Page 78 of Remington’s Mate

That made her feel all mushy inside. “We’re good for each other.”

“Good,” he said as his chains fell to the floor. “So let’s get the hell out of here and get us all back with our mates.”

Chapter 31

Remy flew harder than he’d ever flown in his life. He knew Colt was still alive, though in a bad situation. They’d always known when the other one was in trouble—he’d felt it when Sutcliffe’s guys took Colt.

At least Jaeda had been able to get away. But if he lost Colt…

No. It wasn’t possible. Fate wouldn’t do that to him—give him Jaeda and then take away his brother.

He made it to the hospital site in under half an hour. It was a huge, hulking brick monstrosity, with hundreds of dark windows like sightless eyes.

He felt a ripple of unease along his feathers.

He couldn’t search the whole place; it would take hours. He circled, looking for movement. There was a cluster of black SUVs in a parking area near the front gate, where a long driveway led out to the main county road, half a mile away.

Tiny lights below him were the flashlights of the guards circling the abandoned building. He counted a dozen or so. There were more lights in the guard house at the gate.

No lights showing inside the old hospital, but that didn’t mean anything. Colt could be deep in an inner room, or in a basement.

Or an isolation cell.

He circled again, lower and closer, trying to ignore the gnawing anxiety in his gut. He remembered helping Colt study controlled building demolition, and tried to remember what they’d learned.

There would be explosive charges set at strategic points inside the building, to knock out the structural supports and bring the whole thing down on itself.

Those charges were wired together with detonation cord, timed so they would go off in a certain order. There would either be one long cord leading back to the place where the guy in charge would set off the explosion, or—more likely—the initial charge would have a radio-controlled trigger.

And the most obvious place to set as headquarters was the gatehouse. That’s where Sutcliffe would be.

And if all his guys were here, now, that meant they wouldn’t wait to set off the explosives tomorrow, at the scheduled time.

They were going to do it tonight.

Remy’s first thought was to fly down there, bust into the gatehouse, and grab Sutcliffe. But that was risky, and could backfire, causing Sutcliffe to set off the charges. His second thought was to wait for Brandon and the others.

But he might not have enough time.

Unless he bought some time, by making Sutcliffe think there was no point in blowing the place up.

Because Colt wasn’t in there.

He circled back to the hospital and landed on the roof, ducking behind a gable. He heard a shout as one of the guards caught a glimpse of his white feathers. “What’s that?”

Remy Changed to human and popped his head and torso up from his hiding place, making sure he was as visible as possible.

Three stories below, he heard shouts and exclamations. “There’s someone on the roof!” “It’s McCall!” “How the hell did he get up there?” A bullet whined by his head, and he ducked. Somebody was a better shot than he’d expected.

At least he knew they’d seen him. Remy slithered down the peaked roof, grabbed a drainpipe at the corner of the building and slid down. The shouts continued. “He’s headed for the ground! Tell Sutcliffe to hold the detonation!”

Remy had picked an escape route near a tall pine tree, its branches blocking the guards’ view. Halfway down the drainpipe, he pushed off the building and jumped, then turned owl and flew off.

He left the guards chasing their tails below and flew to the gatehouse. Perched in a nearby tree, he peered through the sliding window the guards had used to talk to incoming vehicles. Sutcliffe was there, just as he’d expected, with two armed minions.

The radio controller was on the desk next to him.

Sutcliffe was yelling into a walkie-talkie, “How the hell did you lose him?”