Read Unforgiven (A Cyn and Raphael Novella Book 3) Online
Authors: D. B. Reynolds
Unforgiven (A Cyn and Raphael Novella Book 3) (11 page)
The other documents were more interesting. One was short and sweet, a handwritten note in Raphael’s flowing script to someone named Xuan Ignacio telling him it was “time to tell the story” to whoever handed him this message. The story of what, she wondered. She frowned and set it aside to read the last document.
This was also from Raphael, but like the letter to his attorneys, it was a typed draft. It asked that all aid and assistance been given to . . . another blank space for Lana’s name . . . to facilitate her search for Xuan Ignacio, and it was addressed to . . . her frown deepened.
She looked up at Raphael. “Vincent?”
He nodded silently.
“Look, I get that he’s Enrique’s big bad number two guy,” she said. “But he struck me as kind of a player. If this is important, are you sure he’s up to it? And who’s Xuan Ignacio anyway?”
Raphael smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear, carefully extracting it from the dangly diamond earring she was wearing. “Xuan is a very old friend with a secret. As for Vincent, you’re right. He can be a player. But there is no more time for playing, my Cyn. War is upon us, and Enrique has to go.”
Cyn studied his handsome face, almost afraid to ask her next question, but it was something she needed to know.
“Did Enrique kill Alexandra, Raphael?” She spoke softly, trying to lessen the impact of her question.
A brief flash of remembered pain crossed his face, and she worried she’d gone too far. But then he smiled slightly and stroked a gentle finger over her cheek. “You can ask me anything,
lubimaya
. I know you’ve been worried.”
She met his gaze, waiting.
“No, Enrique was not the one who executed Alexandra. That was another.”
“Do you know he was?” she asked, because she knew Raphael, knew the ferocity of his loyalty and the ruthlessness of his revenge.
“I do, and his death will be mine in the end.” Silver sparked in his black eyes, betraying the rage he was feeling before he blinked and it was gone. “But Enrique’s death trumps even my revenge,” he continued smoothly.
“And you expect Vincent to challenge Enrique and kill him, since that’s how you all do things. Am I right?”
Raphael nodded again. “Either that or die trying.”
Cyn raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Do you know if Vincent is even interested in challenging Enrique? If he even
wants
to be Lord of Mexico?”
Raphael bared his teeth in a predator’s grin. “If he doesn’t now, he will soon. Xuan Ignacio and your friend Lana will see to it.”
To be continued . . .
(Please continue reading for an excerpt of D.B. Reynolds next novel and more information about the author)
Vincent
War is coming and Raphael is going to need every one of his allies. Will Vincent be among them?
Find out in VINCENT by D.B. Reynolds, available next month.
(Excerpt)
Tucson, Arizona
LANA ARNOLD spun the dial on her home safe and reached inside. She was heading out on a new job and needed a backup weapon and cash. Her next job would take her to Mexico and cash was king down there. And the gun was simple common sense.
She had her usual Sig, and of course, she was never without a few knives hidden about her person, but more fire power was always better. That same principle meant she should be taking one of her bounty hunter dad’s guys along for the ride, but this was her job, no one else’s. She was a bounty hunter, too, and the contract hadn’t come to her dad’s agency, but to her personally. Besides, this was the kind of assignment she hoped to do more of. It was a job for a private investigator, not a bounty hunter. Not that she didn’t enjoy working for her dad; she just didn’t see herself chasing criminals for the rest of her life. So when the request had come in from the attorneys representing Cynthia Leighton and Raphael, she’d jumped on it.
At first glance, it seemed to be a simple missing person’s case. But she suspected there was nothing simple about it. First of all, Raphael happened to be a vampire—a very powerful vampire if rumors were true—and he wanted a message delivered to some old guy named Xuan Ignacio who’d been hiding in Mexico forever. Second was the money. The fee they were offering was significant and would put a nice bump in the fund she’d set up toward opening her own investigations firm someday. Apart from a desire not to be chasing skips at forty, she wanted to forge her own path, to be someone other than Sean Arnold’s daughter.
She also figured the job must be important to Raphael, and if she did well, maybe they’d send more business her way. Of course, it was entirely possible that the high fee was only intended to compensate for the danger she might be walking into. But Lana trusted that Leighton would have warned her about any specific threats up front, so it probably wasn’t an issue.
Apart from the money, though, there was a twist to the case that pretty much eliminated the idea that this was a simple job. And that was the letter from Raphael to a vampire named Vincent Kuxim, asking him to assist Lana in locating this Xuan Ignacio. Lana had Googled Kuxim, hoping to find out why Raphael would want him involved, but she’d come up with nothing. All she knew was what Leighton’s attorneys had told her over the phone prior to sending the documents. They assured her that while Raphael’s note to Kuxim might appear to be a request, it was phrased in a way that all but guaranteed Kuxim would agree to help her. Lana wrote this off to vampire politics, since the request seemed perfectly ordinary to her, and no one seemed inclined to educate her any further on the subject. The lawyer had made it very clear, however, that Raphael wanted Vincent Kuxim with her when she found her quarry.
Lana wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She supposed that ultimately, it would all depend on who Vincent Kuxim was. The only details the attorneys offered were that he was a vampire—no surprise there—and that he controlled the city of Hermosillo in Mexico. What no one had come out and told her—but what she’d happily bet money on—was that Xuan Ignacio was a vampire, too. Supposedly, he’d been hiding out in Mexico a long time. Lana was guessing “a long time” meant centuries rather than decades.
She tucked her backup weapon—a 9mm Glock—into her backpack and put the cash in an outside zippered pocket. On a whim, she grabbed a couple of flashbang grenades from the box in her safe, then slammed the safe door, and spun the dial to secure it. She stood and got ready to leave, activating the alarm on her security system, then making sure the door was locked behind her. Within minutes, she was on her way to Hermosillo, Mexico.
She only hoped Vincent Kuxim was in town when she arrived. And that he was inclined to do Raphael a favor.
(Please continue reading for more information about the author)
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Acknowledgments
My thanks first of all to my editor, Brenda Chin, who made a pleasure out of what could have been a nerve-racking transition to the new ImaJinn. Thank you also to everyone at BelleBooks, Inc., especially Debra Dixon and Danielle Childers who work so hard on behalf of my Vampires. Very special thanks to my friends and fellow writers Michelle Muto and Steve McHugh, who are always there to cheer and commiserate as required. And to my husband and my entire huge family whose love and support keep me going.
About the Author
D. B. Reynolds arrived in sunny Southern California at an early age, having made the trek across the country from the Midwest in a station wagon with her parents, her many siblings, and the family dog. And while she has many (okay, some) fond memories of Midwestern farm life, she quickly discovered that L.A. was her kind of town and grew up happily sunning on the beaches of the South Bay.
D. B. holds graduate degrees in international relations and history from UCLA (go Bruins!) and was headed for a career in academia, but in a moment of clarity, she left behind the politics of the hallowed halls for the better paying politics of Hollywood, where she worked as a sound editor for several years, receiving two Emmy nominations, an MPSE Golden Reel, and multiple MPSE nominations for her work in television sound.
Book One of her Vampires in America series, RAPHAEL, launched her career as a writer in 2009, while JABRIL, Vampires in America Book Two, was awarded the RT Reviewers Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance (Small Press) in 2010. ADEN, Vampires in America Book Seven, was her first release under the new ImaJinn imprint at BelleBooks, Inc.
D. B. currently lives in a flammable canyon near the Malibu coast with her husband of many years, and when she’s not writing her own books, she can usually be found reading someone else’s. You can visit D. B. at her website
dbreynolds.com
for information on her latest books, contests and giveaways.