Page 24 of Sergi
“We could have provided you office space.” Devon took a seat across from him.
Remus leaned back with his cup of tea and assessed the room. “This is an excellent library. It provides a sense of comfort even in times like these. I believe you said it was your mother’s favorite as well.”
Devon reviewed the room, remembering one of the last times he’d seen his mother in this exact spot. “She used to say she preferred the solarium. Despite her words to the contrary, she enjoyed the sunshine, always modifying the blinds for her guests’ comfort. Yet, Father and I always found her here at this table. I think she told everyone she preferred the solarium so they’d look there and why she ensured this table couldn’t be seen from the doorway. You had to have a true desire to find her.”
“Why didn’t she just keep an office in her room?”
“She did. It’s my personal office now, but, like her, I use it sparingly because I believe, as my parents did, that a House leader should always be available. She considered it true for the mistress of the House, though she saw no reason to be easily found.”
Remus chuckled. “I never met your mother, and I’m sorry I never had the opportunity.”
“She often questioned Guildford’s wisdom to reach out to the shifters, but she would have welcomed you with hospitality.”
A small smile surfaced as Remus studied his tea. “That was over a hundred years ago. It’s only been in the last few decades that partnerships between our two races have progressed so quickly.”
“Far too long in the making, and now we’re at a tipping point.”
“What if this lab doesn’t hold the secrets we believe they’re hiding?”
Devon studied the shifter. It wasn’t like him to be pessimistic. Perhaps it was nothing more than having come so far for so long, and they were now on the brink of a major discovery. Fear was a reasonable reaction, but he believed Remus’s fear came from something else. He had to be thinking of the shifters he’d sent. Could they still be alive?
Maybe fear should be riding his shoulder, too. At the moment, he was distracted with concern for his friend rather than what might or might not be in the lab.
“If they have nothing to hide, then why build an underground lab in the Carpathian Mountains? It would have cost Venizi a great deal of money for infrastructure, logistics, security, and resources. And why the unusual hidden defenses, then dart intruders rather than just kill them?”
“Do you plan on going on the recovery mission?” Remus didn’t drop his gaze with his sudden change of direction. He seemed to be testing Devon’s resolve.
He shrugged. “I only have two available cadre. Lucas is needed at Oasis.” It wasn’t much of an answer.
“You could send Bella and Jacques.”
“I am. We need strong leaders for a full infiltration. Just like you’re making a decision on whether to send Elijah and Braden.”
“You’re planning this as if it were a battle campaign.” Remus blinked, the only motion on his expressionless face. If he hadn’t been convinced how far Devon was willing to go to get to the truth, that moment had just arrived.
“That’s exactly what this is. Or, perhaps I should say the precursor. We sent scouts, and now it’s time to get them back. This is the time to discover what Venizi has been up to all these years. And if necessary, tear it all down.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
Devon glanced down at the mug. The coffee had grown cold, but he took a drink before turning to Remus. “I owe it to him.”
Remus nodded. “And I owe it to the many I’ve sent that never returned.”
Devon stared at Remus. There was no doubt of The Wolf’s conviction. There wasn’t any way he was going to sit this one out. He returned the nod.
“We leave tomorrow at midnight.”
Devon foundCressa in her room. She was sitting on the window seat looking down at the garden, which meant she was in one of her pensive moods.
“I thought you’d be sleeping.” He stepped next to her and glanced down to see what might be holding her interest. There was no one down there, just the garden, the sycamore tree, and his parents’ graves. When she didn’t respond, he gently rubbed her shoulders and waited for her to collect her thoughts.
“What do you think your father would have made of all of this?”
Her question surprised him. He could give her a flippant answer, but she was working through difficult emotions, and he wouldn’t belittle them. He scooted onto the bench behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he stared at the headstones.
“That’s difficult to say. If he’d made it home with theDe første dage,events would have played out very differently. I don’t know if he would have taken it to the Council. He might have waited for more evidence. but the science of the time wouldn’t have been able to decipher the differences in the blood. The fertility problems had only recently been confirmed. And chances are, Lorenzo could have easily found another way to kill them.”
“It’s weird how fate plays a hand in everything. He provided the first lead, but so many other things had to happen to get where we are today.”
