Chapter 8
Eight
Rafe pulled his phone from his pocket and checked it for what felt like the fiftieth time, but there were no new texts from Philippe.
He’d woken to a text that evening canceling their plans to check out Piper’s other hunting ground.
There was no explanation. Just that he needed to reschedule for the next night. Not exactly reassuring.
Holding the phone in his left hand, he tapped it against his right palm as he stared down at Blush’s dance floor. The club had been open only a couple of hours and it was starting to fill up nicely. But he barely noticed the usual throng of revelers.
Why would Philippe cancel? Every indication pointed to his desperate need to locate his missing clan member quickly. Would he actually follow a new lead without Rafe?
Irritation crawled like ants across his skin. This didn’t make any sense. He’d come to the Variks for help, and now he was cutting Rafe out. Probably because of that damn shooting. Philippe had seemed shaken up when Rafe took those two bullets, but they’d been just little flesh wounds.
Rafe shoved his phone back into his pocket with an annoyed growl.
He turned, picking up the sound of Lola’s determined stride as she approached the office.
It was probably for the best that they were missing each other as Rafe needed time to hopefully make contact with a source who could shed some light on both the Arsenault problem and the Varik problem.
“Did you find him?” Rafe demanded as soon as she stepped through the open door.
If she was put off by his gruff tone, she gave no sign of it. “I’ve got him, but he’s not going to stay still long. We need to move now.”
“Blush?”
“Ryder has security under control, and most of the bloodsuckers don’t start showing up for another couple of hours. Gideon isn’t appearing until after I return.”
Rafe grunted and grabbed his leather jacket from where he’d draped it over the back of his desk chair.
Tonight he’d opted for jeans and a light cashmere sweater rather than his usual suit.
These trips with Lola tended to get a bit messy at times, and there was no reason for him to ruin another suit.
Lola didn’t need to accompany him, but he knew it was a waste of breath to tell her not to come. Even if he “won” the argument, she’d only follow him. In Lola’s world, Rafe’s safety came first. All his wishes and bitchy commands were a distant second.
“How long has he been here?” Rafe asked as they strode through the dimly lit corridors of Blush.
Employees rushed to get out of their way.
Most of the Blush staff was human, but several security members were vamps, though Rafe was the only one of the staff to ever admit to being a vampire.
Not that most of the humans believed it.
At the time, the decision to “come out” on social media had been done to irritate the Ministry.
Oh, and that had worked so fucking well.
But the humans…they hadn’t cared in the least—exactly as he’d predicted.
Rafe was so tired of this hiding bullshit. He wanted to embrace his true nature, and he wanted the world to celebrate with him. But according to the damn Ministry, the humans weren’t ready yet.
Of course, Rafe wasn’t the only one who skirted the Ministry’s rules. And he made a habit of finding those people as soon as he could whenever he moved to a new area.
“He says fifty,” Lola said.
“But…”
Lola held the door open leading to the private garage parking connected to the nightclub. The harsh light caught her dark eyes and caressed the hint of fang he could make out when she smiled. “Oh, I think he’s been here for at least a hundred years.”
That was a delicious tidbit of information.
The Ministry required all vampires to change homes once every twenty years to reduce the chances of a human noticing someone wasn’t aging.
Most vamps pushed a year or two here and there.
Marcus never allowed them to simply because Rafe reveled in being visible.
But it hadn’t taken long for Rafe to discover a secret group of clanless vampires that existed in every town who almost never moved. They were hands down the best source of information.
The hard part was locating one of the vampires. The next hardest part was convincing them that it was in their best interest to speak to Rafe. Lola had gotten quite good at locating them, and Rafe knew how to be charming.
“What’s our new friend’s name?” Rafe pushed the button on the key fob in his pocket, unlocking the doors to his BMW.
“Edgar.” Lola dropped into the passenger seat and stretched out her legs with a happy sigh.
Rafe was just starting the engine when he noticed Lola sit up and loudly sniff.
He rolled his eyes heavenward as he shifted the car into drive.
He’d cleaned up the blood and then hired a cleaning service to go back over it, but that wasn’t enough.
Lola knew the scent of his blood. They’d supplied each other on more than one occasion—sometimes for fun and sometimes when the need was dire.
“What the fuck happened that you were bleeding in here?” Lola snapped.
Lovely. Straight to mother bear mode.
“Philippe and I ran into a small bit of trouble last night. Nothing too vexing.” He carefully maneuvered the car out of the parking spot and through the garage.
Did you allow Arsenault to feed from you?
” Lola asked, the tone of her voice rising with her horror.
To allow another vampire—a virtual stranger—to feed was unheard of.
And yet a flood of warmth rushed through Rafe’s veins at the idea of Philippe’s fangs piercing his throat.
If Rafe’s cock had a vote, he’d be all for Philippe biting Rafe.
Though the preference was during sex and not when either of them was injured.
“No, Philippe didn’t feed from me.” He tried using his frostiest voice to ward against more questions, but Lola wasn’t deterred.
“You were hurt!” She twisted in her seat so that she was facing him as he pulled out into evening traffic. “Why the hell didn’t you contact me?”
“Because what you and Bel fail to realize is, I can take care of myself. I am quite capable and skilled,” Rafe griped.
“My job is to protect your ass.”
“Your job is to watch over my club.”
“Fuck that!”
Rafe growled. “That includes keeping an eye on Ryder and Gideon.”
Lola flopped in her seat, her arms crossed over her leather-wrapped chest. “You pull that shit again, and I’m moving back into the penthouse.”
That was a double-edged threat that left Rafe fighting to hide his smile.
Lola had lived with him for several decades before she finally moved out on her own.
They’d gotten along wonderfully and always had a similar need to enjoyable distractions.
They both loved sex and fun, though it had been a lot of years since they’d last been together.
But Rafe had started to harbor hopes of getting Philippe in his bed, and he didn’t want Lola around for that. And he most definitely had zero interest in sharing Philippe with Lola.
They finished the rest of the drive in relative silence.
Lola spoke only to give directions. Rafe knew they were both pouting, and it was more than a little ridiculous, but he wasn’t worried about Lola.
She was the only person who knew him as well as his brothers, and he liked to think he knew her just as well.
Parking where she indicated, Rafe tried not to wrinkle his nose as he took in their surroundings.
Definitely not a good area if he was going by the broken and boarded-up windows, trash along the sidewalks, and the pervasive scent of urine.
But for a vampire to stay unnoticed for a century, he usually had to live among the most overlooked and forgotten humans.
The poor and crime-ridden made the top of that list.
As he got out of the car, he glanced across the roof to find Lola glaring at him.
“You’re an idiot.”
He smiled at her. In Lola, that translated into something closer to “You’re an idiot, but I still love you and plan to watch over you like a motherfucking hawk.” All of which Rafe could easily accept.
“I appreciate your concern, but maybe you could spare a little for my car. I’m doubtful it will still be here when we return,” Rafe complained. He hit the lock button for the third time before following the diminutive woman down the sidewalk.
“I’ve been here a few times now. They know better than to mess with my ride.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to point out that the sleek BMW was not her ride, but he decided to save his prodding for later. If she said his lovely car was safe, then it was safe. And only God could save the poor soul stupid enough to turn her into a liar.
They continued down the block a short distance.
The street was empty, but Rafe could feel numerous eyes on him, watching from thick shadows as he strolled along, seemingly without a care to call his own.
The eyes belonged to mostly humans, though he could pick up a couple of vampires. One close and one a good distance away.
Lola stopped in front of what appeared to be an abandoned apartment building.
At least it should have been condemned. The front light flickered on and off, so he was inclined to believe it was still open to its tenants.
She pulled open the door, and there was no way Rafe could keep from wrinkling his nose at the wall of odors that accosted him before he could step into the place.
Urine, feces, blood, rotten food, mold, and underneath it all…
death. No, there was no masking that final scent in the debris of life. People had died here.