Free Howling Moon by C. T. Adams, Cathy Clamp Page B

She could barely get the words out. “You know him.”
    Raphael nodded, and fury filled his gaze. “I do.”
    Catherine pulled her hand from his arm. Her green eyes narrowed, and a low growl crawled from between her lips as she glared at him. “Why haven’t you done something? Why is he still on the loose?”
    Raphael’s gaze never wavered, but Catherine saw the tightening of his jaw muscles, heard the controlled anger that belied his calm words. “Jack has protected himself from our laws very carefully. He’s placed himself in a political position – he’s a U.S. senator, protected by the Secret Service. If he dies under even remotely suspicious circumstances, his attorneys have been instructed to release a file to the press that contains not only absolute scientific proof of our existence, but a list of names, addresses, and identifying information about virtually every powerful Sazi in existence. He was one of our leaders once. He knows ways of determining who is and isn’t of our blood and how to kill us. In other words, he has set in place the threat of a second Ravaging.”
    She watched him take a deep breath and swallow back what seemed to be a violent curse. “The leaders of our people are not willing to risk releasing that information and the total annihilation of our kind in order to bring Jack to the justice he deserves.”
    Catherine’s rage was overwhelming. Her body quivered with the need to do something. She wanted him dead, wanted to kill him, but the images of the vision she’d had, the moments she’d lived with the little dark-haired girl, would not be denied.
    Raphael spoke slowly, choosing each word with utmost care. “Anyone who wants to take down Jack Simpson will have to neutralize that file first. Otherwise they’d be assassinated without so much as a second’s hesitation before they could get anywhere near him.”
    “And if someone were to neutralize the file?” Catherine’s eyes burned with inhuman intensity. The heat in the room increased enough that the air conditioner whooshed to life.
    Raphael’s smile was a baring of sharp teeth. “Manage that, and, baby, it’s huntin’ season.”
    Raphael padded barefoot across the front lawn to where he’d parked the Mitsubishi. He needed to retrieve his cell phone and have a cigarette, and have just a few minutes away from the cat to think and relax. By now Charles was probably frantic. Or not. Last night his gifts must have come back online long enough to track the cat to the park. Maybe Charles knew everything that was happening. Maybe he’d always known. But why would he caution Raphael not to tell Lucas, and then tell him himself just a few hours later? It made no sense as far as Raphael could see. Then again, Raphael had never figured out how the seer gifts worked. Hell, he wasn’t even sure they knew. He was just damned glad that neither fore- nor hindsight were among his talents. He liked living in the present, thank you very much.
    He hit the speed dial for Charles, who picked up on the first ring and snapped, “Report.”
    “She survived, and you were right. She wasn’t even close to feral.” Raphael took a long drag on his cigarette.
    He heard an audible sigh and a cough that might have covered emotions much deeper. After a few moments of silence, Charles asked, “Did you explain the facts of life to her?”
    “I gave her the first lecture.” Raphael searched for the right words. “Actually, she didn’t strike me as the type to listen, so I decided to try what Nana did for me when I was a child.”
    “I didn’t realize you were a strong enough telepath to do that sort of thing,” Charles said. Raphael flattered himself to think there might have been a bit of amazement in his voice of his leader.
    “I don’t think I am,” Raphael admitted. “She seems to have inherited a few gifts from her sire. But it was worth a try. After all, worst case I’d just wind up telling her after all.”
    “It worked? No