Page 23 of Sergi
Bella changed the screen on the display to show a closeup of the location where they lost the signals, but before she could go into detail, the anticipated call came in.
Bella answered. “Home station. Report.”
“It’s Team Beta. I’m at the same location, which is secure.”
“Can you provide more intel on the target?”
“The terrain is difficult. Wild wolves, possibly shifters, are in the area, but they’re staying away. We came in from the west. A single road dead ends at a parking lot. Wide, rollup doors carved into the mountainside. One set of double doors. Nothing else outside. If there are cameras, they weren’t easy to spot in the dark. We were pulling back when two underground blinds opened up behind us. I was the farthest one back, and didn’t get a good look inside, but it appeared to be at least three vampires in the first one. I was already turning to run when the second one opened. Team Alpha and Charlie were hit with darts. Alpha signaled to run.”
“It was the correct call, Beta. We needed confirmation, and now we have it.” Bella glanced at Devon, who nodded for her to continue. “Are you injured?”
“Nothing that hasn’t already healed.”
“Can you find your way to Madrid?”
“I’m staying put.”
Bella glanced at Devon again.
With Aramburu’s assistance, Devon had arranged for a safe house in Madrid to support both phases of their mission, assuming team members could make it there. He’d also contacted Philipe Renaud, who agreed to call the Family in France for a temporary stayover. Rafael’s refusal to leave while his teammates had been captured was understandable.
“If he’s in a secure place where he can dig in for a couple of days, he can wait for us.”
“Roger, Beta. Dig in and maintain four-hour check-ins.”
“Got it. Roger out.”
The line went dead seconds before a short rap on the door drew everyone’s attention. The office door swung open, and Remus, duffel bag in one hand, stood in the doorway.
Devon glanced at the clock on the wall. Remus had made record time getting there. If he didn’t know better, he’d wonder if Remus had shifted and ran all the way. “Bella, have Greta prepare Remus a room.”
Devon wandered the hallways,searching for Remus. Greta said he’d left his room, but she didn’t know where he’d gone. Devon had just come from a shower with his mental faculties fully awake.
After the meeting, he’d followed Cressa back to her room, where she fell across the bed, eager to go back to sleep. He’d laid next to her until her eyelashes fluttered in troubled sleep. She would have to work through her emotions on her own. It wasn’t easy observing a mission without an ability to help, especially when one of their own was in peril.
Not wanting to wake her, he’d left for his room. After a twenty-minute nap followed by the shower, it was time to revise phase two.
He stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee from the ever-full urn.
Cook turned from this dinner preparations. “You have good timing. I just refreshed the coffee.” He turned back to whatever he was marinating. Devon couldn’t see what was in the pan.
“You don’t happen to know where Remus is, do you?” Devon took a long swallow and closed his eyes. He could feel the caffeine stimulating his senses. It wasn’t a physical thing but a mental one. Or perhaps both because he was fairly certain he was addicted to the stuff.
“He’s in the library.”
Devon opened his eyes and gazed at his chef. “I should probably have asked this decades ago, but how do you know everything that happens in this house?”
Cook wiped his hands on a towel and set a bowl aside before turning to Devon. His eyes were lit with humor. “I can’t tell you the number of vampires that come to the kitchen throughout the day. Something to drink, something to eat, or requesting a particular meal.” He placed a fist on his hip. “Do you think I allow anyone to leave without repaying me with information?”
Devon chuckled and shook his head before draining the cup. “And how did you know where Remus is?”
He winked. “Letty just took him a tea service.”
“Of course.”
Devon was still smiling when he strode to the library with a full mug of coffee in his hand.
Remus was in the far corner where Devon had found him once before, sitting in his mother’s favorite spot. The Wolf was reading something on his tablet. Papers were scattered around it, the tea service a few inches away. He picked up his cup, his eyes focused on the tablet as he took a sip.
