I looked to Lucien. “While you deal here, can I go to Leah?”
“No,” he bit off, then looked between Abel and Callum. “Brief me later. I need to see to my bride.”
On that, with a gust of wind, he was gone.
I looked at the door that had slammed behind him, then to Sonia.
She felt my eyes, gave me hers, and they were bright.
I was right there with her.
Then suddenly, I wasn’t.
Suddenly, I was enraged.
So enraged, I tore from Abel’s hold and shrieked, “Why are we standing around? We gotta stop this shit!”
Iron arms clamped around me and I fought them even as I heard Abel order, “Go get Hook. Now.”
“Let me go,” I hissed, struggling against his hold. “We have to go get Miko. Mind-control him. Torture him. I don’t care.” I stilled and screeched, “Make him tell us everything he knows!”
“Your mate is quite the strategist,” Callum murmured. “Fancy a drive?”
I whipped around in Abel’s hold to see Callum looking at my man.
“Fuck yeah,” Abel said.
“What?” I asked.
Callum looked to Wei, Xun, and Chen. “Play backup?”
“I’m in,” Xun said immediately.
“In,” Wei grunted.
Chen looked to Abel. “You leave me outta this, I’ll never forgive you. No fucking joke.”
“You’re in,” Abel declared.
I whipped back around to Abel.
“You’re gonna go get him?” I asked.
“Keeping him in play and mining information would be preferable,” Callum answered, and I twisted to look at him. “We court The True realizing we’ve turned Patricio with some of the things we ask him to do. Miko is free to do what he wishes, but we would see it all. However, when things change, you change with them.”
“Let’s go,” Xun said impatiently.
“I’ll round up Hook and Moose,” Wei offered and didn’t wait for anyone to accept. He took off, Chen following him.
“I’ll pull together a team,” Stephanie stated and looked to Gregor. “Coming?”
Gregor nodded and they moved out.
“She does not watch that video,” Abel stated, and my attention went to him to see his on Sonia.
“She won’t, Abel,” Sonia replied.
Abel looked down at me. “I won’t be long.”
I nodded.
“Kiss,” he ordered.
I rolled up on my toes and kissed him hard.
When I was done, he lifted and pressed his lips to my forehead before he looked over it and asked, “Ready?”
“Absolutely,” Callum answered.
Abel smoothed the pad of his thumb over my jaw before he completely let me go.
Callum kissed Sonia’s nose before he let her go.
Then they were gone.
* * * * *
Yuri
Yuri sat on the couch in his suite and watched Aurora, who was sitting on the couch opposite, leaning forward toward a wide, flat bowl in front of her on the coffee table. Strewn around the bowl were a large variety of bottles, vials, and tools, all of which she’d used.
She took up the vile of Abel’s blood, unstoppered it, and poured it in the bowl.
A soft poof of gray, green, and red smoke wafted from it.
She put down the vial and looked to Yuri.
“Okay, that has to marinate for at least twenty-four hours, but thirty-six would make it stronger, which means we’d get a reading faster,” she told him.
His reply was, “Come here.”
Her head twitched before indecision marred her beautiful face. This didn’t last long and she rose, slowly making her way to him.
Her hair was in a side ponytail, the curling, waving length of it falling down the front of her becoming blouse, which fit tight to her ribs and breasts. She was also wearing a circle skirt and high-heeled, platform pumps. She’d taken off the light cardigan she’d put on after he’d taken her home to pack and get the things she needed to start the procedure for finding Abel’s brother.
He’d also taken Barb home. She was packing and moving into the other room in the suite in order for him to keep her safe as well. However, right then, she was with her witch sisters and a detail of vampire guards, taking the implements to a safe place and casting protection spells around them so no one could find them, and in the unlikely event they did, they couldn’t get to them.
Gregor did not agree with this plan. He’d wanted Yuri to be in possession of the implements so that he could hand them off to a member of The Vampire Council Gregor sent in order that The Council could secure them.
It took some doing, but Yuri impressed on his father that it would not be diplomatically prudent to take witch implements from witches the day after a vampire had massacred an entire longstanding, powerful coven.
So Barb and her colleagues were sorting that, something she’d explained would take some time in order to find the right hiding place and make the protections strong.
She didn’t expect to be back at the hotel until the next day.
Which gave Yuri plenty of time.
He tipped his head back to keep Aurora’s gaze as she approached and stopped in front of him. Only then did he lean forward and wrap his hand around hers.
“If you need thirty-six hours, my sweet,” he started quietly, “this means we have thirty-six hours to kill.”
He took in her excitement mingled with nerves with all his senses. His favorites: seeing the pulse quicken in her neck, hearing her heart beating strong but fast, and smelling the scent that was uniquely hers gather between her legs.