Page 28 (1/2)

"Did you ever find it?" Cyn asked

"What’s that?"

"Soive you?"

"You know, Cynthia, I did Very recently, in fact"

"What was it?"

"You"

"What?" Cyn stepped away from the tiny vahed at her reaction "I toldto defend me, but you know that, of course--I had no one left I ade I wanted you as my friend, my companion"

"You could have called ave a tiny, very pleased smile "Oh no, you don’t understand I wanted him to make you Vampire so you could be my friend forever"

Cyn froze, uncertain how to respond But sohed again, altogether pleased with her reaction "Oh, don’t worry, Cynthia," she said breezily "He said no" She sobered then, gazing pensively over the marbled courtyard "I don’t think I’ve ever seen ht, certainly never at me He didn’t speak to me for days, and then only to inform me that if any harm came to you because of me, he would personally stake me"

Cyn’s face must have shown her doubt

"He was quite serious, Cynthia And he would be very unhappy if he knew you were here today; I don’t think he quite trusts htly, "I’m told the contractor will be here toh, relieved at the change of subject "Well, thank God for that"

"HeCyn a narrow look "I’ve never known my brother to miss a woman, to miss anyone, as much as he did you ere locked away up there in Colorado"

Cyn blew out a breath, frustrated "You know, I’ this is my fault Raphael’s the one alked away, not me"

"Men are fools, Cynthia You surely know that by now"

"Tell me about it," she muttered A fresh round of enthusiastic piano music erupted from the music room Both women looked up

"Perhaps Mirabelle would enjoy sorih the estate operator?" When Alexandra nodded, Cyn said, "I’ll keep in touch then And Mirabelle hasThank you for this, Alexandra"

"Yes, well Perhaps we’ll be friends then, after all"

Cyn doubted it, but hoped for Mirabelle’s sake they could re terirl She smiled at Alexandra The vampire wasn’t the only one who could fake a slea a favorite candy Abruptly unco "I’ll just say good-bye to Mirabelle and be onCyn’s h that Cyn could see the tiny creases in her carefully applied htened voice broke the sudden tension and had both wo back into the manor house

Chapter Twenty-seven

It was a false alar to the sudden appearance of one of Alexandra’s many security vamps Used to the Neanderthals who populated Jabril’s lair, Mirabelle had been huddled in a corner when Cyn reentered the uard had been almost as stressed by the situation as Mirabelle It had taken only a few ed even that She couldn’t get out of Alexandra’s presence fast enough The old Alexandra had been a pretty anachronism This new Alexandra made the sharks of Beverly Hills look like childish poseurs

A short time later, Cyn left Malibu and the west side of town behind, driving aimlessly up and down Hollywood Boulevard and its side streets, stopping occasionally to flash Liz’s picture She’d always thought it must be an unpleasant shock when visitors saw that the world-famous city of Hollyas actually a seamy, rundown part of LA, home to more hookers and homeless than movie stars With the exception of a trendy hotel or two, Cyn couldn’t think of anyone she knew, or knew of, that actually lived in Hollywood Hollywood Hills,the seedy denizens of Hollywood itself She cruised the known hangouts of teenage runaways, the shooting dens, the busy streets where cars slowed and soirl or boy would take a ride to earn a few bucks

Depressed by the whole scene, Cyn turned west once irl ht She punched up Luci’s nuainst hope that Liz had checked in Luci sounded uncharacteristically harassed and out of patience when she caround

"You need backup there, Luce?"

"What I need is a cage and some sturdy handcuffs," Luci snapped, then drew a deep breath "Never ht Toirl?"

"Not a whisper, but I’ve barely started looking I finally ot a look at the uhfiles I’ track, but no one’s going to listen toto prove it I’n and looked around; she was almost on top of one of the ht on by zipped through her brain It was late; she was tired; it wasn’t her job What the heck "I’ll get back to you, Luce"

She hung up and took a left turn, parking as close to the scene as she could get while re reasonably confident her truck would still be in one piece when she got back She walked the rest of the way, very aware of the night around her, sliding a hand beneath her jacket and releasing the safety strap on her shoulder holster She didn’t expect any problehborhood, it was better to be sure

She found the crih It was a couple of blocks off the boulevard, a short alleyway used by low-end shops for deliveries and trash pickup The alley was dark and se with an undercurrent of desperation and urine She pulled out athe area