Page 34 of Exes, Hexes, and Strategy
With a mental shrug, he rattled off the address of the house in the Garden District he’d acquired for DeMarco, the owners currently on vacation in Switzerland. Any loyalty to the Born that held New Jersey had terminated the moment the payment had hit his account. Besides, the thought of Morgan Rhys as a potential ally was positively delicious.
Currently, she was typing furiously on her cell phone, most likely calling in reinforcements, but she hadn’t forgotten about him. Her eyes, back to their usual stunning blue, snapped to him. “I want you gone, Ramirez. If I see you near my school again, Iwillshoot you.”
She would too, he had no doubt. Too bad for her that he found the idea rather intriguing. He shot her a cheeky grin and replied, “Then, I guess you won’t see me.”
Chapter Twenty
Rafe had been antsy at his meeting with Kane, eager to have it done with so he could get back to Nina. With round one of the hunts over for them, he could take her out on an actual date, and his mind was swimming with potential locations. Fletcher had quickly caught on to Rafe’s distraction and had laughingly told him to “Get.” Rafe hadn’t hesitated.
He’d just walked through the doors of the Hunter training facility, about to run up the stairs to Nina’s room, when his phone pinged, alerting him to a new message. He blinked in confusion at what he saw when he pulled his phone from his pocket.New text message from Asshat. His father never used text messages. He found the mode of communication beneath him. Had someone had the audacity to steal Vincent DeMarco’s cell? Talk about balls. Rafe chuckled at the thought and then mentally winced at what was in store for the poor fool who had dared such a feat.
Curious, he clicked on the message to see if it might give him a clue of the thief’s identity.
I have your witch, was followed by an address here in New Orleans and an image that set his heart pounding and had Rafe’s chest feeling like it was caught in a vice. It was Nina, curled up in a ball, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her face set in lines of extreme pain.
He stared in disbelief, his mouth dry, his skin prickling, as a sick feeling swirled in his stomach. Vincent DeMarco had Nina and it was all Rafe’s fault. He’d been so sure that his father didn’t have any spies in this territory. He’d been wrong. He’d rolled the dice and lost, and his actions had put Nina in his father’s crosshairs.
His first instinct was to run out the door and straight to his car, but he halted himself. If he went off in a panic, he’d be playing right into his father’s hands. He needed to be smart. He needed a weapon, some backup. The first was easily obtained as he tore through the facility to the armory and broke the lock on the door. The second was harder to come by. The majority of the students and instructors were out for the mock-hunt, while the others, who had completed round one, had planned to go downtown for some fun. The most he could probably acquire currently would be someone from the kitchens or a sleepy-eyed custodian. He was on his own.
Rafe almost laughed at the irony. How many times had he said that he alone would have the pleasure of killing his father? In all his imaginings, however, Nina had been elsewhere, tucked safely away where Vincent DeMarco couldn’t touch her.
“Hold on, Nina,” he growled through gritted teeth as he raced to his car. “I’m coming.”
He arrived in what was probably record time, having swerved dangerously around honking cars, and at one point, practically driving up on a sidewalk. But if he’d had any doubt that Nina was inside that house, they dissolved the moment he saw that it was raining. Just here, just over this one house.
Calm, he cautioned himself. Ice cold. His father loved to talk, loved to give speeches, and he saw no reason why this would be different. He just needed to keep his father talking, wait for his opening.
Exiting the car with grim determination, Rafe saw one of his father’s servants standing at attention outside the door and Rafe levered his gun at the familiar vampire as he approached. “Where is she?” he snarled.
The man’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, it was the only sign of fear the man gave up as he calmly replied, “You’re expected, sir,” and opened the door. “Please go in.”
Gun still raised and at the ready, Rafe stepped through and then, immediately halted. His father was smiling, actually grinning as he stood there in the foyer holding Nina in front of him, his hand cupped under her chin, cocking her head at an awkward angle while his other arm was looped around her chest, locking her arms down at her sides.
She’d been crying. The sight almost sent Rafe over the edge into a mindless, killing rage, but he yanked hard at the reins of his temper. Get his father talking, he reminded himself. Buy some time, get Nina away from him,thenhe could kill the bastard.
“Good evening, Raphael. I thought I'd spend some time with your witch, get to know her better since you never bothered to introduce us.”
“Let her go,” Rafe snarled.
“I don't think so.I rather like holding her,” his father returned. “I can see why she intrigues you,” he continued, leaning in to nuzzle Nina’s ear.
Rafe saw Nina flinch and he took another step forward.
“This one has spirit.” His father grinned. “Those types are always the most fun to break.”
“Iwillkill you.” Raising the gun higher, he pointed it at his father’s smug, grinning face. During training, the instructors had cautioned the students to aim for the torso, take the bigger target, but Rafe didn’t have that option, not with Nina being used as a shield.
“Oh, I have no doubt you'll try,” his father said, that sadistic smile never slipping. “Shall we put it to the test to see which is faster? Your bullet or my hand when I break her neck?”
The hand under Nina’s chin nudged her head higher and Nina’s eyes squeezed shut, her fists at her side held so tightly gripped that her knuckles were white. She was petrified, and the sight made Rafe’s stomach roll with nausea.
Vincent nuzzled his face into Nina’s neck and breathed in loudly through his nose. “Though it would be a shame to let all that potent, magical blood go to waste. I think maybe I’ll taste her first.”
Rafe lurched forward another step, his empty hand reaching out to Nina. “No. Please.”
His father raised his head from her throat, a look of intrigue on his face, his eyes narrowed in contemplation.“Would you get down on your knees, Raphael? Would you beg for her life?”
Nina’s tear-filled eyes were frantic as she looked at Rafe. There was an almost imperceptible shake of her head that he would have missed had he not been looking at her so intently. She didn’t want him to demean himself in front of his father, butthe man had Rafe over a barrel. In holding Nina, Vincent held all the cards. She was Rafe’s everything, and he’d do anything for her.Anythingto keep her safe.
