Well, if that’s what he’d wanted, he’d gotten it. She’d admitted he’d been right back then. Maybe she should leave now, after all. Maybe Xavier wouldn’t even object if she did so. Brian would be arriving soon enough. He could easily take over, and she could go back to France and the vineyard.
That’s what she’d do. She’d call Brian tonight, before she fell asleep, so he and Kerry and one or two others could catch a morning flight and be here by tomorrow afternoon. That would allow twenty-four hours to transition between the two of them, and she could leave for France the next day.
Her eyes ached from the combination of tears and not enough sleep by the time she let herself into the apartment. Dropping everything on the kitchen table, she made her way to the bathroom, where she soaked a washcloth in cold water, then laid down on her bed with it over her eyes. She’d just rest there for a few minutes, until her eyes felt better. Then she’d brush her teeth and call Brian before going to sleep. That was the plan.
The next thing she knew, the sun was in her eyes.
Chapter Eight
LAYLA HATED running late, especially when it was only her second day on a job. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept through her alarm. That had to be what had happened, she thought as she climbed the stairs to the top of the wall, taking them two at a time. She hadn’t so much as checked her phone this morning, to see if her regular alarm was still set, or if she’d somehow switched it off. Why the hell would she do that? No, she’d slept right through the damn thing.
When Layla stepped out onto the wall, Danilo was there, standing with legs braced in a resting position as she stared out over the gate.
“Sorry I’m late,” Layla said, joining the other woman.
Danilo glanced at her watch, then looked at Layla in surprise. “Five whole minutes,” she said.
“Still, it won’t happen again. Let’s walk. You can give me your report.”
They started off at a slow pace, taking time to scan the surrounding forests, giving special attention to the trees beyond the kill zone in the rear of the Fortalesa, where they’d found the young woman’s body the previous day. No missing person reports had come in, which wasn’t a surprise. If she lived out of the area, or even worse, in another country, it could take weeks or months before the report made it this far. Xavier’s data gathering operation had all the advantages the latest tech could give them, but law enforcement didn’t always share. Or if they did, it was low priority. Especially for one missing young woman. Now, if she’d been wanted for murder or something equally heinous, the process would have worked more efficiently. Hell, for all they knew, no one had even missed her yet. Her family might assume she was still away at college, working hard.
“We didn’t have as many vamps as usual with us last night,” Danilo commented. “Lord Xavier apparently has them combing the streets looking for weapons, as well as the people who’ve been using them against us. Joaquim, who I’m assuming you know is Xavier’s security chief, kept watch with me for part of the night. He’s pissed as hell that we haven’t found the enemy yet.”
“I can imagine. I can also imagine his lord and master is doubly pissed.”
Danilo studied her for a moment and said, “You mean Lord Xavier?”
Layla knew she’d made a mistake. She had to stop thinking of Xavier in the familiar mindset of her childhood, or as her father’s good friend. To Danilo and everyone else on this wall, he was Lord with a capital “L” Xavier. Vampire lord of the entire country.
“Yeah, sorry,” she said immediately. “I’ve been away too long. I grew up here, and Lord Xavier was always very approachable when I was kid. But I can tell you firsthand that he’s definitely pissed as hell that it’s taking so long to find answers. With my father gone, I’m the one in the nightly briefings, even though you probably know more than I do at this point. Maybe you should come too?”
“Oh no,” Danilo said quickly. “You’re not sticking me with that assignment. I’m happy to skip mornings with the family, but if I missed dinner, I’d never hear the end of it. My mama’s in charge of that table.”
Layla grinned. “Sounds like my mother, except she’s so happy to have me home that I can get away with almost anything. For a while anyway.”
Danilo shared the grin. “We didn’t miss the absent vamps much. Don’t tell anyone I said this, but nothing happened all night. The vamps who were up here with us could have run races on top of the wall and it wouldn’t have mattered.”
“I was surprised when my father said the night guard was human and vamp both. Is that usual, or a reaction to the recent hostilities?”
“Only since the first attack. We always have a few humans up here at night, in case the vamps get called away, or in the event we need to rouse the entire Fortalesa. If that happened, it would make more sense to use the human guards as runners, to sound the alarm, and knock on every door.”
“There’s a general alarm for that, isn’t there? Something zapped out to every cell phone in the Fortalesa?”
“Absolutely, but some people—civilians mostly—mute their phones at night. I’d do it myself, if I could. There are too many notifications and shit, not to mention messages from people who stay up late, or even all night, and forget that the rest of us don’t. But we also have the grandparents who simply don’t hear as well as they used to.”
“I hate to be a doomsayer, but this sudden quiet worries me.”
“Why?”
“All day yesterday, it was perfectly calm. And now you tell me that last night was, too. I have trouble believing our enemy, whoever it is, has suddenly decided to stop and go home.”
“The attacks were disorganized, not well executed. Almost amateurish. And their shooters suffered far more casualties that we did. Even apart from the dead girl, we’re fairly confident they had at least one fatality, and probably more. Maybe they decided it wasn’t worth the cost.”
“Maybe. That doesn’t feel right, though. More likely, they wanted us to believe they were amateurs. My gut’s telling me there’s more coming, and my gut’s visited a lot of war zones with me.”
“What if they weren’t supposed to be here at all? What if they are part of something bigger, but they jumped the gun on the greater plan and got called back into line.”
“In that case, I want to know what the plan was, and probably still is. I don’t trust unlooked-for good luck.”