“I’ll need some time to get up to speed on your personnel and routines. I know a lot’s changed since I left. I’ll also be bringing some of my people in. They can be here tomorrow. And in the meantime, you need to call that specialist and tell him you’ll be there.”
Her father’s jaw tightened for a moment before he cracked it open and said, “Tell me what you need. I’ll see you have it.”
Chapter Five
THE SKY WAS STILL streaked with the glorious colors of a sun barely fallen behind the horizon when Xavier woke. It was well before any of his vampires, as he was old enough and strong enough to withstand the sun’s reflected light, although not even he could have walked beneath the sky before full dark. His early wakening did, however, permit him to take stock of his surroundings, to play back in his mind any daytime events which had penetrated his sleep, giving him time to consider consequences.
He knew there’d been another attack. Though he wasn’t convinced that was the right word to describe these assaults. Suicide missions seemed more apt. It was as if the humans wanted to sacrifice themselves to achieve some greater goal. Did they think if enough humans were supposedly killed by the vicious vampire lord and his minions, that the local population would rise up and wipe out him and every other vampire in his stronghold? Would they then butcher the humans who lived there, too? Punish them for allying with the bloodthirsty monsters?
He sat up and stood in a single movement, tossing aside the thin sheet which was his only cover. He didn’t get cold, not in any season, and not even in his most secure underground chamber. It was a benefit of his vampire blood, or so he assumed, although few of his vampires shared—
His reflections skidded to a halt as a familiar mind abruptly made itself known. He paused his headlong march to the shower and sent his awareness soaring upward, passing through stone floors and thick walls, following the trail of a mind he knew nearly as well as his own, though it had been years since he’d touched it.
When he found her, he smiled slowly. She’d changed in the years since he’d last seen her. But then, of course she had. She’d been . . . very young then. Barely an adult. Some might have argued she’d still been a child. But she was definitely an adult now. The taste of her mind was as exhilarating as it had ever been. As sweet, too, despite the discipline that had made her harder and more careful than she’d once been. Even so, there was no mistaking the sense of her. Layla had come home.
He rushed through his shower and dressed quickly, wanting to get upstairs before she left, probably trying to avoid him. In all the years she’d been gone, the damn woman hadn’t lingered so much as a minute past sunset on the rare occasions when she visited her parents. Mostly she hadn’t come to the Fortalesa at all, but had met them in the city, or in some other country. He’d kept track of her, despite her avoidance of him. He’d known where she was living, where she traveled, and where she and her fellow mercenary fighters were deployed. There’d also been Ferran’s proud updates on her progress through university and later, when she’d been an officer in the U.S. military, and later still when she’d brought together a small group of experienced fighters to form her own group. Ferran worried, but the warrior in him was proud of his only child, proud of her prowess in battle, of her skill as a leader.
But for all that, Xavier was certain that Layla had never confessed to her father her true reasons for staying away.
He took an extra few minutes to check his appearance in the mirror, to brush his shoulder-length black hair and make sure the dark beard covering his jaw was still a fashionable scrub. After all, it had been years. He wanted Layla to appreciate what she’d missed. His smile flashed white on a laugh. Oh yeah, he was vain as sin. But then, if one believed the teachings of the religion he’d grown up with, he was already condemned to the devil’s realm. So he might as well enjoy the journey.
“I’LL NEED ALL your records. Personnel—past and present, including former employees—reconnaissance, any investigation you’ve conducted trying to pin down the enemy or the leaders. Interviews, observations, that sort of thing. There’ve been some new buildings added to the Fortalesa since the last time I was here. I’ll need blueprints and layouts as it is now. Armory audits, inventory. And I’ll need to work closely with you until you leave, which gives me less than two days, but I’ll deal with it. Anything I need after that”—she shrugged—“that’s what cell phones are for. I’d like another—”
She froze as someone came up behind her, standing too close. She knew who it was even before his smooth, deep voice said, “Welcome home, Layla.”
She reacted without thought, jamming her elbow into his stomach hard, even though she’d be the one carrying bruises the next day. The asshole’s body was like a fucking rock.
Taking a quick step away, she spun to find him laughing. Laughing. If she’d hit any other man that hard, he’d be bent over, gasping for breath and trying not to vomit. Of course, Xavier wasn’t exactly a man. Though he was definitely male, and just as fucking beautiful as he’d ever been. Damn it.
“Sorry,” she said, smiling sweetly. “I didn’t know it was you. You startled me.”
He stopped laughing. “Dios mio, woman. Who’d you think it was? If it had been anyone else, you’d have ruptured something.” He grinned, which only made him more devastating. “It’s good to finally see you, Layla. We’ve missed each other the few times you’ve visited since college.”
“I know,” she said with a regret as false as her smile. “But the roads are so dark. I wanted to get back to the city before the light faded.”
His eyes sparkled with humor. He wasn’t fooled for an instant. She hadn’t expected him to be. She hadn’t wanted him to be, either. She might be here a while, until her father was well enough to return to full duty, and she didn’t want Lord-fucking-Xavier to think there was anything friendly about her presence. It was a business arrangement, nothing more. And she was only doing it for her father, not the vampire lord.
“Layla’s filling in for a few weeks, while I deal with doctors,” Ferran said proudly. “She has a lot of experience—in both the army and private security—and since she already knows this place, she’ll be perfect.”
“She always was,” Xavier agreed, his sexy mouth curved into a smile that was too knowing for what they had between them.
Stop, she told herself. I don’t care if he’s beautiful and his mouth is sexy, so just stop thinking about it. “Was there something you needed, my lord?” she asked, her tone utterly professional.
“I was looking for Ferran,” he said, dismissing her in an instant, as if that knowing smile had never happened. Turning to her father, he said, “There was another attack today.”