Page 92 of Visions, Paws, and Claws

“They’re only bricks and mortar. What matters is that all those kids have a good home life and normal schooling. No indoctrination, just a solid education. Mind you, we did take the Boston kids to Croatia and vice versa. I don’t think halfthose children knew what had been going on. By all accounts, they were treated well. But try explaining why your mom and dad don’t want you to come home. And we couldn’t leave them in the same buildings. That’d be like freeing people from the concentration camps and telling them the torture would end but they still had to live there. The point I was trying to make is that there’s plenty of space at the schools to house the inmates, and they’ll be well looked after.”

“But Jake, Seth, and Jamie will be coming home with you, surely,” Doc remarked.

Horvan chuckled. “Of course they will. I like my balls where they are.”

Brick snickered. “No one who’s ever had a cat would underestimate them.” He glanced at Crank. “And what are you grinning about, you doof?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m realizing for the first time what the phrasepussywhippedreally means.” He gave Horvan an innocent gaze. “And speaking of pussies… how come you managed to hold this meeting without your mates being here?”

Horvan sighed. “I had to promise them all the facts when I got home. Well, that and copious sexual favors.” Saul let out a muffled snort, and Horvan eyed him with amusement. “Laugh it up, but your time will come. We will doanythingfor our mates, right?”

Saul glanced at Crank, and warmth flooded through him. “Yeah.”

Horvan cleared his throat. “We’re going to start moving the troops into the area on Tuesday. Time enough for several recces. Then as soon as Milo gives us the go, we’ll be in and out.”

“You know what will happen to him if they get so much as a whiff of what he’s doing, don’t you?” Eve’s face was pale beneath the tan.

Horvan’s expression grew solemn. “Yeah, we know.”

“But it won’t come to that,” Saul announced.

Crank’s eyes were warm.Yeah, talk it into existence.

Chapter Nineteen

BRICK’S KITbag sat by the bedroom door, all packed and ready for the flight the following morning.

Ready to take me a step closer to finding Seth.

“I don’t need to tell you to be careful, do I?” Aric hugged his knees, the pillows piled high behind him.

Brick glanced at him. “The same way I don’t need to tell you not to worry?”

He huffed. “I’d worry less if I was going with you. I’m not suggesting going up against the bad guys—I may only be a cat, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid—but at least I’d be at the base camp. You know, when you get back there with Seth.”

Brick sat beside him, lifted Aric into his lap, and wrapped his arms around his mate’s slim form. “Let’s get one thing straight. You arenotonly a cat, you got that? You’re smart, you’re intuitive—” He kissed Aric’s hair. “—and I know you were with me the last time in Texas, but that was different.”

“How? How was it different?”

Brick stroked his back. “We were miles from their camp. We had more guys. I knew you’d be okay. This mission? It feels way more dangerous, and I want you safe.” Aric stiffened in his arms, and Brick sighed. “I know, baby. You want to be around when we take Seth and Jake—and all the other prisoners—out of there. But we’ll be bringing them back here, I promise.”

Aric sagged against him, and Brick knew he’d seen sense. “Fine. I’ll just give up sleeping until you’re home with our mate.” He sighed. “Waiting is gonna kill me, though. I want it to be the three of us, together.”

“I know. I want that too.” Then he chuckled. “Give up sleeping? That’s supposed to make me feel guilty and change my mind? Sorry, but it ain’t gonna work. Nice try, though.” He planted another kiss on Aric’s head. “And speaking of sleep, how about we hit the sack? I’ve gotta be up awful early in the morning.”

“As long as you fall asleep holding me.”

Brick smiled. “I was gonna do that anyway.” He set an alarm on his phone, stripped down to his shorts, then climbed beneath the cool sheets.

“Wait!” Aric lurched off the bed and disappeared into their closet. He appeared a moment later, carrying a folded garment. Aric went over to Brick’s duffel, opened it, and placed the item inside.

“What are you doing? I’ve got my packing down to a fine art.”

Aric got into bed. “I wasn’t packing any of your stuff—it was mine.”

Brick arched his eyebrows. “One of your shirts wants to go to Maine? Does it need a vacation? Because I can think of far better locations.”

Aric froze, his chin held high, his eyes unusually flinty. “One of my mates is about to go in, guns blazing, to save another. Or maybe to find his body. And all the while I’ll be here, scared out of my mind, waiting to get a call from Horvan where hemighttell me neither of you will be coming home.” He was trembling. “Please, tell me what’s funny here, because I’m not getting the joke.”

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