55

I hissed, already imagining how that was going to feel. It would hurt like a bastard. “Get Jason, then. Not Kyle. I swear his heart hasn’t beat since he turned.”

He was pure mercenary, untouched by pain, and he didn’t understand it in others. Jason, at least, knew to respect his sire.

And fuck, I was pissed.

“Nic?” Jason stepped out of the door, uncharacteristic worry marring his face. “Thank fuck you’re home. You need to come see this footage.”

“What is it?” I took Leia’s hand as I moved rapidly up the steps.

Jason hesitated, his gaze raking my face. “And we need to do something about that. You’re starting to heal already.”

“Fuck my face.” Jason would just have to open it up again. “What’s on the recording?”

He hesitated again. “You should probably watch it yourself.”

“And I will, but tell me.”

He glanced at Leia, his mouth tightening into a flat line. “It wasn’t a random demand. Francois has made his move.”

“The fucker. What did he say?” Sending a suicide bomber to make his demand known… that fucking bastard. That coward.

Jason sucked in a breath. “The bomber’s last words were Leia for Jean or it will get worse.”

Leia gasped, and I tightened my hold on her hand. “At least we know he’s alive now, though, right?” Her tone was brave, her words uncertain.

I fought to remain calm, but it was a losing battle. Rage roared through me, constricting each of my muscles and muffling my hearing again.

Jason’s mouth was moving again, and he gestured inside. I followed him to my office, where Kyle was watching the screen. As we entered, he paused the recording and rewound it to the start.

“This is where the bomber enters the casino.” He indicated the opening main door and the guy in the too-big jacket.

I’d already seen that part—I’d been there for the live action version. “I should have stopped him. I saw him come in. Sebastian pushed me out the back.” As I spoke, the guy on the screen detonated his bomb and the camera jerked and shook, capturing a few seconds of falling debris before going black.

“I can slow this down if you think there’s more we need to see?” Kyle rewound the footage again.

“No.” I shook my head. I didn’t need to see the slow-motion destruction of my casino or a guy bringing about his own final death. “I don’t think we’ll learn anything more from the footage. He came to deliver one specific message. The rest of the damage was just theater.” I swallowed against the sudden bitterness of bile and curled my hands into fists. “Do we have any other leads at all?”

Kyle shook his head. “I’ve reached out to Temple, but he’s gone to ground. It could be a while before I hear back.” He hesitated. “After the witch and everything.”

Leia tensed, and her breathing quickened. I led her to a chair.

“Francois has just started a war the likes of which he’s never seen,” I said as I looked at Jason, my hand still resting on Leia’s shoulder.

Except it wasn’t entirely true.

Francois had started this war when he first took Leia. My true mate. And now he was trying to get her back.

The fact he now had her father was almost secondary to the fact he’d brought the fight to my business and killed my people to make his point. I forced myself to breathe. Not content with simply taking what was mine, he’d invaded my territory again.

“We need to step up surveillance in New Orleans. We need to find out exactly where he has Jean.” I directed my words at Kyle. He was my guy in the shadows, capable of moving unseen. “Jason, I need you on Leia all the time. Don’t let her out of your sight.”

Leia looked up at me. “But what about you?”

I shook my head. “I’ll be fine.”

I’m a vampire. But I didn’t say those words. We were all probably thinking the same, although wisely neither Jason nor Kyle looked at me. Leia’s humanity made us all vulnerable and we all knew it.

But again, now wasn’t the time to discuss turning her. She’d rejected talk of it earlier, and I had to be seen to respect that. I also needed to choose a moment when it didn’t look like I had some sort of ulterior motive beyond love or my desire to spend an immortal lifetime at her side.

“This is all my fault.” Leia’s unexpected words fell into the silence. “I’m the intended target. You shouldn’t even be involved and at risk of getting hurt.” She looked at the others then at me again, her eyes filling with tears. “And look at your face.”

I shook my head in denial of her beliefs. “It’s not your fault. Francois has done all of this. One man abducted you, abducted your father, and has bombed La…” I couldn’t bring myself to name it. “My casino. The responsibility for this lies with Francois, and I will find him and I will end him.”

“Maybe I should just give myself up.” She spoke like she hadn’t even heard me. “He’s come after my dad, after you. All he actually wants is me.”

My chest hollowed at the idea of Leia willingly giving herself to Francois.

I tightened my grip on her a little. “You can’t do that.”

“But maybe I could be… I don’t know. Bait? Draw him out? That would work, right?”

I shook my head. “Not an option. You’ve seen what he’s capable of. He’s ruthless.”

She swiped her thumb across her cheek like she could catch the tear before I saw it. “But people keep getting hurt because of me. He killed Lettie, more people died today, and you still haven’t let Jason look at your face. Something has to change, and this is all I can think of.”

I glanced at Jason, making a snap decision. “Then you have two jobs, Jason.”