“Any other issues?” he asked his most trusted aides. “The vehicle for tonight is set?”
Chuy nodded. “It’s already checked out, parked in a space downstairs.”
“Joaquim?”
“I’ll cover the farm compound both nights, and call you with the necessary updates.”
“Some of Layla’s people are likely to be there tonight,” Xavier cautioned. “So consider what you’ll tell them.”
“They’ll never know I’m there.”
“Good.” Xavier stood and pushed back his chair. “Chuy, you’ll bring sufficient arms for both of us.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“I’m going now to check in with Dr. Nowak. The two most seriously injured guards from the last attack are still hospitalized. I can’t afford to be weakened before tomorrow night, but I’m more than strong enough now to at least assist in their healing.” He thought of Layla’s hot, delicious blood, which he’d feasted on twice in the last few hours, and knew he was about as strong as he’d ever be. Even so, he had to conserve that power for the fight he was likely to encounter the next night. Because Joaquim was right about one thing—they had no idea who or what might be stashed away in Sakal’s Barcelona lair.
The sun was a red threat in the western sky when Xavier walked out of Dr. Nowak’s small hospital and headed toward the ground-floor entrance to the vampire wing. He could remain awake until the sun had completely cleared the eastern horizon over the Mediterranean, but with every minute that ticked off before then, every burning slice of light that became visible, he would grow fractionally weaker. And the same instinct that was seared into the brain of every vampire warned him with a stab of heat at the base of his skull that it was time to seek shelter. For his part, Xavier preferred to be in his own secure quarters within the underground vault long before his strength was in any way diminished.
He was still under the covered walkway outside the hospital when a flash of movement caught his eye a bare second after he became aware that Layla was near. He pulled deeper into the shadows, not wanting to draw her attention. If he did, he’d seduce her into bed with him, which might end up with her waking next to him at sunset. The chances of that were low, since she had her own duties to tend to, but he couldn’t risk it. If his plan was to work, he had to slip out of the Fortalesa with no one but Chuy and Joaquim even aware he’d left, much less knowing where he’d gone.
That didn’t stop him from watching her, however. She strode for the stairs to her parents’ apartment, walking with a casual grace that showcased the controlled lean muscle of her body. She swung around and climbed the stairs, ignoring the wrought-iron railing and everything else, except the ever-present smartphone in her hand. He almost winced, waiting for her to trip as she held the device in one hand and tapped away with the other while climbing. But of course, she never did.
The stairs split into two directions, with Layla going left, providing him with a clear view of her perfect ass moving smoothly from side to side as she climbed. He admired the view longer than he should have, then crossed the narrow, U-shaped courtyard to the door he sought. While he entered the complex digital code, he overheard one of Layla’s fighters crossing behind him. Thinking he must have come from the vampire wing, he frowned, wondering what the human had been up to. But found his curiosity satisfied a moment later when his vampire hearing picked up the man’s phone conversation, which involved female vampire stamina and how come no one had ever told him about it before.
Xavier grinned as the lock clicked and he pushed the door open. He didn’t at all mind that Layla’s crew included two strong men. Especially when those men knew how to take care of themselves, and were probably armed to the teeth. He didn’t have nearly as many female vamps as male in the Fortalesa, but there were a few. And most of those were unattached. One of them had no doubt enjoyed the human’s fresh blood, in more ways than one. A human had to be very strong indeed if they hoped to be a suitable bed partner for a vampire.
He went down the stairs and into his office with vampire speed, since there were no humans to observe him down here. Striding directly through the office, he entered the bedroom he’d so recently shared with Layla. He generally preferred the vault, but the time spent admiring his luscious lover had cut into his margin. And while he could easily make the vault before he collapsed into his daylight sleep, most of his vampires couldn’t. He could key himself into the vault even after it was shut, but some of his people might hear the intrusion, and there was no need for them to fall into their own sleep with that worry on their minds. This sleep chamber was just as secure, if not quite as spacious.
Once in the bedroom, he stripped off his clothes, letting them fall where they would as he went to the bed and pulled back the blankets. Layla’s scent rose to envelope him as he slid inside and lay back on the pillow. His cock went rock hard when the scent reminded him of everything they’d done together. Damn it.
His last thought before he dropped into his daylight sleep was how that fucking erection was going to make for a very unpleasant wakening at sunset.
XAVIER BROUGHT together the usual briefing group roughly two hours after sunset that night, which allowed time for Layla’s team—and Joaquim, though she didn’t know it—to observe Sakal’s arrival at the farm compound. He listened to her report on their daytime observations, although she admitted that they’d seen nothing of any note. He was relieved to learn that there’d been no additional infiltration, on her part, of the main building. He had full confidence in her skill, but the risk wasn’t worth any possible benefit.
Layla didn’t—couldn’t—understand fully yet, which was his fault. A good part of his reluctance was rooted in the ages-old vampire distrust of humans. He hadn’t even shared completely with her father, who’d been his loyal retainer for decades. He’d never put her parents, or any of the other humans living in the Fortalesa, in danger. But there were things they simply didn’t need to know.
As for his covert plans against Sakal, he reminded himself that by not telling her of it, he was keeping her out of danger. If the sorcerer had somehow discovered her importance to Xavier, he’d have spared no effort to kill her in the most painful way possible. He’d have done it in front of her own teammates, so they could know what he’d done, before he killed them, too, just because he could. And he’d have recorded the whole fucking mess, so that Xavier would know exactly how much she’d suffered, and know the raw helplessness that Sakal had experienced when Josep had ripped away his magic.
His reasons for keeping her in the dark were valid. But she would never have accepted them. Would never have accepted so much as the idea that she would be unable to defend herself against the damn sorcerer, or even that ignorance would keep her any safer. Hell, she wouldn’t believe that he was any safer for not involving her, no matter his reasons. She was too damn sure of her own abilities and wouldn’t accept the possibility that she, too, could be killed.