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Arsen stared up at him for a long moment. Even Salazar murmured, “Shit.”
Lucian shook his head. “So you’re both telling me that until this moment, it never occurred to you that Daniel might use this weapon against you? You never thought it possible that Daniel would show up at your compound one day, hold the weapon to your head, then politely ask for his money back, oh, and maybe the keys to your organization?”
He tossed up both hands, shaking his head. “How the hell did the pair of you build an empire together? No, don’t answer that. Just tell me where the f**k I can find the weapon before I kill you both right now for your sheer stupidity.”
Arsen spoke quickly. “We went on the hunt ourselves, tortured any number of our sources, and hit on a promising clue.”
“A clue.”
“Look, rumors have been around for decades about these weapons. Scientists who developed them worried about their potential. Some of them were hidden or left clues to their locations. We tracked one of these rumors all the way to what turned out to be a layering of disguises neither of us could penetrate. Either the weapon is behind those disguises or there’s a clue to its whereabouts.”
“And where is this exactly?”
“In Siberia at the River of Lights Resort, on the gondola ride. You have to take the tour, then use altered flight at a certain point. First, though, you have to recognize the disguise or see beyond it or something, and neither of us could. We were just putting out feelers to see if there was an Ancestral around with disguise-penetrating abilities when Eve sent us her invitation.”
He then coughed up two specific details: a ninety-degree bend in the underground river, and a pillar of stone shaped like a serpent.
“How did you come by this information?”
Arsen shrugged, then spoke oh-so-casually. “We tortured a bunch of different vampires. Each knew something. And we had it confirmed when we went on that ride.”
Lucian glanced at Rumy. “I’ll want to get over there, the sooner the better.”
“I’ll arrange for tickets, boss.”
“Aren’t they booked months in advance?”
Rumy just lifted a brow and made the call. Two minutes later he said, “Thanks.” He ended the call, then tapped his phone again. He told one of his team to look for an email from Siberia. “Okay, good. Just print them out and bring them here. Now.” He returned his phone to the pocket of his tailored slacks. “Stay tight. I’ll have something for you in a few secs.”
He rocked on his heels, his brows pinched, an unusual expression for Rumy.
A moment later one of his security team arrived, passing straight through the wall, and handed him a sheet of paper.
Rumy offered it to Lucian. “You have two entrance passes for the River of Lights at midnight, and you’re welcome.”
Lucian stared at the piece of paper. “How the hell did you do this?”
Rumy just smiled. “You still have no idea how well connected I am.”
“You mean how much dirt you have on everyone.”
“Well, that, too.”
Without warning, a tremor hit Lucian hard. This time his stomach cramped. “Shit.” He looked around, wishing Claire was close.
You need me?
The chains had done their talking so there was no point pretending. I do.
Is it okay to come in there now?
It’s fine. We’ve got what we need and the boys are in good shape.
Claire opened the door. At the sight of her, Lucian’s heart warmed up something fierce. How had she become so important to him in such a ridiculously short time?
Salazar whistled softly. “Just look at that red hair.”
Lucian glared. Salazar lifted his chain-bound hands. “Sorry. Apologies.”
Lucian turned to Rumy. “You’ll take it from here?”
“I’ve got a call in to Gabriel. I’ve decided to let him handle these two. He’ll know what needs to be done.”
“I couldn’t agree more. I’ll be in touch after Siberia.”
Rumy nodded.
Lucian crossed the room to Claire, unwilling to let her get too close to the captives.
He immediately drew her into his arms, then held her tight for a long moment. Thank you for all you did.
You’re welcome. She rubbed his back. So what happened with Tweety Bird and his companion?
Lucian relayed what they’d discovered, adding that he now had tickets for the midnight ride.
It all sounds so strange. Your world actually has something called a light show in Siberia?
He stroked her cheek. Yeah, I’ve never been there. A little too vanilla for my tastes.
Sounds like it. But it also sounds like the best lead we’ve had.
Couldn’t agree more. He glanced around. But it looks like we’ve got a couple of hours to kill. What would you like to do? Want to head back to the suite?
I could really use a shower, but I left my clothes at the photo shoot. Okay if we head back there first?
Absolutely.
When he drew back, Lucian held out his arm and Claire stepped up on his foot, holding her robe together with one hand. She wrapped her free arm around his neck. Just as he slid his arm around her waist then slipped into altered flight, she kissed him.
Chapter 10
Claire let the kiss linger. She’d been wanting to try this for a long time, to see if it was even possible to kiss Lucian while in the middle of altered flight. Apparently, it was.
Claire, what you can do to me. But I’ll have to find someplace to land if you keep this up.
She drew back and smiled, hugging him, thankful that the ordeal was over. She held Lucian tight, feeling ridiculously safe in his arms while they passed through all kinds of solid matter. She marveled that she’d only been engaged in altered flight for a few days, but the movement in front of her eyes had come to look like soft swirling mist, nothing that could hurt her at all.
When he slowed and shifted to fly at a steep upward angle, she knew they were drawing near Eve’s specialty room, where the photo shoot had taken place. She recalled the short arched hallway leading to the room she had forbidden Lucian to enter.
The timing seemed perfect.
On an instinctive level, she knew Eve had wanted her to see the separate room. The setup spoke of dominance play, and of Lucian, in a way that Claire understood because of the shared chains.
The darkness she sensed in Lucian had resulted from his childhood torture, from the pain he carried around in him because he’d once been bound in chains. He needed to let go of something deep within, and letting him have control of her might just help. She wasn’t even sure she understood why this might be true, but she felt a profound need to allow the experience, as much for herself as for Lucian.
