Compelled (Vampires in America #10.5) Read Free Page A

from the face of the earth. Nick was damn strong, for all that he rarely used his power anymore, but he’d be hard-pressed to stand against the combined might of the North American lords.
    But he was getting ahead of himself. A conference table and a rug did not a revolution make.
    He felt the door close behind him, which made him aware of how long he’d been standing there staring. And that thought propelled him into motion. It wouldn’t do to let the vampire think he’d been impressed, or even worse, intimidated. Nick hadn’t been intimidated by anything or anyone in thousands of years. He wasn’t going to start now.
    He started forward in a deliberate stroll, permitting himself a casual glance around, taking in the guards on the perimeter, the two at the bottom of the plane’s stairs, the one at the top. Jesus, did Raphael really need this much protection? He smiled privately, thinking it was because of him. Cyn might not understand how powerful he was, but Raphael surely did.
    Movement at the top of the stairs drew his attention. He turned in time to see Cyn appear in the plane’s open doorway, her attention on whatever, or whoever, was farther back inside. She was dressed for work, which meant she was armed. Her weapon was in a shoulder rig, worn over a black, long-sleeved tee. The shirt was tucked into a pair of black combat-style pants that hugged her very fine ass and firm thighs, before traveling down her long legs to be tucked into a pair of black combat boots. He had very vivid memories of fucking that body. But he wasn’t stupid enough to let that interfere with what they needed to do tonight. Cyn belonged to Raphael in a way she’d never belonged to him. The truth was that he’d never even tried to catch her, partly because of his own sense of self-preservation and partly due to his genuine care for Cyn. He was way too fucked up for any woman to tie herself to him.
    On the other hand, if he’d known Cyn was going to end up with a fucking vampire lord, he might have tried to grab her for himself first.
    She grinned at the person he couldn’t see inside the plane, then turned and started down the stairs, at which point she glanced up and saw him standing there. She smiled and waved, but stopped halfway down and waited until Raphael appeared in the doorway above her. Of course, the vampire wouldn’t let her greet Nick without him.
    Raphael’s gaze landed on Nick and stayed there. No smile or wave from the vampire, Nick thought, snickering to himself.
    Raphael slipped an arm around Cyn’s waist when he reached her, putting her behind him when they stepped onto the floor of the hangar. Well, that was just insulting. Cyn didn’t need protection against anybody, much less Nick. He’d never hurt her. The vampire, on the other hand, he wouldn’t mind shoving a stake into, but he wasn’t that suicidal. First of all, Raphael wouldn’t be easy to kill. But secondly, Cyn would kill anyone who tried, even her old lover Nick. And that was assuming Raphael’s many minions didn’t get to him first. The vampire had some powerful people around him. Nick was a formidable sorcerer. He could take on many of them—maybe even most of them—but even he had his limits.
    “Vampire,” he said, meeting Raphael’s black gaze and feeling slightly foolish as the two of them stood only a few feet apart, staring each other down like a couple of prize fighters after a weigh-in.
    Raphael didn’t say anything, just stared daggers at him, while Cyn ignored them both and headed for the conference table, muttering something about testosterone and assholes. The vampire gave Nick a final sneer, then followed Cyn, taking the seat next to her on one side of the rectangular table. That left the seat at the head of the table empty, and Nick was strongly tempted to take it for himself, but a look from Cyn—one that threatened bodily damage if he tried—had him pulling out the chair opposite her instead. He couldn’t let it go at