Page 61 of The Incubus and the Bodyguard

“Like hell you are!” Vlad snapped across the comm.

Cortes frowned at her. “That’s a bad idea.” Popo ruffled his feathers uneasily on his shoulder.

“It makes more sense tactically,” she said firmly. “I can move faster on my own.” She transmitted the thermal imaging overlaying her goggles to them and their team. “Those heat signatures are concentrated in two locations: the office block on the east side of the building and what looks like a converted storage area on the west side.”

Cortes’s mouth pressed to a thin line. “The sorcerer will be in the storage area. It’s more isolated.”

“I agree. Which means Isaacs is in the office block.” She met the Colombian’s gaze. “Between you and Vlad, you should go after him. The guy might have some magic tricks up his sleeve.” Delphine switched channels on their comm. “Team Two, what’s your status?”

“In position,” one of theBlack Devilsreplied. “We have eyes on the loading bay on the water.”

“Team Three?”

“North entrance is covered,” another voice confirmed.

She touched her earpiece again, her voice steady. “Vlad? It’s your call.”

There was a short silence.

“Is this our best strategy?” Vlad ground out.

“Yes.”

“I don’t like it.” A frustrated sigh came down the line. “But we’ll do as you say.” The incubus paused. “Del?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.”

Heat pooled in her belly at the concern in his voice.

“You too.” She drew her weapon, checked the magazine, and glanced at Cortes. “On five.”

They rose on her countdown and dashed off in opposite directions.

Delphine moved like a ghost to the edge of the property, the layout of the area and the patrolling guards clear through the crisp view of her goggles. She waited until two men passed before silently scaling the fence and slipping behind a stack of shipping containers.

The warehouse loomed ahead, its dark bulk casting deep shadows across the yard. She picked up the sound of waves lapping at the wharf beyond the building.

There was movement on her left.

Delphine dropped and pressed her back against the metal wall of a container as another patrol rounded the corner. The men were oblivious to her presence as they walked past her hiding spot, their low voices carrying clearly in the breeze coming off the water.

“—said the boss wants us ready to move at dawn.”

“Yeah, well, I ain’t looking forward to that boat ride back to Kingston.”

Delphine frowned. Navarro had been right.

Isaacs was leaving in the morning.

The guards disappeared at the far end of the container stack.

She rounded the container, tapped her goggles, and adjusted the 3D perspective of the floor plan and thermal imaging she was picking up through the warehouse walls. The storage area where she suspected Manuel was hiding showed five heat signatures. Four were moving in patrol patterns. The fifth remained stationary in what appeared to be the center of the space.

That has to be him.

Delphine scanned the yard before closing the distance to the warehouse in a low crouch. She reached the side of the building and found what she was looking for—a maintenance access ladder leading to the roof.

---