She waited for Kerry to verbally rip his head off. Instead, the petite warrior who’d torn new assholes into every man who’d called her a little flower in the past, walked over to the vamp, placed one of her deadly hands on his chest, and said, “That’s so sweet. Thank you.” And then permitted Chuy, once he was in the seat, to lift her onto his lap.
“Were there drugs in that food you brought?” she asked Riv.
He turned his puzzled gaze on her. “If so, they were damn good ones.”
“Load up!” Brian’s shout from the driver’s seat got them moving, with Layla wedged between Xavier and Riv in the back.
“You sure about leaving that open?” Brian questioned, eyeing the wide-open doorway.
“Leave it.” Xavier’s order was issued in a tone that softened it to a suggestion, but Layla saw Brian’s shoulders tense.
“You had it right the first time,” she told him. “I don’t give a shit what happens to anything in there. It’s Sakal’s, and fuck him.”
“Roger that,” he agreed.
Ten minutes later, they’d left the city behind and were on the highway back to the Fortalesa.
Xavier turned to her. “Your cellphone, if you would, cariño. Joaquim needs to be updated. And I’ll want to meet as soon as we return. You and Brian will join us. There’ll be no move on the enemy tonight, but we need to evaluate and update the relevant information—especially anything dealing with Sakal’s home estate, which I suspect is in France— and formulate a strategy. I specifically want to call the French vampire lord. He’s still very much consolidating his power, but the country is his territory, nonetheless, and that’s a courtesy I cannot ignore. Also, while Sakal is, as ever, a coward, he’s also very shrewd when it comes to his own survival. We’ll have a limited window before he scurries into much deeper hiding. If we’re to attack tomorrow, which we must, we’ll need to lock down his location, and develop a clear strategy before then.”
Since she agreed with everything he’d said, she simply handed him her phone.
Chapter Sixteen
XAVIER TOOK TIME out for a shower before meeting with the others. At any other time, he’d have invited Layla to join him. Hell, he’d nearly dragged her in with him anyway. But there’d been such sensual hunger, such need in her eyes when he’d turned to her after their return. He’d recognized it, because his own gaze had certainly reflected that same desire, the same fierce longing. And once they came together, he doubted they would be capable of stopping until the fire was quenched—not even to plot revenge on his enemy. Not for anything. Stopping himself from having her when he’d awakened to find her next to him, when she’d fed him her blood . . . Shit. That had used up just about every ounce of control he possessed where she was concerned, where her blood was concerned. She was his, and he wanted to make damn sure she understood that.
But this fucking meeting had to take place first. They couldn’t delay going after Sakal. The slimy bastard was too good at disappearing. Paradoxically, his weakness as a vampire made it easier for him to hide. Xavier was a powerful vampire and could locate virtually any one of his people if he set his mind to it. But if Sakal was no longer within Xavier’s territory, especially when combined with his weak vampire signature, his presence simply wouldn’t register.
There were other ways to spy on the bastard, but he had to be found first. In times like this, modern technology was very useful. Xavier would deploy every resource at his disposal to locate the coward, and then he’d dig him out of his hole, and kill him. Slowly.
Since thinking about Layla, and what he planned to do with her as soon as possible, had the predictable effect on his body, he finished his shower with a burst of freezing cold water that had him swearing the filthiest curses in every language he knew. Fuck, that had been cold. Cold enough that he feared his dick wouldn’t recover in time to be of use later, with Layla, he thought while stepping out and scrubbing himself back to life.
Once all the parts of his body had recovered, however, he looked forward to the coming strategy session with anticipation. As always, the prospect of raining blood and disaster down on his enemy, of watching that enemy twist helplessly and beg for death, had his own blood running hot.
He was pulling on his boots when his cell rang, and Joaquim’s name lit the display.
“Joaquim.”
“Sire.” His security chief’s voice held such devotion, and such relief that he’d returned safely, that it almost made Xavier doubt his own worthiness. Almost. He was too much a vampire lord, too much an alpha male, to ever truly question his value.
“Where are you?” he asked Joaquim.
“On my way to your office, my lord. I’ve notified your senior military, and they’re not far behind me.”
“Good. Have you spoken to Chuy?”
“No more than to you, my lord. Layla provided an update earlier. It was waiting for me when I woke, so I know the essentials.”
“And I know it was you who set her on our rescue this morning. You saved our lives, Joaquim.”
“Layla and her friends did that. All I did was make a phone call.”
“It was an important call, my friend. And we have an important matter to discuss. But not until you get here. Some discussions must be conducted in person.”
“I am yours to command, my lord.”
“Good. I’ll join you shortly.”
He considered his good fortune in having had Chuy and Joaquim beside him as the centuries unfolded. They were both more than the sum of their official positions. They’d been friends, too. Others among Europe’s powerful vampires had commented on his ease in speaking to them—vampires who preferred to rule as human kings and queens once had, with formal courts and a lot of bowing and scraping, and justice that was arbitrary and unpredictable. Xavier, too, had been born an aristocrat, but he’d known too many verifiable idiots who’d been born to the kind of wealth that gave them power over others. He had no desire to be one of them.
He stood, then unable to stop himself, called Layla, half expecting her not to answer. She’d had her own cleaning up to do, her own team to debrief. But she answered on the second ring.
“Xavier.”
“Are you coming . . . over?” He’d have sworn he heard her suck in a breath at his deliberate pause. Was her need as great as his? Was it taking every bit of her strength not to rush over and slam him to the bed? God, he hoped so.