He lounged beside her, perfectly calm and comfortable within himself like a lean hunting cat. In the dim illumination from the dashboard, his eyes glittered, sharp with intelligence.
As she snapped on her seat belt, Diego adjusted the rearview mirror and looked into it at Xavier. “Where to?”
“Evenfall,” said Xavier.
Diego nodded, reversed the vehicle and drove to the front gates, while her gut clenched, and briefly, she closed her eyes. They were going into a stronghold filled with Vampyres, into the very heart of the Nightkind demesne. She’d been right—she wouldn’t wish this trip on her worst enemy.
Xavier’s hand closed over the fist she pressed against her thigh, and she jumped. She opened her eyes to look at him, and he gave her a sidelong, crooked smile.
“Think of something positive, querida,” he told her. “Always think of something positive. It will calm your heart rate and clear your mind.”
In the angled rearview mirror, she saw Diego give them both a sharp, frowning glance. He looked unsettled, and she wondered why.
Xavier’s grip on her fist was steady and as gentle as he always was with her. She breathed evenly, focusing on his relaxed, alert presence instead of her own jumbled mass of nerves, and rather to her own surprise, she found herself calming almost immediately.
She whispered, “You really think everything is going to be okay.”
“I really do,” he replied, just as quietly. “We can find a way to go through this and reach the other side.”
Her clenched fist unlocked, and she turned her hand over to lace her fingers through his. His crooked smile widened into real warmth. He squeezed her fingers.
They spent the rest of the twenty-minute trip in silence, until Evenfall loomed ahead of them like a hulking leviathan that had crawled out of the sea.
Soon, Diego turned off onto a narrow gravel road that brought them closer to the shoreline. They approached the castle from a wide, open area bare of trees or any other obstruction. All that was visible were tall grasses, a tumble of rocky ground and the ocean, and she felt sure none of that was by accident.
They pulled up to an anonymous-looking set of garage doors, set into the foot of the castle wall, and stopped. She had just enough time to notice the security cameras when the metal doors rose, opening like a giant mouth.
Diego drove inside, and Evenfall swallowed them whole.
FOURTEEN
Inside was an entirely normal underground parking garage. After passing a security gate, Diego drove down a ramp and into a parking space that said RESERVED.
When he cut the engine, Xavier told him, “Please take our bags to my rooms and wait there until you hear further instructions.”
Tess slipped her hand out of Xavier’s as Diego twisted in his seat to frown at both of them.
“You just want me to wait in your rooms?”
“You’re here as backup,” Xavier said. “If I need to act alone or take care of something unforeseen, you will guard Tess. We’re here to complete a task that is going to be—unpredictable. Also, if we’re here for longer than the night, I might require blood.”
Diego said, without expression, “So I’m here to act as a babysitter and a wet bar.”
Xavier’s own expression went still. With immense courtesy, he replied, “That is what I require from you at this point in time, yes.”
After a moment, Diego said, “Just checking, boss. Hey, at least it’s good to get out of the house now and then, right?”
He had lightened his tone, but his cheerfulness rang false to Tess. She put her head in her hands and rubbed aching temples. With the sure knowledge that she would be facing Malphas soon enough, she didn’t have any emotional room to spare for whatever might be bothering Diego.
Xavier touched her thigh. “Are you ready?”
No. No.
She lifted her head, straightened her shoulders and said, “Yes.”
“Come with me.”
She stepped out of the SUV as he did, and he came around to escort her through a metal reinforced security door to a concrete stairwell that soon gave way to stone walls and steps. Walking up the stairs felt like passing from the present day into a century in the far past.
“Why this?” she murmured. She had been talking to herself, but Xavier, who had taken the lead and was a step farther ahead, turned to look at her with one eyebrow raised in inquiry. She asked him, “Why a castle?”
“This demesne has a number of very old Vampyres who wield a great deal of financial and personal power. At the time, Julian and his sire, Carling, felt a structure that was so indicative of strength and age would strike the right note of authority with those Vampyres when they came to settle in California. Also, it’s highly defensible, and there are a number of interior rooms that have no windows at all. The place is riddled with halls and private passages, so it can be a bit confusing until you get used to it. I suggest you do not get lost or wander off on your own.”