Chapter Twenty-Five
Colt
By the time that we caught up with the rest of the team, they were already splintering off into pairs to blend into the local traffic entering Salem.
Since we knew Cal had somehow tracked Sky to my place, Colby had decided that we were better off splitting up into pairs and scattering through local motels and bed and breakfasts to prepare for our assault on the Omega house instead of all descending on one hotel en masse.
“We don’t have any reason to think they know we’re coming or why,” Colby had said with a shrug at the final strategy meeting the night before we headed east. “Still, better not to draw attention to ourselves.”
Once we’d checked into our room at a rat trap motel just off the highway, I brought my duffel bag in from the truck and found Sky pacing between the two double beds.
“Hey. You okay?” I dropped my bag and caught his wrist to pull him to me. “If you changed your mind, we can do this without you.”
“That’s not it,” Sky sighed. “I’m just anxious, I suppose. What are we supposed to do now?”
“You mean until go-time?”
“Yeah.”
“Well,” I kissed his cheek. “I think we should go out and have a nice meal and then get some rest since we have to be on the go early.” I winked at him. “Any suggestions for a romantic spot I should take my date if I want to get lucky?”
Sky rolled his eyes at my stupid joke but smiled, so I counted it as a win.
~*~
When the alarm on my phone chimed a few hours before dawn, the first thing I noticed was that I was alone. The covers on Sky’s side of the bed we’d shared were folded back and the sheets were cool to the touch.
Bolting upright in the bed, I slumped back when I saw Sky’s lean body in front of the large window, his back to me as he stared out into the darkness.
Stepping up behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed his neck. “You okay?”
“I think so.”
A small seed of anxiety began to grow in my gut when his body remained stiff and unyielding in my arms.
“Sky? Baby, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing,” he snapped, stepping out of my embrace and turning to face me. “I..I just want to get this over with, okay?”
“Sure,” I agreed readily even though inside I knew there was something more. I closed the curtain and flipped on the overhead light. “Oh, you’re ready.”
That gave me pause. When we’d discussed the particulars of the plan on the way down, he’d told me that – start to finish – the transformation should take about an hour. But there he was, his honey-gold hair temporarily dyed jet black. His amber eyes were tinted blue with colored contacts that Rafe had gotten from fuck-knew-where, his fingernails had been cut short and painted a glossy purple, and his usual jeans and t-shirt had been replaced by a shiny purple tank top and matching hot pants. I hadn’t even asked where they’d come from, but when Trevor had offered them up, Sky had pronounced them perfect.
“I am.” Sky’s voice was flat and emotionless as he crossed the room and perched on the edge of the straight-back chair in the corner.
“Why don’t I run out and grab something for breakfast?” I offered. “I saw a couple of 24-hour places on the other side of the highway.”
“I’d rather just get this over with.”
“Okay. Give me a minute and I’ll be ready, also.” While I was pulling on my clothes with one hand, I tapped out a message to Colby with the other, letting him know that we were ready to go.
Ten minutes later, the team was fully mobilized but if we’d done it right, no one would know until after the bust.
Saying that Salem wasn’t a very shifter-friendly town was a lot like saying that Donald Trump didn’t love immigrants: a massive understatement. The one plus to the target being in a shifter-hating, mostly-human area was that we were much less likely to run into witnesses in the dark, pre-dawn hours.
Thankfully, our luck held and we didn’t see anyone as we parked the truck in a neighboring lot and began to work our way through the woods. Once we got to the vent tunnel that had been chosen for the entrance, Sky looked around nervously.
“Where is everyone?” he whispered urgently.
I nudged him with my hip, pointing to the padlock that had been cut off and was lying in the dirt. “They’re here.”
Sky patted his hip and I knew he was checking for the vial that was stashed in the hidden interior pocket. He took a deep breath and nodded to me. My Omega was ready.
Stepping forward, I lifted the heavy iron grate. As expected, it swung up easily and silently, showing a well-knotted rope dangling into the abyss. The Blood Valley crew had oiled it when they cut the lock. Just like I did every time I worked with them, I silently congratulated them for being the best.
I turned to Sky, but he shimmied past me without a word and slid a leg over the ledge, disappearing silently into the darkness. Then, all I could do was hold the grate upright, supporting it from crashing back down under his weight, and silently count the seconds as they turned into minutes until I felt tension in the line again.
