"Does he? What an optimist. Well, we may have done his work for him, a chance to seize not only our sweet Elizabeth, but Raphael's treacherous bitch as well. I have dreamed of getting my hands on that one again, Asim, and she is about to fall into my grasp."

Chapter Forty-five

After all the anticipation and worry, Mirabelle's appearance before Raphael was relatively straightforward. As Cyn had told Mirabelle, she'd expected something pompous and formal, but she should have known better. Raphael was far more of a CEO than a king. Granted, a CEO with the power to kill anyone who displeased him, but then who said corporate America didn't do the same? Raphael's methods were simply more direct.

Cyn arrived at Alexandra's an hour before the appointed time of eight o'clock. The manor was quiet, all the remodeling done, for now at least. The sound of classical piano drifted down the stairs, letting Cyn know it was Alexandra in the music room and not Mirabelle. She thought about stopping in to say hello, for courtesy's sake, but continued on to Mirabelle's room instead.

Cyn appreciated everything Alexandra had done—that she'd taken Mirabelle into her home, given her a place to belong. But she wasn't quite comfortable with Raphael's sister. There was something about Alexandra that made Cyn think the vampire female's thoughts rarely matched her words.

Mirabelle's door stood open, but Cyn tapped on it lightly before stepping inside to find her wrapped in a long robe of sapphire blue silk and standing in front of the mirror. She was staring pensively at her reflection, her thoughts seeming far away from whatever she was seeing there.

"Mirabelle?” Cyn said softly.

The young vampire looked slowly over her shoulder, not at all startled, so she must have heard Cyn enter after all. “Hello, Cynthia,” she said with a small smile.

"You ready for tonight?"

"Oh, yes,” she said. She wandered over to the old-fashioned dressing table, picked up a brush and began running it through her hair with smooth, long strokes. Her blond hair, grown dark after years out of the sun, had been lightened by a stylist and now gleamed honey gold.

Cyn looked around. The room was all white lace and linen. The four poster bed was piled high with frothy pillows of all shapes and sizes, the down comforter thick and plump beneath its embroidered lace duvet. Cyn had a passing thought about why a vampire would bother to decorate a bedroom she never slept in. Why not design it as a sitting room instead? The vampires all slept in the vault downstairs anyway. Although, at some point, the bed might have another use, she supposed. She glanced at Mirabelle, who was once again sunk deep in contemplation, her arm lifting to brush her hair almost automatically.

"You redecorated,” Cyn said.

Mirabelle looked around, as if surprised by the changes. “Alexandra did it."

Cyn cocked her head slightly, puzzled. “You don't like it?"

Mirabelle looked over her shoulder with a sad smile. “It's not really my taste, you know?"

"You okay, Mirabelle?” Cyn asked softly.

The girl's blue eyes focused on her, suddenly filled with tears. “I wanted to do the right thing, Cyn. Everything's been so messed up, and I..."

Cyn crossed the room and pulled the younger woman around, placing her hands on Mirabelle's shoulders. “You are doing the right thing, Mirabelle. You did do the right thing. It took guts to walk away from Jabril, to take your life back from him and make it your own. I'm proud of you. Your mom and dad would be proud of you. They would have hated what he did to you and to Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth,” Mirabelle repeated, straightening out of the embrace and drawing in a breath. “Right."

She walked over to the closet where her outfit for the evening hung on a padded hanger. She and Alexandra had chosen it from among a selection sent over by one of Rodeo Drive's finest shops, along with the host of other clothes now filling Mirabelle's closet. No need to leave the safety of Raphael's Malibu estate—if you had enough money, anything was possible in this town, and Mirabelle had a lot of money. Cyn had been a bit miffed at being left out of the shopping frenzy, but she had to admit the choice was a good one. The fitted slacks were a fine, worsted wool, and the long, matching jacket would hit just below the knee. The entire outfit was black, but with a brilliant, almost iridescent blue lining on the jacket. The style was probably too old for Mirabelle, too somber, but the lining was beautiful, and the black would conceal any unfortunate blood stains. Mirabelle stepped into the pants and slipped the robe from her shoulders. Cyn walked over to help, taking the robe so the younger woman could don the sleeveless silk tank that went beneath the jacket.

"Have you talked with Elizabeth tonight?” Cyn asked.

"I called, but we didn't talk very long. She said good luck and to call her after. She doesn't really understand all of this, you know. This vampire stuff.” Cyn watched silently as Mirabelle sat down to put on her shoes, black Ferragamo pumps with a sensible three inch heel. “Tomorrow is Liz's birthday. She'll be officially eighteen."

"I know. Luci's got a little party planned at the house. You going?"

Mirabelle ignored the invitation, saying instead. “Liz said you're taking her for her first driving lesson too."

"Yep. It was either that or teach her myself,” Cyn commented casually. “It'll be easier for her to get around after she gets her license. She can visit you on her own then."

"I guess."

Cyn walked over and sat on the bed, taking her down to the sitting girl's eye level. “What's going on here, kid?"

Mirabelle looked up, her eyes meeting Cyn's with a sudden, desperate intensity. “Liz is my baby sister. My baby sister! I never realized until I saw her the other day, that she's getting older, but I'm exactly the same. I will always be exactly the same. Pretty soon, she'll be older than I am and then...” She dropped her head and swallowed hard. “She'll die,” she almost whispered. “And I'll be alone. Not like Alexandra. She has Raphael. She'll always have Raphael."

Cyn stared at Mirabelle's bowed head, deeply troubled and wondering where the hell this had come from. Mirabelle didn't have contact with that many people, other than Alexandra and the guards. She remembered Alexandra saying she'd wanted to turn Cyn, wanted to make her Vampire, to be her friend forever. Had she set her sights on Mirabelle instead? A nice little baby vamp, all alone in the world, for Alexandra to mold into a permanent friend and acolyte?

"You took a great risk in coming here,” Cyn said softly. “In some ways, you made it possible for Liz to survive, to get away from Jabril and have a real life. And now you have to let her live it her way. But family is more than blood, Mirabelle. It's your friends, the people who care about you, the people you care about. You can make your own family.” She stood, pulling Mirabelle with her.

"I have made some friends here,” Mirabelle said suddenly. “Elke came by today. She showed me the gym, the one used by Raphael's guards."

"I've worked with Elke,” Cyn said. Elke was, in fact, the only female vampire in Raphael's first line of security. There were other female vamps among his security personnel, but Elke was the only one Cyn knew about who was trusted to guard him personally. She and Elke weren't exactly friends, but they'd achieved an odd sort of respect for one another after Alexandra's kidnapping.

"She offered to help me do some physical training. You know, like weight lifting and martial arts stuff."

"Probably a good idea,” Cyn commented.

"I thought so, but Alexandra said—"

"Let me tell you something, Mirabelle,” Cyn interrupted, her voice low and intent. “Alexandra was kidnapped a couple of months ago. It doesn't matter why, but when they took her, do you know what she did?"

Mirabelle's eyes were wide open as she shook her head.

"She sat there in a dirty little cottage, right where they put her, and she waited for someone to come rescue her. You think that's what Elke would have done? What Liz should have done? Sit there and wait for someone else to save her? You take those lessons with Elke, you get as strong as you can, and you learn as much as you can. And if the time ever comes when you need to be rescued, you'll be ready to rescue your own damn self."

Mirabelle's eyes were suddenly glittering with tears. “I'm sorry, Cyn. I didn't—"

Cyn pulled back, surprised and dismayed by the reaction. “I'm not talking about you, Mirabelle. You were a child when Jabril took you, and all alone to boot, I meant—"

"Oh,” Mirabelle interrupted. “No. I know that's not what you meant. Really, it's okay.” She stopped and drew a deep breath, wiping away tears.

"You're not worried about Jabril's witness, are you? Because Raphael would never—"

"Oh, no,” Mirabelle assured her quickly. “I'm not worried about that. It's just that everything's happening so fast. But you're right. I'm going to take Elke up on her offer and I'm going to be strong. Stronger than anyone thinks I am. Starting tonight."

* * * *

Alexandra was waiting for them outside the music room. She was wearing a caramel colored St. John knit suit, with almost military styling, over a black cashmere turtle neck. The body hugging skirt clung to her petite figure, the perfect picture of a St. John woman. She gave Cyn an odd look. A look that made Cyn think Alexandra had overheard every word she'd said to Mirabelle.

"Don't we look lovely tonight,” Alexandra said as they came closer. “That's a wonderful color on you, Cynthia."

Cyn glanced down automatically at her own dress. It was a deep, rich emerald green sheath, shimmering in raw silk with a boat neck and long tapering sleeves. She'd chosen it intentionally, knowing the color brought out the green of her eyes, and the hemline showed off long legs made even longer by four inch stiletto heels. She might not know exactly what she wanted from her relationship with Raphael, but she for damn sure wanted to be certain he noticed her.