The masseuse did so immediately and Simone unabashedly sat up and slipped into the robe. Rafe could appreciate the queen’s finely sculpted nude body, but that was where his appreciation ended. He had no desire where Simone was concerned, even though she had tried once or twice to tempt him.

She tied her robe on and dismissed Reynaldo. The masseuse folded up his portable table and hurried out of the office.

“I needed to unwind a little,” Simone explained needlessly. “I’ve been fielding phone calls since last night, explaining myself over and over again to stubborn leaders and soothing so many frayed nerves that mine became frayed too.”

“I understand,” he said. “But we need to talk. It is a matter of great urgency.”

“More urgent than the treaty? My, that does sound serious.”

“It is serious. It’s about these attacks on lawful vampires.”

“Oh. That. I’ve put Danton and his troops onto the matter. He will get back to me as soon as he knows what is provoking these attacks on vampires.”

“That’s just it, it isn’t just vampires. My…food sources are being threatened.” Rafe didn’t know how else to describe his relationship with Renee. Not in any way the queen might understand. While it was not unheard of for vampires to dally with humans, it was seriously frowned upon to develop any kind of serious emotions where they were involved.

Not that he had developed serious emotions, he told himself quickly. But he was growing quite fond of Renee and he would hate to see anything happen to her because of him.

Because of a war she had nothing to do with.

Chapter 12

Simone took this news very seriously. Pristine food sources were hard to come by in a society full of fast foodies and sedentary lifestyles. Not to mention recreational and serious drug use. Even alcohol was considered somewhat toxic, although not as much as the others. A vampire who fed on a slightly intoxicated human was not in threat of turning phant, but he would become drunk off that kind of energy himself. It was best to be avoided. They couldn’t really drink alcohol themselves, most vampires being lightweights and easily intoxicated. Again, it was best avoided altogether.

“How do you know?” she demanded.

“One of my sources was with me last night when I was attacked. The phant made a direct threat on her life.”

“I see,” Simone said with a serious frown. “This is awful news.”

“Humans we feed from are completely unprotected. Everyone who has fed since these attacks began yesterday might have put their source in jeopardy.”

“I will have all lawful vampires check on the well-being of any recent sources right away. This is dreadful. Utterly dreadful. It’s not as though we can keep from eating and exposing those sources. We will start to starve.”

“I think that is the plan. And if they have been planning this for a while, if they have been watching us feed, they can systematically eradicate all of our food sources. It will be a bloodbath and can expose us to the human world. There has already been an incident with a witness.”

“Yes, the human murder a couple of days ago. In broad daylight. I don’t know what they are thinking or who is behind it. Let me call Danton in here and perhaps he can shed some light on the matter.”

It turned out that Danton was out of the building, and it would be a few minutes before he got back. It was the perfect opportunity for Rafe to come clean about Renee and the fact that he had exposed their world to her.

“Simone…there has been a direct threat to one of my sources, as I said.”

“Yes.”

“We were attacked last night…together.”

“You said you were not alone.”

“I wasn’t. I was with the detective working the homicide by the phant in broad daylight.”

Simone went still, then her fingers began to tap out a rapid tattoo of sound. “I hope you were just gathering information.”

“I fed from her the night before and used hypno to find out where she was with the case.”

“So it just so happens she is a clean source?”

“Actually yes. A fortuitous thing for me, not so fortuitous for her. Last night the phant said he would get her. If not him then someone else.”

“First, why were you with her last night? Gathering more information?”

“Partly. I wanted to know if she was getting close. What the coroner’s report said. Things like that.”

“Partly?” Simone asked archly.

“Yes. There were other reasons. More…personal.”

“Ah. So you find her attractive.”

“Very much so,” he admitted.

Simone chuckled. “Rafe, you are like a schoolboy admitting he has a crush on a girl. I will not judge you. I find humans to be very attractive.”

“She saw things last night. She saw me use electroshock and was forced to kill a phant to save her life.”

Simone slowly stood up out of her chair.

“Tell me you used hypno on her afterward.”

Rafe could only shake his head in the negative.

“Rafe!”

“What was I supposed to do?” he asked, suddenly explosive. “Leave her with no means of protecting herself? The phants made it very clear she is a target! At least this way she knows they are gunning for her and she knows how to kill them.”

“Then she knows how to kill us,” Simone said darkly. “And she’s a police officer. Rafe, what were you thinking? Exposing us just to protect one woman?”

“She won’t say anything about us. And anyway it’s better that she knows. Now she’ll stop investigating that phant murder she is working on.”

“And just like that she’s willing to give up on her investigation? She doesn’t sound very dedicated to her job,” Simone said.

“She is highly dedicated. It wasn’t easy to convince her to let it go.”

“And you’re sure she is going to listen to you? To behave herself as far as our concerns go?”

Rafe hesitated. “She didn’t exactly give me her word about it. But then, I didn’t ask for it either. We simply agreed it would be what was best.”

Simone sighed and rubbed at her temples a moment. “You know I have to report this to the committee, don’t you? I can’t show you any favoritism or support. This is too critical an act. She will have to be rigorously vetted. They may not approve and may wipe her memory all the same. I can only hope no damage will be done in the meantime. But, Rafe, there has to be more to it than you feeling she was in danger and needed to protect herself. Do you have feelings for her?”