“Someone knows where he is. There’s a paper trail. There’s always a paper trail. You think he can’t find Barry? It’s what he does. I’m going to him.” She was absolutely firm.
“He can’t find him,” the captain reiterated.
“I could find Barry,” Jaxon said confidently. “Lucian, we have to protect him.”
“You go back to the station, Jaxon,” Lucian said softly, his voice as mild as ever. That voice that no one could ever resist. “I will go with Captain Smith to get Barry and bring him to safety. Antonio will go, also, so there is no need to worry about protecting me. I will keep him safe, Jaxon.” The black-velvet voice was gentle. “You will be safe at the station, and I will concentrate on picking up Drake’s trail.”
She clung to his hand, knowing he was right, but afraid it was just what Drake wanted. Afraid Drake was using the threat to Barry as a trap to lure Lucian out into the open. She felt so sick inside. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you, Lucian.”
He brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth. “Nothing can harm me, angel. Go to the station where it is safe, and allow me to do this small thing for you.”
“Drake is different, Lucian. I don’t know how, but it changes everything and makes him much more unpredictable. He is a monster, a true monster, with every skill of our best fighters and all the cunning of wild animal. Our engagement must have driven him over the edge.”
“He was already over the edge,” Lucian said quietly, deliberately allowing his voice to drop an octave so that it soothed and calmed her. He walked with her to the squad car. “I will stay with you until I see that you are safe within the station house where no one can harm you. Then we will go to Barry.”
“You have to hurry, Lucian. Drake could be stalking him right now.” She was anxious, but his voice held that strange, mesmerizing effect that made her feel as if everything would be all right.
Daryl Smith cleared his throat, determined to protest. He had allowed Lucian Daratrazanoff onto the crime scene because Jaxx clearly needed him there, but that he be allowed into the middle of a police crisis was going too far. But there was something dangerous about Lucian, something powerful, and it wasn’t his money. The eyes were too watchful, the face too still. Smith was frankly wary of denying the man anything.
Daratrazanoff turned his head toward the captain, almost as if reading his thoughts. “Of course you want Antonio and me to come along with you.” He spoke quietly, his voice so low Smith barely heard him, yet the words penetrated to his deepest soul. He needed Daratrazanoff with them. It was imperative that he be there.
“Yes, of course, Mr. Daratrazanoff,” the captain invited.
“Please call me Lucian,” he replied almost absently. His full attention was once more directed at Jaxon, the only person who really mattered to him.
Lucian held the door open for her. He had deliberately chosen to escort her to a car whose driver had been particularly sympathetic in his conversation with some of the other officers. It was a small thing, but she did not need to feel uncomfortable with one of her peers who was secretly afraid to be seen in public with her or who held her accountable for Tyler Drake’s actions.
Jaxon kept her head up, her face a blank mask. The flashes from news cameras were going off in all directions. She didn’t look at any of them as she slipped into the car.
Antonio and Lucian got in on either side of her, effectively walling her in, protecting her from prying eyes. She stayed close to Lucian, to the warmth of his body, to the warmth of his heart.
We will find him, honey.
But we can never bring them back, can we? Tears filled her voice, her mind, her heart.
Lucian wanted to weep for her. She didn’t deserve this. She was so young and compassionate, totally the opposite of what he was. Monsters didn’t come after him; they wanted her. Human and Carpathian alike, they wanted Jaxon. He hadn’t elaborated on the story of vampires, because she had enough guilt weighing her down. But vampires were once Carpathian males who had chosen to lose their souls after centuries of bleak hopelessness. And just as the Carpathian male searched for a lifemate, vampires searched the ranks of humankind for women just like Jaxon. Her presence in the area attracted them.