54

Kyle rolled his eyes. “We’ll do what we always do. Plan to succeed and get the job done.”

“And Leia will do everything I say, follow all of my rules, and stay safe,” Nic said as he watched me. His gaze pleaded with me not to disagree with him.

But I had no intention of disagreeing. Not in public, and not even in private. I didn’t exactly have a death wish, and if following the instructions of the vampire king and his men kept me alive, I was good with swallowing my pride.

“I think I can manage to do that.” I grinned at him, but he didn’t manage anything more than a grimace in return before he tugged me against him, his arm around my waist.

17

Nic

I

 stood in my office at La Petite Mort looking out over the floor. Down there, nothing had changed, but in the rest of my life, everything had been turned on its head. Leia was at home with Aimée and Jason—and Kyle, but she didn’t know about him—and it was better that way.

The less she ventured out in public, the less I had to worry about her safety and everyone else’s.

The main doors opened as I watched, and my fangs descended immediately. Another vampire in my casino. Vampires didn’t come here to gamble—they had more sense than that. And after the bloodbath the other day, my entire staff was on high alert.

I turned away from the window and strode to the door, then met Sebastian halfway up the stairs.

“Trouble,” he growled.

“I saw. I was just on my way down.”

He turned and jogged in front of me then stopped, his arm out to hold me back.

“What are you doing?” I tried to push past him, but he turned and shoved me against the wall, his arm over my neck. If he applied any more pressure, he’d make it difficult for me to breathe.

“Listen to what he’s saying.” Sebastian pitched his voice low, and I could hear the man yelling from the main casino.

“I have a message for Nic Dupont.”

I tried to free myself from Sebastian’s hold. “I need to go out there.”

“No,” my brother hissed. “Didn’t you see him? Big, bulky coat in July? In Baton Rouge? And he’s come to deliver you a message? Nic, I don’t think he’s just cold.”

My mind worked quickly, joining the dots. “A bomb? A bomb in my fucking casino?”

“Yes.” Seb nodded. “And we need to get you out of here now.”

He manhandled me around, out toward the back even though my instincts were to get downstairs and protect my patrons and staff, his strength superhuman as he forced me through the back door. As we stepped outside, an explosion ripped through the casino, flinging us to the ground. I skidded across the concrete, small stones embedding themselves in my face.

I sat up, and my movements were slower than usual as I pushed myself to my feet. I couldn’t hear a fucking thing over the ringing in my ears as I spoke. “Get me the fucking security footage.”

Sebastian also stood, and together we lurched to the front of casino, but it was missing. The suicide bomber had ripped the frontage off La Petite Mort, and a large crack ran through the boutique next door, and to the other side into Vibrer.

“Fuck,” I ground out as the first siren wailed in the distance.

What should have been the main floor of my casino was a charred mangled mess of wood, masonry, and limp bodies.

“I need that security feed now.” I also needed to get home and check on Leia. What if this wasn’t the only place they attacked? Francois’s activities were getting out of control and needed to be handled now.

I glanced at Sebastian. He had his phone clamped to his ear and was shouting into it. “Pull the footage, Kyle. Speak up. No. What’s that? I can’t hear you.” He glanced at me. “He… He’s fine. I’ll let you tell him half his face seems to be hanging off.”

I lifted my hand to my cheek and hissed as raw pain burned through me belatedly. But I’d heal. Shit. I’d heal. I needed to get out of sight before the first ambulances showed up. Spontaneous healing was hard to explain and I was in no mood to hang around and compel half the medical staff in the city.

“I need to get back to Leia.”

The ringing had become a soft pulse of muffled sound that rose and fell in time with my heartbeat, and I had no idea how much Sebastian understood, but he nodded then grabbed my arm and leaned close to put his mouth my ear.

“Kyle should have the security feed ready for you by the time you get back. I’ll take care of everyone here.”

I took one last look at my ruined casino and ran to my car. The bricks and mortar didn’t matter. I could rebuild. But the lives lost hurt. My staff had always been loyal, and some of them had just met their final death because of a war they had no real part in. But I knew everyone was in good hands with Sebastian, and Leia had to be my top priority.

The drive home was fast, and my tires squealed onto my long driveway. Leia met me at the front door, tearing past Baldwin and thumping into my chest as she threw her arms around me.

“I was so worried. I saw what Kyle was watching. How did you survive?” She lifted her face toward me, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Then she lifted her hand like she might touch me and thought better of it. “We need someone to look at your face.”

I shrugged her comment off. “I’ll heal.”

“With all the gravel left under your skin? Doesn’t someone need to clean that out first?”