He uncuffed the leather band from around his wrist, flipped it over and reattached it, putting the silver wolf against his skin. It burned, no more than one of Louis’ hot trays fresh from the oven, but a burn and a blistering of skin all the same. It wouldn’t heal until he turned the cuff back over.
Silver, another threat to his kind. Silver restraints, though softer and weaker than steel, would bind theirwolves, incapacitating them. It’d happened to Ulrik Voclain, Laurent’s ancestor. The small amount on their cuffs, however, counteracted the effects of wolfsbane.
Pierre tested his senses. He grinned. As sharp as ever.
Louis rounded the car, his cuff inverted, too. “Let’s do this.”
In a car tucked into an alleyway down the street, waited Gabe and Annabelle. Invisible to him except for their scent were members of Annabelle’s coven, hidden around the abandoned dock. They hadn’t told Melinda about them, and he hoped she’d have no need to ever find out they’d been there, but he was glad they were. If they were to encounter Cordelia, if she turned up in person, they were going to need them.
Would she, though? Or had she sent the Faucherians in alone? Like she had in London.
His phone vibrated. Gabe.
Annabelle says there are no wards she can detect.
He sent a thumbs-up emoji.
Be careful in there. It’s a trap.
He snorted. Way to state the obvious, brother. He turned to Melinda. “Are you ready?”
She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and nodded.
“Glad you hired us on as bodyguards now?” teased Louis.
Pierre punched his brother on the arm. Louis feigned an injury.
“Knock it off,tête de noeud.” Pierre scowled at his twin. “Can you not be serious for once?”
Melinda jerked her head at the warehouse. “Let’s get this over with. If my client’s in that building, I don’t want her to have to hide here for any longer than is necessary. I want to get her somewhere safe.”
The only safe place for Cordelia was six feet under. Safe for everyone else, that was. This witch may have messed with his ancestors, but her time was fast running out. The Langeais wolves were not tenth-century chevaliers anymore. They’d adapted well over the centuries. One little old lady, no matter how powerful, would not prevail against them.
Melinda took a few steps toward the building.
Pierre grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the shadows. “Wait.”
The chain-link gate hung open, making a mockery of the security fence and its Keep Out signs. An open invitation.
Pierre pulled a pair of bolt cutters from the backpack slung over his shoulder and handed them to Louis. “We go in the back way. No point announcing our presence.”
Understanding flickered in her eyes. “You think this is a trap?”
His nostrils flared at her innocence. How had she survived this long with clients like Cordelia? It made him want to scoop her up and take her far away from here. Keep her safe, protected. But their determined little mate would never allow it. “I think it’s wise to take precautions. Anyone could be watching us, from inside the building or out.”
Flanking Melinda, they crossed the deserted dock two warehouses down from their target. With a snick of the bolt cutters, Louis cut a hole in the security fencing, peeled the wire back and crawled through.
“You think her husband might be tailing me to get to my client?”
Pierre helped Melinda through the hole. No. No one had followed them, of that he was sure. Their greatest danger lay inside the warehouse. “It’s always a possibility.” Pierre pulled himself through the gap in the fence. “We’ll get you to your client, Melinda. Trust us.”
Melinda surveyed their surroundings, peering into the shadows as though what hid in them might reveal itself to her. She didn’t have their eyesight, their hearing or their sense of smell. She couldn’t know what lay in wait inside the building. Yet, had they not been on hand, she would have attempted this on her own. Had they not targeted her to get to Cordelia, perhaps she wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. Then they would not have met their mate.
“Come on. Let’s go find this client of yours. I hope she’s worth it.”
The passion of her crusade burned in her eyes. It was a shame, in this instance, it was misplaced. It was going to hurt when she discovered the truth.
With Louis leading the way and Pierre bringing up the rear, the three of them crept from building to building, the bolt cutters making quick work of the security fencing, until they came to the one they wanted. At the door, Louis paused and held his finger to his lips. He tested the knob, then gave a wrench, the snapping of the lock an explosion of sound in the dead air. The scent of disused warehouse, damp, and animal feces hit him, but no humans.Strange. Witchcraft?He sent off a quick text to Gabe, alerting him, before following Louis and Melinda into the dark and silent warehouse.
