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Hang on,I told Joey fiercely.Help is coming.You just have to hang on a little longer.
I hurried along the cliff until I was practically running. The guard, of course, easily kept up with me.
The path turned inland. A short while later it ended at a quiet pond nestled in a shady woods of maples and oaks. I sat on a bench by the pond, watching the wood ducks paddle in circles.
Trying not to think. Trying to just be.
My guard stood ten yards away. I pretended to ignore him, but even though he was quiet as a cat, it didn’t work. I was too aware of him watching me.
With a sigh, I got up. “Can you show me the swimming pool?”
“Of course. You passed it on the way here.” He led the way back to where the pool was concealed in a stand of trees overlooking the ocean.
When the guard tried to follow me inside the black steel fence, I sucked a breath through my teeth and spun to face him. “What’s your name, anyway?”
He blinked twice, the only sign I’d startled him. “Paco.”
“Camila.” I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you, Paco.”
His brows climbed toward his hairline. He looked at my hand like it was a concealed weapon, but shook it. “Nice to meet you, Miss Camila.”
“Well, Paco,” I said. “You think you could wait out here? I promise, I won’t scale the fence and escape.”
He hesitated, then inclined his head. “As you wish. I’ll be right here.” He faded into the trees just outside the gate.
I heaved a breath, and headed inside.
Like everything else about the beach house, the pool was one of a kind. Four different pools had been carved out and connected to look like a waterfall spilling down the hill, with each pool pouring into the one below, ending in an infinity pool that jutted out over the Atlantic. Drought-tolerant plants like yucca, purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan and spiky Russian sage were arranged in colorful drifts around the teak furniture, and a cabana at one end held everything from towels to cold drinks. There was even a bookcase stuffed with paperbacks and magazines.
True to his word, Paco left me to enjoy the pools alone. I swam laps in the infinity pool until my muscles screamed for mercy, and then slathered on suntan lotion and stretched out on a chaise lounge with a stack of magazines.
I flipped through a garden magazine, but for once, even flower porn couldn’t distract me, although an article about a lush Savannah estate came close.
I knew the books wouldn’t be much better. I set the magazine on my stomach and stared up at the sky.
If Gabriel had wanted to torture me, he couldn’t have picked a better way. I would’ve done almost anything rather than stay behind, worrying that this was the day Andre would make his move.
I told myself Gabriel could take care of himself. He’d been trained by vampires, for God’s sake. And I’d seen for myself how good his security was—and that was just the visible security.
But these are vampires. They’re faster, more powerful, than dhampirs.
God, I missed my blade. I could live without a phone, but my hand literally itched for the knife’s comforting weight.
I tossed the magazine to the concrete and jumped back into the pool.
Dinnertime came. I showered and then dressed in one of my new summer dresses before heading for the dining room.
This time, I had company; the two dhampirs who had been on duty that day, and Lougenia herself, who after cooking dinner, was off for the rest of the night, although she couldn’t help directing the twenty-something woman who had taken over for her in the kitchen.
Lougenia had us all laughing about things she’d gotten up to as a girl in New Orleans. It turned out that she’d known Gabriel as a baby—her mom had worked for his mother’s family, and the Krals had been frequent visitors to Rosemarie’s parents’ home in the French Quarter.
I egged her on, eager to hear about Gabriel’s life as a kid. It was no surprise to hear he’d been very much the big brother: responsible, disciplined and very protective of his two younger brothers.
“He’d even take punishments for them,” she added. “But in return, he expected their loyalty, and they gave it to him. He’s a natural born leader. Not that he couldn’t be a devil sometimes.”
I blinked. “Gabriel?”
The older woman’s dark eyes crinkled around the edges. “Oh, yes. It’s the quiet ones you have to watch. Not that he was bad—he never hurt anybody with his tricks. Still, there were times he was the despair of his mama. She worried that he’d never be—.” Lougenia shot a look at the two dhampirs and halted. “’Course, you’d never know it now,” she smoothly continued. “M’sieur Gabriel works hard enough for five men. And he’s so good with his mama—calls her almost every day.”
