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Once we are past the protective wards, it’s time for Blaze and Felix to do their part.

Both of them freeze and close their eyes, using their senses to assess if Ryan is here or not. Both smell and hearing will help them determine how we proceed. If Ryan isn’t here, we start searching the house. Once it’s clear, we can call Anna in.

If Ryan is here, we quickly and quietly move to his location to trap him before he hears us.

“His scent is faded, at least a couple hours old,” Felix says, disappointed.

We all wanted to hand him to Anna in a big red bow. I can picture her shinning smile as she adores me.

“Let’s stay sharp, just in case. Search the house for clues and make sure there’s nothing dangerous. Don’t forget vampires can be tricky,” Aksel commands.

“After that, we call Anna in,” I say, voice firm.

I’m not leaving her out of this a second longer than she needs to be.

Aksel rolls his eyes. “Yes, then we bring the girl in.”

We start searching the building, combing through each room carefully before moving to the next. This one is clearly recently lived in. There’s evidence everywhere of habitation.

“He’s been here recently,” I whisper.

“That’s a good sign. It means this isn’t a dead end for us,” Blaze says.

“At least we will have something to tell Anna,” Felix says.

“It’s better than nothing,” Blaze agrees.

This guy hoards books like he’s the last library on earth. One person should not have sole access to this much information.

“Do you three ever think about anything other than Anna? We are on a mission,” Aksel says.

“She’s my mate. I have an excuse. Plus, Griffyn and her are involved,” Felix says as he riffles through a book that was left open, “We should set a trap, so we know when he comes back.”

“We don’t have what we need for that, but we can always come back,” Aksel tells him, ignoring the part about me and mates.

But I don’t. “You’re really okay with her and I?”

We’ve finished downstairs when we find a stairway going up. From the outside, it was obvious this place had a lot of levels.

The team goes up.

“Yeah Griff. As long as you treat her right, I’m okay with it,” Felix says.

Up ahead are huge, ornate double doors. We all move towards them. Aksel swings them both open, and we step inside what looks like a bedroom without a bed. Instead, there’s a coffin standing up in the corner.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell Felix that she’s my mate too but both Felix and Blaze freeze. Felix turns to look at us with wide eyes and a warning on his lips, but it’s too late.

The door to the coffin swings open, revealing a pale Ryan with bright red eyes.

He’s here. He’s fucking here and we had no idea. We were distracted.

He snarls, showing us his sharp fangs as he steps out.

The four of us take slow steps toward him, trying to be subtle, but it doesn’t matter.

“I should rip you to shreds for bothering me here, but I haven’t fed recently so today, you live. Tomorrow, I come for you.”

Before I can comment or even blink, he’s zipped across the room with his vampire speed. He grabs something off the table.

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