Blood Bound by V. J. Devereaux Page B

check in before they went out to follow up on a few cases, “you look relaxed.”
    Thinking about her ‘weekend’, the two days her schedule left free, to her astonishment Rafi found herself blushing like a teenager as she tried to restrain a grin.
    It had been the weekend they’d decided that she would move in with Julian and Nico.
    As usual, Julian had taken care of everything. People were sent to her apartment to pack it up and clean it. Even as someone saddled up the horses Gordon and the staff were rearranging the furniture and unpacking for her.
    To celebrate they’d finally taken that tour of Julian and Nico’s property, Julian explaining how to tell the difference between one type of grapevine from another by the leaves, and somehow making it interesting. As with everything with Julian, the property was large, large enough for a good-sized lake for irrigation and water. The lake was hidden within woods. For every acre Julian had under vine, he had another he was restoring to original habitat.
    They’d taken bottles of champagne with them and a picnic basket. One of the bottles had been allowed to fountain over her naked body, the sparkling golden liquid cold and tingling on her skin. Then Julian and Nico had licked up every drop of it. They’d had fun at the lake. And just about everywhere else. She was insatiable when they were around, which was just as well, as they were the same around her.
    Sasha sat back, grinning madly. “I’m guessing it went well.”
    “Something like that,” Rafi said, laughing, lowering her head to her desk to try to hide her flaming face. She was still a little sore, and not just from horseback riding.
    Truth was, it was going very well.
    “Enjoyed yourself, did you?” Sasha teased, snickering.
    “Oh, stop Sash,” Rafi said, “I’ll tell you all the details in the later.”
    The Captain’s door opened. “People.”
    Heads swiveled to look.
    “Got a heads up for all of you. We’ve got word on the street that something’s up in respect to the paranormal community, particularly the vampires,” he said, his gaze meeting each of theirs, making sure everyone was paying attention. “Another one of those religious things. It’s just a whisper, so check it out with your sources and contacts if you get a chance, see what you hear. We need to confirm this and shut it down before it starts to spread.”
    Heads nodded with varying degrees of commitment.
    Rafi frowned.
    Something nagged at her, something Julian had said in passing, not once, but twice, that first night. Something about rumors of vampire hunters. These days there were always paranormal hunters of some kind around. The ‘acceptance’ of paranormals had brought out the worst among some of the more radical religious groups. There were groups that hated werewolves, but that was nothing compared to the hatred some held for vampires. It was a constant battle to root out the worst of the groups or keep them tamped down.
    Still, her cop instincts stirred and Julian wasn’t the type to worry over nothing.
    Even distracted by the report he was writing, Sasha’s head went up and his nostrils flared a little as he scented her concern.
    “What’s up?” Sasha asked, frowning, as he looked at her.
    She took a breath, chewing on her lip and shook her head. “I don’t know, something Julian said. Something about vampire hunters.”
    Rafi didn’t know where Julian stood in the vampire community but his wealth was a good indication of where he stood in the world at large. He was intelligent and a predator, like Sasha. Like herself for that matter. Was there a chance his instincts were trying to warn him about something?
    Eyebrows lifting, Sasha’s eyes turned a little more gold than brown and his gaze intensified.
    Like many in the paranormal community, he tended to take it a little more personally when there was a threat to any of them. Almost everyone knew someone, relative, friend, acquaintance, who’d suffered at the