Compelled (Vampires in America #10.5) (15 page)
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Authors: D. B. Reynolds
Chapter Ten
Pompano Beach, Florida
NICK WALKED INTO his office and shrugged off his leather jacket, tossing it carelessly onto a chair. The housekeeper would take care of it . . . or not. As long as he could find it when it wanted it, he didn’t care where it resided in the interim. Beyond the big windows, the Florida night beckoned, a lighthouse blinking in the distance.
Turning away from the melancholy sight, he crossed to a wall of built-in bookcases. Going directly to a specific shelf, he pushed gently against the back panel, which popped open to reveal a biometric lock. He pressed his left thumb to the scanner and the adjacent bookcase popped open. Pulling the bookcase all the way outward, he entered the secret room, his
sanctum sanctorum
. The amber key to the manacles was here, what was left of it. He’d chipped the amber away himself before giving the key to Cyn so that she could free her vampire lord. Not that it mattered anymore. The manacles themselves were gone. He’d destroyed them along with most, though not all, of Marshall’s collection. There’d been a few pieces worth holding on to, especially now that he’d decided to add his magic to the mix.
He experienced an unfamiliar buzz of curiosity at the thought of using his magic again. Not only for the inevitable thrill it would give him, but because, for the first time in longer than he could remember, he couldn’t predict the results. His ability was unique enough to change the entire balance of power in the magical world, and he was . . . excited at the possibilities.
Smiling at the thought, he gazed around his vault. The artifacts stored here were the product of centuries of acquisitions, and every one of them was stored far more securely than Marshall’s primitive glass and steel. His hunters continued to bring him items from all over the world. Most he destroyed, but some he kept, either because he didn’t have the power to destroy them safely, or because he thought they might be useful someday. Evil still existed in the world. It would be unforgivably naïve of him to think otherwise.
He walked deeper into the vault, all the way to an alcove in the far corner, where four small statues stood on a shelf that was never without light. Rough-looking, crude, made of little more than compressed sand, the figures represented his four warriors. Sotiris himself had gifted the statues to Nick, not as an aid to his search, but to torment him with the knowledge of what they were suffering, to taunt him. He knew what they looked like and still he couldn’t find them.
He reached out and touched them one by one—Damian Stephanos, born of sunlight and shadow. They’d grown up together, and no greater fighter or friend had ever existed. He moved to the next . . . Gabriel Halldor, called by Nick’s magic all the way from the frozen north, a giant of a warrior who’d known nothing but battle his entire life. Nick’s fingers hovered over the third figure, Dragan Fiachna, descended from Irish kings, a beautiful man with more than a little of the beast inside him. And finally, the youngest of them all, Kato Amadi from the hot sands of Africa. His journey to Nick’s side had been long and perilous, but he’d reveled in the bloodshed of the battlefield, in the violence that fed the dark magic that resided deep in his soul.
Nick stepped back from the alcove, head bowed, hand over his heart, his thoughts twisting restlessly.
When he’d begun this adventure with Cyn and her vampire, he’d anticipated nothing more than a quick bit of thievery, one more artifact destroyed. Not a soul-searching experience that made him re-evaluate his choices for the last two thousand years. He’d lied when he’d told Cyn he couldn’t remember how old he was. He remembered every damn year of it, every moment haunted by the knowledge that his brothers were suffering a far more horrific fate than his own. Trapped in stone for centuries, able to see the world passing by, but never to interact with it, never knowing how much longer their imprisonment would last . . . would they even be sane after all this time? Did it matter?
Hell, no. His goal was the same. Find them and free them. Only his methods were about to change. No more hiding in the shadows. He was taking this battle to the enemy.
To be continued. . . .
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Christian
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A Cyn & Raphael Novella
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A Cyn & Raphael Novella
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A Cyn & Raphael Novella
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Acknowledgments
My first thanks have to go to my editor, Brenda Chin, who makes everything I write better, and who is always there to assure me that I really do know how to write. Thanks also to Deb Dixon and to everyone at BelleBooks who work so hard to get my books out to my readers.
Thank you to my friends and fellow writers, Michelle Muto and Steve McHugh, and to Karen Roma for keeping me and my vampires on track. And my sincere thanks to Angela Addams, another friend and fellow writer, whose support has kept me going through some difficult times lately.
A huge thank you to my readers whose enthusiasm makes these books possible and lets me do something I love. I’m a lucky, lucky writer.
And, as always, love and thanks to my family, and especially to my darling husband, because without them nothing else would matter.
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About the Author
D. B. Reynolds arrived in sunny Southern California at an early age, having made the trek across the country from the Midwest in a station wagon with her parents, her many siblings, and the family dog. And while she has many (okay, some) fond memories of Midwestern farm life, she quickly discovered that LA was her kind of town, and grew up happily sunning on the beaches of the South Bay.
D. B. holds graduate degrees in international relations and history from UCLA (go Bruins!) and was headed for a career in academia, but, in a moment of clarity, she left behind the politics of the hallowed halls for the better-paying politics of Hollywood, where she worked as a sound editor for several years, receiving two Emmy nominations, an MPSE Golden Reel and multiple MPSE nominations for her work in television sound.
Book One of her Vampires in America series,
RAPHAEL
, launched her career as a writer in 2009, while
JABRIL
, Vampires in America Book Two, was awarded the RT Reviewers Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance (Small Press) in 2010.
ADEN
, Vampires in America Book Seven, was her first release under the new ImaJinn imprint at BelleBooks.
D. B. currently lives in a flammable canyon near the Malibu coast with her husband of many years, and when she’s not writing her own books, she can usually be found reading someone else’s. You can visit D. B. at her website, dbreynolds.com, for information on her latest books, contests, and giveaways.
