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“Mordecai was looking for the civet’s energy. Gavin followed a blood bond,” Lauren told him before he’d written the entire sentence.
When Lauren was younger, a malicious vampire had put threads into her head during a dream he created, while she slept. Mordecai had shown her where they were and helped her disconnect them. Nick knew the story because Lauren had told him, but he doubted anyone else on the plane did.
“I’m not sure I understand why that makes a difference, but we can talk about it later. Will Mordecai be able to sense her once he’s closer?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.”
Both of them read until the pilot announced they could remove their seatbelts, and Queenie stood in front of them once again.
“If the Amakhosi is with us when we encounter law enforcement, he will speak with them. If he is not, I will. Nathan will have earpieces for all of us, should we decide on an attack. In a three-pronged entry, the three teams will be Nathan, Kirsten, and Mordecai as Team Cat, the Alpha and his people as Team Dog, and Gavin, Lauren, Nick, and myself as Team Bird. The rest of you will be sorted out between those groups.”
The Alpha spoke up to say, “One of my people will not be going into battle.”
Queenie nodded. “Absolutely. Nathan will assign someone on-site to interact with his control room, who’ll be overseeing operations and moving people as needed. This person will operate from inside a locked vehicle approximately a half-mile away, and will double as a getaway driver. Your dancer can sit with him or her.”
They ran through three scenarios — infiltrating a mansion, a house in a cookie-cutter neighborhood with tiny yards, and a hotel/condo/apartment building. While they did this, the teams naturally figured themselves out, so by the time they landed, they knew who would go where in a number of situations.
Nick knew Gavin, still in his lightproof-box somewhere on the plane, was likely speaking to Queenie telepathically during the meeting, running things through his mouthpiece, more or less — though he honestly didn’t know how much of the meeting was led by Queenie and how much by Gavin. The vampire trusted the wolf to speak for him, and she had a damned good head on her shoulders.
They landed, and Queenie sat in the dancer’s lap, her face buried in the crook of the other wolf’s neck. Fifteen seconds later, she stood and announced. “We’ll be deplaning. Two limos and a van are awaiting us. Outward appearancesmustshow that we are here to party. Smile, laugh, and cut up with each other. Hotel staff will meet us outside to get our luggage and carry it to our rooms. Let them. Gavin has moved from his flying and travelling box to a smaller one that appears to be luggage. He’s already taken over the mind of the young man who will transport him. Our bags will be fine.”
And, Nick knew, other guards would be close enough to intervene should anyone or anything threaten Gavin.
Chapter 35
Gavin exited the faux-suitcase and put jeans and a t-shirt over the sunproof bodysuit he wore. A blond wig on the skinsuit made him look like someone else entirely, not to mention the fact his face was covered by fabric. It clung to the curves and wasn’t immediately noticeable, but nothing could make it appear his mouth was opening and closing.
There were creams he could use to block the sun, but he didn’t trust them. Truth be told, he always doubted the fabric until it worked, too, but at least it was a physical barrier, rather than naked skin exposed to the sun.
The weave of the fabric was thinner around his eyes, enough he could see through the weave. With sunglasses, it was enough to keep the sun from frying him. Also, the sunglasses hid the fact his eyes were covered.
So long as he stood and didn’t talk, a casual observer wouldn’t note his face was fabric, but he didn’t intend to go out in public on this day.
He was in the largest suite the hotel had available, with a huge living room and two bedrooms — Nathan and his people in one, Gavin and his people in another. Queenie would sleep on the sofa in the living room, should they stay.
But for now, the entire group was assembled, sitting on every available chair, or seated on the floor, or leaning against walls.
“I have a legitimate reason to go into Nevada,” Nathan told the group. “Kirsten and Queenie will accompany me to check on my Vegas Pride. They’ll go be tourists while I go to the Pride’s land and speak with my lions. Queenie has enough access to Gavin’s powers to narrow down where our subject is being held. The two will rent scooters and explore the city. Officially, my mate is accompanying me, and she’s brought a friend so she’ll have company while I’m working.”
“Meanwhile, the rest of us have reservations for dinner,” Mordecai told the group. “We’ll be going across the river into Nevada. Gavin will stay here, since he won’t eat anyway. We’ll be at one of the casinos, and we’ll make use of the tables and machines for a few hours before returning to the conference room we’ve booked for the evening in this hotel. We will have strippers and other…entertainmentavailable.”
“Should Kirsten and Queenie find our target in Vegas, I’ll negotiate with Huxley for the group to enter Vegas as a party,” Gavin told them. “This was a spur-of-the-moment trip, and while we’re so close, we’d like to spend a night in Vegas.”
Gavin had made some inquiries and discovered Huxley was more likely to provide a tourist pass if Gavin offered him the same to come to Branson, and offered the use of one of his flock while Huxley was visiting. The last thing he wanted to do was to have Huxley in his territory, but he’d do it to get the civet back.
“Do we believe Huxley is aware of what is happening in his territory?” the wolf Alpha asked.
Gavin shrugged. “He isn’t Zander. An involuntarily enslaved civet won’t hit his radar.”
“But taking property from his vampires will,” Mordecai said. “Which is why I’m advocating for Gavin to be in a casino when the rest of us storm the ramparts, wherever they may be.”
Ryan stepped from the shadows, and Gavin had to restrain his inner vampire to keep from attacking. Hehatedwhen the Slayer did that.
“Or, the group can agree you are here to assist me, and we can avoid all the nasty political bullshit.”
It pissed Gavin off to admit it, but the Slayer was right. His presence solved everything. And, because he could take in whatever backup he chose, Gavin could go without contacting Huxley.
“The Slayer is correct,” Gavin told the assembled group. He turned to Ryan and gave his best offer. He wasn’t in the mood to negotiate, and his experience with the Slayer was that the direct approach was best. “While my people are not yours to command, they and I will follow your orders in battle unless they go against our base morals. Understand, I can say this because you’ve built a level of trust, so I don’t believe you’ll try to fuck with the supernatural hierarchy or any already-existing political alliances.”
