Page 10 of Sergi (Of Blood & Dreams #7)

Chapter Nine

Devon hurried down the hall buttoning his shirt. He ran a hand through his tousled hair as he stormed into his office.

“Give me the basics.”

Bella glanced up from where she’d pulled a chair up to his desk to use her laptop. She pressed a button, and the display over the fireplace lit up. Jacques finished an espresso and handed it to him as he dropped onto the couch.

He took two long sips, needing the caffeine to clear the cobwebs. He’d only been down an hour when Bella alerted him of a change in their monitoring of Sergi’s team. The single red dot pulsed on the screen just south of Brasov.

Two days ago, he’d watched this same screen as two dots disappeared and another moved away from its original position. Its movement was erratic, and, at the time, what was left of his shrinking cadre had agreed that the single remaining dot was on the run.

With Sergi in Romania, Simone on a short research mission, and Lucas at Oasis, Bella and Jacques, by extension, were the only remaining cadre at the mansion. Cressa and Decker were currently taking their own well-deserved downtime.

Ever since they noted the slow movements of the dots in the general vicinity of the expected lab, which had been an indication that the team was on foot, they’d been monitoring the situation 24/7. There was no indication of who the red dots belonged to, and as worried as he was about each of his three-member team, his chest tightened at the thought Sergi might have been lost.

Decker kept Remus updated every hour, even though The Wolf had been provided his own access to monitor the team. Each team member carried a burner phone, but if they were being chased, they wouldn’t use it until they were in a secure location.

“We received a call from Rafael about ten minutes ago.”

Devon’s chest clamped tighter. “Play it back.”

After a minute, the recording started.

“This is home station. Report.” Bella’s voice answered the special line that had been established for the mission. She followed standard protocol. Under no circumstance were names or locations revealed unless necessary.

“This is Team Beta.” Rafael’s voice was calm and clear. “Target was achieved but guarded by two underground blinds. Team Alpha and Charlie were taken. I’ve been followed for the last two days but am now clear. Tails have been eliminated.”

They had decided not to identify how many team members had been sent, so if anyone was somehow listening, all they would know was that three teams had been sent and not that each team only had one member.

“Roger, Beta. Teams Alpha and Charlie are dark. I repeat, Alpha and Charlie are dark.”

A moment passed before Rafael responded. “Alpha and Charlie were taken alive. I believe they were darted. Not sure of current status.”

“What is your location?”

“Three miles south of Brasov.”

“Are you safe?”

“Yes.”

“Contact in one hour.”

The line went dead.

Bella brought her laptop over and sat in the chair next to the couch. “What do you think?”

Devon stared at the map. Rafael thought Sergi and Carlos had been taken alive, yet their responders had gone dark right after Rafael had run. The team understood the importance of delivering word back to home base. Rafael had accomplished that.

Devon gave Bella the only response he could give. “We know where the facility is. What we don’t know is why they took Sergi and Carlos alive.”

“They hoped to get intel on who sent them.” Jacques seemed assured of his response as he studied the display.

Devon nodded. “But would they need both or just one? Had the shifters Remus sent been killed or captured for some other reason?” He finished the espresso and turned to Jacques. “Can you have Cook send in coffee and something to eat? Bella, wake up Decker and Cressa.”

After they left, he pulled out his cell phone and called Remus, who answered before the first ring.

“What have you heard?” Remus’s voice was almost as neutral as Rafael’s, but Devon caught the slight edge.

“Rafael just checked in. He confirmed the location. Sergi and Carlos were taken, but we’re not sure of their status.”

“Why did it take two days to hear something?”

“Rafael has been on the run. He didn’t say how many were following, but they’ve been eliminated. We don’t have any further information, but he’ll be calling back in about forty minutes.”

“Interesting. What does Decker think?”

“He doesn’t know yet. I’ve sent someone to wake him and Cressa. They’ll be available for Rafael’s next check-in.”

“Are you recording?”

“Yes. I’ll have Bella send Rafael’s initial contact.”

“Don’t bother. I’m having my car pulled around, but I doubt I’ll make it for the next check-in.”

“I’ll notify the gate.”

When Remus hung up, Devon considered why the trackers went dead. They shouldn’t go offline if the subject were dead, which gave him hope. Had the trackers been found? If so, what made them think to look for them?

“What’s up?” Decker stormed into the room with Cressa and Bella a few steps behind. “Bella said Rafael reported in.”

Once everyone had settled and Jacques returned with two urns of coffee and a large plate of appetizers, Devon glanced at his watch. Three o’clock in the afternoon. Their personal schedules were disjointed with the constant surveillance, the guessing, and the worry.

“Bella, replay Rafael’s call.” Devon waited and watched the team as the call between Rafael and Bella plaid out. When it ended, he said, “Remus is on his way. While we wait, any thoughts on why Sergi’s and Carlos’s trackers went dark?”

“I spoke with Roxie before I crashed.” Cressa pushed back her tangled hair. The dark circles told him how worried she was for Sergi. She was concerned for the others, but she had a strange relationship with the head of his security—close at times, irritating each other the next. They held great respect for each other, tormenting aside. “We assumed the lab would be underground. It’s possible minerals in the ground could be creating interference, or the lab security is using some type of blocking technology.”

No one else had a better answer and agreed it made sense.

“So we keep monitoring.” Devon didn’t like it, but at least they had the location. The first phase was completed, but the next phase had become more difficult.

Bella changed the screen on the display to show a closeup of the location where they lost the signals, but before she could go into detail, the anticipated call came in.

Bella answered. “Home station. Report.”

“It’s Team Beta. I’m at the same location, which is secure.”

“Can you provide more intel on the target?”

“The terrain is difficult. Wild wolves, possibly shifters, are in the area, but they’re staying away. We came in from the west. A single road dead ends at a parking lot. Wide, rollup doors carved into the mountainside. One set of double doors. Nothing else outside. If there are cameras, they weren’t easy to spot in the dark. We were pulling back when two underground blinds opened up behind us. I was the farthest one back, and didn’t get a good look inside, but it appeared to be at least three vampires in the first one. I was already turning to run when the second one opened. Team Alpha and Charlie were hit with darts. Alpha signaled to run.”

“It was the correct call, Beta. We needed confirmation, and now we have it.” Bella glanced at Devon, who nodded for her to continue. “Are you injured?”

“Nothing that hasn’t already healed.”

“Can you find your way to Madrid?”

“I’m staying put.”

Bella glanced at Devon again.

With Aramburu’s assistance, Devon had arranged for a safe house in Madrid to support both phases of their mission, assuming team members could make it there. He’d also contacted Philipe Renaud, who agreed to call the Family in France for a temporary stayover. Rafael’s refusal to leave while his teammates had been captured was understandable.

“If he’s in a secure place where he can dig in for a couple of days, he can wait for us.”

“Roger, Beta. Dig in and maintain four-hour check-ins.”

“Got it. Roger out.”

The line went dead seconds before a short rap on the door drew everyone’s attention. The office door swung open, and Remus, duffel bag in one hand, stood in the doorway.

Devon glanced at the clock on the wall. Remus had made record time getting there. If he didn’t know better, he’d wonder if Remus had shifted and ran all the way. “Bella, have Greta prepare Remus a room.”

Devon wandered the hallways, searching for Remus. Greta said he’d left his room, but she didn’t know where he’d gone. Devon had just come from a shower with his mental faculties fully awake.

After the meeting, he’d followed Cressa back to her room, where she fell across the bed, eager to go back to sleep. He’d laid next to her until her eyelashes fluttered in troubled sleep. She would have to work through her emotions on her own. It wasn’t easy observing a mission without an ability to help, especially when one of their own was in peril.

Not wanting to wake her, he’d left for his room. After a twenty-minute nap followed by the shower, it was time to revise phase two.

He stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee from the ever-full urn.

Cook turned from this dinner preparations. “You have good timing. I just refreshed the coffee.” He turned back to whatever he was marinating. Devon couldn’t see what was in the pan.

“You don’t happen to know where Remus is, do you?” Devon took a long swallow and closed his eyes. He could feel the caffeine stimulating his senses. It wasn’t a physical thing but a mental one. Or perhaps both because he was fairly certain he was addicted to the stuff.

“He’s in the library.”

Devon opened his eyes and gazed at his chef. “I should probably have asked this decades ago, but how do you know everything that happens in this house?”

Cook wiped his hands on a towel and set a bowl aside before turning to Devon. His eyes were lit with humor. “I can’t tell you the number of vampires that come to the kitchen throughout the day. Something to drink, something to eat, or requesting a particular meal.” He placed a fist on his hip. “Do you think I allow anyone to leave without repaying me with information?”

Devon chuckled and shook his head before draining the cup. “And how did you know where Remus is?”

He winked. “Letty just took him a tea service.”

“Of course.”

Devon was still smiling when he strode to the library with a full mug of coffee in his hand.

Remus was in the far corner where Devon had found him once before, sitting in his mother’s favorite spot. The Wolf was reading something on his tablet. Papers were scattered around it, the tea service a few inches away. He picked up his cup, his eyes focused on the tablet as he took a sip.

“We could have provided you office space.” Devon took a seat across from him.

Remus leaned back with his cup of tea and assessed the room. “This is an excellent library. It provides a sense of comfort even in times like these. I believe you said it was your mother’s favorite as well.”

Devon reviewed the room, remembering one of the last times he’d seen his mother in this exact spot. “She used to say she preferred the solarium. Despite her words to the contrary, she enjoyed the sunshine, always modifying the blinds for her guests’ comfort. Yet, Father and I always found her here at this table. I think she told everyone she preferred the solarium so they’d look there and why she ensured this table couldn’t be seen from the doorway. You had to have a true desire to find her.”

“Why didn’t she just keep an office in her room?”

“She did. It’s my personal office now, but, like her, I use it sparingly because I believe, as my parents did, that a House leader should always be available. She considered it true for the mistress of the House, though she saw no reason to be easily found.”

Remus chuckled. “I never met your mother, and I’m sorry I never had the opportunity.”

“She often questioned Guildford’s wisdom to reach out to the shifters, but she would have welcomed you with hospitality.”

A small smile surfaced as Remus studied his tea. “That was over a hundred years ago. It’s only been in the last few decades that partnerships between our two races have progressed so quickly.”

“Far too long in the making, and now we’re at a tipping point.”

“What if this lab doesn’t hold the secrets we believe they’re hiding?”

Devon studied the shifter. It wasn’t like him to be pessimistic. Perhaps it was nothing more than having come so far for so long, and they were now on the brink of a major discovery. Fear was a reasonable reaction, but he believed Remus’s fear came from something else. He had to be thinking of the shifters he’d sent. Could they still be alive?

Maybe fear should be riding his shoulder, too. At the moment, he was distracted with concern for his friend rather than what might or might not be in the lab.

“If they have nothing to hide, then why build an underground lab in the Carpathian Mountains? It would have cost Venizi a great deal of money for infrastructure, logistics, security, and resources. And why the unusual hidden defenses, then dart intruders rather than just kill them?”

“Do you plan on going on the recovery mission?” Remus didn’t drop his gaze with his sudden change of direction. He seemed to be testing Devon’s resolve.

He shrugged. “I only have two available cadre. Lucas is needed at Oasis.” It wasn’t much of an answer.

“You could send Bella and Jacques.”

“I am. We need strong leaders for a full infiltration. Just like you’re making a decision on whether to send Elijah and Braden.”

“You’re planning this as if it were a battle campaign.” Remus blinked, the only motion on his expressionless face. If he hadn’t been convinced how far Devon was willing to go to get to the truth, that moment had just arrived.

“That’s exactly what this is. Or, perhaps I should say the precursor. We sent scouts, and now it’s time to get them back. This is the time to discover what Venizi has been up to all these years. And if necessary, tear it all down.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Devon glanced down at the mug. The coffee had grown cold, but he took a drink before turning to Remus. “I owe it to him.”

Remus nodded. “And I owe it to the many I’ve sent that never returned.”

Devon stared at Remus. There was no doubt of The Wolf’s conviction. There wasn’t any way he was going to sit this one out. He returned the nod.

“We leave tomorrow at midnight.”

Devon found Cressa in her room. She was sitting on the window seat looking down at the garden, which meant she was in one of her pensive moods.

“I thought you’d be sleeping.” He stepped next to her and glanced down to see what might be holding her interest. There was no one down there, just the garden, the sycamore tree, and his parents’ graves. When she didn’t respond, he gently rubbed her shoulders and waited for her to collect her thoughts.

“What do you think your father would have made of all of this?”

Her question surprised him. He could give her a flippant answer, but she was working through difficult emotions, and he wouldn’t belittle them. He scooted onto the bench behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he stared at the headstones.

“That’s difficult to say. If he’d made it home with the De f?rste dage, events would have played out very differently. I don’t know if he would have taken it to the Council. He might have waited for more evidence. but the science of the time wouldn’t have been able to decipher the differences in the blood. The fertility problems had only recently been confirmed. And chances are, Lorenzo could have easily found another way to kill them.”

“It’s weird how fate plays a hand in everything. He provided the first lead, but so many other things had to happen to get where we are today.”

“You mean like having a dreamwalker drop into my lap?”

She leaned into him. “He had Hamilton but not Colantha, who we needed to interpret the last half of the book.”

“You know it’s pointless to wonder about what-ifs.”

She placed a hand over his. “You’re going to Romania and leaving me here.”

At least he didn’t have to be the one to bring it up. “I need Bella and Jacques with me, and I need to know the House will be safe in my absence.”

“A duty that falls to Lyra, not me.”

“Lyra can handle the business operations, but she’ll require a strong head of security.”

“You have plenty of vampires to support that. And what about Decker?” Her tone was even, all emotions held in, but he sensed her building excitement. She hadn’t expected to be placed in charge of security.

“I have many vampires who can lead squads, but I need someone who can strategize with all our teams. Decker will provide access to the shifters and maintain stability with the rogues we currently have on staff. You also have Harlow.”

She snorted.

“We need his connection with Roxie, but he isn’t the fool he wants people to think he is. He’s a resource for you.”

Her scent changed. She was pleased.

“I still think I should be going.”

He brushed back her hair and kissed her temple. This was her last-ditch effort to appear stubbornly resistant and a little whiny. He hugged her tight. “If Venizi discovers we’ve breached the lab, he could send trouble your way. Don’t hesitate to stay in sync with Lucas. He can reach out to other Houses for support.”

She pulled away and turned to face him. Fear filled her gaze, and he couldn’t remember the last time he saw it. She didn’t show it often. Maybe it was when they were on Shadow Island surrounded by Venizi’s men with both of them too injured to fight, let alone escape. There had been dread in her gaze then, but it had been for him. That was what he saw now. Her concern wasn’t for herself or even the House, but for him.

“If they capture you…”

He placed a finger on her lips to stop her. “We have a strong team, more intel than Remus had before, and Rafael can walk us straight to the door.”

“You need to get through the door.”

He grinned. “That won’t be a problem.” When her brow lifted, he added, “We’re taking explosives.”

She snorted. “Don’t tell me. Friends in all the right places?”

“Something like that.”

He slipped off the bench, and she squealed when he picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and slapped her rump.

“Hey.” She squirmed. Not in an attempt to get down but to find a more comfortable position.

His grin widened when she punched his backside.

Before they reached the bathroom door, she tapped his ass again. “Stop. Go by the dresser.” When he turned, she said, “Not that one, the other one.”

When he noted what was on the other dresser, he laughed. He stopped long enough for her to grab the bottle of wine and two wineglasses. He was going to miss her.