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“Thanks.” He tapped his earpiece. “H, the guards are taken care of. They all came out fighting, already shifted.”

“Any casualties?” Horvan spoke in a low voice, barely above a whisper.

Brick glanced at his team. “Minor injuries, mostly inflicted by the gorillas.” He snorted. “Remind me never to piss Eve off.”

“Good work. We’re heading downstairs to the basement. Wait for us at the gate. I’ll signal if we need you.”

“Copy that.” Brick gazed at the unconscious guards. “They were good, but we were better.” He peered at Roadkill. “Sucks to be them, huh?” Brick signaled to his team. “Okay, guys. We’re on standby in case they need reinforcements.”

Except having him anywhere near Theron wasnota good idea.

HORVAN ANDAelryn paused at the door they knew led to the basement.

“H, can you come down here?” That was Saul, speaking in his normal voice. “Last door at the end of the hallway. We’ve found someone you might want to talk to.”

Bingo.

“On my way.” Horvan glanced at his team. “When we get down there, spread out. Search every room. And if you don’t find Alec down here, go search upstairs.”

They had people to find.

Horvan descended into the cool basement, following the faint murmur of voices. In the hallway, he spied the unconscious body of a man in a robe, possibly a servant who’d heard the noise. When he and Aelryn reached the heavy wooden door, Horvan went inside to find Saul and Crank standing at the end of the long room with a vaulted ceiling, exactly as Jake had described it, right down to the walled-off section made of glass, a door set into it.

Then Saul moved aside, and Horvan saw an elderly man seated in a high-backed chair, glaring at him. On the table beside him were a book and a pair of glasses, and what appeared to be a glass of milk.

So this is the leader of the Gerans.

Horvan’s skin crawled just looking at him.

“Found him asleep in his chair,” Saul muttered.

Theron fixed cold eyes on Horvan. “What are you doing in my house?”

His voice was as glacial as his gaze.

Horvan ignored him and tapped his earpiece. “Eve? Bring them in. We’re in the basement.”

“Copy that.”

He gestured to Saul and Crank. “We’ll take it from here. Go find Vic. And see if you can find Valmer Cooper.”

“Copy that.” They ran from the room.

“You are remarkably well informed,” Theron said in a dry tone.

Horvan aimed his gun at Theron. “Don’t move. Shift and I’ll put a bullet in you.”

Theron arched his eyebrows but said nothing.

Horvan gestured to the medic who’d accompanied them. “Do it.”

The medic approached Theron and removed a metal box from his backpack.

Theron stared at the syringe in the medic’s hands, then gazed at Aelryn. “Are you going to sully your hands with my execution? I’m surprised you have the stomach for it.”

Horvan frowned. “Who said anything about an execution? Is that what you think this is? Some kind of lethal injection? This is a dose of your ownmedicine, to prevent you from shifting.” He watched as the medic rolled up the sleeve of Theron’s robe, swabbed a patch of skin, then administered the injection. Theron made no movement when the needle pierced his flesh, his eyes locked on Horvan.

“Is that stare supposed to intimidate me?” Horvan chuckled. “You need to work on it.”