The Way You Bite(72)

Eric entered holding his cell phone up. He was also soaking wet. “It’s important, sir.”

“A moment.” Lexan said to Eric. He faced Trace. “We’re about to be on opposite sides of a global conflict.”

“I understand.” Trace glanced to Dominic’s body and then over to Hsu-Li. He met Lexan’s gaze again. Something passed between them but Vee couldn’t decipher it.

Eric freed TC. “What of this one?” He hauled Hsu-Li to his feet and put the vamp’s hands in the same cuffs that had bound TC. “He’s killed many of our kind.”

Trace moved in front of Lexan. “You can’t have him. He’s mine to deal with.”

Lexan gazed at Trace in silence for several long, tense seconds. He nodded. “If he hunts our kind again, we won’t show mercy twice.”

“Vee…” Trace’s voice tapered off. “I wish you weren’t…”

“Good-bye.” She longed to hug her big brother, who she might never see again, but glanced at Hsu-Li, reluctant to hurt Trace’s future. She whispered. “Take care of Carol. Tell her I love her.”

Trace’s eyes flickered with sadness. It’d been fleeting, but it communicated a huge I’ll miss you. He cleared his throat. “You need to go with them.”

“Are all vampires here dead?” asked Trace.

Lexan looked up from his cell phone where he’d been typing. “Only a few. Most are tranquilized. In a few hours, they’ll feel like the night after a long party.”

“We’ll give you an hour’s head start,” Trace said.

“Good luck on any of them out there being ready in an hour.” Lexan shoved his cell phone in a jacket pocket. “We’re leaving,” he said imperiously as he accepted the phone from Eric, speaking rapidly in a foreign language she didn’t recognize all the way to the waiting SUVs. A dozen wolves dressed in tactical gear surrounded them.

She was herded though pouring rain into a car, Lexan beside her, still on the phone. Eric was also now speaking nonstop in what she thought was Spanish.

TC looked up from a tablet he’d been handed by Eric when he got in the car. He met her gaze. “All hell’s breaking loose—attacks, bombings, and a call for regional meetings.” He shrugged and resumed typing on the tablet.

When Lexan’s call ended, Eric said, “Michael needs to talk.” He passed his phone back.

Lexan took the cell, this time speaking French. She understood some, but it wasn’t a strong language for her.

She couldn’t reach Lexan telepathically to explain what happened. The ride ended at an airport.

Blay met them as they were climbing out of the car. “I need to know where Ambrose is to take care of this tonight. Do you think he’d take your call, Vee?”

“Maybe.” Like hell she wanted to see Ambrose tonight or ever.

“Let’s try. Let’s get him to meet with you.”

“She’s done with being the middle of your vendetta,” Lexan said. “We’re leaving this country. Feel free to go after Ambrose on your own. Duties call to organize in Europe and Asia.”

“We do this now, or he’ll be warned we know he killed Arie.” Blay’s cell dinged. He glanced down. “We get him during the day today, before sunset. The moon should be up in three hours. I want him surprised.”

“You’re not in charge of my guys, nor will she be forced to help you. It’s too dangerous.”

Vee wedged herself between Blay and Lexan. “She is standing right here and can answer for herself.”

Both males gazed down at her, astonished. She wanted to scream it was the twenty-first century. Males shouldn’t make decisions for females without consulting them.

Blay said, “I need your help, Vee. I need this ended.”

“I’d like it over, too,” she said softly. “I’d love to see him pay, but I’d prefer not to see Ambrose again. Maybe I can find out where he is for you. If you want to involve me in the plan, then I’m not the pawn. You will tell me everything that’s going on.”

Lexan released an agitated sigh and gazed into the distance. “If this is what you want, Vee, then we’ll see this to the end.” He waited for her approval.

Her chest swelled with the level of respect in his gaze. He was trying.

…

Lexan announced, “Vee and I need a few minutes. Alone.” He waved at a small passenger jet, encouraging her to ascend the stairway.

Second guessing a confrontation with Ambrose swelled in her brain. He’d be suspicious if she called him, especially if anyone from the Scarpa compound alerted him of Dominic’s death. She followed Lexan up the steep steps onto the plane.

The moment they were both in a cabin that was far more spacious than she’d anticipated she said, “Trace drugged me and put me in the car. He thought he was saving me…that you guys brainwashed me.”

He ran a hand over his face. “If I’d known he planned to take you, I would’ve gone after you the moment you went back to the house.”

“I wasn’t planning to flee.” She chewed on her lip, unsure how to ask the big what next question. Terror she might never see him again once the plane landed struck her numb.

“What do you want me to say or do, Vee? I’m trying damned hard to say the right thing. I was raised in a time when women didn’t…when men made the decisions. With everywhere unsafe now…” The depth of emotion passing through his gaze indicated his restraint wasn’t easy.