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Lucas Raphael had told her not long ago that the only time Lucas was truly serious was on the field of battle And perhaps this qualified, because the lighthearted, teasing Lucas was gone, gone, gone The Lucas who stepped around Nicholas to stare down at Magda was as cold as ice, terrible in his beauty, his eyes gleaht He raised those eyes to the two va in the doorway, and his lips peeled back to bare his fangs He didn’t move so much as a muscle that Cyn could see, but suddenly the two va into dust before their bodies hit the ground

And then he turned that deadly gaze on Magda

"My lord," Aden said, boldly interrupting "The challenge has begun"

And the way he said it, it sounded forht Lucas would kill Aden for daring to speak His golden gaze lifted to stare at Aden, and there was no friendship in that look, no e whether his prey orth the effort of killing

But Aden never flinched His own eyes lit with the deep blue of dusk as he faced down his e a coe "My lord," he repeated "The challenge has begun"

Lucas blinked lazily, then shifted his predator’s gaze to Magda and said, "The challenge has begun"

"No!" Magda shrieked Her eyes ild, rolling white as they went fro you!"

To no avail Lucas turned his back on her as if she represented no threat at all and walked back to the waiting SUV Nicholas was not so sanguine about his Sire’s safety He never took his gaze off Magda as he backed after Lucas

Magda julance at her, but he unleashed a slap of power that Cyn felt like a shiver along her bones as it sla in pain

Cyn figured it was all over then, but Aden turned slightly, shifting his attention to Raphael, and holding his gaze for a e has begun, e completely relaxed as he shifted to slip an ar to caress her hip "The challenge has begun," he agreed And then, still holding onto Cyn, he turned and walked away, as if none of it round in pain, struggling against Aden’s invisible bonds, didn’t matter anymore

And perhaps she didn’t It was the way of Vampire There was no room for pity or squeamishness

"Are you certain of him?" Raphael asked Lucas when they met up at the vehicles

"I am He can be an ass, but he will stand with us, Sire," Lucas insisted But despite his confident assurances, there was so in his voice that drew Cyn’s attention, a bleakness in his eyes that told her Magda’s i to hurt him Or maybe it was her betrayal Or both But whatever it was, it ive hihed softly when her arms came around him

"Tell Kathryn I’ll call her," she told him, when she stepped away "She needs to knohat to expect in Chicago Major frock event"

A little bit of Lucas’s usual twinkle returned to his eyes "Sounds intriguing"

"It is," she agreed, one brow arched "But you don’t have the equipment to appreciate it"

Lucas so, Sire"

Raphael nodded "Until then"

The two vampire lords clasped hands and slapped backs quickly, then strode away fro to look like they weren’t in a hurry Which they so obviously were

Juro took off as soon as Raphael climbed in and pulled the door closed Cyn turned around to verify Robbie’s presence in the convoy, then settled next to Raphael for the trip to the airport

"That was kind of you," he said quietly

Cyn shrugged uncomfortably "He seemed so sad, and Kathryn wasn’t there"

"Ah, yes Kathryn I assume your conversation with her will include this new club of yours?" he asked casually

Cyn was grateful for the change of subject, but she wasn’t fooled He was dying to knoas up with the Mates Club

She snuggled closer with a deep sigh "I just want to be sure Lucas has warned her about the foro You know, so she kno to dress"