Page 22

brAYDEN

“ H e’s not here,” Kurt said through the speakerphone.

Craig cursed, pushed out of his seat, and paced in front of Brayden’s desk. He rarely used this office, but the teams were broken up running multiple operations and he wanted to be able to hear the Project Shadow team, who were still in Russia.

“If Mikhailov’s not in St. Petersburg, then where the hell is he?” Brayden growled.

A woman cried in the background, and he immediately recognized her voice.

Craig’s eyes met his. “Elizabeth.”

“Fuck, he didn’t tell her where he went.” They heard Mack say. “Smart. But annoying.”

After the Russian’s experience in Seattle, Bray wasn’t surprised that Nikolay wasn’t telling his wife anything. It made her vulnerable. It could also make her dead, too.

Killing a pregnant woman was going too far...then again, they had a fucking race to save.

“We waited twenty-four hours and had to infiltrate,” Kurt shared. “Looks like he’s kept his destination top secret.”

Which meant the mob boss was up to no good.

Brayden rubbed his forehead, thinking, and a range of fucks, shits, and motherfuckers escaped his lips.

“Wipe her memory. Sit back and monitor.” Craig told the team, and Brayden nodded unnecessarily.

The commander didn’t need his approval. Most of the time they were on the same page...even when Craig wanted to blow everything up.

Brayden had to pretend to disagree.

The team went silent for a minute, then Kurt came back on the line. “We need to source some blood as we came in light, so we will break up. I’ll find a location to set up surveillance while some of the boys get us some dinner.”

Craig leaned his hands on the back of the chair in front of the desk, the sleeves of his black Moretti T-shirt rolled up.

They were all on edge.

The longer the Russian remained alive, the greater the risk to all of them.

Disappearing and not telling his wife where he was going was a major red flag. Either he thought it would keep her safe or didn’t care. What a dick the guy was.

Brayden was having a tough time remaining the good guy here. They were at war. At which point did they have to play dirty? Could he live with himself if he gave an order to harm an unborn child?

His fury rose at being put in this position.

Didn’t the fucking human realize it was his job to protect his family?

His patience snapped.

“Fuck surveillance. You aren’t there to gather intel. The moment you see him, kill the cunt.” Brayden growled. “Then destroy all the information as per the mission.”

“Yes sir. We’re clear on our mission, captain,” Kurt said, and Brayden propped his hands on his hips and nodded, even though they were just on audio.

“Update me every hour.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ending the call with a punch on the screen, he glanced at his best friend and shook his head.

“Give them twenty-four hours,” Craig eventually said, looking as uncertain as he was.

They had a couple of low-level soldiers on the ground in Russia, but none that could add any support to the Project Shadow team. They’d all known this was a risky operation.

All they could do was wait and hope the Russian mob boss was off fucking chicks in Norway or something.

It was unlikely.

They had successfully shut down his US operations and if Brayden was him—and thank fuck he wasn’t—he’d be looking for new partners or another opportunity. The serum was the death card for the vampire race.

And Nikolay was nowhere to be fucking found.

“Prepare to evacuate the family,” Brayden said. “I know we agreed not to, but we need to get the king, queen, and heir to Italy. To the safe house.”

Craig nodded. “Yeah, I was going to mention it. Who are we sending?”

Brayden stood and walked to the window. Willow and Isabella had to stay with him. They couldn’t be separated. She wouldn’t allow it, and his senses were screaming shit was about to get really bad, so he wasn’t sending them away.

If they were going to die, they would die together with him fighting until his last breath.

“And Ari,” Brayden added and then sighed. “As the last original, he needs to go.”

Now that would be a fight. His uncle was a warrior and would argue passionately about staying here. But the argument was that Vincent needed his protection. Hopefully, he’d see sense in that.

“Okay.” Craig’s tone was heavy with emotion, which was rare for the guy, making the hair on Brayden’s neck stand up.

“Jesus how did we let this happen?” he said, turning.

Craig shook his head. “It was inevitable, you know that.”

“Still. We should’ve killed Xander in the early days, and this wouldn’t have happened.”

“I’ve always said we needed more bazookas.”

Brayden let out a dry laugh, then sobered. “Was it inevitable or did we fuck up, Craig?”

The two powerful vampires stared at one another for a long moment. The weight of responsibility weighing heavily on their shoulders.

“It’s both. Vincent wanted to be diplomatic, and I get it, but sometimes people have to die to save the many. We should have fought louder. I should have.”

Brayden sighed, his head dropping. He didn’t fault Vincent, but Craig was right. All their decisions had led to this point, so they were all responsible.

His father and grandfather had protected the race for over fifteen hundred years. This wasn’t ending with him.

“Then we fix this,” he said firmly as he lifted his face.

“That’s more like it.” Craig grinned. “With bazookas, right?”

“With whatever it takes.”