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Like every other time, he had no warning in either direction.

He had no idea he had gone until he’d already come back.

Nick’s mind was now shifting channels while he was wide awake––without warning, seemingly without any specific trigger, which was a bit worrisome, frankly. He’d just been sitting there, hadn’t he? He’d been listening to them talk about strategy, about how they’d divide up the group once the first part got completed, assuming it all went well.

Fuck, he hoped he didn’t do that during the operation.

If hediddo that out in the field, it would be a serious fucking problem.

It wasn’t even solely those few seconds where Nick lost awareness of where he was.

He felt off-balance afterwards, too.

If he’d been human, he’d be breathing harder.

His heart would be thudding wildly.

He’d be disoriented.

He’d probably think he was having a full-blown panic attack.

As it was, heat filled his chest. Nick’s muscles clenched so hard, he worried about ripping open the organic bandages or seams on one of his deeper wounds.

His vision had also flooded with scarlet in that silence, making the inside of the dark vehicle even darker. His fangs had extended to their fullest extent. Both things made him hungry and aggressive, and overly aware of his own venom. That hunger and rage and aggression heated his chest so intensely, he struggled to form rational thoughts.

He’d drunk as much of the synthetic blood as he could before he left.

He’d wanted to drink from Wynter when she offered, too, but he’d begged off after thinking about it, using the excuse he’d had enough, and they had plenty of synthetic blood left. He’d reminded her that she couldn’t afford to be weak for this, not even a little bit.

And yes, those things were part of it, too, but the truth was, Nick also wasn’t sure he wanted Wynter feeling or seeing everything he experienced in there.

Things could go wrong.

Things would inevitably go off-plan, at least somewhat, no matter how careful or lucky or fast-reacting they were. Nick needed her clear, and Wynter wouldn’t be clear if something bad happened to him and she felt it.

All of that went through his mind in a flash.

Then he was remembering what he’d just seen.

He aimed his scarlet eyes at Brick.

The other vampire blinked, a mildly surprised look spreading over his face.

Even with his tinted vision and the darkness in the back of the empty supply van, Nick could see the other vampire’s face in every detail.

“Should I ask?” Brick queried, lifting an eyebrow. “You look positivelyferal,Naoko. Did I do something to offend? Because I thought you were on board with this plan.”

Nick bit his tongue.

He glanced around the back of the van, which held nine of Brick’s White Death vampires, including Zoe, along with Tai, Kit, Wynter, Malek, and Charlie.

Forrest and Morley sat shotgun, and in the driver’s seat, respectively.

Those two had positivelyinsistedon coming along, despite Nick’s protests.

Wynter, Kit, Forrest, and Morley would be a kind of secondary team on comms and computers. They’d aid with security systems, doors, access codes, blueprints, comms, and external exits as much as they could, once Kit hooked directly into the system lines housed in a box outside. They’d also monitor and report the reactions of the larger Archangel network, and let them know if anything big was coming their way.

They had two drones to aid with this, which Wynter would pilot.