s anxious to enjoy a long overdue retirement. The soon er the better.”
“Rule the Cabal?” Valen shuddered in horror. “Do I look like I’ve lost my mind? No one would want that cons tant headache.”
Ravyr winced as another wave of emergency vehicles descended on the jam-packed neighborhood, their sirens blaring and their flashing lights threatening to give the c rowd a seizure.
“Your headaches aren’t going to go away anytime soon.”
“Is this involved?” Valen nodded tow ard the crater.
“That has yet to be determined.”
“By you?”
“Yes.”
“How hands off do I need to be?”
Ravyr considered the question. He hadn’t had the opportunity to discover if the explosion was related to his investigation. Or how Maya might be involved. Or even if the mysterious enemy he’d been tracking was still in the area. All he did know was that something had ch anged tonight.
After remaining an elusive shadow that managed to stay one step ahead of Ravyr for years, this felt like a direct attack.
“You might consider a vacation for the next week or so,” he warned his companion.
Valen shrugged. “I could use some time alone with my new mate far away from the city. We never did have a pro per honeymoon.”
“Good idea.” Ravyr grimly ignored the pang of envy at Valen’s besotted smile when he sp oke about Peri.
He’d accepted Sinjon’s offer to become his secret weapon. The position had taken away the possibility of controlling his own Gyre despite his massive power. As well as denying him the ability to settle down with a mate in a cozy lair.
There was something about making a bed and lying in it, right?
Even if it did feel like a punch to the g ut on occasion.
“Feel free to stay at my penthouse,” Valen offered.
Ravyr shook his head. “Thanks, but I’d rather keep under the radar. At least for now.”