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One of Salazar’s men had just killed one of Rumy’s.
Lucian gave the whirring chain a jerk of his arm, a flick of his wrist, and the chain wrapped around the vampire’s throat. He tugged swiftly, pulling the man backward. The man struggled trying to get the chain from around his throat.
Lucian drew close and drove his blade deep. He left the chains where they were, felt movement behind him, turned and met a ramped-up vampire. He blocked the arm that held one blade, then blocked a second blade in his opponent’s other hand.
Lucian threw himself in a quick slide against the vampire’s feet, knocking him off-balance and onto the floor. He slammed an elbow into one arm and grabbed the blade; before the man, could bring his other arm close, Lucian slashed deep across his wrist. The vampire screamed.
Lucian continued on in this way, helping Rumy’s men to finally gain control of the remaining security force. Within fifteen minutes, the theater fell silent.
Turning around toward the stage, he saw that Rumy had brought in a second team and that both Salazar and Arsen were bound in preternaturally charged chains. Those two weren’t going anywhere.
Lucian headed toward the dominant Salazar.
Leaning against the red-crystal-encrusted wall, Salazar said, “I’d heard you’d somehow escaped Daniel’s grasp. But I never imagined you’d fight so dirty given what a Boy Scout you are.”
Lucian sneered. “You don’t know me at all, Salazar. I’ve been after you for years and now I have you. Your business is done.”
Salazar frowned and his lips formed a tight line, but he looked away.
Rumy called out orders, and his security team stuck close to both him and the traffickers. Shortly after, a medical team arrived to care for the wounded and the dead, followed by a serious cleanup and repair crew. The theater would be restored completely within the next few hours. Rumy had one hell of an organization. He could run a small country.
Approaching Lucian, he suggested they move their party to his interrogation room.
“Good idea,” Lucian replied, but his gaze raked the stage where Claire had given her show and distracted the men enough to put Arsen and Salazar in their current predicament. “But I can’t go without Claire.”
“That’s right. Your proximity issue.”
Absently, he touched the chains.
Hey, you there? He sent the words softly, not wanting to scare her. But even as he spoke telepathically, he felt a tremor run through him. Battling did that to a vampire, increased his blood-needs. He even felt the familiar sensation of more blood-madness on the way.
Yes. Is everything okay?
He gave her a quick rundown, adding that Rumy wanted to take Arsen and Salazar to his interrogation room.
I’ve got my robe on, but my clothes are back at the photo shoot.
His mind wanted to slide all the way there, but he protected himself and pulled his thoughts back, focusing on what was important right now. Her robe would have to do.
Come to me so that I can fly you with the men.
Okay.
She appeared a few seconds later at the top of the runway. Rumy’s team had charge of Salazar and Arsen.
Rumy ordered his men to take their captives to the interrogation room, then took off. As a group, the vampires shifted to altered flight and disappeared.
Lucian flew to Claire, then held out his arm to her. With a deep sigh and her eyes filling with tears, she stepped onto his booted foot. She slid her arm around his neck and buried her face against his throat. I can’t tell you how glad I am that the runway show is over.
Me, too. Understatement. But you did really well and your shields held, which gave us the advantage we needed. He drew in a deep breath. You ready to find out what these bastards know about the extinction weapon?
She smiled. Hell, yeah.
He chuckled softly, then flew her down and down.
He arrived with her at Rumy’s interrogation room, a black granite space large enough to house a couple of tanks. Lucian felt the location, deep in the cavern system, which made sense given the downward trajectory.
Rumy had Arsen and Salazar seated in chairs, each spattered with blood.
He didn’t want her here, though, not for this, not with the stubborn expressions on the men’s faces. Listen, they’re not going to give up their information easily. Maybe you should wait in the adjoining room for a while, just until they’re ready to talk.
Claire glanced around. Maybe I should.
Lucian took her through a doorway into a smaller office. She sank into one of the chairs, looking relieved.
When he returned, one of Rumy’s men drew his fist back to punch Arsen, but Lucian called out, “Please. Allow me.”
Part of him wanted to beat both these men to a bloody pulp for all that they had done and what they represented in his world. The vampires now gathered around clearly felt the same way.
But he had something far more important to accomplish, and now that he had Ancestral power his approach was completely different.
“You got a new idea, boss?”
Lucian glanced at Rumy and nodded. He ignored Salazar since the man was the stronger of the two and went straight for Arsen’s head. He put his hand over his skull and let the power flow.
Arsen blinked then started to scream.
Lucian sent the words straight into Arsen’s mind. Tell me what I need to know and the pain stops.
Lucian knew exactly what that pain felt like. Daniel had hurt him in a similar way.
About ten seconds later Arsen cried out, “I’ll tell everything.” Tears streamed down his cheeks.
Salazar tried to argue with him, but Arsen lifted his bound hands and said, “Just how the hell do you think we’ll ever get out of this? We’ll be lucky to be alive in the next ten minutes.”
Salazar’s eyes glazed over and his chin sank. “Tell them. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Arsen met Lucian’s hard stare. “I suppose you want to know about the extinction weapon.”
“First, I want to know one thing. Assuming you have information on where to locate this weapon, why would you turn even one scrap of a clue over to Daniel Briggs?”
“For thirty million.”
Lucian shook his head. “You f**king bastard. No, let me rephrase that: You f**king idiot. If Daniel gets hold of that weapon, what do you think will happen to you? Do you think he wouldn’t be able to find you, or your clubs, or whatever disguises you can create or buy? Do you not understand that ever since Daniel took over the Council of Ancestrals he’s become the most powerful vampire on the planet? So what exactly do you think he intends to do with an extinction weapon?”
