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“If I lay down my life to protect those I call my own, then I do it willingly.” Stepping into her personal space, the wolf in Riaz required her subservience. The fact that she wasn’t one of his pack was irrelevant. “Can you honestly admit you’d do something different if those of your House were on the line? Your sire?”
Holding eye contact, Riaz saw the flicker of doubt that crossed her mind. The vampire didn’t concede submission, just raised her chin in defiance instead.
“So, where are we stealing the glitzy gowns from?”
His wolf sharpened his claws. “Hell no.”
“After your whole ‘I am alpha, hear me roar’—eh, howl—tirade?” Quirking an eyebrow, Cortana’s hands went to the dagger holstered on her hip. “In what world does the Big Bad Werewolf get to play and I don’t?”
“Do you ever do as you’re told?”
Cortana didn’t miss a beat. “Do you ever stop telling people what to do?”
Riaz barked a laugh. “Perk of the whole alpha thing.” Glancing over his shoulder, he tossed his next words at his bemused betas. “We’re leaving. We’ll send passenger pigeons if we’re in trouble.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
White moonlight filtered through the sparsely-leafed trees, illuminating their path toward the manufacturing plant. The sun would rise in less than two hours, but Cortana had enough wherewithal that she could withstand the dead pull of sleep should she have to. At least for a little while.
Her attention was focused on maintaining their stealth. Riaz, for all his muscle and brawn, was surprisingly quiet, moving through the brush like the stealth predator he was.
She couldn’t help but admire the curve of his rear, the generous biceps that peeked out from a black tee. Beneath the shirt, she knew his broad shoulders were delectably bitable, and she wanted nothing more.
Her fangs lengthened involuntarily, pricking her tongue as she traced the familiar point. Riaz was a problem for her; she could admit it.
Fisting a hand above his shoulder to signal a stop, Riaz motioned with two fingers toward the incoming guard. One Cortana hadn’t even noticed during her moments of infatuation with the werewolf’s form. Flattening to the ground behind a choke of bushes, they listened as the guard moved away, none the wiser.
Ahead of her, Riaz tilted his chin up to gauge the height of the chain-link fence made of barbed wire. When she nodded in answer to his unspoken question seconds later, the pair of them vaulted over the fence soundlessly, landing without fanfare on the other side.
Sprinting in tandem, they rushed toward the brick building, flattening their backs against the wall. One breath, two, then they were sneaking toward the external door.
Fortunately, it was unlocked—careless—and the duo slipped inside without being spotted. Cortana followed the wolf’s lead, shadowing him as they moved like a unit through the nearly abandoned warehouse.
A guard whistled loudly on the other side of the building, swinging a baton in a way that indicated he didn’t know how to use one in tune with his offkey rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In.
Scoffing internally at the ridiculousness of it, she tapped Riaz’s shoulder to notify him it was safe to continue toward where the furnace would most likely be housed. Avoiding the guard, they opened the door, pausing momentarily when it creaked in announcement.
And it was settled: the guard was the most inept hired hand in the known universe.
Dark, dreary, and smelling of musty basements, the furnace sat idle as they entered the room. Clearly ancient, rust corroded several sides, and a smattering of mold spots dappled the floor around it.
Screwing up her nose, Cortana gagged.
While it was still summer outside, the furnace’s ductwork looked to be heating several manufacturing lines within the plant. It was being used to warm—or heat—either colloidal silver or liquid sunlight, and both were equally repugnant to her.
Regardless of her reaction, she got to work identifying the system and taking notes of the weak spots, where the system looked decrepit or hazardous. It’d be easy to make this look like an accident—the machine was on its last legs.
Riaz pulled his phone from a zipped pocket, snapping a few pictures from various locations throughout the room. A minute in, the archaic contraption chugged to a start, powering up to blast heat in the manufacturing rooms. She made the best use of this time, opening the rusty side panel on the unit to confirm what she’d already noted.
With a lopsided grin, the wolf nodded back to Cortana when she signaled that she had what she needed. Leaving the grunting machine to its duty, they listened closely for sounds of intelligent life—or even the previous guard—over the ruckus of the ancient system.
Opening the door a sliver, Cortana’s keen eyesight speared over the surroundings. A curt nod to Riaz caused the thick rope of her braid to tumble over her shoulder. Annoyed, she tossed it back, and managed to hit Riaz square in the face instead.
She barely threw a hand over her mouth to suppress the laugh at his goofy shocked expression. Clearly unamused with her antics, the wolf made a motion with his hands that said something to the effect of, ‘Can we go now?’
Retracing their steps, they were almost home free when they rounded a corner, and nearly ran into the inept guard. For a split second, they merely stared at each other. The vampire and werewolf, however, reacted first, bolting toward the exit without looking back.
Sputtering, the guard yelled at their retreating backs, “Hey!”
