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“I honestly don’t know how it could be worse. Just like in your world, there are vampires without a conscience who won’t think twice about making a buck any way they can, including selling out the rest of the population.”
“So what do you think we should do next? We have to find that weapon.”
“I know.” He shifted to look at her. “I think we should head back to The Erotic Passage and have a chat with both Eve and Rumy.”
“Eve?”
“Oh, that’s right. You haven’t met her yet. She’s as well connected throughout our world as Rumy is, and might have an idea or two about where to look for the weapon. She owns and operates a theater called The Ruby Cave.”
“Does she put on plays of some kind?”
Lucian grinned. “Of a sort. She presents sex shows.”
“Oh.” She sipped her coffee. “And is she a former girlfriend of yours?”
Lucian shuddered. “Hell, no. She’s full-on dominance. I’d rather eat glass than take up with someone like her. But other than her sexual proclivities, she’s good people and she will probably have an interesting idea or two.”
When Claire headed toward the bathroom, he made a quick call to Rumy and set up a meeting with him and Eve. Shortly afterward he flew Claire back to Lake Como and straight into Rumy’s office.
Chapter 8
Claire sat in one of two oversized leather clubs chairs while the one called Eve, almost equal in height to Lucian, sat in the chair next to her.
Claire tried not to stare, but an absolute vampire beauty met her gaze. The woman had on heavy stage makeup with thick false eyelashes, wide black eyeliner, and varying shades of eye shadow from black to red climbing to her brows. Despite the makeup, Claire saw the exquisite lines of her face, her straight nose and strong cheekbones. She wore her blond hair caught up high on her head and flowing in a long ponytail well past her bottom. She held it wrapped around her forearm, petting it like she would a cat.
But beyond her flamboyant style, Claire couldn’t believe what Eve wanted her to do. “An erotica fashion show? You want me to walk down a runway modeling clothing fit for p**n stars?”
Eve smiled. “Exactly.”
From the vibration at her neck, she knew Lucian had a serious problem with her dressing in a series of fantasy outfits, but he remained stoic. The stakes were incredibly high.
Claire turned to Rumy. “And you’re sure these two men, Arsen and Salazar, know where the extinction weapon is?”
He nodded. “My informant tells me that they’re trying to get Daniel to cough up about thirty million for the information they have on the weapon.”
The figure staggered her mind. “But they don’t actually have possession of it?” This just didn’t make sense.
“No, but word has it that as soon as Daniel posted his reward, they were on it. Like me, they have a powerful network, though theirs involves every criminal from here to Beijing and they don’t mind torturing for information.
“It’s my understanding that they’ve physically hunted for it themselves, but can’t quite break through a couple of disguising shields to actually get their hands on it. Still, the fact that the information is hidden behind a powerful layering of disguise is telling in itself. I, for one, believe they’ve landed on the real deal. Also, they wouldn’t be so stupid as to play fast and loose with Daniel by faking it. No, I’m convinced they’ve got something solid, which is also why they’re asking for thirty million.”
She considered the amount again, which at first had seemed phenomenal. But given the potential the weapon had, she wondered why they hadn’t asked for ten times that amount. “And from what you’ve told me, a serious trafficker like Daniel would have assets in the billions. He could afford to pay any price.”
Lucian crossed his arms over his chest. “I think you’re exactly right.”
She shook her head. “So the plan would be to lure these two men into coming here—then what?”
Lucian frowned heavily. “We’d basically put them in the same kinds of chains you found me in, then work to get the information out of them.”
She looked away from him nodding, thinking things through, then returned to him once more. “Why not go after them?”
Lucian rocked slightly on his heels. “Because they live in a fortress, well stocked with every kind of weapon imaginable. Even if we got in, we wouldn’t get out, not without an army. But I’m still not on board, not even a little.” He turned to Eve. “You must have a dozen beautiful women you could use, dress up in bits of leather and a few rubber bands—”
Eve glared at Lucian. “Hey, I design these clothes. You’re disparaging my creative efforts.”
Rumy barked his laughter. “Rubber bands. Love it. He got you on that one, Eve.”
Claire strove to understand the merits of the plan. “Okay, let’s say that it’s necessary they come here. Why me? Why would I so tempt these careful, well-armed warrior types that they’d actually agree to come to Eve’s theater to watch me parade around in pretty much nothing?”
All three vampires turned to look at her. She glanced at each one in turn. Something was up, something that hadn’t been said. Eve turned to Lucian. “You want to tell her, or shall I?”
Lucian’s nostrils flared. He appeared disgusted beyond words, but he spoke anyway. “Both these men have a thing for redheads.”
She laughed. “What? You’re kidding. Why?”
But Eve stepped in. “Just about everyone has a craving for something specific. Some men love feet, can’t get enough of them, that’s why they’re called fetishes. You have red hair, and I’ll admit it’s a beautiful auburn. You’ll have them both panting. We don’t have a lot of redheads in our world.”
Claire pulled a lock of her hair forward and stared at it, then glanced at Lucian. “Is this really true? I mean, do you believe this?”
“I have some friends who will only date Asian women. Period. Others are drawn to blondes. We’re all built differently.” A half smile curved his lips. “But in this case I don’t see how they could resist.”
“So essentially, I’d be the bait.”
“You’ll be more than that.” Lucian drew close, looking down at her. “We’ll need your disguising power to surround Rumy’s security team. The last thing they’ll be expecting is that the object of their lust will be the prime reason they’ll get caught in the trap.”
