Christian wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. I just needed someone to listen. “Don’t tell the others.”
He stroked my arm. “Tell them what?”
“That I’m scared shitless.”
“You’re not alone.”
I leaned away to look at him. “You’re scared too?”
“No, but I heard Spooky was weeping into his pillow last night. I would too if I had to spend eternity in those ridiculous shoes. I’d bury myself right now.”
That was enough to make me laugh, and the more I tried not to, the worse it got. Christian’s eyes brightened as he watched me lose it. When a snort escaped, I stood up. “I better make an appearance so they don’t think I bailed on them.”
Christian kissed my eyelid and then the other, which gave me butterflies. Then he gripped the door and held it open. “Did they mention if there were security cameras at the facility?”
“I didn’t get that far in the update before I ran out. I almost bit Claude.”
“Hey, guys.” Blue approached from the elevator down the hall. Her cape swished behind her as she strutted toward us. “I can only stay for a minute. I just came by to see what the plan is.” When she reached the room, she gave a hard sigh and put her hands on her hips. “Don’t use the elevator. The guy in there doesn’t have his best face on.”
“Is anything wrong with Viktor?” I asked, my heart sinking with guilt for almost abandoning him.
Her blue eyes darted between us. “I don’t know. Gem and Wyatt were supposed to find out. Are they back yet?”
I sighed with relief. “I haven’t gotten the scoop, but if something was wrong, they would have said so as soon as they walked in the door.”
She rubbed her cheeks. “Don’t scare me like that. I guess Wyatt was convincing enough in his outfit. I did a head count of everyone going into the facility today. Seems fewer than what I thought, and most of them were part of a repair or renovation team. I heard someone mention two guys working the late shift tonight. You’ll have to be careful.”
“Is it just the two knuckleheads?” Christian asked.
She shrugged. “As far as I know. They’re having repairs done inside, so that’s why they closed down today. They officially close at six, so that’s when most of the staff will head out.”
“Then we leave at midnight,” Christian said.
I gave him a skeptical look. “Why not earlier?”
He tucked his fingers in his pants pockets. “They’ll be alert before then. Probably having a bite to eat and chatting about sex or football. Humans get tired in the wee hours. Blue, when you go back, see if they venture outside for any reason. A cigarette, a breath of fresh air, a walk to the store. If so, you can let me know when we arrive. I can wait in the shadows and charm one of them. Otherwise, we’ll have to break in and be quick about it.”
I groaned. “Can we agree on one thing? No killing.”
Christian arched his eyebrows and cocked his head. “You wouldn’t kill for your leader?”
“Granted, they’re holding Viktor in a cage and feeding him dog food, but unless they come at us with guns, I don’t want their blood on my hands. They’re humans. Viktor wouldn’t want that either. They’re only doing their job.”
“Raven’s right. Don’t kill them.” Blue shivered. “I don’t want their ghosts on my tail.”
CHAPTER11
We left the hotel after midnight. While sitting in the Jeep across the street from the shelter, I anxiously looked out my window. Shepherd tapped his hands on the steering wheel to “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
I glared at him. “Can’t you find a different song?”
“Nope.”
I worried my lip. The blinds were closed in the building, the lights mostly out. “What if it’s not just two workers? They might have a whole night crew.”
Shepherd turned down the radio. “It’s just the two. Gem and Wyatt saw enough of the place to confirm there aren’t security cameras. Should be a piece of cake.”
“Yeah, but what if? Christian can only charm one man at a time. That gives the other guy a chance to call the cops or trip an alarm. We don’t even know which section of the building they work in.”
