“Yes. Eventually. And in the meantime, I was nothing. You left him, and still he favored you. He talked about you constantly. His greatest success, the golden one.”
“I wasn’t there. Hell, I wasn’t even in the country sometimes. So why are you here? And why waste so much time and energy to acquire a pack of brain-dead acolytes who couldn’t carry a conversation if you gave them a cart to hold it.”
Sakal surprised him by laughing. “You’re right about that much. Though they have been useful.” He dismissed his absent followers with a wave of his hand. “They’ll run back to the street when I’m gone from here. Or maybe they’ll continue to play farmer for a time. I don’t care which.”
Xavier’s attention sharpened, though he maintained an air of disinterest. “You’re leaving?”
The sorcerer snorted in dismissal. “You think my revenge ends with you? You’re an irritant, a fly in the ointment of history, one who’s already demanded far more attention than he deserves.” He drew close enough to stare into Xavier’s eyes from only inches away. “But you are the one who delivered me to Josep. I only wish he was still alive to witness the agony of your death. Would he suffer along with you? Would he feel your pain? Did he love you that much?”
Before Xavier could answer, a soft chime announced the arrival of a second elevator, carrying another dozen female bodyguards. At first glance, they looked exactly like the others—blond, beautiful, and strong. No wonder his people had initially thought there were only three. Unless one paid very close attention, those he’d seen thus far were so identical as to be indistinguishable.
The new arrivals marched up to Sakal and bowed with admirable precision, before one of them—presumably their leader—murmured, “It is time, my lord.” Her voice was low enough that she probably didn’t intend Xavier to overhear, though of course he did.
“Yes. One of you seal the front door shut,” Sakal ordered, then swung his gaze back to Xavier. “He’ll sleep soon,” he told the woman. “And when he does, kill him. But not until after the sun has him screaming in agony. The spell circle that keeps him in won’t keep you out.”
The woman’s cold eyes scraped over Xavier. “A pleasure, my lord. Thank you.”
Sakal grunted an acknowledgement, then spun around, heading quickly for the elevator. Xavier’s voice stopped him.
“How did you do it?” Xavier waited until Sakal was facing him again. “How did you manage to be in two places at once? Not even you can do that.”
Sakal’s sudden grin was almost playful, a child whose trick had fooled everyone. “The eldest brother I mentioned, the one my mother favored? We look a great deal alike. When I knew what Josep had done to me, the centuries it would take for my sorcery to recover, I began plotting my revenge. So I turned my brother—”
“You don’t have the power to turn anyone.”
The hatred on Sakal’s face was vicious. “You’re right,” he snarled. “Josep didn’t even give me that. But I had riches, and the intellect to acquire more. I paid a master vampire whose personal wealth was dwindling. He turned my mother’s beloved son for a pittance, really.”
“Your brother consented, of course.”
Sakal laughed. “He gave the same consent to being made a vampire, as I did to being the youngest unwanted child. Luckily, he’s as weak a vampire as I am, but unfortunately for him, he still has no magic. So sad. I make good use of him, give his life meaning. He deals with matters that don’t require my full attention, such as those pesky nightly visits to my devoted followers. He enjoys them, can you believe that? Hell, maybe he’ll remain on the farm, too.”
He walked forward until they were once more separated by only a few inches, and spoke softly. “He was also very useful in convincing old enemies that I was someplace I wasn’t.” He laughed, a harsh bark of amusement. “Farewell, Lord Xavier.”
Then he crossed to the open elevator, surrounded by bodyguards as he stood inside, his gaze never leaving Xavier until the doors closed, blocking his view.
Xavier turned his back on the guards left behind and began to pace the circle, aware of the looming sunrise and what it would mean not only to him, but even more, to Chuy. He’d have to move fast once he broke the final layer of spell, which was one of only two remaining. He’d worried that Sakal would sense its vulnerability, but he’d been too sure of himself, too busy gloating.
Xavier needed a clear plan of action, and soon. His first order of business would be getting Chuy to a safe place. The damn glass roof would soon have sunlight beaming down into the circular room. There was shade under the mezzanine, especially behind the bar he’d been examining earlier, which was on the eastern side of the room, and would remain shaded the longest.
Before that, however, he’d have to deal with the guards, who seemed as devoted to Sakal as the young people gathered at the compound were. It irritated the hell out of him to admit it, but he needed help. Human help. He pulled out his cell to call Layla, surprised that Sakal hadn’t taken it from him. Though on second thought, the coward would have been too frightened to confront Xavier himself, and if he’d sent any of the women in, their survival would have been measured in seconds, not minutes. He brought up the screen and discovered he had no signal. “Fuck. Energy from the damn magic barrier is screwing up cell reception,” he added when Chuy gave him a curious look.
So he couldn’t call Layla, but he didn’t need a phone to reach Joaquim.
LAYLA AND HER team were already up on the wall with the rest of the daylight crew, and she was mentally plotting her strategy for wringing the truth out of Xavier who’d been mysteriously absent last night. No one had seen or spoken to him. Not even Dr. Nowak. And when she’d casually asked Joaquim how the various calls with the European lords had gone, he’d looked totally blank for less than a second, a mere instant. But she’d caught it, and she’d known.
She glanced at the call display and frowned. “Yes? Joaquim?”
“You have to get downtown. Sakal’s lair. Xavier—”
“What? Slow down. Why am I going to Sakal’s lair? He’s a vampire, he’ll be—”
“Xavier is there,” Joaquim said and drew a deep breath, as if forcing himself to step back from the edge of panic. “He and Chuy went in early this morning, before sunrise, planning to ambush Sakal when he returned. But . . . Sakal was there, and—”
“Didn’t Xavier check the farm before he left?” She wanted answers, but she wasn’t waiting for them. Already running, she found Brian and gave him the hand signal for, “The shit’s hit the fan. Time to go.”