“Is Dacian at the castle?” Stephan listened to the reply and smiled. Good. “Did you find out anything of interest about my oldest child?”

As he listened, his smile widened. “It was kind of Dacian to pass on a description of me. I’ll make sure I don’t resemble it in any way when I drop by. And he’s with a human woman. Perhaps his brother isn’t his only weakness.” That would be an unexpected perk. Yes, he could use her against Dacian.

“How about Taurin?” This reply didn’t make him smile. “When is he expected back?”

He listened to the answer. Okay, now he was pissed. “Find out. And when you do, contact me. My army’s in place.” Stephan cut the connection right in the middle of his contact’s apologies. Why was it so difficult to find competent underlings? He felt the push of his fangs. The woman in his room would pay for his bad temper.

“Everyone is safely settled at the castle, my lord.” Kevin was back.

“We got lucky.” Stephan tapped one perfectly manicured nail on the arm of his chair. “The Castle of Dark Dreams doesn’t have a great number of rooms. I was able to book fifteen of them. We have three sharing a room—two fighters and their meal. Thirty vampires should be able to take over the whole park with no trouble.”

Kevin smiled. “And of course you have your insurance policy tucked away in a sixteenth room.”

Stephan was in an expansive mood, so he smiled back. “Yes. What a marvelous surprise for Dacian and the others at the castle. If he thinks a few nonhumans can protect him, he’s sadly mistaken.” Gloating felt so good.

Kevin’s smile faltered. “Do we know anything about the other nonhumans? How powerful are they?”

Stephan waved his concerns away. “What could possibly be more powerful than our surprise package along with thirty vampires?” He didn’t wait for Kevin’s reply. “We’ll strike right before dawn when the least number of humans will be there. If we leave no witnesses, we can continue on without the city knowing there was a regime change. The Castle of Dark Dreams will be our Texas base of operation. The first of many such bases.” God, he was brilliant. And powerful. Brilliance without power was no fun at all.

“That was a great move you made, your lordship, getting everyone in without alerting anyone in the castle.”

Stephan shook his head. “Kevin, Kevin, have you learned nothing about me? I plan for everything. Humans man the check-in desk at the hotel. Our fighters simply arrived, checked in, and went directly to their rooms. They won’t come out until it’s time for the attack. Which will be as soon as I arrive.” Kevin nodded.