“Sorry, you’re not.”
Eve glared at her for a long moment. “Fine. Then I’ll go find Antoine and ask him to sit on you. He’s probably awake by now, listening in as I speak a bit louder.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Cally hissed.
Eve went up on her toes, trying to meet her height. “Watch. Me.”
“You’re blackmailing me, you little—” Cally sighed in mock indignation, then gave her a rueful smile. “Fine, you can come. I secretly wanted you to anyway, so thank you for giving me no choice.”
“Yay! And you absolutely have to wear that long leather coat Zoey lent you. So damn cool.”
She started singing the opening chords ofHighway to Hell, playing air guitar.
Twenty-Nine
“You were right,” Noah said. “They weren’t that difficult to find once we cross-referenced high-value properties with owners who never seemed to die.” He gave Antoine a pointed look.
“It wasn’t a problem before,” Antoine demurred. “But if we’re this easy to find, it makes me wonder who else has.”
“Maybe put the house up for sale, then buy it with a holding company?”
“That’s not a bad idea. Marcel has lawyers on retainer. Would you ask him to look into it?”
“Sure.” Noah reached for the map on Antoine’s desk. “Tobias’s house is on Meadowbrook Road in Dedham, and Nico’s at the end of Hillside Street, here in Milton.” He used a black marker to circle the address. “The nice thing about hunting vampires is that their estates are secluded and private. Shouldn’t disturb the neighbors too much. But that does make it harder to get thralls close.” He looked up at Antoine. “Have you given any thought to how you want to do it?”
“Knock on the door. Walk in.”
“Through an army of thralls?” Noah let his skepticism show. “Even you can’t survive a barrage of automatic weapons.” His eyebrows rose. “Can you?”
Antoine clenched his jaw. “I figured I’d take them out first.”
“Right.” Noah nodded slowly. “We have thermal cameras, ballistic drop shutters, anti-personnel mines, concealed remote turrets, and lately Marcel’s been talking with enthusiasm about deployable drones. What makes you think they don’t have something similar?”
Antoine’s lips quirked. “Marcelhas been talking about deployable drones?”
“He saw something on Netflix.”
“Uh-huh.” Antoine strode to the window, staring out into the garden. The sun was soon to rise, a lightening of the sky on the horizon, with heavy clouds promising imminent rain. The view didn’t offer the peace he wanted, but maybe killing Nico and Tobias would, and then Roberto after that.Somehow. “Do you have suggestions?”
“We gear up and come with you. Sniper rifles in the treeline, a few grenades, some explosives for tricky doors. Maybe a car bomb. It would be loud and messy, but if we were quick, we could be out before too much heat arrived.”
“It’s not really ‘staying in the shadows’, is it?” The first rays of sunlight emerged, and he narrowed his eyes at the brightness. “I was thinking something more surgical. Boring for the neighbors.”
“We could still use snipers with silencers.”
“If we had them.”
“Can get them in a week or two.”
Antoine folded his hands behind his back as the rain arrived, drops hitting the window. “I don’t much feel like waiting.”Where hadthatcome from? Patience is a given.But he didn’t feel patient. “It would be easier to cut the power, cause some distractions from multiple directions, and draw out the thralls. Then I can go through a window and deal with the vamp before anyone’s the wiser.”
Noah shifted subtly; the floorboard creaked, betraying his discontent. “It’s my role to keep you safe, and I—”
“No, it’s your role to do as you’re told.”
“Damn it, Antoine! I know you’ve come back with a passion for vengeance, and I understand it, I really do. After what they did to you, I’d support it even if I weren’t your thrall. You cancommandme to shut up, if that’s what you want, but until then I’m going to speak my mind. You have a dozen loyal thralls trained in the military, and youcanwait until we get sniper rifles.” He paused for a breath, then continued in a calmer voice. “If you want to Batman through the window, at least let us clear out the thralls first.”
The quiet drew out, and Antoine tightened his jaw. The irritation was that Noah was right. “Fine. Then get the weapons, and build a plan. An approach that favors speed and silence, and draws out the thralls early.”
