Page 99 of Brushed By Moonlight

I growled at Roux. “I’m with security — or else.”

Roux rolled his eyes and went on. “Gordon got his hands on the plans of Baumann’s estate.” He tapped a few keys on his phone, and our devices pinged with the message. “We need to work out how to secure the target, what extraction route to take, contingency plans…”

He went on for a while, and we listened attentively — a sign that everyone appreciated the risks. If things went south, Gordon wouldn’t rush to our rescue, and Baumann had a reputation for shooting to kill.

I looked at Mina, desperate to keep her out of this. But something about that painting had lit a spark in her — a spark bright enough for her to ignore all the warning signs flashingDanger! Danger!

It was just a painting, dammit.

Or was it? I hadn’t put it all together yet, but there was definitely more there, considering her love of art, the notes in the art book she’d shown us, the references to her father…

Roux fielded a few questions, then assigned tasks. “Bene and Marius — time to reconnoiter. I want everything you can geton Baumann’s estate and on Dobrov, the art dealer. Henrik, do whatever it takes to flesh out your cover story. You’ll need IDs, credit cards, cash, accounts that look real…the usual.”

Mina’s jaw dropped, and my gut did too. It wasn’t just her rosy view of her godfather that was being pulverized. It was her view of us, what we did, and how we did it.

Even worse, her view ofme.

But that was for the best, right? The sooner she realized she was better off without me… Well, the better off she would be.

“I’ll stay here to iron out loose ends and coordinate,” Roux finished.

Mina frowned. “What about me?”

What about you?Roux’s furrowed brow asked.

Mina’s eyes glowed in anger. And not just a little glimmer — a full-on blaze. Her supernatural ancestry was much closer to the surface than I’d realized. Maybe closer than she realized too.

Roux flapped a hand. “You’re going shopping with Delphine.”

“Shopping?”

Everyone winced at her shrill tone.

“Shopping.” Roux handed over a credit card — as if he hadn’t already offended her. “You need to look the part for tonight.”

Some women might jump at their chance for aPretty Woman-style shopping spree. But Roux would have been better off handing Mina a discount card to a home improvement center.

Bene patted her hand. “Hey, I’m on catering. We all have to make our sacrifices.”

Mina pinned him with a cold, hard glare, then snatched the credit card out of Roux’s hand.

“Fine. But I’m doing it for the art, not for the client.”

Don’t blame us. Blame Gordon,I burned to say. But Mina must have been making me into a better man, because itoccurred to me that whatever Gordon was guilty of, I was guilty too, simply for getting myself into this mess.

So, get yourself out,my dragon grumbled.

Easier said than done, especially if the goal was to win over Mina.

A challenge I considered all day while carrying out my assignment. That meant scoping out Baumann’s estate from aloft, then joining Bene at the airport to tail the art dealer after his jet touched down on Mallorca.

I borrowed a page from Mina’s playbook, however, in thinking for myself while I did all that. Who was Gordon’s client, the person behind all this? Why did he — or she — want that particular painting? Or was the painting secondary to some second, hidden agenda, like satisfying a vendetta against Baumann or Dobrov? Worse, was the entire operation some kind of setup?

Many questions, no answers. But one thing was for sure. I was more invested in this mission than I’d been in anything for a long, long time. Which was kind of ironic since the only thing at stake was art, not military secrets or millions of dollars.

Art and Mina,my dragon insisted.

The day passed quickly, with multiple trips between Baumann’s estate, Dobrov’s hotel, and all potential routing options. Before I knew it, my phone pinged with Roux’s reminder to return to our base for a final operations briefing.