Page 70 of Sergi
He looked at Cadfael, who, along with Carlos, was already issuing commands to other shifters.
Cadfael turned to him. “It’s time for you to get to the back door. Your House leader might attempt an approach from that side if he sees your signal. There are no roads, and the terrain is difficult. It will take longer for them to arrive.”
Sergi shook his head and couldn’t help but give the shifter a wicked grin. “Coming through the back door isn’t Devon’s usualstyle. Besides, as I’ve already told you, my mission isn’t complete without finding evidence for the Council.” He hesitated, then added, “And Alex is still missing. I can’t leave without getting her to safety.”
Cadfael’s face was grim. “They’ll have guards positioned at the stairs and elevators, just like us.”
“We can use the air vents,” Carlos suggested. When Sergi and Cadfael looked at him, he shrugged, but his cheeks reddened, and he shrugged. “I watch a lot of movies.”
“You’ll want to find an air vent in the guards’ quarters. You’ll be closer to the labs,” Cadfael offered.
“What about the director’s office?” Sergi asked.
“Try a vent near the guards’ community room. That should get you close.”
Sergi nodded. “Alright.” He started to walk away.
Cadfael touched his arm. “We’ll need a sign that it’s you coming back down the vent.”
“Trust me. You’ll know it’s me.”
Carlos waved to one of the shifters, who moved through the handful of others with an armored vest, an automatic weapon, and a handgun. “These won’t protect you from tranquilizer darts, but my guess is you’ll run into some guards walking the halls.”
Sergi put on the vest without question but refused the weapons. He tapped the daggers tucked inside his harness. “I expect the guards have relied on their weapons for too long. I’ll be fine with my daggers.”
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d gotten through a group of vampires, and while he suspected most had some martial arts training, he didn’t think they’d be as skilled as he was. Except for one. One he hoped to find during his collection of evidence.
Before leaving, he gave Carlos one order. “If I’m not back in one hour, you’ll need to use the back door. You won’t have to gofar, but I suggest staying outside for at least thirty minutes. Bella should pick up your signal by then.”
Carlos nodded. “Agreed.”
With a quick nod to Cadfael, Sergi turned and ran for the guards’ common room.
When he arrived, there were several shifters inside, and they’d divided the room between a break room and a makeshift medical unit. A couple wolves had been injured fighting the guards who’d been on this level. He ignored them as he studied the vent in the middle of the ceiling.
When he began moving a table underneath it, a shifter stopped him.
“What are you doing, vampire?” The shifter was tall and, if he had to guess, had once been a large, muscular male, but he’d been here for some time, and most of his muscle mass was gone. It was a wonder that any of them could still shift.
“I’m going up to level one.” He didn’t want to get into this conversation.
“We need Cadfael’s approval first.”
“I just left him at the main staircase, and we agreed on the plan. I’m not going to waste time explaining it to you.”
“How do we know you’re not joining their forces?”
“Would it matter? What can I tell them? How many shifters are down here? How many are building defenses? Don’t you think they’d already know that?”
“You’re the prisoner from level three,” another shifter said.
He nodded. “Would it help if I said I was going up to search for Alex?” When they stared at him without recognition, he shook his head. “You might know her as shifter S-473.”
Not all recognized her given number, but several did. A female shifter pushed through the men. “How do you know S-473?”
She looked in bad shape. Her eyes were hollowed out, and he didn’t have to question the torment she’d lived through.
“She’s the one who released me.”
