“We’ll make do,” came Justin’s terse reply.
“You should let me help you,” Abraham said, his voice flat. “You agreed to share information with me. I’ve shared information. You’ve withheld it. That’s not like you, Justin. I can be of help and you know it.”
Justin opened his mouth only to shut it without saying anything.
Abraham pushed his advantage. He looked back at me, then at Tate. “Three of you. You intend to do this with only three of you.”
Justin lifted a shoulder. “With the plan I have, I could do it with two, but I like to be prepared.”
Abraham lifted a brow. “A fourth would be better. I know where you’re going. Don’t be foolish.”
“I got this.” Neither of them looked at me as they argued.
That pointed avoidance had me narrowing my eyes, because I had a feeling I knew why Justin was refusing the offered help.
“We have a mutual interest.” Abraham was one stubborn son of a bitch.
“Yeah, we do.” Justin opened the door, but lingered, eying Abraham. “Look, you wanted us gone, so we’re going. But listen up, I’ve worked with too many vamps before. Once you get the man you want, you’re just as likely to bail and I plan on getting all of them out.”
“I will help you with that—you have my word.”
“Not the issue.” Justin went to climb inside.
“Justin.”
He stilled.
“Do we need another set of hands?” My own hands were slippery with sweat.
“We can handle it,” Justin said. The words were completely and utterly devoid of emotion. He didn’t sound confident but he didn’t sound doubtful. That worried me more than anything.
“That’s not what she asked,” Tate said quietly, moving to stand at my shoulder—not a place I’d ever expected her to be.
I didn’t look at her. “Yes or no, can we use more hands on this?”
Chapter Nine
My newfound sense of calm melted when I realized Abraham wasn’t going to fly the friendly skies as vampires tended to do. Nope, he was going to ride with us. In Justin’s car.
The idea of being trapped in the confines of a car with him was beyond nerve-wracking and my stomach wanted to twitch and heave. I fought to calm myself as we sped down the highway.
I’d ducked into the backseat as soon as I’d realized what he planned to do. No way did I want a vampire at my back, even one who didn’t make my skin crawl. We’d been heading north down the country highway for maybe ten minutes when a black truck drove by us, driving in the opposite direction. I couldn’t explain why, but I looked back and noted the license plates, committing them to memory.
Then there was another black truck, followed by three black sedans. There was another truck—a utility vehicle—and although we were speeding by, I sensed the presence of numerous people inside it. Curling my hands into fists, I said, “Justin…we have to move.”
“Yeah. I figured that.”
“There were twenty men in the truck,” Abraham said and I watched as he turned his head slightly, watching as the last of the cavalry drove by—three identical black vans. The tint on the windshield was so dark, I could only make out the roughest of features and there were no other windows.
“You can tell that?” I asked softly.
“Yes.” He didn’t elaborate further.
“Think that was for us?” Tate asked softly.
“I’d lay money on it.” Slumping in my seat, I continued to stare down the road.
It wouldn’t have been enough, not for me, Tate and Justin. Add Abraham into the mix—assuming he didn’t take to the skies—and the only ending wouldn’t have been a happy one. Not for us or the people we would have ended up killing.
“Think they’ll turn around and come after us?”
Justin grunted and reached out, flipping a few switches. The move from road to air was seamless and then we were wrapped in darkness as he turned off the lights. “I’m almost betting on it. But we won’t be there for them to find.”
His magic started to ripple in the air. “Is that smart?” I asked.
“Public roads and public airspace, Kit. As long as I’m using non-offensive magic, I should be cool.” Then he met my gaze. “But even if I’m not, we’re not hanging around here.”
“Talk.”
Just over an hour later, we’d reached the house Abraham had offered. We’d all had a chance to eat and change.
Tate had disappeared and I don’t know where Abraham was.
Taking the chance to corner Justin, I followed him into the room Abraham had offered him, shoving past him when he tried to shut the door.
“It’s late, Kit,” he said. “We need to rest up and get ready for tomorrow.”
“You need to tell me what’s going on—who Saul is and why you’re not explaining this job in better detail.” I punctuated the last few words by drilling my finger into his chest.
He grimaced and caught my wrist, nudging it down. “Stop trying to skewer me. And…” He stopped abruptly, heaving out a sigh. He spun around and threw his fist out, smashing it into the wall. “Fuck!”
I simply waited.
I’d known he was angry. I might have even been waiting for this.
When I smelled blood, I wasn’t surprised.
Blood was welling from his split skin as he pulled his hand back and I sighed. Turning away, I moved toward his bags and opened a small black one, rooting around until I located the first aid kit he carried.
With an ease born of practice, I pulled out the items I needed and moved back to him. “Tearing up Abraham’s place isn’t going to help you feel better,” I said quietly.
“What will?”
I looked up at him. “I don’t know.”
His eyes connected with mine. Rage and misery danced in his eyes.
He reached up and touched my cheek. “Kit…”
Oh, shit.
I caught his wrist. “Don’t,” I whispered.
His lashes swept down, shielding his eyes. A humorless smile curled his lips. “Well, it was something that would have made me feel better.”
I focused on cleaning his hand. The cut was small and shallow. Thanks to his hyped-up DNA, he’d be healed within a week, unless he decided to speed it up even more. As I finished wiping away the blood, I said softly, “It wouldn’t make you feel better. You only think it would.”
Justin pulled his hand away. There was still blood on it, but the sudden stiffness of his body kept me from arguing. “Don’t think for me, Kit. I know what I feel, what I want.”
Heat suffused my face. Awkward now, I gathered up the supplies. The things that weren’t reusable, I threw in the fireplace. Witches—and creatures like me—tended to burn anything that had body fluids on it, rather than just throw it away. Especially blood.
“Justin…”
“Kit, it’s okay. I can handle it. Just don’t tell me what I think, what I feel.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw the long line of his spine. He was facing the fireplace now, hands braced on the mantle as he bent over it, the heavy weight of his dreads falling to shield his face.
An ache settled inside me and my voice was husky as I said softly, “Okay.”
Neither of us spoke for what felt like an eternity and I was just about ready to leave when he finally turned from the fireplace and looked at me. “So.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he blew out a breath. “About the job…”
There’s only one rule. Don’t kill or cause any lasting harm.
That was what Justin had told us.
That was what was going to make this job a total bitch, although not undoable.
It required that I do something I didn’t particularly like to do in front of people, even the ones I was supposed to be working with. There was only one here that I truly trusted and my secrets were safe with him.
Tate and Abraham were a different matter entirely, but the entire plan—so simple, it just might be stupid
enough to work—depended on one of those secrets. Now, as I faded out, right in front of Tate, Abraham and Justin, I hoped I didn’t have any reason to regret this. Very few outside the aneira race knew of our ability to go invisible. It was a handy trick for a race that made a living as assassins and bounty hunters. Or, in my case, a general jack of all trades.
I’d studied the blueprints of the building, memorized hallways and corridors and then I did the same with the outbuildings.
We were going in blind—and fast. No time to prep, which meant I’d have to follow my gut once we got there. My gut said they wouldn’t be in the house, but they’d be damn close.
The most likely option was the oblong building a few hundred yards from the big house. There was a swimming pool and the rest of the space between the house and the building was open ground
No cover.
Wonderful.
I studied the map but time and again, my gaze returned to that one building. Okay, then. I’ll start there first.
Mind made, I focused on the less likely methods of departure. Hopefully, none of those would be necessary. The reason Justin and Tate were there was to provide a distraction when I was ready.
All I had to do was send a single message.
Simple.
While they watched from their position a quarter of a mile away, I moved in. I’d like it if they were closer, but the security here was tight. Cameras picked up any and all movements and until I was able to throw them offline, nobody could risk moving through the trees with me.
I had to take it slower than I liked because while the cameras wouldn’t capture me, if I broke a branch or brushed up against something, whatever I touched would be seen.
Crossing that quarter mile seemed to take hours.
My brain told me it had taken roughly fifteen minutes, even moving at what felt like a snail’s pace to me.
I reached the gate that rose up around the compound and circled slowly, looking for the best way in. The wall was ten feet high. I could climb easy but I wasn’t about to touch it. Although the security information we’d received said nothing about the gate being touch-responsive, I wasn’t taking that chance. There was a way in, though. There was always a way in.
This time, it proved to be via a tree, one with a long, heavy branch that ended just a few feet away from the gate. I spent five minutes working out the best path, one that would most likely go undetected by the watchful eye of a camera if somebody should notice a branch moving this way or that.
It put me more than fifteen feet up in the air and I stared down over into the surrounded yard.
Landscaped within an inch of its life, the nicely manicured lawn spread out in every direction with absolutely no cover. Guards patrolled the house inside that massive fence and light shown from almost every window.
And there were a lot more guards near that building that had caught my eye. Twenty of them, I thought at first glance, but there might be more.
This was listed as a private residence.
My ass.
I made the jump that took me from the tree to the ground. It would be trickier getting out, but that was just something I’d have to deal with.
Crouched in the grass, I held my breath and waited.
One guard passed by, only ten feet away—so close, I could see the lines age had carved into his face, forming grooves around his mouth and eyes. The weapon he held was one that could put very big holes in me—or anything else. It was loaded with silver.
He also had a blade more than a foot long strapped to his left thigh, set up for a cross-draw. I made out four other weapons on him before he moved out of sight.
Wonder how many of them I’d have to avoid tonight.
Between me and the house? There were six.
There were another dozen inside the house—and I had to go inside first. Disabling the cameras was vital.
That would actually be the easier task and I knew it the moment I got inside.
They hadn’t soundproofed the rooms good enough and I could already hear the faint whine electronics gave off. Humans couldn’t detect it. I’d grown used to that background noise until it was nothing more than static. Focusing on it now, I let it guide me.
The room where the security was monitored was spacious, on the lower level and done up in a way that made me think of a spaceship. Sleek and shiny and high tech.
And it was manned by all of two men.
With a pleased smile, I got to work.
Getting to that outbuilding was more problematic.
I entered the house when I slipped in behind a man who’d gone outside for his break.
I exited the same way, trailing after another guard, one who stank of tobacco and sickness. I wonder if he knew he had cancer, but I decided it wasn’t likely. It was early, just barely noticeable under the smells of smoke, sweat and everything else.
He moved off into the direction of a small grouping of chairs but paused a few feet away, turning around to study the area around him.
His gaze tripped right over me.
The odd look on his face made me uneasy—he’d sensed something. Soldiers usually had good instincts. But he was like almost everything else out there—he believed what his eyes told him and his eyes told him nothing was there.
Still, I held my breath and waited there until he had settled himself down with a cigarette in the sheltered spot I could see waiting in a pool of light. Once he was busy with his cigarette, I continued my way across the grounds.
The next objective was to learn where the NHs were being kept. They were here. The air was static with their energy and I was getting closer.
I was still several dozen yards away from the outbuilding, trying to filter a scent out past the chlorine from the pool, or a sound.
A low, powerful roar drifted through the night. It was cut off abruptly, followed by a pained whine.
And…laughter.
“Damn…she’s got tits even when she shifts! Look at the crazy-ass shit!”
Demeaning, mocking laughter.
“Nice ones, too. I wouldn’t mind having a piece…except I don’t want to turn into a damn monster.”
“Remember that wolf…”
I’d heard everything I needed to know.
In a sprint, I raced over the ground, dodging the guards, cataloging away the ones who turned their heads, almost as if they heard me. They hadn’t, but it was like the soldier from earlier. Some were just sharper than others.
When I came to a stop, my heart was racing—from anger, not from the run. Pressing my back against the wall, I eased around until I could peer inside the building.
Nothing.
I moved to the next window.
Nothing.
The next was shuttered—and barred. Barred, inside and out. I couldn’t see the bars on the inside, but through the narrow slit between the wooden shudders, I could see the thick iron.
Showtime.
I sent word to Justin, a coded message sent via the mic fixed to the inside of my vest.
And then, with one last look around, I pulled out the remote inside my back pocket.
Justin was a genius with all sorts of offensive attacks, from spells to charms to bombs.
What lay inside the security room, with all those cameras and telephones, was a mix of the mundane and the magical and once I hit the button, a slow burning fire would start.
Two minutes later and the house descended into chaos.
The explosive had been the catalyst to a powerful hallucinogenic, one of Justin’s charms. Screams started to echo from the house, and men came rushing out of the building behind me.
I eased past the one who still stood half inside the door, shouting into his radio with ever-increasing urgency.
When the screams turned to cries for help, the men shared grim looks and then the man in the door—clearly in charge—barked orders.
Nine guards went running. I’d placed myself in the corner behind the door and watched as they all came rush
ing in. Almost half of them left for the house, which left me with ten more men, including the grim one who still guarded the door, a hand on the pulse blaster at his side.
That thing wouldn’t put a hole in me, but the electric charge it put out could put a rhino on its ass.
Keeping him in my sight, I started down the hall.
Justin and Tate would be doing their thing while Abraham kept watch from the skies. Time for me to get moving.
I heard the first blast before I even made it out of the main hallway, but I didn’t turn back.
Two more guards waited at the first door—a sealed one.
With a silent swear, I moved as close as I could to study the locking mechanism.
It was a bio-lock. I didn’t see a retinal scan, but that didn’t mean much. Some of the new tech was a serious pain in the ass.
They spoke, a low, terse exchange that convinced me of a couple of things—these weren’t green recruits and they weren’t going to leave their post of their own accord.
Fine, they could leave on my accord.
Whoever ran this place liked the fancy shit even here, in their prison cum torture chamber. They had definitely been doing some torturing. The stink of burnt flesh and blood hung in the air like a bad perfume, totally out of place with the fine furnishings and the elegant painting that decorated almost the entire length of one wall.
A small, beautifully carved table rested next to the other wall and on it was a bowl of exquisite crystal. Tracing one finger along the lip of the bowl, I told myself it was for the greater good.
I still winced as I knocked it off the table and sent it flying to the floor.
I darted around the one who came over to inspect the bowl. Both of them were staring all around, eyes wide. They’d already drawn their weapons but they had nothing to aim at.
I did, though.
I wasn’t allowed to cause any harm or kill anybody.
But the dart now protruding from the guard’s neck wasn’t going to cause harm. Just heavy, crazy dreams.
I plucked the dart out before he could fall and I spun to face the other one.
He turned at the sound of his partner falling to the ground. The other dart found its home and then I was alone.
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