“Pack up.We’re gone in twenty.”
“Uh…what?”His gaze landed on the monitors, and his brows went high.“Oh, shit.You called it, huh?”
“I always do.”
Brent stood and stared at the monitors for a moment longer, watching as the ground opened up and swallowed a smoldering Hawthorne whole, along with his motley crew of for-hire criminals.
The camera footage went shaky, and static filled the screen just moments before it went black entirely.Shutting the nearest laptop, Brent said, “Move.Tell the others, they’re in the vehicles in twenty or they’re left behind.And send me Frankie.I need his skills.”
“On it.Where to next?Another town around the wolves?”
“No.Ohio is cooked.The beasts are too coordinated, too allied to each other and other supernaturals.I’m tired of wasting resources.We’ll head west.Start from scratch where the beasts’ groups are smaller and more scattered.”
“Humans Against Shifters will be better than ever,” Doug said.He nodded decisively and scurried off, calling for the handful of men who’d stayed behind to get their asses in gear.
Brent quickly packed up the monitors and laptops, shoving them into a nearby crate and ensuring nothing was left behind.As he made his way down the hall to the bedroom to grab his things, Frankie strode up, a bag over his shoulder.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes.I need your special skills.”
Frankie smiled, his eyes dark with mischief.“What do you need?”
“We’re going to leave a present for the beasts when they come here.”
“You’re sure they’ll find this place?”
“They tracked Hawthorne.They’ve got a witch in their midst, and I don’t fuck with witches anymore.”He grabbed his bag, stuffed the few things he’d left out inside, and followed Frankie into the kitchen, explaining his plan.
As time wound down, Brent got in the passenger seat of an SUV driven by Doug, and they waited in the circular driveway until Frankie bounded down the steps with a malevolent smile on his face.He slid into the back seat of the SUV and set his bag on the seat next to him.
“Done,” Frankie said.“Some of my best work.”
“Good,” Brent said.“Let’s go, Doug.We’ve got to put miles between Northern Ohio and us as soon as possible.”
GPS was set to get them out of the state the fastest, while Brent looked in the side mirror at the mansion that had been home for just a short while.He’d been defeated in his attempts to take out the tigers and the wolves and avenge his old partner, Jason Finnegan.
Oh well.
When the mansion was no longer in view, he settled into the seat and began to plan the future.Somewhere out west, he’d find his purpose again.He’d start a new headquarters for Humans Against Shifters, and he’d go back to his roots: not hiding in abandoned buildings and scurrying from place to place but setting up a real business and recruiting humans who were tired of living side by side with those beasts who ran through the woods at night and howled and roared.
The world would be a better place without them for sure.
Brent would see to it that his group rose to power once again.And maybe someday he’d come back to Ohio and take out the tigers and the wolves and the other groups like the falcons and the bears.
Or maybe he’d just stay out west and let someone else try their hand at the midwestern beasts.
Closing his eyes, he envisioned a beast-free future.And he smiled.
Monday night, Solan stood in Adam’s office with the other high-ranked males and listened to the plan.The human who’d survived Kaeli’s powerful evil-eradication at the warehouse because he’d been deemed by the earth not to be fully evil had eventually revealed the location of Brent Foley and his Humans Against Shifters headquarters.
It was a mere twenty minutes from Thorn Hollow, in a residential neighborhood of upscale homes that Foley had rented after his last headquarters had been discovered.
“Nice to have you back,” Solan said in a low voice to Brick.
The male nodded.“I can’t believe I missed everything.Thanks for handling things so well.”
“I don’t know how well I did; Mira got abducted.”Solan glanced at Leo, who was listening intently to Adam, his face set in grim lines.
