“Why is that?” Lana asked, probably because even her human senses were picking up on the tension in the vehicle. Maybe she hoped a woman’s touch would make it easier to extract the information. Maybe she had a point.
“My . . . that is Poncio—”
Vincent went back to gritting his teeth, wondering what he’d been thinking. It would have been so much easier to let someone else school the new vamps in the realities and protocols of life as a vampire.
“—was a specialist, someone the others called on to extract information through torture, which is something he enjoyed. The torture often lasted long after the information had been given over,” he added with no emotion. “But he needed little in the way of security. Serrana, on the other hand, is like Jerry’s Señor Camarillo, directly involved in the harvest and transport of product, which requires many armed guards.”
“How many?” Lana asked before Vincent could get to it.
“It depends on where they are in the distribution cycle, but I’ve seen him with as many as thirty men. Of course, that might have been a display for my . . . for Poncio’s benefit.”
“Will Michael have enough—” Lana started to ask.
“I told you, Michael and I alone would be enough,” Vincent interrupted, knowing he was being rude, but tired of all the second-guessing going on in his vehicle. He was far more accustomed to his word being taken as law and no one questioning whatever strategy he came up with.
Lana raised her eyebrows and returned to staring out the window.
Great. How far away was that fucking airport anyway?
Chapter Fifteen
VINCENT DIDN’T think he’d ever seen a sweeter sight than the international airport in Silao. It was still some distance from Pénjamo, but that was okay, because it was north of the city, which meant tonight he’d arrived there sooner. And that was all for the good. Besides, the only other airport in the area couldn’t handle the Gulfstream 450 that was Vincent’s only private jet. He had a couple of small prop-jets, but he rarely flew in those himself. He seldom traveled alone and so needed the larger aircraft for his various guards and staff.
He punched up Michael’s number as soon as the airport came into view.
“Sire.”
“Yo, Mikey. I’m here.” He managed to stop himself from adding a “thank God” to that statement, figuring his passengers might be offended. Not that he cared about Jerry or Salvio, but he had plans for Lana that didn’t include her being pissed off at him.
“Shall I send up a flare, my lord?” Michael asked.
“I don’t want to get arrested, asshole. Just tell me where to go.”
Michael laughed, and Vincent took a moment to be glad he was back with vampires who understood what it meant to be a vampire. He knew it wasn’t the baby vamps’ fault that they didn’t have a clue, but that didn’t make them any easier to deal with.
“Go past the main terminal. You’ll see some construction, then general aviation. It’s not a huge airport, but we’ve got a private hangar all to ourselves. I’ll be waiting outside.”
Vincent made the designated turn, but he didn’t need the directions by then. He could feel the draw of his child’s blood. His connection to Michael was stronger than any other, stronger than the tie to his own Sire, Enrique, much stronger than what he had with vampires like Jerry who were sworn to him as master, but were not vampires of his own making.
He passed the main terminal and the early-phase construction site of what the signs said would eventually be a cargo terminal. And then finally he spotted the single hangar building that was set aside for private jets. It was divided into three bays, which was far from ideal, at least for Vincent’s purposes. He much preferred a stand-alone hangar, especially if any of his people ended up spending the day here. He hoped Michael had brought along human pilots, too, just in case the decision was made to fly back in the morning instead.
Michael was standing outside, waiting for them. He waved, directing Vincent to drive right into the hangar alongside the jet.
Vincent parked where Michael indicated, switched off the ignition, and opened his door.
Michael was waiting right outside. “Sire!” he said, the formal address contradicting the big grin on his face.
“Mikey!” Vincent was equally happy to see his lieutenant. Vincent was well-liked in Hermosillo, and he knew that several of the vampires there would stand beside him in a fight . . . as long as the enemy wasn’t Enrique. But the only vampire he could trust completely to have his back was Michael, and he’d missed having that strength behind him. Vincent pulled him into a hug which ended with the two of them pounding each other on the back to assert their manliness.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said quietly, letting a bit of the seriousness of their situation seep into the pleasure of seeing each other.
“I’m glad to be here. No disrespect, Sire, but I’m looking at that guy—” He nodded at Salvio who had climbed out of the backseat and was just now coming into sight around the SUV. “—and I’m thinking I should have been here earlier.”
“I had Lana—” Vincent grinned at the speculative look Michael gave him, and finished, saying, “—but that’s Salvio, and his damage happened before I got there.”
“Lana?”
“She’s tougher than she looks. She also saved my life.”