And while he was clearly overwhelmed, Rafe liked that he wasn’t automatically agreeing with Marcus and his brothers. He was giving the matter some thought. He was taking his responsibility to the family seriously.
“Rafe isn’t going to be alone in this investigation, right? He’s not going to be the only one dealing with the Arsenaults?” Ethan asked.
“No, I’ll actually take over the search,” Winter started. “I—”
“I’m afraid not, Wee One,” Rafe drawled. He could feel the questioning gaze of all his brothers slicing through him. “Philippe has guaranteed only my safe passage into his domain. While I’ll not turn down any of your delightful snooping into things, I am the only one who will be speaking directly with the Arsenaults, particularly Philippe. I feel they would like to protect themselves and their privacy at this time.”
“I’m liking this a lot less now,” Marcus growled in warning.
“I believe they are honestly trying to protect themselves,” Rafe countered. “What do they have to gain by harming me?” Rafe looked around at his brothers, all of them sitting with far more tension in their frames. Where it had been such an easy decision before, Rafe could feel them backpedaling. And it caused something to twist in his stomach. He appreciated their concern, but he didn’t want them to walk away from Philippe’s request.
Why did he give a shit about Philippe and what he wanted?
It was more than simple curiosity, though there was a part of him dying to know what the Arsenault clan was so desperate to hide.
It was Philippe. He wanted to know what was behind the worry clouding his lovely green eyes. He wanted to know more about the thinly masked power he could feel rippling from his handsome form. He simply wanted to know more about him, and it had been too damn long since Rafe had been curious about any creature—human or vampire.
Rafe shoved to his feet, nervous energy finally pushing him to move. “I will continue to report in like a good little soldier,” Rafe snapped, giving a jaunty salute to his siblings. “And we all know that Winter is going to be digging around as well. Bel will probably sic one of his rodents on my heels as his spy.”
“I was thinking something larger…like a grizzly bear,” Bel said, but there was at least a hint of a smile for Rafe.
“So your reckless brother is protected,” Rafe concluded with a sigh of overly dramatic weariness.
Ethan smirked at him. “Then I say, find Piper. That should be what we’re worried about, right? Someone has gone missing and needs our help.”
Marcus tightened his arm around Ethan and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “That’s a good reminder. We’re not focusing enough on the real problem. Someone has gone missing, and she needs our help.”
Rafe nodded, touched by Ethan’s words. Piper should have been their main concern, but in the vampire world, things were rarely so simple. But it would be nice if for once, it was.
“I’m speaking with Philippe tomorrow night. I’ll deliver the good news that the Variks have decided to assist. He should give me more information about this Piper and where to begin searching. Or at the very least, where they’ve searched already.”
“I’ll also start digging around,” Winter added. “See what I can uncover about the missing vampire and her clan.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to demand Winter stay out of it, but he quickly swallowed back the words. He didn’t want Winter uncovering all Philippe’s secrets. He wanted Philippe to tell him, to trust him enough to confess everything. Not that Rafe even knew what he wanted Philippe to confide in him.
But he couldn’t enlighten his brothers with that interesting development. They’d think he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had—he certainly hadn’t been thinking straight since meeting with the clan leader.
“Uncover his power, Winter,” Rafe commanded in a low voice that barely made it across the room. “I need to know his gift.” It was the only thing he didn’t want to trust Philippe to reveal. His mind was already muddled when it came to the golden-haired angel. He didn’t want to worry about whether Philippe was using his gift on him to sway him in one direction or another.
And given that Rafe’s own power was to charm and disarm, he knew the danger in trusting someone on a gut feeling. He didn’t want to be wrong about Philippe and put his family in danger.
“I will.”
Silence settled over the room for a moment, and Rafe walked over to the sideboard where Marcus kept his choice selection of alcohol in crystal decanters. Rafe pulled the stopper from one and splashed some of the amber liquid in a pristine glass. He was feeling an odd mix of excitement and worry over this endeavor when he was sure he should be feeling only mild curiosity. It had been a while since he’d enjoyed a new adventure, something to take him out of his usual humdrum existence. With any luck, this would offer an escape from his club and usual haunts.