Nico sighed and shook his head. “If Luis is right, this makes things even more difficult. They already know where the vault is. They saw Luis, so they know we’re in the country now. They’ll freak out. Pull all their pawns and soldiers in close. We’ve got a much tougher fight on our hands.”
“What do you want me to do?” Luis asked.
“Lay low. I’ll be in touch when we have some sort of plan,” Nico said, then ended the call.
I chewed at my lower lip. Everything seemed to be speeding up. We were on a rollercoaster, headed for a massive drop. The fear was returning. Would I ever feel safe again? Would we get out of this alive? I had no clue. All we could do was try.
34
NICO
“One thing I just can’t get my head around,” I said. We were sitting around the fireplace after getting off the phone with Luis.
“What is it?” Kenneth asked.
“Maddy’s blood. Why are they still after it?”
“What do you mean?” Maddy looked as confused as I did.
“Well, during the first attack there was…well, there was a ton of blood. Why didn’t they just take it then? They had plenty of opportunity. Why isn’t this all over? I mean, either her blood works or it doesn’t. Or am I not thinking this through?”
“I think you’re on the right track, but you’re forgetting something,” Kenneth said.
Maddy sat up straight and put a hand to her lips. “The suppressants. Remember what Doc said? He said my blood now looks totally different from my blood the night of the attack. They did take my blood; it just didn’t work. But now that the drug is completely out of my system, it probably will. That has to be it. My wolf was dormant, now it isn’t.”
I frowned and ran a hand across the stubble on my cheeks. “Itdoesn’tmake sense, that’s what I’m saying. Yes, I get thatyour blood is different now. But how the fuck do the royals know that?”
Maddy and Kenneth’s eyes both went distant as the implication sank in on them. They understood where I was going with my train of thought. If they had taken her blood, and it hadn’t opened the vault, why were they still pursuing her? Did they really want all the descendants dead? Maybe, but their real mission was finding the blood that would open the vault. Unless someone had told them about the suppressants.
I glanced at Kenneth, but brushed away the possibility that it was him. He wouldn’t do something like this to his only family, would he? Especially since the royals killed his brother. What about Doc? Could they have something on him like they did his nurse? How many people knew? Just my inner circle. Could one of my best friends be working with the royals behind my back? The thought made me sick to my stomach.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” I said and excused myself.
As soon as I was locked away, I pulled my phone out and texted Luis.
Me:I think we have a mole. Someone is informing the royals.
Luis:I was thinking the same thing.
Me:It’s not you or Felipe or Sebastian. I’d bet my life on it.
Luis:Wow, I love you too, bro. Who does that leave?
Me:It leaves Kenneth or Doc. They’re the only other ones who know.
Luis:You need to watch your ass around Kenneth. Doc is a ten-hour flight away. If it’s him, he’ll have limited info to give them.
Me:Okay. Stay safe. I’ll keep my eye on Kenneth. I’ll let you know if anything gets weird.
Luis:Got it.
The next couple days were pretty stressful. I was living in a house with a guy who might be helping the people who were trying to kill me. That was not a comfortable place to be. It was even worse because it seemed like Maddy and Kenneth were growing closer each day. That relationship and the way he acted with her made me doubt his involvement even more.
The original plan had been to stay at Kenneth’s cabin until the vial was found. Now that we knew that the royals were guarding it, our timeline had changed. Plus, I was nervous about staying there. The thought that we were being set up for a trap wouldn’t stop nagging at my mind. Luis and I had been texting back and forth, trying to come up with a plan to get into the tombs undetected. We went through what felt like a hundred scenarios before coming to one we thought would work.
Luis had the idea to orchestrate a massive diversion that would get the guards out of the graveyard long enough for him to get in. It sounded like it might work, but there was always the possibility it wouldn’t. We couldn’t wait any longer. My wolf felt like it was getting boxed in. Every sense I had was cranked up to DEFCON one. We had to make a move, and this was the best we had.
I gave Luis the go-ahead to do some up-close recon and see how many guards were actually there, if there was some type of security system—anything that could give us the information we’d need. If he felt good about it, Maddy and I would join him in Norway and make our attempt. Now, I had to sit and wait for Luis to tell me what he found.
