Chapter 10
Ten
Rafe followed Philippe into the park, his hands shoved into his pockets.
His mind was torn. When he touched Philippe, when he had the vampire in his arms, the rest of the world fell away.
There were no doubts or worries. No more politics or someone trying to destroy his family.
Only Philippe’s smile and the calm, cool peace of those green eyes wiping everything away.
But the second he released him, the world came rushing back into focus.
He worried about Edgar’s grave words that more and more vampires were gathering near the Variks.
He worried he was allowing Philippe to cloud his judgment and put his brothers at risk.
There was a part of him that wanted to run from Philippe, hand this stupid job off to Winter or Marcus.
Let them deal with the turmoil that was the Arsenaults so he didn’t have to agonize over whether he was going to be the one guilty of destroying the Variks.
Yet, even as he had that thought, he knew he’d never let it happen. He’d never let Winter near Philippe if he could help it. Winter could be brutally impartial. His loyalty was always to the Variks.
What did that say about Rafe when even now he could feel himself being pulled in two directions?
His heart went out to Philippe and his fear for his clan.
When Aiden had made them all into vampires one hundred and seventy-six years ago, he spent what time he could teaching them about the new society they were attempting to enter. One of the strange cornerstones of that society was the clan.
For the most part, vampires were solitary creatures. Immortality did that. When everything else lived a much shorter time, vampires tended to stay away from anything so fragile.
But with humans so weak, that left them only their own kind to pick fights with.
To counter that, vampires created clans as a form of protection. Like the Variks, some vampires were born into clans, but most were exclusive, invitation-only affairs. Only the strongest, smartest, and most cunning were invited to join a clan.
Except for the Arsenaults.
It seemed that for Philippe, creating a clan wasn’t about strength but about forming a family. A safe haven.
“How many members are in the Arsenault clan?”
“Eleven now,” Philippe said softly.
Rafe frowned, figuring that Philippe was remembering the recently lost Erik and Sarah. Rafe simply couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose any of his brothers.
“You said…you said that all your clan members were outcasts or damaged in some way. Why?”
Philippe looked over at him, a small smile on his lips. “Why did I choose them?” His tone was slightly playful, and Rafe wasn’t quite sure how to read that. “Because I have no choice.”
Rafe stopped walking. “I don’t understand.”
A wind rushed through the park, rattling the barren tree limbs and sending dried leaves scattering in all directions. Lamps interspersed at regular intervals along the path threw down golden pools of light, but he and Philippe stood between the pools, embraced by the shadows.
“It’s my gift. My power.” Philippe’s smile became a little wry.
“I can feel them. Sense where they are and that they need me. You may not realize this, but most unwanteds don’t survive their first year as a vampire.
They’re hunted by their maker or other vampires for fun.
Some commit suicide because they fear what they are and were never taught by their maker.
The ones who survive, who learn to exist at least a little, are the ones I find.
Ezra was the youngest I managed to save.
He’d been a vampire for only a year when I was drawn to him.
But most I can’t sense until they’ve been a vampire for four or five years. ”
A cold, ugly sense of dread crawled into Rafe’s stomach and threatened to freeze the blood in his veins.
“How far away can you sense one?”
“Not far. A few miles.”
Rafe frowned and resumed walking through the park. “And you invite any you find into your clan?”
Philippe laughed and Rafe looked back over his shoulder at Philippe who was shaking his head at Rafe.
“It’s never so easy. Most I find don’t trust me or my motives.
It takes a lot of conversations to prove that I’m trustworthy.
That the Arsenaults are trustworthy. And even then, I have to make sure the newcomer isn’t a danger to the rest of the clan. ”
“And if you can’t recruit this poor soul?”
“Then we have to move.” Philippe’s smile slipped. “I can’t turn off the gift. What starts as a small buzzing in my brain becomes a screaming alarm after time. I become ill with it. We have to move if I can’t help the vampire, though usually it isn’t too far if we don’t wish to leave an area.”
Rafe stopped again, raising his chilled fingers to lightly touch Philippe’s cheek. “Then your gift is not the reason I’m drawn to you. It’s not clouding my mind. I’m not one of your outcasts.”
“God, no! Did you fear that with me?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
Philippe reached up and grasped Rafe’s hand in both of his. “No, my gift cannot affect you in any way. And you, my friend, are not an outcast. From what little I’ve seen so far, your family cherishes you. The mystique of the Variks is clear about one thing—you are all loyal and loved.”
That Rafe could not argue with. He was loved by his brothers, and he loved them just as fiercely, but it didn’t explain why he still felt this bone-deep loneliness, or why it seemed to completely disappear when Philippe was close.
A low chuckle escaped Philippe as he released Rafe and started walking again. “You’re the one with the gift to claim the mind, am I not right?”
“Yes, my gift is to charm the mind. I can be very persuasive and even wipe memories a bit. It’s all quite effective with humans. Vampires…are a bit more complicated.” He bumped his shoulder against Philippe’s. “Particularly those vampires who are older than me.”
Philippe grinned at him. “Would you try it on me?”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m curious as to what it feels like, and I trust you not to convince me to do anything too horrible.”
Rafe’s smile turned wicked as he stared at Philippe, a dozen wonderful thoughts immediately danced in his head.
Pleasurable things for both of them, but he didn’t want to use his gift to make Philippe do any of those things.
He wanted Philippe to desire them on his own.
Not that he didn’t think the man already did.
But using his power on Philippe could be a bit of fun.
Of course, he didn’t think it would work.
Philippe was well over two hundred. He could feel it in the raw power falling off him in subtle waves.
“We could always give it a try when we’re ensconced in the safety of my penthouse.”
Philippe’s smile left Rafe thinking the other vampire was looking forward to it almost as much as Rafe was.
But the smile faded away too quickly when his eyes fell on an empty park bench. His footsteps slowed until they were both standing in front of the bench.
“When we moved to Hartford, I came out with Piper several times during the first couple of weeks, and we decided together that this would be one of her prime hunting grounds. There was no hint of other vampires in the area, and it saw good foot traffic from joggers and dog walkers. She felt safe here. Happy.”
Rafe reached over and placed his hand on Philippe’s shoulder.
He didn’t know what to say. If this was Winter or, God forbid, Bel missing, Rafe would be out of his mind.
But then, Piper hadn’t been with his clan long, and he wasn’t sure how close Philippe could get with his own clan members.
Could he ever feel close to them when too many probably still looked at him with mistrust?
“I’ve come back here nearly every night since she first went missing, like I’m going to wake up from this nightmare and just discover her sitting on our bench. I wanted her to find peace in this new life, a new purpose. I thought maybe in another decade or two, she would.”
“Don’t give up hope,” Rafe said sharply. “You have no proof that she’s dead. We may still find her, and she can have that peace.”
“You’re right. I—”
Philippe tensed under Rafe’s fingers, stopping whatever he’d been about to say.
Rafe realized the reason just a second later as he felt the presence of two vampires drawing close to their location.
They both waited in silence to see if they would continue past the park or turn in.
There was no sense of who they were, only a quivering power signature.
One felt stronger, older than Rafe. The other was somewhat younger.
Anxiety clawed its way through his stomach, displacing the earlier dread.
Rafe didn’t care for encountering random vampires while he was out.
The only places he didn’t mind running into one was in his own club or the designated neutral zone.
In those two locations, everyone was on their best behavior.
The same could not be said for anywhere else.
Of course, after the news he’d received from Edgar, it was surprising he and Philippe hadn’t encountered more vampires while they were out.
Rafe barely swallowed his curse when the strangers turned into the park and started to head in their direction. While he didn’t care for the intrusion, these interlopers might be able to shed some light on Piper’s disappearance if this was a frequent haunt of theirs.
They had to wait only a couple of minutes before two women strolled into view, walking arm in arm.
Dressed in casual jeans and sweaters, they looked as if they were just out to stretch their legs, but Rafe guessed it was more likely that one or both were hunting for their meal.
Taking in their closeness, Rafe found himself wondering if maybe the older vampire was the fledgling’s maker.