Page 132 of The Satyr's Guilt
“Yes. I awakened early. You are not incharge of my soul. I am. I need to do this. To move on with mylife. You may help me hunt Spear down, but I will hold the blade ofjustice. Accept it. Are you finished?”
Only one brow arched. “Yes. It wasdelicious. Thank you.”
Yes. Frustrating.
“You didn’t send someone elseafter Hassem, did you? How can you expect less from me?” Lizettecleared his plate, pleased with her final response on thematter.
****
The housekeeper leaned close to whisper inDante’s ear. “Guv, the phone in your study keeps ringin.’ Somebloke must be miffed.”
“Thanks.” Dante dabbed his lips with hisnapkin. He excused himself from his four dinner guests, walkingunhurriedly to his office.
He sat in the leather wing-back chair besidethe two phones. Only Cerberus had the number to one. Only Mars hadthe number to the other. Whoever it was would keep calling untilthey reached him. He waited only a few moments before a landlinerang again.
“Yes.”
“Dante, it’s Mars. I have news. The twovampires are settled into our new facility. They’re ready for yourinterrogation. I assume you want to be in on it?”
“I bloody well do wish to be there.”
“The better news is, I possess a satyr. Theright one, by the looks of him.”
Dante’s heart pounded against his chest.Words caught in his throat, refusing to come out.
“How long until I can expect you?”
Dante looked at his watch. “I will leaveearly tomorrow morning. Figure thirteen to fourteen hoursthereafter.”
“I’ll soften them up first.”
Dante was aware the injections which gavehis men greater power had side effects. Those impacts grew worse ifa shot was missed. A soldier who had neglected to get his regulardose attacked and killed another for no reason. He would not allowMars to unleash his aggression on their captives. “Under nocircumstances should the vampires or the satyr be impaired when Iarrive.”
“Understood. Do you need my assistance toget here?”
“No. Everything has been pre-arranged. Aremy quarters ready in the new base of operations?”
“Yes.”
After Dante disconnected, he phoned hischauffeur. “Prepare my jet for an eleven-hour trip. I’ll tell thepilots where when I arrive. They should plan to wait for anundetermined amount of time at our destination. Pick me up at fivein the morning.”
Disconnecting from the call, he punched in anumber in New Orleans. When the phone was answered, he said, “Thisis Dante. Be at my hangar before four in the evening. You may havea one-hour wait or longer. I require a ride.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Englishman grasped thephoto of his daughter, running his thumb across her face. “It hasbegun, my lovely. Finally, I will avenge your death.” Tears escapedhis eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Miller looked over his notes,memorized the names, and took out a lighter, setting the paper onfire. When his fingers nearly burned, he dropped the ashes to theground where he spread them out with his boot.
Time to call, he thought, dialing thenumber he had for Braelyn James.
“Greetings, luv. This is your favoritemember of Her Majesty’s Royal whatever.”
“Miller. What’s new?”
“So far, I’ve got five names for you, butlet’s review the agreement. I give you what I know. With all thatout of the way, I will have passed my test. If you have them orknow their whereabouts, you inform me. I tell my guys to scratchthem off their watch lists.”
