Free Sophia by D. B. Reynolds

weakness. Not anymore, not with Raphael here in Seattle and her own Sire mysteriously absent. Was it possible that Raphael had something to do with Lucien’s disappearance? Or, meu Deus, might her Sire be Raphael’s prisoner? Maybe right here in this compound?
    Duncan was regarding her patiently, seeming willing to stand in the cold damp of a Pacific Northwest night for as long as it took to get a response to his query. She frowned and drew a deep fortifying breath. “I am looking for Lucien,” she said at last, knowing she’d never get past the front door otherwise. “I have reason to believe he’s nearby. I had even thought he might be visiting here, but I now think that unlikely.”
    Is he here? Do you know where he is? She choked back the questions she was desperate to ask.
    Duncan raised one eyebrow quizzically, the most reaction she’d seen from him so far. He went very still and she knew he was mentally speaking to someone inside. Raphael, probably. He would take direction from no one else.
    He smiled at her then, just a slight upward curve of his lips as he turned and gestured with one hand toward the warmly lit building. “My Sire will speak with you.”
    Seeing no alternative, Sophia started up the concrete stairway toward the front door, irritated by the awkwardness of the individual steps, too long and too shallow, so that she felt like an overgrown child scurrying along a giant’s staircase. But even as she swallowed her irritation, she recognized it for what it was—a distraction from the fear pooling in her belly, something she hadn’t felt in longer than she could remember. Not since her earliest nights alone, after Lucien had cast her out of his nest and forced her to find a home of her own.
    Duncan strode along next to her, with Juro slightly ahead of them. Neither of the two said anything, but Duncan at least seemed friendly in a reserved sort of way. Not terribly forthcoming, but not hostile either. More curious than anything else, she thought.
    Juro pulled open the heavy, glass front door and went through first. Duncan caught the door and held it for her, with a slight bow. She acknowledged the courtesy with a smile, nodding her head as she stepped through. All of that courtesy didn’t keep her from noticing the heavy steel shutters hanging over her head, however. Shutters she had no doubt were lowered every day before sunrise and could probably be dropped at the touch of a button, if necessary. Just beyond the front doors was a “great room.” Rooms like this were used for many things in modern houses, but this one was a large, casual sitting room, with a pair of long, heavy couches facing each other across a thick glass coffee table. A pair of matching chairs stood to either end, making a square seating area, with an enormous area rug framing the entire thing. The ceiling was high, two stories at least, with windows on the far wall that nearly met the roof line. And like the door, automatic shutters framed every window. This building had been constructed for vampires. The door was the only real vulnerability and by the time an intruder reached it, the shutters would be deployed and it, too, would be pretty much impregnable.
    Halfway across the great room, Duncan quickened his pace, stepping out in front of her and heading straight for a pair of tall wooden doors. At the same time, Juro slowed to flank her, even as his twin and the Jamaican closed in behind, herding her in Duncan ’s wake as he opened the doors and disappeared into the room beyond.
    Juro slowed further, glancing once at his twin before pausing in front of the open doors and indicating with a sweep of his broad palm that she should enter ahead of him.
    Sophia met his flat stare, then tossed her long hair over her shoulder and entered the lion’s den.
    She took two steps into the room, her gaze sweeping quickly from side to side, taking note of the small group of vampires. The Seattle nest leader, Wei Chen, was there. He