by I. T. Lucas
As Gregor parked the truck, Anandur was glad to see that the streets were empty of pedestrians, and that no lights shone brightly in the nearby buildings or that of the Doomers for that matter.
Earlier, Turner had sent a couple of humans to snoop around the place and check whether anyone patrolled it at night, and whether there were security cameras in the vicinity.
They’d reported no patrol, but they found cameras. Luckily, it was a simple system that was hooked to the internet, which meant that Roni could switch the feed from his command center and put it on a loop. If anyone was watching, they were going to see the same nothing happening throughout the night.
Other than that, they had Yamanu sitting across the street in a rented car and shrouding the area, adding an uncomfortable vibe that would keep humans away.
Anandur glanced at his watch. “Ten minutes to action. Check your equipment.”
The guys did as he’d instructed, and then there was the nervous wait. This was the part he hated the most. The last minutes before the mission, when all the horsing around was done, and it was down to counting the seconds while the adrenaline was pumping through his veins and his muscles were coiled tight ready to spring into action, but it wasn’t time yet.
When it finally was, Onegus’s voice sounded in their earpieces. “The cameras are down, and the alarm is disconnected. We are ready to go.”
They exited the vehicle silently, sprinting in a crouch toward the building.
The thing was an old two-story structure, with six apartments on the first floor and six on the second. The problem was that the front door and the staircase were bottlenecks. Assuming every apartment housed four Doomers, two Guardians were assigned to each one, another four to the corridor as backup, and the rest were to surround the building and catch any fleeing Doomers.
Still, getting thirty-two armed men through a single entry door was going to take a few seconds, and that could cost them the element of surprise.
Regrettably, the apartments didn’t have balconies, and breaking in through the windows wasn’t an option either.
Anandur’s team had been assigned to the second floor, and they were the first to enter, followed by the second team assigned to the same floor.
Sixteen men altogether.
Brundar was heading the two teams in charge of the downstairs.
Should be a piece of cake if the Doomers slept like the dead.
If not, they would wake up when the small hairs on their necks tingled in alarm, warning them about enemy immortals approaching.
So far, so good.
The men spread out, two taking position in front of each door, while the remaining four stationed themselves in the intervals in between the apartments.
Anandur listened, but all he could hear was a guy snoring in the apartment Gregor and Dougal were going to storm.
It was a shame that Arwel was in New York. They could have used his empathic skills to double-check the number of occupants in each apartment.
Except, Alena’s safety was more important, and it had been decided not to call him back. It was enough that Yamanu had been pulled away. Uisdean and Ewan were okay, but they weren’t head Guardians. Bhathian was, but he had a mate and a baby with him, so his loyalty was to them first and Alena second.
After another long moment of intent listening, Anandur gave the go signal, and everyone exploded into action.
32
Mey
The waiting for news reminded Mey of her Mossad days, when the guys had gone to do their thing, leaving her behind in the hotel to worry.
Now, like then, she was alone, pacing around like a caged tigress and trying not to bite her nails. It was a nasty habit she’d developed as a girl and had never gotten entirely rid of. Whenever the stress and worry would get to be too much, the urge to nibble became nearly uncontrollable.
Perhaps she should take up knitting, something to keep her hands busy. The other option was gluing on acrylic nails, which she had done in the past for the same reason. The fake nails were too hard to bite, but then she’d discovered that scraping away the nail polish was almost as satisfying as biting.
Both outcomes were unattractive and unproductive. If she’d learned to knit, she could at least make something. A scarf for Yamanu, or maybe a warm hat for the winter.
The knock on the door startled her, and her hand flew to her chest. Knocks on doors in the middle of the night were never good. As everyone with a loved one on the frontline knew, only the worst of news was delivered in person.
Everything else could be handled on the phone.
Her heart running amok in her chest, she walked to the door and opened it, expecting to see a couple of somber Guardians. Instead, it was Callie and Wonder, each holding a gallon-size ice cream bucket.
“We thought that you could use some company,” Callie said. “It’s nerve-wracking to wait for the guys to come back, and doing it alone is the worst.”
“We brought Rocky Road.” Wonder lifted her bucket. “Can we come in?”
Mey shook her head and pulled the door open all the way. “I’m sorry. When I heard the knock, I thought it was bad news.”
“Oh, right.” Callie grimaced. “We should have called first.”
“That’s okay. I’m glad that you’re here. I was going nuts.” Mey eyed the ice cream container in Wonder’s hand. “I’d much rather nibble on that than on my nails.”
“You too?” Callie sat on the couch. “I used to bite my nails a lot, and sometimes I still do.” She smiled. “But you are right. Ice cream tastes much better. Can you get us spoons?”
“Coming right up.”
Mey pulled out three soup bowls and three tablespoons. Emergency situations called for the big guns. This wasn’t the time for little teaspoon nibbles from dainty ice cream goblets. Not that Yamanu and Arwel had anything like that in their kitchen. Mostly, they used paper everything.
“Perfect.” Callie took a spoon and loaded the bowls.
As Mey sat on one of the armchairs, she glanced at her watch. “It’s one o’clock in the morning. How are you going to get up for work tomorrow?”
Wonder shrugged. “Immortals don’t need much sleep.”
Callie nodded. “That’s one of the perks. I can work at the nightclub, and then in the morning come help Wonder in the café. I could have never pulled that off when I was a human.”
Mey raised a brow. “I didn’t know you worked in a nightclub. How come you need to work two jobs? I was told that Guardians are paid well.”
“I don’t need to, I want to. Brundar owns half of the place, and I like keeping an eye on him when he is there.” She winked.
“Why? I mean, if you were both human, I would have understood, but immortals are supposed to be absolutely faithful to each other, right? Yamanu told me that fated mates never even feel attracted to anyone other than their partner.”
Callie waved with her spoon. “That’s true, and I trust Brundar completely, but he needs me there to stave off unwanted advances. Besides, we sometimes use the place to play.” She winked again.
Wonder chuckled, and then quickly stuffed a big chunk of ice cream in her mouth.
“Am I missing something?” Mey asked.
Callie smiled. “Brundar‘s place is not an ordinary nightclub. Well, the top floor is, but the basement is off-limits to the vanilla clientele.”
Wonder coughed. “Excuse me.” She shoved another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
“I see.” Mey reached for her bowl and followed Wonder’s example.
Callie’s elephant-sized hint hadn’t been lost on Mey. It seemed that she and her mate were into some interesting stuff.
Mey had no problem with that. In fact, she’d always been curious but had never dared to even look into a club like that. Maybe now that she knew the owners, she might summon the courage. But only if Yamanu went with her.
Not to do anything, of course. Just to check it out.
“I know,” Callie said. �
�It’s a bit of a shocker, but I can assure you that all the members are nice people who just enjoy the spicier side of things. Brundar has kept it a secret for a long time, but I convinced him that there was nothing to be embarrassed about.” She snorted. “Not that you’ll hear him breathe a word about it, but he doesn’t mind if I do.”
Mey put her bowl down. “I admit that I’m a little curious. Do you think Brundar would mind if Yamanu and I came to check it out?”
Callie grinned. “Are you into the spicy stuff too?”
Right now, she wasn’t into any stuff, but Wonder and Callie didn’t know that.
“I’ve never tried, and I’m not sure that I want to. But I would like to understand the allure.”
“You can come to one of the demonstrations. We have classes every Wednesday.” Callie scrunched her nose. “Although I’m not sure Brundar would be thrilled about another Guardian checking the place out. So far, no one from the clan has expressed the desire to visit, and I think he's very glad about that.”
“It’s not a big deal.” Mey shrugged. “If he’s not comfortable with it, I can skip it. It’s not like it's at the top of my bucket list or anything like that.”
“What is?” Wonder asked.
“Finding my sister, figuring out if Yamanu and I are really fated mates or if this is just an immortal urban legend, transitioning, deciding what to do with the rest of my life.”
“Oh, wow,” Callie said. “That’s some heavy shit. But let me assure you at least of one thing. Fated mates are real. Don’t ask me how and why, but I know it’s true. Right, Wonder?”
“Yeah, it is. But it’s really difficult to distinguish between regular love and the fated kind. I think that the only true test is time. If after the honeymoon period is over, neither of you feel even the slightest attraction toward anyone else, then your union is fated. Other than that, I really don’t know how to test it.”
Callie laughed. “If that’s the only test, then I need to convince Brundar to invite immortal couples to the club. There is nothing like watching people having kinky sex to determine whether you can feel attracted to someone else.”
Wonder grimaced. “Maybe for you, but I would just feel grossed out.” She cast Callie an apologetic look. “No offense. I have nothing against it. But it’s not my thing.”
“No offense taken. But you are right. The temptation should match the person’s particular desires. But I still think that’s the best kind of test.” She looked at Mey. “What would be your greatest temptation?”
Mey shrugged. “I can’t think of any. All I want is for things to work out between Yamanu and me.”
33
Brundar
“Counting back from three,” Onegus’s voice sounded in Brundar’s earpiece.
This time around, it had been decided to break down the doors instead of fiddling with the locks.
Rather than catching the Doomers in bed, they were actually counting on them running out into the front room where the Guardians could hit all four at the same time with taser darts. After that, fangs and venom would finish the work.
“Go!”
Brundar kicked the door, expecting the lock to give and the wood to splinter. Instead, pain shot through his leg all the way to his spine, and he stumbled back.
The bloody door was reinforced?
“What the hell?” Raibert pulled out his gun, the regular one, and emptied a round into the wood, creating an opening inside the door.
As the culprit became visible, Brundar cursed under his breath. It was a simple iron bar that ran across the opening, and now that it was visible, Raibert kicked one side of it to loosen the screws holding it attached to the wall.
The other teams on their floor followed his example, and given the sounds of gunshots coming from upstairs, Anandur’s teams were doing the same.
Fuck. It was going to get messy.
With the element of surprise gone, the Doomers were ready for them, aiming their guns and firing through the hole in the door before the Guardians made it through.
Brundar hadn’t fared any better than his friends.
Even though he was ready, both his tasers armed and aimed, Brundar got hit before he could release a shot. The first bullet was stopped by the vest, but the other hit the SWAT issue armored suit that wasn’t designed to stop bullets. With the searing heat ripping through his thigh, Brundar’s aim faltered, but he still managed to hit his first target before the Doomer had a chance to fire another bullet.
Except, there were three more Doomers, and Raibert was down after being shot multiple times.
Somehow, Brundar managed to slip into the zone despite the burning pain, moving with a speed that was unnatural even for him and hitting the remaining three one after the next.
Except, before going down, the Doomers kept shooting and two more bullets had hit home in his body, and one grazed his helmet right next to where his earpiece was, rendering him momentarily deaf.
With a curse, he ripped the thing off and descended on the Doomers, clobbering each one over the head while they were still twitching on the floor.
He would have gladly sunk his fangs in the first one, but Raibert wasn’t moving and Brundar rushed to his side.
The Guardian was breathing, thank the merciful Fates, but he was bleeding profusely from his thigh. The bullet must have hit an artery.
Whipping a tourniquet from one of his vest pockets, Brundar tied it above the wound, then looked at the corridor. “Is anyone out there? I need someone to carry Raibert to the medic bus!”
When there was no response, Brundar cursed and lifted the wounded Guardian over his shoulder, his injured leg nearly collapsing under him. Gritting his teeth, he limped out into the corridor and looked around.
None of the Guardians were there, and he had to assume that they were assisting in the other apartments.
Fucking mess.
Hopefully, Anandur was doing better on the second floor.
Outside the building, the situation wasn’t better, which was worrisome. If the Guardians securing the perimeter were gone, it meant that they were giving chase.
Without the earpiece, he had no idea what was going on.
In a flash of brilliance, he removed Raibert’s and put it on. “What’s going on?”
“A fucking mess,” Onegus answered. “It’s a bloodbath.”
“Them or us?”
“Both.”
“Can you send the bus? Raibert is out, and I’m injured.”
“It’s already moving. Should be there in a couple of seconds.”
“Thanks.”
Brundar let Raibert’s body slide down but remained standing. If he sat down, he wasn’t going to get up, and there were Doomers inside who needed to get either envenomed or clobbered over the head once again.
The medic bus turned the corner and then came into a screeching stop in front of him. Julian jumped out and hefted the injured Guardian over his shoulder.
As Brundar limped away, Julian called after him, “You are bleeding. Come back and let me take care of that leg.”
“After I dispatch the Doomers.” Brundar kept going.
34
Yamanu
“That must have been the worst executed mission in our history,” Anandur grumbled.
Next to Yamanu in the back seat, Brundar nodded in agreement.
Both brothers were injured, and yet they had both gone back to help their fellow Guardians as soon as they’d gotten patched up by the doctors. All available fangs had been needed, and it had to be done while the aggression was still pumping through their veins.
After the Doomers were taken care of and loaded into the trucks, the injured Guardians had been sent home, and the uninjured ones stayed behind to clean up and transport the Doomers to the warehouse.
Hopefully, they’d gotten all of them, but since an exact count hadn’t been available, it was possible that a Doomer or two had managed to escape. The likelihood of them getting by the Guardians securing the
perimeter was low, but it wasn’t entirely non-existent.
“Considering the clusterfuck this was, we were lucky,” Anandur said. “Most injuries were minor, like Brundar’s and mine, but some guys took a lot of heat. The medic bus was full to capacity.” He shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position. “I’m glad to be going home in a private car.”
They had left the fake SWAT vehicles in the parking lot of one of the clan’s downtown buildings, where they were going to get a new paint job. Kian hadn’t decided yet whether he was going to keep them for future missions or sell them.
“What I wonder,” Yamanu said, “is whether the operation would have gone smoother if Turner had planned it.”
A simple precaution, an iron bar across the door, had almost been their downfall. And wasn’t that a humbling experience.
“I don’t think so,” Brundar said. “The human team Turner sent to snoop around didn’t discover the bars on the doors either. It’s almost as if the Doomers were ready for us.”
Anandur turned around to look at his brother. “Bridget said that the bullets they used were designed to explode and cause as much damage as possible. That’s why they hurt so fucking bad, and why it took her so long to take all the pieces out.”
Brundar shifted, wincing as his bandaged leg moved. “Their boss must have suspected something after the last raid.”
Anandur shook his head. “We were very thorough. There was no hint of a struggle left and we staged it perfectly. It looked like they stole the drugs and the money and defected.”
“We’ve learned a few things since then,” Brundar said. “Like the fact that it is not easy for Doomers to defect because they are compelled to be loyal to Navuh.”
“Yeah, but we also know that the longer the Doomers are away from the island and Navuh’s influence, the weaker the compulsion becomes. Those guys have been in the Bay Area for months.”
