The Blood Bride (Blood Secrets) (17 page)

When they reached the office space, the door dinged and opened smoothly. The anonymous metal and marble reception area that she had never liked was gone, and in its place, a cool and quiet haven. The plush carpeting in sea tones of green was welcoming and cooling. Relaxation chimes played through hidden speakers, and a young woman manned the pale wood reception desk with a welcoming smile.

“Good evening, Master Xavier.” The melodic tones almost sighed, and Hope knew that this young girl was so much more than she looked. A quick flash of teeth confirmed it for her. This woman was a vampire.

Another quick glance at the woman poured into a pale green suit reminded Hope of her current untidy state of being. At around five foot with platinum blonde hair, the only way to describe the vision was a pocket goddess. An unwanted emotion wound through Hope.

“Catriona, how is your evening going?” His words were jovial, and something nasty snaked its way through Hope. Jealousy. The hot and caustic burn filled her belly.

“It has been great. And I just got the best news. Councillor Cressida has given permission for me to change Emily. Now we can be together forever.” She grinned broadly, her pale blue eyes flashing with excitement.

“That is excellent news indeed. Any plans for when?” He leant forward, engrossed in the conversation and Hope stopped. She had it all wrong. The thought left her reeling as realisation dawned. Since when was jealousy, especially of the misplaced variety, part of her makeup?

“I was thinking perhaps when we take vacation. But, sir? I wanted to ask, is there any way Emily can move into one of the nest apartments until it happens? Now that she is officially credentialed, she is unprotected.” The words were hesitant and Hope saw Xavier smile.

“We are having a move around of the nests, so give her address and contact details to me, and I will see where we can make a spot for her.”

His grin was genuine, and he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. They obviously had a great employer and employee relationship, but right now she felt dirty and small, smiling blandly as Xavier introduced her. “Now, you don’t know Hope. She is going to be under my protection, and will be given entry privileges to my office at all times. She will require a desk in my office and a computer. Can you arrange a desktop and equipment to be brought in as soon as possible? Until then, she is going to use my laptop, and will require full tech privileges.”

“Certainly, sir. I will get onto both those jobs right away. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hope.” The words trilled with an odd hint of an accent, as her fingers flew across the keyboard, obviously attending to the requests immediately.

Hope followed Xavier down the hallway to another door. When it opened, she gasped. The office was twice as big as her father’s, located opposite, she remembered. “It has been so long since I have been here, but honestly, whoever did your refit did an amazing job. I love the colours. And Catriona at the front desk is perfect for your receptionist. It’s fantastic news about her partner, too.”

“Yes, she is perfect for the role. She’s been waiting for her partner Emily to be credentialed, but there have been ongoing issues for the last twelve months. I talked to Cressida a few weeks ago and somehow it happened.” Hope saw that he watched her. She knew what credentialed meant. ‘Authority to turn’ was the term most used within the nests.

Hope nodded absently and she looked around, taking in the workspace, desk and the expansive view.

“But enough about that. If you are tired let me know. If I can’t get out of what I am doing, I have a small bathroom and bedroom off there.” He motioned to a small door behind his desk. “If you need to rest before we leave, you can go in and sleep. And that is an order. Now come and sit down, and I will get Damon to get you something to drink. What would you prefer?”

“A coffee would be great.” She sat down opposite his desk, waiting as he hit the intercom and requested her drink. Once he finished, he fished out another list, this time one she had seen before. It contained a detailed list of apartments and a set of blueprints, showing the layout of each individual floor of the buildings, where he would need to re-house the nestlings. She grimaced at the enormity of the task. Xavier pulled the file Hope had been working on from his briefcase.

“I will need you to start ordering the beds, furniture and any other equipment for the apartments. They need to be suitable for the members of the nests we will put in each apartment.”

“Xavier? They won’t be the ones my mother was planning on.” She held her breath waiting for his reply, her stomach knotted.

“Probably not, but I want you to go through anyway. This should only be a short-term measure, but I want them comfortable for the time they are there.” He smiled, and she relaxed once more. “There are websites and phone numbers for the various suppliers we deal with, at the back of the blueprints. Get them furnished and ready for the members to move into. I would prefer by the end of the week. So, if you have to pay premium, do it. There are lists of order numbers you can use. Just jot down the companies against the items. Furnish each appropriate to whom you have allocated to each unit. If you don’t know what to do, just ask.”

He looked back to the screen, not dismissively, just letting her know that he had other tasks to complete. “I have some investments to go through and check, and reports to read. Then a couple of phone calls. A few hours should pull us up.”

As he finished, a knock on the door sounded, and within minutes, a desk, office chair, printer, computer and file trays were in place.

Hope logged onto the computer and started.

She swung her head around and was surprised to find Xavier watching her. “What’s up?”

“I was watching you work. Your concentration is amazing. But that wasn’t why you turned around, was it? Are you feeling okay?” His words were soft, and he peered at her intently.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But, as I was going through the apartment listings, there is a small, single bedroom one. Do you want me to allocate that to Emily?” He smiled and she warmed inside.

“That would be perfect in most circumstances, thank you for thinking of Catriona and Emily like that. But no, right now, I am going to have her moved into the manor. We vampires are a conservative lot, but maybe it’s time to do something about that. It is rare to find a same gender relationship, so we don’t automatically think of their needs, but times are changing.” He laughed ruefully.

“No problems. How do you want me to proceed, then?” Hope’s pen hovered over the pad she had been using for making notations.

“Hmm, maybe we had better move her stuff immediately. We can have it stored, and she can be moved into Catriona’s suite in the secured zone. How quickly do you think you could organise it?”

“Well, surmising she is available, we can have her in there tomorrow night. I can send the movers to work during the day, and have your own men move it all tomorrow night.”

“Do it. I will let Catriona know.”

 
She turned back to the screen and completed the request.

“Send me a memo and I will send it on to Catriona. You do know how to use the interoffice memo system, don’t you?”

She smiled at the expression on his face.
So it had just occurred to him, had it?
“Yes, I worked here in the last school holidays before college.” She flicked the memo across to his workstation and went back to her task.

* * * *

Tiredness dragged at her and her head throbbed viciously. Even as she fought the drag of sleep, her arm ached. But there was no way she would tell Xavier. One last page of ordering to complete, and she would quietly creep to the bathroom and wash her face. Maybe she would find some painkillers in the bathroom. She snorted silently at the ridiculous thought—painkillers in a vampire’s bathroom.

He must have seen the slump of her shoulders, or heard one of the sighs she tried to hold in, because the next thing she knew, he spun her chair around, and lifted her into his muscular arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking you home. I am finished and you, my love, look bushed.”

“But I still have…” The words trailed away and he grinned.

“Damon will finish your ordering. The billeting lists you can continue tomorrow night, and Javed will start the move for those you have finalised tonight.” His voice was firm as he carried her down the corridor. He stopped at the reception desk, briefly.

“Is Emily ready for the move?”

“Yes, Master Xavier, and the removals people are already there packing up. Thank you again so much…”

“It wasn’t me. Thank Hope here.”

Hope squirmed at the glowing look on the woman’s face.

“Thank you, Miss Hope. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.” Catriona beamed at her.

In her exhaustion, all Hope could manage was a quiet nod and a smile. She let her eyes close and her head lolled towards Xavier as they started moving again.

“The car is ready for you downstairs and Javed says he has everything under control.” Catriona’s voice washed over her as the ding of the elevator called as she drowsed in his arms.

Chapter Six

Hope slept, and Xavier concluded it was no wonder. With the changes to sleeping routines, the fright and injuries earlier and the shock of finally knowing exactly what she was, it had finally caught up. Not to mention the exertion from the night before. He grinned wolfishly, remembering her uninhibited response.

He held her close, looking down at her as the elevator came to a stop. The subtle darkening of the emerging bruise on her forehead angered him. He would need to take disciplinary action against James, but that wasn’t urgent right now.

Finding Estersham and neutralising him was.

Long strides brought him out of the elevator towards the opening doors and he could see Javed holding the car door wide. Carefully Xavier climbed in, cradling his precious cargo tightly against his chest, so she wasn’t jostled and wakened.

The door shut and he felt the motion of the car as Javed clambered in. The car engine revved and they were moving.

He watched her sleep, inhaling her subtle scent, lost in thoughts of how amazing this gentle woman was.

An explosion snared his attention. The second blast went off, making the car shudder. The intercom buzzed. Hope roused and he reached over to open the communication between himself and the front of the vehicle, pushing hair from her face as he watched her.

“What’s going on?”

“One of the cars has been…blown up, we think. The bang, then a black cloud showed at the same time as we lost it on the radar and intercom. We are taking emergency action now.” The vehicle jerked slightly, pushing them back into the seat of the car.

“What about the others? Have we lost any others?”

Another explosion had the car slewing to one side. Hope held onto to him tightly, her eyes wide with fright. He held her closely against the shuddering.

“It looks like another one is gone, Xavier. We are going to have to go to air mode. It will get us off the bridge and give us increased manoeuvrability.”

A whine rent the air, and the car jerked again. The forces pushed him farther back into the seat as they rose in the air.

He looked out of the darkened window. Two smoking hulks littered the bridge below, flames licking at the carcasses. Then the vehicle banked sharply. He swore savagely, gripping the door handle. Someone would pay dearly for this.

“Get into the seatbelt, Hope, then hang on.” He growled the words, and dropped the screen between them and the front of the car.

She scrabbled at the belt, white-faced, and the rapid bumping of her heartbeat told him she had a fair idea about what had happened. He released the intercom button.

“Xavier? I have called for back-up. Two more cars are en route and I have requested air support from the government. They are scrambling the mini-jets right now. Their ETA is about three minutes.” The whining of engines made it hard to hear.

Another loud bang reverberated from below. Something whizzed past the conveyance, as his anger roiled in his gut like an angry pot. It licked and burned, and he had to fight to suppress the urge to attack. He had Hope in the car and her safety was paramount. Nothing would happen to her. He wouldn’t let it.

He watched as the driver and Javed quickly conferred, the sound of screaming engines making it almost impossible for him to hear, even with his vastly superior auditory skills.

Another bang and they banked again. Javed turned back to him, his eyes wide. “We need to get down. Our stabilisers are damaged, but Christophe thinks he can get us down closer to the centre of the city. Hang tight. It’s going to be close, he says.” The car grew sluggish under the constant onslaught.

The vehicle dodged and wove up and down. As they got closer to the city, the weaving seemed to settle a little. They dropped slowly, but the vehicle was badly damaged. Smoke now invaded the passenger area.

He was aware of Hope, quiet but obviously terrified, and he pulled her tight against him, while she twined her fingers with his, seeking comfort.

Her human frame was infinitely more fragile than his, and he kept her close by his side, in case he needed to act as a buffer between Hope and a hard landing.