The question hung in the cold night air. The change in Layla was immediate and startling. Her uncertain posture vanished, spine straightening as steel entered her voice. Gone was the worried mother from moments before - in her place stood a survivor, someone forged by fire and emerged harder. This was the caracal shifter who had endured hell and emerged victorious.
"Yes." Her voice carried grim satisfaction. "The ones who survived the raid were captured. Or killed."
"I don't know where they imprisoned the ones caught in Morocco," she continued. "But the ones who escaped and came here to America?" Her lips curved in a cold smile. "They're in the Sanctuary in Ohio now."
"All of them?" Tobi pressed.
"All except Mahmoud." Layla's voice carried no grief - only savage pleasure. "He was the last one. Their leader." She lifted her chin. "He came to try to get me and Tamera when we werestaying at the West Side Inn. The solid earth beneath his feet turned to quicksand and swallowed him."
The words carried such weight that even the night seemed to still around them. Tyr caught the flash of satisfaction in his brother's eyes, matching the fierce light in Layla's.
Tyr frowned in puzzlement. "Quicksand? In upstate New York? That's not exactly common in this part of the country."
A sly smile spread across Layla's face, transforming her features from uncertain mother to someone far more dangerous. "Let's just say... one should never wander the grounds around the West Side Inn with ill intentions."
"Oh!" Tobi's face lit up with unholy glee. "Now that's a story I have to hear! Did Angus and Renee-"
"We have work to finish," Tyr cut in, though his own curiosity burned. He gestured at the remaining equipment. "The cameras won't mount themselves."
"You're no fun." Tobi grumbled but picked up another mounting bracket. "Always so focused on work."
"Someone has to be." Tyr handed his brother the drill. "Otherwise we'd still be standing here at sunrise swapping stories."
Tobi muttered something unflattering in Old Norse as he lined up the bracket, but his movements remained precise despite his complaints. The quiet whir of the drill filled the night air as they returned to their task.
Layla's laughter echoed softly as she headed back inside, the door closing with a gentle click behind her. Tobi called after the retreating caracal shifter, "I want to hear that story later!"
Tyr shook his head at his brother's antics, but couldn't suppress his own smile. Seven centuries together meant he knew that expression all too well - Tobi wouldn't rest until he'd heard the full story about Mahmoud's demise in mysteriously appearing quicksand.
"Focus," Tyr muttered, tossing another mounting bracket to his twin. "We've got three more cameras to install before we can call it a night."
"You can't tell me you're not curious." Tobi caught the bracket one-handed, his movements fluid despite the awkward angle. "Quicksand? In New York?" He whistled low. "That's some serious magical manipulation."
"Of course I'm curious." Tyr checked the angle on the camera his brother was mounting. "But unlike some people, I can wait until after we finish the job to satisfy my curiosity. A little to the left. Yeah, that."
The next hours flowed in a steady rhythm of installations - cameras finding homes in shadowed corners of the entry areas, sensors nestling against window frames, and cables threading their way through walls like electronic veins. They moved from room to room, then outside and back again, their work illuminated by moonlight in the yard and soft amber lamps within.
The house seemed to breathe around them as they worked, creaking and settling in the dark night while their security web grew more intricate with each passing hour. Finally, with the eastern sky still dark but holding the first hint of pre-dawn grey, Tyr connected the last component. A soft chorus of electronic chirps echoed through the quiet house as the system came online, devices blinking to life in sequence.
"That should do it. Tomorrow night we'll have the stuff to do the outside and the perimeter. But this is it for tonight. "
Tobi stretched, his fair hair catching the moonlight. "Awesome. You're headed to the deli?"
"Yeah. Dimitri's on the clinic tonight."
"Cool. Okay, I'll be here. It'll be good when the others come up from the city and we can have a bit more breathing room."
Tyr snickered. "We don't breathe, idiot."
He easily dodged the punch his brother sent his way, but his thoughts had already drifted to tomorrow evening. Perhaps he could find a reason to visit before heading to the pack house. The memory of Beth's smile when he'd explained about their raptor forms lingered pleasantly.
"Earth to Tyr," Tobi waved a hand in front of his face. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"
Tyr didn't bother denying it. "We should get going."
Tobi's knowing laugh followed him down the porch steps, but Tyr didn't mind. For the first time in decades, he found himself looking forward to tomorrow with genuine anticipation—not just for the work to be done, but for the possibility of Beth again.
Chapter 8
