Rafe stopped again, raising his chilled fingers to lightly touch Philippe’s cheek. “Then your gift is not the reason I’m drawn to you. It’s not clouding my mind. I’m not one of your outcasts.”
“God, no! Did you fear that with me?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
Philippe reached up and grasped Rafe’s hand in both of his. “No, my gift cannot affect you in any way. And you, my friend, are not an outcast. From what little I’ve seen so far, your family cherishes you. The mystique of the Variks is clear about one thing—you are all loyal and loved.”
That Rafe could not argue with. He was loved by his brothers, and he loved them just as fiercely, but it didn’t explain why he still felt this bone-deep loneliness, or why it seemed to completely disappear when Philippe was close.
A low chuckle escaped Philippe as he released Rafe and started walking again. “You’re the one with the gift to claim the mind, am I not right?”
“Yes, my gift is to charm the mind. I can be very persuasive and even wipe memories a bit. It’s all quite effective with humans. Vampires…are a bit more complicated.” He bumped his shoulder against Philippe’s. “Particularly those vampires who are older than me.”
Philippe grinned at him. “Would you try it on me?”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m curious as to what it feels like, and I trust you not to convince me to do anything too horrible.”
Rafe’s smile turned wicked as he stared at Philippe, a dozen wonderful thoughts immediately danced in his head. Pleasurable things for both of them, but he didn’t want to use his gift to make Philippe do any of those things. He wanted Philippe to desire them on his own. Not that he didn’t think the man already did. But using his power on Philippe could be a bit of fun. Of course, he didn’t think it would work. Philippe was well over two hundred. He could feel it in the raw power falling off him in subtle waves.
“We could always give it a try when we’re ensconced in the safety of my penthouse.”
Philippe’s smile left Rafe thinking the other vampire was looking forward to it almost as much as Rafe was.
But the smile faded away too quickly when his eyes fell on an empty park bench. His footsteps slowed until they were both standing in front of the bench.
“When we moved to Hartford, I came out with Piper several times during the first couple of weeks, and we decided together that this would be one of her prime hunting grounds. There was no hint of other vampires in the area, and it saw good foot traffic from joggers and dog walkers. She felt safe here. Happy.”
Rafe reached over and placed his hand on Philippe’s shoulder. He didn’t know what to say. If this was Winter or, God forbid, Bel missing, Rafe would be out of his mind. But then, Piper hadn’t been with his clan long, and he wasn’t sure how close Philippe could get with his own clan members. Could he ever feel close to them when too many probably still looked at him with mistrust?
“I’ve come back here nearly every night since she first went missing, like I’m going to wake up from this nightmare and just discover her sitting on our bench. I wanted her to find peace in this new life, a new purpose. I thought maybe in another decade or two, she would.”
“Don’t give up hope,” Rafe said sharply. “You have no proof that she’s dead. We may still find her, and she can have that peace.”
“You’re right. I—”
Philippe tensed under Rafe’s fingers, stopping whatever he’d been about to say. Rafe realized the reason just a second later as he felt the presence of two vampires drawing close to their location. They both waited in silence to see if they would continue past the park or turn in. There was no sense of who they were, only a quivering power signature. One felt stronger, older than Rafe. The other was somewhat younger.
Anxiety clawed its way through his stomach, displacing the earlier dread. Rafe didn’t care for encountering random vampires while he was out. The only places he didn’t mind running into one was in his own club or the designated neutral zone. In those two locations, everyone was on their best behavior. The same could not be said for anywhere else.
Of course, after the news he’d received from Edgar, it was surprising he and Philippe hadn’t encountered more vampires while they were out.
Rafe barely swallowed his curse when the strangers turned into the park and started to head in their direction. While he didn’t care for the intrusion, these interlopers might be able to shed some light on Piper’s disappearance if this was a frequent haunt of theirs.
They had to wait only a couple of minutes before two women strolled into view, walking arm in arm. Dressed in casual jeans and sweaters, they looked as if they were just out to stretch their legs, but Rafe guessed it was more likely that one or both were hunting for their meal. Taking in their closeness, Rafe found himself wondering if maybe the older vampire was the fledgling’s maker.