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Gadriel and Riaz waited, holding their breath as their ears strained for movement or mayhem within the building. Each crouched defensively, their muscles coiled in anticipation and primed to race toward the building in backup if need be. Seconds turned to minutes, and Riaz’s wolf became restless.
A shiver of air caressed them from behind, raising his heckles. It was the only warning before Remmus said, “Nada, boys.”
Jumping to his feet with a snarl, Riaz whispered, “What the hell, Raeth!”
“No one’s there.” Giving him a casual shrug, Remmus put his hands in his pockets. “Emptied out. Belly up. Closed for business.”
Gadriel shook his head, confused. “Nothing’s there?”
Remmus’ lips curved into a sarcastic line before he glanced at Riaz. “Should I give him a cookie?”
Riaz sent him a mirthless smile, then refocused on the abandoned building before them. He should’ve known this would be the case after he and Cortana had gotten caught a few days ago.
“No guards?”
“Not a soul, my friend.” The humor vanished. “And all technology has been removed or deactivated.”
It was deserted. When they made it inside, Riaz confirmed the Raeth’s comments: nothing was left. The furnace control board had been completely removed. All the machinery had been uprooted. Even the vending machines they’d spotted on their first recon mission had vanished.
It was completely and utterly empty.
“Dammit.” Wolf roaring to the surface, Riaz glanced at Gadriel. “They’ve been tipped off. We need to inform Aidan and Drake of the developments.”
“Just did, wolf.”
Blinking, Riaz frowned at the Raeth. “What?”
“I’m a technopath. I sent them texts.”
“From your mind?” Gadriel gapped.
“Yep. Happy to be of service.” Remmus’ chipper response was clipped short by the hasty teleport that landed them all back in the den armory. “Home sweet home.”
Dizzy, Riaz shook his head to clear it. “A little warning, Raeth.”
“A little gratitude, wolf.”
The taunting smile on Remmus’ face only added fuel to Riaz’s temper. Equal parts amusement and aggravation dueled inside him, but in the end, he waved a dismissive hand.
“We need to figure out where they’ve taken it.”
“None of the tech was left.” Remmus mused, manifesting an apple in his hand and taking a big bite. Between mouthfuls, he flippantly added, “Anybody we can torture for the info?”
Riaz raised one ebony eyebrow. “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say you wouldn’t be opposed?”
“Meh, what’s a little torture and light maiming?”
The response was so laissez-faire Riaz couldn’t picture the Raeth auditing the practices in question, let alone dishing them out. He coughed a laugh. “Fortunately, I have an idea.”
“Dangerous,” Gadriel quipped.
“We literally ran into a guard the other night—I know where he lives.” He turned to pin Remmus with a hard stare. “If you’re as tech savvy as you say, we can strip details from his cell phone.”
“Who said anything about being tech savvy?” Remmus taunted. “I’m a tech god.”
***
Crystalline rays of sunlight peeked over the mountain ridges by the time they’d arrived at the nightwatchman’s home. Clearly still on third-shift schedule, there was no movement in his home and his car was still parked in the cracked driveway.
