“What’s up, Hunt?”
“Am I on speaker? Are Khol and Saige there?” Hunter asked.
“Yes, we’re here,” Khol replied. “What did you find?”
“I was able to hack into the system and pinpoint Laurie’s tracker. There were ten years of archived records. I sorted the results by location to see if there were any places she visited that looked suspicious. For the most part, she’s stuck to the same places over the years, though I did notice something strange about her movements,” Hunter explained, the clicking of his fingers flying over a keyboard in the background.
“Spit it out, Hunter,” Khol practically growled.
“Does the town Liberty Cape mean anything to you?” Hunter asked, and we all looked around at one another. Everyone was shaking their heads.
“Not to anyone here,” Cam answered.
“Laurie visits this particular city like clockwork. Every three months, she stays for two to three days, and then she’s gone again. I ran the city against the mission database and there’s never been a Montague assignment anywhere near Liberty Cape. Whatever she’s doing there… it isn’t on Montague’s dime,” Hunter speculated.
“Where are we right now in that pattern?” Fischer inquired, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were glittering with barely concealed rage. I got it. I wanted to kill that bitch, too.
“Three months is tomorrow,” Hunter replied, smugness in his tone.
Kai hummed in thought. “We might not be back by then.”
“I can go,” Hunter volunteered. “Being able to hack and track her should be easy now.”
“Any leads on the sister?” Cam asked.
More clicking of the keyboard. “No, but I literally only just discovered that pattern. I haven’t even started hacking into CCTV files yet. If there’s a sister, I’ll find her,” Hunter promised. “Let me know when you guys get back. I’ll call if I run into any trouble.”
“Be careful,” Goldie called out. “And thank you.”
“Not a problem. Now, go get Sloane back. I can’t wait to mess with him again, just like old times.” Hunter chuckled, right along with Kai, Fischer, and even Faris.
Sometimes it sucked to not be a part of their original group. Normally, I never felt like an outsider. They did a great job at not making me feel like the black sheep, but in moments like this—seeing their history, hearing their inside jokes… I just couldn’t help it. My gaze swept the room over to Goldie. Our eyes connected, and she offered me a grin and a wink.
Cam disconnected the call, but Goldie and I were still staring at each other across the room. Our bond was practically screaming for me to storm over there and claim her. I could never get enough of this woman.
“What in saving Ryan's privates is going on in here?!” Bette squealed, suddenly appearing in the living room like a bat out of hell. Her gaze darted across the room, noting us all in tactical gear, and she shivered in delight. Fuckingshiveredlike a floppy fish out of water.
“We're going on a mission,” Saige told her.
“And nobody thought to tell me? Or invite me over here for this healthy serving of eye candy? This is a foul, child.” Bette cut her hand through the air like a referee. She seemed to be going for stern, but the twinkle in her eyes and the way she was clearly fighting back a smile negated that impression.
“Sorry, Bette. We're kind of in a hurry. Miranda will be here soon though. We're going for Annie and Sloane, and we’ve convinced Miranda to wait here with you,” Cam explained, pulling a black beanie over his head.
“Thank the stars,” Bette gasped, clutching her heart. A beat later, she added sarcastically, “I bet that went over well.” And fuck if she wasn’t on the nose. It had been a disaster.
“It went exactly as well as you’d expect,” Goldie responded with a wince, zipping up her lightweight leather jacket. When Khol had told Miranda she wasn’t coming, I thought she was going to claw his fuckin’ eyes out.
“She listened to reason. After several minutes of arguing,” Kai told the older Wildes witch.
“Alright, I’ll do my best to keep her occupied while you’re gone. Do you think you’ll be long?” Bette asked Goldie, reaching out and grabbing her hands.
My tiny warrior looked the part in her outfit, and in the way she straightened her back and held her head high, not showing an ounce of fear or anxiety…Fuck, I love this woman.
She pulled her gran in for a tight hug. “Hopefully not, but you never know. If Maven happens to show up while we’re gone, can you lock him in the house?” Saige had been getting more and more anxious about her missing fox with each day that passed.
Khol cleared his throat, and we all immediately snapped our heads up to pay attention. “Here’s the plan. Bram and I are taking point on this, because it's our realm. For the most part, everything in Besmet is the same as it is here. The exception being, well, demons. There are certain abilities we have that you don't, so I have a few charms to protect against some of these. While we're there, keep these with you at all times and nobody will be able to take on your likeness.” He reached into his pocket, handing out little stones that looked like fool's gold. It was the only mineral that was successful in preventing a demon with shapeshifting abilities from taking your form.
“So shapeshifting was the freaky shit Bram did back when he pretended to be Johnny, huh?” Fischer commented, shoving his stone into the pocket of his pants.
