He shifted his gaze away from her, tuned back into the discussion, and finally said what he’d been thinking. “I think we agree on the basics. I’ll make the final decision in consultation with my commanders, including Layla Casales, whom I think you all know.” He glanced over with a smile for Layla, and she glared back at him. That was growing old.
“The detailed plan will be ready tomorrow night.” He stood, signaling that the meeting was over, then waited while there was a general shuffle toward the door, before saying, “Layla, could you hold back a moment, please?”
LAYLA FUMED PRIVATELY at the thinly veiled order for her to remain. It had been a while since she’d had a commanding officer, and she hadn’t missed it. But her father was watching, and he needed to know that she could do his job while he was gone. Otherwise, he wouldn’t go. His devotion to Xavier was that strong. So she kissed him on the cheek and said, “I’ll be up in a minute, Papa. We’ll brainstorm all of this before morning.”
He hugged her, then gave Xavier a respectful nod and walked out with Danilo, his new lieutenant who had skill and determination, but not a lot of experience. The younger woman had spoken little during the discussions, but she’d listened to everything and had taken more than a few notes. It was the right thing for a junior officer to do, and Layla had been impressed. She’d been impressed in an entirely different way to discover that Danilo was older than she looked. She’d served in both Iraq and Afghanistan with Spain’s UN forces, and was fluent in Arabic, German, and English, in addition to her native Spanish. The language skills might not be necessary to her job at the Fortalesa, but the English was handy, and linguistic ability spoke to a sharp mind and a receptive intellect. In fact, if Danilo ever tired of working for vampires, Layla would happily recruit her for her own team.
“Would you like a drink?”
She managed not to startle visibly at the question. She hadn’t forgotten he was there. He was far too dangerous for that. It was just his voice. It was . . . hypnotic. As deep and smooth as the best whiskey ever made, it was pure seduction. Pure fucking lies, she reminded herself bitterly.
“No thank you,” she told him. “What’s this about?”
He tsked softly and strolled past her to the door. She laid a hand on her sidearm, watching with suspicious eyes as he closed the door and walked behind his desk. He didn’t sit, but stood there with both hands raised, palm out, and smirked. “Just closing the door, cariño.”
She stared at him. Cariño? Oh, hell no. He’d lost the right to call her that a long time ago. But if they waded into that fucking mess, they’d be there all night. “Why close the door?” she demanded.
His dark eyebrows rose. “For privacy, of course. Some things—”
“We don’t need privacy for any things.” She would have stormed out, but his next words stopped her.
“Why are you so angry, Layla?”
She turned to stare at him in disbelief. He was serious. “Are you kidding me?”
He shrugged gracefully. “Not unless I misunderstand the American phrase.”
“If you don’t know, then . . . ” Then what? she asked herself. She wasn’t about to bare her soul and tell him the truth. It was bad enough that she’d trusted him when she’d been young and stupid. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again. “Look, I’m here because my father asked me to stay,” she snarled. “I’ll do the job, give it everything I’ve got. But it’s a job, nothing else. So, good night, Lord Xavier,” she finished.
She snatched open the door quickly, before he could stop her. Though if he’d really wanted, he could have been in front of the door before she’d even reached for the handle. That knowledge did nothing to improve her mood as she exited the vampire wing and strode across the main courtyard at a brisk, hard pace, stopping only when she reached the stairs to her parents’ apartment. If she went up there in this mood, they’d notice immediately, and then she’d have to come up with a convenient lie to explain. And what would she say? She couldn’t say she’d fought with someone else in the Fortalesa, because it might come back to bite her in the ass. She had to live with these people—human and vampire both—maybe even for two or three months. She could always say she’d had an argument with Brian, or someone else from her team, but that seemed disloyal to them.
Fucking Xavier, she fumed and turned instead for the wall, climbing the stairs and walking the long length of the Fortalesa until she was above the gate and looking down at the town far below. It was the same direction from which the humans must have come, and yet somehow, they’d managed to disappear into the forest, according to her father who wasn’t a fanciful man, as if they’d never been there.
How was that possible? Sure, people from the town knew the forests well. So did those who lived in the Fortalesa. So had she, once upon a time. Even now, she’d never get lost out there. The trees had gotten taller, the forest thicker, but the land remained the same.
And then there were the vampires. Many of them were old enough to have been with Xavier when he’d first claimed the Fortalesa more than two hundred years ago, even before he’d become Spain’s vampire lord.
So how the hell were a bunch of humans managing to disappear so completely that even the vampires couldn’t seem to track them? It worried her, though it would have worried her more if she hadn’t been certain that Xavier knew something. Something he wasn’t telling anyone. It might be more suspicion than knowledge, but he was still keeping whatever it was to himself. She didn’t think even her father knew, certain that he, at least, would have told her.
Damn. She needed to have another meeting with the vampire, after all.
“Fuck.”
LAYLA WOKE TO the scent of fresh coffee, which wasn’t that unusual. Someone was always brewing coffee in the team’s kitchen. What was unusual was the accompanying scent of fresh bread and olive oil. After all these years, her mother still baked for her father every morning. The bread would be served at lunch and dinner, as well. Except that by the time lunch rolled around today, her parents would be at a hotel in Barcelona, where they’d stay until her father had received whatever treatment he needed.
She tossed the blankets aside, wondering whether her mama had baked the bread for her, or if she was taking it with them to the city.
“Papa.” She kissed him on the head where he sat at the table, crossed to hug her mother, then sat across from them at the table. “I stayed up late last night, reading files,” she told him, as she smeared marmalade over her still-warm bread. “You have a good team.”
“Good,” he agreed, “but too young, and with no serious fighting experience. They mostly grew up here, in the Fortalesa, and they’ve never seen anything like these attacks. Hell, before this started, we left the gates open most days. Guarded,” he added, “but open.”
“In reading the files, I didn’t see much in the way of an investigation into who’s behind all this.”
He gave her an even look over his coffee cup, then set it down. “That’s because I haven’t done much. I don’t have people with that kind of experience. I’ve made a few queries in town, asking after any visitors acting strangely, carrying guns, or coming and going at odd hours.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Precisely. This is a tourist area, and it’s early summer. Every town on the coast is filled with strangers. Lord Xavier was checking into something else, an idea he had about these people. He hasn’t shared any information with me yet, which might mean there was nothing to find, and his idea came to nothing.”
“Or he’s still working on it,” she suggested.
“That, too.”
“I’ll ask him at the next briefing. By the way, does he meet with you every night? Or only when something big happens?”
“Every night, though if nothing ‘big’ as you say, happens, it’s more in the way of a drink among friends,
with only Lord Xavier, his lieutenant Chuy, and his security chief, Joaquim. Along with myself.”
“Thank God for that. You and Mama ready to go?” she asked, intentionally changing the subject. It was time for both her parents, but her father especially, to forget about the Fortalesa for a while and think about his health instead.
“Soon. Are we crowding you in this apartment?”
She laughed. “Hardly. Besides, I’ll probably move to the barracks. I’m bringing Brian and a couple of the others here from France. I’ll need them if things get any uglier, and they can always give your newbies a few pointers.”
“Brian’s coming? I’m sorry we’ll miss him.”
“Normally we’d split the two assignments, but they don’t need him there. He’s pitifully bored. And who knows? He might still be here when you get back. So when are you leaving?”
“In a couple of hours. I want to walk the wall with you today, introduce you to as many people as I can.”
“Good idea. I’m not here to shake anything up. I want to slide into your routine as smoothly as possible.”
“Good. I’m sure people will have questions, and I don’t like unnecessary surprises. So, I’ll tell them as much as I can. Especially after the meeting last night.”
Layla didn’t want to talk about last night’s meeting, so she changed the subject. “I thought I’d check inventory, too. Danilo was in charge of that, but I’m guessing she’s not anymore, since you’ve promoted her.”
“No, she’s still in charge, but one of the others does the actual counting. The job rotates along with the patrol assignments, so that everyone knows what we have on hand in a crisis.”
Layla nodded her agreement. “Always best. Mama, are you leaving any of this bread for me?”
Her mother laughed. “What do you think, mija? That I’d leave you to make your own?”
That made Layla laugh, too, as she stood and gulped down the rest of her coffee. “You ready, Papa?”
He nodded. “I’ve been waiting for you. Do you always get up this late?”
“Oh, Papa, that hurts. This was supposed to be a vacation.”
“Not anymore, mija. You’ve been hired.”
AN HOUR LATER, the morning sun was beating down on Layla’s unprotected head as she stood next to her father and Danilo. She had a cap in her duffle, which was sitting in her father’s office, because she was an idiot. She’d never have left the team’s barracks without a hat. In fact, she’d have berated any member of her team who’d forgotten one. Wars were rarely fought in cool, comfortable climates anymore. Especially not the kind of wars that employed mercenaries, like hers.
“Looks quiet so far this morning,” she observed, as she pushed up her sunglasses and raised high-powered binoculars to her eyes. They didn’t do much to reassure her, since an entire army could have been sheltering in the surrounding forest, and they’d have been effectively invisible. At night, a good infrared scope would sort them out, but in daytime, especially on hot days like this, there wasn’t enough variation between human body temperature and the surrounding air. Infrared wouldn’t work.
That might even be a factor in choosing to attack during the day. Though if so, it was a minor one. She had a lot of doubts about this situation, but one thing she knew for sure—the attacks were coming in daylight in order to keep the vampires out of it. Hell, Xavier’s vampires didn’t need infrared. They didn’t even need to see you. They could just follow the sound of your heartbeat.
“Here you go,” a male voice said from behind her, as a baseball style cap was propped on her head. “You’ll fall over in this heat, hermosa.”
Layla grabbed the hat and turned to find a young man whose soulful brown eyes carried a teasing glint over a bright, white smile. He was maybe an inch taller than she was, which put him around six feet, with a sturdy, muscular build, and an attitude that said he knew just how pretty he was. It was also obvious that he was accustomed to sweeping women off their feet with a single glance.
Too bad Layla preferred men, rather than overreaching boys, since this one was certainly several years younger than she was.
“This is my daughter, Layla Casales,” her father growled. “Your new commanding officer.”
The boy/man’s grin only widened. “How wonderful. Welcome to the Fortalesa, my lady.”
“Just plain Captain will do,” she said dryly and handed back the hat. “I have a hat. Where are you supposed to be?”
He blinked in surprise, clearly taken aback by her reaction. Or the lack of one.
“Aww, did your charm fail you this morning?” she wanted to coo. But he needed to understand that she was not his hermosa or anything else. She was his commanding officer. She studied him, waiting.
“I’m, that is, I have a message for the commander,” he said, stumbling only a bit before he straightened and turned to her father. “A body has been found, sir. Southeast, half mile back in the trees. They’re bringing it in now.”
Layla looked at her father, all thoughts of the boy/man forgotten. “Is this a first?”
He nodded silently. “We’ll give Łucja an hour or so to get the— Male or female?” he asked the pretty messenger.
“Uh.” He winced. “I didn’t see the body myself, sir. But I understand the animals had been at it.”
“Ah. Tell Dr. Nowak we’ll be there shortly.”
“Sir. Ma’am?” he added uncertainly in Layla’s direction, then quick-stepped toward the nearest stairs.
“He’s a good man,” her father said.
She turned from watching the messenger disappear down the stone steps. “Is he? A man, I mean. What is he, eighteen?”
Danilo snorted at the same time Layla’s father said, “Twenty-five on his last birthday, and he served three years in the military.”
Layla wondered if she was just that old, or if her idea of the perfect male had been forever skewed by growing up surrounded by gorgeous vampires who appeared forever twenty-five. On the other hand, while they might look twenty-five, their eyes always told the real story. There were multiple lifetimes of living in their eyes. She thought of Xavier’s dark, depthless eyes, the way they gleamed like polished pewter whenever he— Oh fuck, no. She was not going to go all dreamy about him and his freaky vampire eyes. He was the reason she’d never had a serious relationship. Not because no man could measure up to his looks, but because he’d taught her from the very beginning that men couldn’t be trusted.
“Is Woosha the same person as Dr. Novak?” she asked, pronouncing the doctor’s first name the way her father had, since she didn’t know the nationality of the name, or even how it was spelled.
Her father nodded. “Łucja Nowak.” He pulled a pencil from his pocket, took her notebook and wrote the name out. “Not spelled the way it’s pronounced, obviously. Not by our alphabet. It’s Polish. She’s Polish. Visited Barcelona on vacation and never went back. She’s been here seven years now. We were looking for a full-time medical doctor, and she was looking for a job. So we met a few times, and she’s worked out great. Treats everyone from abuelas to newborn babies. She works with the vamps, too, though they don’t need much from her.”
“Guess I’ll be meeting her this morning. But I’d like to do another circuit before we go look at dead people. Is that okay?”
“Only one dead person, mija. Don’t tempt the gods.”
She gave a smiling wave to Danilo as they set off down the broad top of the wall. The wall itself was four feet wide and constructed of solid stone. The floor of the walkway was the top of the main wall, though additional, narrow walls had been built up on the sides and served as both a safety against falling, and more importantly, as a barrier for defenders to shelter behind. In addition to the barrier wall, stone battlements occurred at regular intervals, jutting out a full foot over the front of the wall, and
narrowing the walkway by half, so that the walkway was briefly two feet wide, and the battlement enclosure itself had a full three feet of maneuvering space inside. At the time it had been built, and later when Xavier was refurbishing and rebuilding, fortress designs took into account the need to prevent attackers from breaching the walls with ladders. That obviously was no longer the case, since an enemy could simply lob explosive charges over the wall from a safe distance, or blow a hole in the wall with a mortar charge.
But Xavier liked his walls, liked the privacy and separation they afforded from the human world. So, he’d reinforced and repaired them over the years and made them even stronger. His communication and surveillance gear was cutting edge technology, but when it came to walls, he was still an eighteenth century man. Not that Layla was knocking it. She’d wished more than once for a good, solid wall when she’d been fighting. The thought had her wondering idly whether Xavier had been in the military as a human. He was well-versed in military history, she knew that. And in retrospect, she knew he had a strong sense of strategy. Fortunately, that was a question she didn’t need an answer to.
Pulling out her cell, while her father talked to one of the guards, she punched Brian’s speed dial number.
“You must be really bored,” he answered this time. “Either that or you’ve forgotten how little action we see here in the vineyards.”
“No, just checking in.”
“Ah, you’re homesick, then. You miss us!” he added cheerfully.
“Don’t flatter yourself. Nothing on the horizon?”
“Nada. I’ve checked all four directions, and not a grape thief in sight. What about there?”
“They’re understaffed, though not as bad as I thought. The problem is more one of experience, and maybe a little complacence. To hear everyone tell it, they’ve barely fired their weapons except on the practice range. On the other hand, we’ve had a bit of excitement this morning. They found a dead body not far from the Fortalesa.”
Xavier: Vampires in Europe (Vampires in America Book 14) Page 8