Page 7 of Sergi (Of Blood & Dreams #7)
Chapter Six
Sergi, a backpack slung over his shoulder, exited the plane and strode up the jetway into the Bucharest airport. He didn’t stop to wait for Carlos. Rafael, who was first off the plane, hadn’t waited either.
They would meet at the hotel. Three big men in dark clothing traveling together would draw eyes. If there were vampires in the airport monitoring arrivals, he and Rafael could blend more easily among the humans if they weren’t together.
Carlos was the safest of the group. He was a rogue and, like Decker, kept in contact with Remus. He was eager to do his part, knowing that if Venizi took control of the Council, shifters’ freedoms could be in jeopardy, and rogues would be the most vulnerable without protection from a pack.
Since Carlos would be the least noticeable, his first task was to rent a vehicle. Rafael grabbed the hotel shuttle while Sergi stood at the taxi stand and waited for a cab. He scratched his arm where the GPS tracker had been placed. It didn’t itch, and with his vampire blood, any evidence of a scar had been erased. He couldn’t feel it, but he knew it was there, and it was a bit unnerving.
He reminded himself it was for his team’s safety. He wasn’t sure it would be enough.
With the wait for a taxi and then the drive to the hotel, he arrived at the hotel twenty-five minutes later. It was a middle-of-the-road franchise. Nothing too fancy. Nothing subpar. Amenities included a dining room, a bar, wi-fi, and coffee pots in each room.
Each team member had their own room on different floors. His room was on the third. He placed the backpack on the dresser and removed his Dopp kit and satellite burner. He turned on the bathroom lights, scanned the accommodations, and dropped the kit on the sink.
Back in the main room, he played with the clock radio until he found a classical station and turned the volume low. He sat on the end of the bed and sent two texts with his room number and a time. Then he laid back, his feet still on the floor, as he stared at the ceiling. He slept for one hour before his internal time clock, honed from centuries of battle, woke him. There was a menu in one of the dresser drawers, and he placed an order with room service before settling into a chair at the small table.
He stared out the window while he waited.
It was moments like this that he wished he could meditate. Simone had sat with him numerous times, always providing a single candle for focus. Try as he might, his mind never calmed. She’d claimed he was too impatient, and then they would laugh since she was no more patient than him. The last time they’d practiced together, she had tapped his knee and gave him one last suggestion.
“Don’t force it. If all this does is help organize your thoughts, consider it a success.”
Her advice had been sound, and he followed it now, allowing his mind to wander through his past. His first memories were always of battles. It didn’t matter if they’d won or lost. He thought of the vampires he’d fought with—those he’d lost contact with and those who had died on the field.
He grinned when he remembered the foolish raids he and Devon performed on their own. Those times had brought the most joy in his life. The raids were spontaneous, often after too many mugs of ale or wine, yet they rarely got caught and, even then, managed to escape. Back then, they thought they owned the world.
The minute he’d read the words Carpathian Mountains in Jasper’s journal, he’d anticipated this day. He took the assignment, volunteering before Devon ordered him. If he didn’t return, he didn’t want it to be on Devon’s shoulders. His friend would still consider it his fault, but with time, Devon would come to realize this mission had been his choice. No one had a better chance. Even then, his gut told him this mission would be different. Regardless of how well he knew Romania, the Carpathian Mountains, or Venizi—his greatest adversary—if he found the lab and walked away, he wouldn’t be the same vampire.
If he walked away.
The knock at the door broke his reverie, and he looked through the peephole to find a male with his room service order. After the attendant placed the trays on the table, Sergi handed him a tip. Rafael and Carlos would be there soon, but he didn’t wait to open the bottle of Scotch.
He’d finished his first drink when the second anticipated knock came.
Rafael strode in and immediately went to the bar before grabbing a vegetarian sandwich. “I walked the perimeter of the hotel and spent an hour in the bar. If there are any vampires close, they’re in a car, though I didn’t see anything suspicious.”
Sergi wasn’t surprised. “There aren’t many strong Houses in Romania. Not anymore. The few that are left support Venizi, but I doubt they have the numbers to patrol all the transportation sites.”
“That will most likely change the closer we get to our target.” Rafael finished the sandwich and swallowed it down with Scotch.
Before Sergi could agree with Rafael’s statement, the last expected knock came.
Carlos’s hair was still damp from a shower, and he followed Rafael’s path to the bar and then the food, selecting two roast beef sandwiches. “The SUV is clean of tracking devices. I expect we’ll have more eyes on us once we get to Brasov.”
“We should pick up the supplies we need before leaving Bucharest.” Sergi wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible. Even a store run could be noticeable in Brasov.
“Agreed.” Carlos devoured the sandwiches. Then he attacked the potato salad while Rafael picked at the chips. “According to the barmaid, there’s a mountain supply store next to a supermarket on the edge of town. It’s in the opposite direction of where we need to go, but that’s probably a good thing.”
Sergi strode to his backpack and pulled out several items. One was a map of Romania. They continued to eat, storing up energy as they reviewed the map.
Carlos tapped a spot. “This is the last place Remus heard from his teams before they went silent.”
They all knew this. The mission had been reviewed multiple times before leaving Santiga Bay, but they went through the plan again. Then, they turned their attention to the printed satellite maps of their specific region of interest. These maps reflected roads not found on the commercial ones.
“A lab facility would require at least one road for supplies and general access for staff.” Rafael ran his finger along one such road. “Most of the area is heavily forested, and there could be roads hidden beneath the dense foliage, unseen by any satellite.”
Their job would be to find that single road that led to the spot where the shifters had disappeared. They would be hiking through miles of rugged terrain. It was the beginning of fall, and while the snow would be in the higher elevations, it would be cold. They would be fine, but Carlos would feel it the most.
Sergi glanced at the spot where the shifters had disappeared. He tapped the map. “There are a handful of villages around this area. We’ll focus on the roads from these three hamlets and see if any lead toward the general area of the missing shifters.”
When the other two nodded, they fell into general conversation, more eating, and even more drinking.
After they finished off the Scotch, Carlos and Rafael left for their rooms. When Sergi dropped into bed, that earlier doubt wouldn’t go away. Instead of fighting it, he let it sink in and become part of him. It was better to know your enemy before a battle, even the internal ones.
Once they collected supplies in Bucharest, they packed into a dark, older model, nondescript SUV. The drive to Brasov took three hours, where they had agreed to stop for lunch. They drove another two hours to a remote site in a forested hillside, not too far from one of the villages. Carlos parked the SUV behind a stand of trees to keep it hidden.
Sergi laid their map on the hood of the SUV, and the three studied it and compared it to their current GPS position.
Carlos pointed to the same spot on the map he’d pointed to the day before. “This is where we received the last message from the team. Several of the teams disappeared in this area, but this location is at the base of one of the higher ridges.”
“A good place to find caves.” Rafael scratched his chin and shook his head. “And a good place for a trap.”
“I agree.” Sergi hated the position they were facing. He’d expected it. Thick forest on one side, tall cliffs on the other, and what appeared to be a single road running along the mountainside. It was one thing to be in this predicament with proper surveillance equipment and extensive intelligence.
In this instance, they were going in blind. The forest provided cover, but it also hid the enemy.
He rubbed his elbow and shrugged off the light ache. If this were any other time, he’d end the mission until he had more intel. But this wasn’t any other time. It was critical they locate the lab. They weren’t there to engage or infiltrate. They only required confirmation.
“You don’t like this.” Rafael’s tone was soft but firm.
“The conditions are in their favor.” Sergi smiled at him, but it was a grin of someone preparing for a battle they were likely to lose. “Let’s remember the goal of this mission. Locating the lab. If we run into interference, at least one of us must return to report in.” He glanced up at the sky before returning to study the map. “It’s late. Let’s get to this lower ridge.” He tapped the spot and looked at the other males, who nodded their agreement. “We’ll spend the night and then go in before dawn. It’s our only advantage.”
They took off with Sergi in the lead, Carlos behind him, and Rafael watching their backs. They walked single file, making as little noise as they could, moving slow and steady. Eight miles and four hours later, within the hilly, forested terrain, they made camp.
No fire was lit, and they ate cold rations they’d purchased in Bucharest. They ran a tarp between two trees to provide shelter from the wind and slept in cold-weather sleeping bags. Three shifts were quickly decided, allowing two to rest while one stood sentry. Before they moved out at four a.m., they stowed their packs behind rocks to be retrieved on their way back to their vehicle.
It was another five miles to their target location, and the terrain grew steeper. This time they moved faster, stopping occasionally to listen for movement. When they were two miles away, they changed their formation from single file to three abreast with no more than ten yards separating them.
They moved slower, constantly searching the dark. Being vampires and a shifter, they could see well enough to navigate their path and watch for unexpected movement.
When they were within a quarter-mile of their target, Sergi stopped, and the others grouped on either side of him. He sensed someone out there. But after a long minute of scanning the trees, he couldn’t discern any movement. The only sound was the chittering of early morning birds preparing for their day.
He didn’t like this.
He scratched the spot on his arm where the tracker rested. They’d left the burner phones with their gear. The key to the SUV was hidden under a rock near the vehicle. Nothing was being left behind that would point to their identities, and they still had an avenue of escape.
All the things the previous shifter teams would have done. Yet, they’d disappeared.
Would the GPS tracker be enough?
He shrugged off his concerns. He’d led a long life. Longer than he’d ever thought possible, considering the number of campaigns he’d seen with Devon. He rubbed the ache in his elbow that had returned that morning. It was always worse in the colder weather.
He studied his team, and they peered back for a long moment, then they both nodded. They knew the stakes. They understood the risk. They were ready.
He moved out, and the others fell alongside, staying ten yards to either side of him. This time they also remained three steps behind.
It didn’t take long before he spotted the light. He waved to the others, and they slowed but didn’t stop. The light was stationary, and his heart rate ticked up a notch.
They made it to the edge of the forest, where it opened onto a paved parking lot. A single asphalted road led off to the right that most likely changed to a well-maintained dirt road several yards down the hill. Across the parking lot, against the backdrop of a cliff were roll-up doors wide enough for two semi-trucks. A set of man-sized double doors were to the right.
Something important lay beyond those doors, hidden within the mountain. Whether it was the lab or not would require more surveillance.
Before he made the decision to back away, the sound of a spring-loaded latch caught his attention seconds before he spun around. A wide panel lifted from the surface of the forest floor, creating a doorway to an underground blind. They must have walked over unseen tripwires. Four heads lifted from beneath the door.
Vampires with rifles.
Sergi didn’t move, but he glanced at his teammates.
Another blind had sprung open to the right of the first. Another four vampires. Eight to three odds, and the enemy had rifles. Sergi and his team had their innate skills and daggers.
All three dropped to the ground when their supernatural hearing caught the click of safeties being released. When no bullets came, they scrambled toward the forest.
Sergi heard a single shot, but rather than the loud pop he expected, the only sound was a light whoosh. When Carlos went down, Sergi turned to Rafael, who had been the farthest from the blinds. He had reached the deeper protection of the forest when he turned back. Sergi was turning to run the other way when he heard the second shot, and something pierced his neck.
He reached up, expecting blood, but felt the light brush of fletching. He pulled out the dart, then gave Rafael a last glance. Their eyes met in acknowledgment. Rafael turned and ran. Three vampires climbed out of the blind in pursuit.
His last thought before he lost consciousness was that Rafael was quick, but the others knew the terrain. The odds of Rafael losing them were fifty-fifty at best. Then everything went fuzzy.
Flashes of intermittent light broke through the darkness as Sergi fought off the drug. He and Rafael had found a couple of unsuspecting blood donors before leaving Brasov, and his vampire blood dampened the effects of whatever had been in the dart, but it wasn’t easy.
Two vampires held him up by his armpits, his feet dragging behind as they made their way through a long tunnel. He fought for wakefulness if only to monitor where he was being taken, the route along the way, and anything else he could see or hear that might be useful.
There was nothing to see but rough-hewn stone walls. The only sound was the pounding of boots.
He had no sense of how far he’d been dragged before a door to his right opened, and the vampires holding him turned, shifting him sideways as they yanked him down a staircase. Bright lights and white walls greeted them at the bottom, and he was dragged across tile flooring before being turned and pulled down another staircase. Here, the light was muted, the walls once again made of stone, the air musty and cold.
With each step, it became more difficult to keep his eyes open. Random bits of information came at him.
Wooden doors.
Bars over the doors.
A soulful scream quickly silenced.
The wild smell of shifters.
Vampires.
Maybe a human.
Then the worst scents of all—fear, rage, and despair.
He lost track of the corridors as his guards turned right and then left. How they knew their way through the maze, he didn’t know. His head dropped, and he didn’t have the energy to lift it. His thoughts became murky, and he barely noticed when they stopped in front of a door.
A wooden bar was lifted, and the guards moved him through the opening. After a few steps, they released him, and he hit a hard stone floor.
When the latch was dropped back in place, Sergi let the drug take him.
The only sound was the echo of dripping water.
Then nothing at all.