Sebastian’s hood swung toward Matt. “Darius’spack?”
I stared at the Dire, too. What was he talking about?
Matt swayed from one foot to the other. “I bumped into Darius running with a pack out in the forest. He said it was one last run together before he started training. But now, I wonder.”
Twin silver flares shone from within Sebastian’s hood. “They would have been gated in. Amadeus would have known about it.” He paused his assessment, then grated, “We don’t know for certain that Darius be involved in this.”
When I stiffened and opened my mouth to comment, he held up a long finger. “Aye, for what it be worth, I share your convictions. And this information rather supports it. Very—interesting.”
Matt rubbed his face. “Yeah. Well, it means the pack’ll know me, if it’s them. So if Darius and Aaron went with the Dragons—sending Anna in might be our only option.” He sounded reluctant as hell, but I was relieved that he’d back me on this.
Sebastian didn’t reply at first, but then he grunted and turned to me. “Okay. In and out. Stay out of view as much as possible. And whatever you do, donotconfront them. Leave your comm on two-way so we can hear what’s going on. Talk to us if you can do so discreetly. If you see them, your directive at that point be to depart. Be that clear?” He glanced up the street. “We’ll be in the alley behind the bar.”
“Roger, boss,” I said.
“Who is Roger?” Sebastian asked.
“That means she gets it,” Matt chipped in.
I was pretty sure Sebastian ground his teeth. “I be at the mercy of amateurs.”
“Yeah, well, this amateur is just what the doctor ordered,” I stated, heading away up the street.
“What doctor?” Sebastian sounded frustrated as he followed.
“It means—”
“Never mind.” Sebastian cut Matt off.
They fell well back from me, and I slumped along with my arms tucked beneath my cloak, trying to blend. Without my twin hulks, I did a pretty good job of it, too. No one even glanced at me.
I was far more nervous about this than I was letting on, but everything I’d said was the truth. It made the most sense for me to do this, trained or not. I’d just nip in. Take a look around. And leave again.
Fortunately, there were no bouncers demanding my ID at the door. I slipped past two patrons arguing quietly just inside—
The bar looked like any other, with a long counter and tables and chairs around the periphery.
“I’m in,” I whispered to the comm. With visions of the alien bar in a popular movie dancing through my head, the reality was actually disappointing. “Most patrons only have two arms and legs—oh, there’s one with four. But the majority are so bundled that they are quite boring. No fur, no eight eyes, no trunks—”
“No alien band either?” Matt totally got it.
The Bellati, of course, did not. “Focus, recruit,” he snapped in my ear.
I sighed. Sebastian had no sense of ha ha, and zero understanding of how humor might help me through this.
Maybe Bellatis didn’t get nervous.
With everyone cloaked, blending was a simple task, although trying to spot Dires in this would be difficult at best. I scanned for a group larger in stature than the locals with a disturbing tendency for glowing eyes.
And found nothing.
As I made my way through the crowd, though, I wasn’t as unnoticed as I might like to think. Hoods turned toward me as I passed by, and a couple even fell in behind, trailing me as I pushed through the patrons. I did my best to ignore them, but my skin prickled.
I gave it a solid go, but by the time I’d traversed the establishment’s length, I’d concluded there wasn’t any group here that fit the bill. If the pack had split up, it would be more difficult to spot—a few of those leaning on the bar counter were large enough, but short of me walking up and yanking back their hoods, I couldn’t tell.
My ear comm crackled, and Sebastian’s tense voice whispered through it. “Report. If you can,” he added.
I reached slowly beneath my hood. “Nothing. I’m coming out,” I whispered back.
