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“Mainly, will he have taken the precaution of coding his messages and hiding the IP address he’s using as his home base of communications? Will his identity be hidden?”
“Seems like it could go either way,” Nick replied. “He hid his identity on the video, but he probably wasn’t expecting us to locate the cabin, either.”
Teague worked for a few minutes, head down, focus intense. After a while, he grunted in displeasure. “Unluckily for us, he’s not that big of an idiot. The IP address is rerouted several times, so it’s going to take a while to track. His messages to his followers were all done by an instant-messaging program and he used the screen name ‘Executioner.’”
Aric snorted. “That’s original.”
Nick hovered over his shoulder, trying to read the print. “What do the messages say?”
“The spewing of hatred that you might expect. He’s going to make us all pay for what we did, but no mention of what that was. If we knew what he’s blaming us for, it would go a long way to figuring out who he is.” Several others muttered agreement and Teague went on.
“There are plans on here from before he had Calla taken. They were waiting on an opportunity to get Tarron, but seized the chance to get her when it arose. Hmm, there’s some disagreement among the ranks as to whether that was a good idea, especially since that group was caught.”
Tarron’s eyes gleamed with malice. “So, they’re still using this messaging thread to discuss their plans?”
“They were, but shut it down a few hours after Calla’s rescue.” The hacker paused, scanning over the rest of the transcript. “Looks like the Executioner was talking with them about their next strike, when and where it would be wise to carry one out, when one of his men pointed out they should change to another thread because of the cabin raid. Damn!”
Nick couldn’t agree more. Such a good break, only to have it vanish in an instant. “Can you find them again?”
“I’ll try. In the meantime, I’ll trace the Executioner’s IP address, as well as the others on the list, and see what I can find.”
“Thanks,” Tarron said. “And bring me a printout of their conversations before this thread was shut down. Nick and I will read over it thoroughly to make sure there’s no hidden clue we’re missing.”
“Right away, my prince.”
Teague took the laptop and headed out to complete his job. Nick and Tarron dismissed the rest of their men and Nick took a seat. For a moment, they sat in brooding silence before Tarron broke it.
“So, you and Calla have Bonded?” His tone was reserved, his gaze watchful.
“I’ve claimed her.” He didn’t offer more, and the other man’s eyes narrowed.
“That should be cause for celebration. And yet I detect a note in your voice that suggests it’s anything but.”
“It’s not that simple.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “I swear to you I’m doing my best to be the mate she deserves. It’s just taking some time. Let me work this out with her before I end up speaking out of turn. This is between Calla and me.”
“All right, I’ll butt out—for now. But mark my words: Friend or not, you hurt my sister and you won’t have to worry about battling some mystery vampire or anyone else.”
“I know.”
“Good. And furthermore—”
The ringtone of Nick’s cell thankfully broke into his new brother-in-law’s lecture. When he glanced at the screen, however, he wasn’t so glad for the interruption. The call was from General Grant, which was rarely a good thing.
“Jarrod,” he greeted the other man upon answering. “What’s up?”
“We’ve got a basilisk loose in downtown Dallas, Texas.”
“A basilisk?” Nick repeated. His blood chilled. “Not Belial.”
“No. Mackenzie reports that Belial is safe and sound at the compound, trying to seduce one of those tiger shifters at Sanctuary into sleeping with hi
m.”
Thank God. The thought of the enemy getting to anyone under Nick’s care and thrusting him into danger, forcing the team or himself to kill him, made his gut churn. “Casualties?”
“Five dead, ten injured at last count. There’s some sort of drunken celebration going on downtown because of a big sports win, and now the scene is total chaos.”
Nick shot to his feet. “Fuck, that’s a disaster! We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
