Page 40 of Grayson’s Challenge

There were no streetlights anywhere. Cooper could only rely on the headlights of the car capturing any street signs, but the falling snow reflected the headlights back at him, making it look like the road before him moved toward him.

“I hate snow,” he ground out.

“Yeah, right now I do too,” Virginia confessed. Then she suddenly pointed to the left. “There.”

Cooper stepped on the brake. He focused on the small street sign, but couldn’t read what was written on it. Snow covered most of the writing. He took the turnoff. There was a sharp incline, but the chains on the wheels made it possible to follow the road until it suddenly ended.

“That must be it,” Virginia said.

In front of them was a cabin. From its chimney, white smoke rose into the dark night sky. Cooper shut off the car’s engine and jumped out. The snow crunched under his boots. Virginia was already a few steps ahead of him, and he caught up with her. He noticed that Virginia had already pulled her dagger, and he now reached for his gun too. It was loaded with small-caliber silver bullets.

There was light coming from a window, but the curtains were drawn, preventing them from looking inside. Cooper exchanged a look with Virginia, and silently, they walked to the front door. When they reached it, he realized immediately that it wasn’t closed all the way.

His heart began to thunder. Nobody would leave a door ajar in this weather, wasting the precious heat supplied by the woodfire. This wasn’t good. Not good at all.

Cooper pushed the door open another couple of inches so he could peer inside. He saw an overturned lamp, a broken wine bottle, and glass chards on the floor. Flickering light illuminated the wooden floor in the room, reflecting in a pool of blood. Shock coursed through his body, and his fangs instantly lengthened. He moved the door another inch, allowing him to see more, when he saw gray ash covering a dark carpet. In the corner of his eye, he perceived a movement, and ripped the door open fully, his gun pointed at the person charging at him.

Fuck!

18

“The waiting is driving me crazy,” Monique said.

She and Grayson were back at Scanguards’ HQ. Monique had left a message for Delphine, the voodoo practitioner in New Orleans, but hadn’t received a call back yet.

William had confirmed that he’d contacted the palace in New Orleans and given them instructions to send the database of former and current employees as well as clan members to Faye’s email address, so the three of them could look through the photos to see if their attackers were among them.

Three of the kidnappers’ vans had been found abandoned in the city, and several teams had inspected the vans to see if the kidnappers had left anything incriminating behind. However, no clues as to the whereabouts of Samson and Cain had been found.

With every hour that passed, Monique was becoming more anxious. It felt like nothing was moving forward. No progress was being made. The sun had set just a short while earlier.

“There’s nothing we can do right now,” Grayson said with a sigh. “Thomas’s teams are combing through the footage.”

“We can help with that,” Monique insisted and looked at Thomas and Eddie, who were both staring into their monitors, just like two dozen other employees who were in the computer lab on one of the lower floors.

“You should rest,” Thomas said.

“Maybe we can help with something else?” Monique asked.

Grayson took her hands into his. “Everybody is doing what they do best. Your mother and mine are still looking through the database, hoping they’ll recognize somebody. We can’t help them with that. We’d be better off resting for a few hours, so that we’re ready once we have a location.”

“I just feel so useless right now.” And she hated feeling like that. She needed to do something, to contribute to the rescue efforts, but nothing had panned out so far. “I wish we’d at least have news of my brothers. Why is it taking so long?”

“You said yourself that they went to a remote cabin. It’ll take Virginia and Cooper a while to find that cabin, and to get there. Don’t forget that they arrived there just as the sun set in Switzerland. Depending on the weather situation there…”

“I know that,” she said. “I’m just worried. Why has Virginia not called us yet?”

“Let me try her.” Grayson pulled his cell phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts. He hit the number, then put the phone to his ear. A moment later, he shook his head and put the phone away. “Goes straight to voicemail. She’s probably out of cell tower range in the mountains. That could be good news. Maybe she and Cooper have already reached the cabin.”

Monique forced herself to nod. “I hope you’re right.”

“Come, let’s get out of here.”

Grayson took her arm and ushered her to the door. “Thomas, call me the minute you’ve got something actionable.”

“Will do,” Thomas replied without taking his eyes off the monitor.

A few minutes later, they shot out of the underground garage in Grayson’s sportscar. Monique remained silent, her mind spinning, her worries about her brothers and her father intensifying. Every possible what-if scenario played out in her mind. When the car finally slowed, and Grayson drove into a garage, she realized that he hadn’t driven them to the Woodford residence. Instead, they’d arrived at his loft in the Financial District.