Page 82 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

Lara slid into the camel wool coat one of her aides held out, then slipped on buttery soft leather gloves.

“I’m not sure I can, Alex. Is it possible one of the fae might have applied under stolen credentials? I suppose it is. Their ability to glamour would make it all but impossible to verify if they’d taken someone’s phone and documents and assumed their identity. We do our best to ensure all our workers are vetted, but I’m sure people slip through, just like someone got through your security and almost managed to poison all of us the other night.”

Alex flashed a glance over her shoulder to Henri, who subtly shook his head. She was lying. He was sure of it. But with Lara, there was no way to know if it was about the missing fae Finneas had asked them to track down, or because they were exploiting child workers and were trying to avoid getting caught.

“I want us to make this announcement together.” Lara gripped his hand. “You’ve been distracted all day.”

“I have a headache.”

She sighed. “Look, Alex, I know you have your doubts about us, but we could be good together. We could do big things for our sector. You just have to give us a chance.” He started to pull away, but she held fast to his hand. “Please, Alex.”

That was when the back of the loading area exploded behind them.

CHAPTER 12

THE CONCUSSIVE FORCE OF the blast hit Alex like a punch to the chest. He was half a second from scattering himself into smoke and flying across the loading area when Henri slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground. People were screaming. Over the ringing in his ears, he could hear the pick pock of debris raining down around them.

Terror filled him. Dani had been inside when the explosion hit. If she’d been hurt—

“Are you okay, Your Highness?” Henri rose, extending his hand. A thick cloud of dust and smoke choked the air, making it impossible to see.

“We have to get in there.” Coughing, Alex stood. “Dani was in there. And there could be others trapped and hurt—”

“I know, sire. Let’s try to move away, get to where the air is clearer.”

Quickly, they helped the others from the press pool up.

“Lara?” A member of her security detail hurried over.

“I’ve got her,” another bodyguard called, helping Lara to stand. She batted the poor woman off, frowned at a scuff of dirt on her sweater, and pulled out her phone to check her hair.

Alex barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Lara was fine.

He turned to Henri. “Is everyone accounted for? We need to get in there.”

“Our team is all here, Your Highness. Looks like whatever explosion they detonated was targeted at the loading docks.” He nodded back to the distribution center, where the back wall of the building had collapsed. Smoke was billowing out of the structure at an alarming rate.

“You think it was a bomb on one of the delivery trucks?”

“Maybe.”

“I called the emergency line,” one of the reporters said. “They’re estimating they can have a rescue crew here in ten minutes.”

“They may not have ten minutes,” Alex said.

“There’s an evacuation plan,” Lara pointed out. “It’s drilled regularly. And you’re not trained for search and rescue.”

“That may not help if someone’s trapped in there and there’s a fire.” He could see people streaming out the doors, and again thought of Dani, wondering if she were trapped inside. They didn’t have time to wait for the rescue crews. He turned to the group. “I need anyone who can dematerialize and is willing to come with me. We need to get as many people as possible out before the fire spreads.”

Three vampires immediately stepped forward.

Lara grabbed his arm.

“That’s my production crew,” she hissed. “I need them.”

Over her shoulder, Alex caught the unmasked look of disgust from one woman.

“Tarek can film, Ms. Cavalieri. I’m sure you can make do with a smaller crew, given the circumstances.”