“Maybe…I am not aware of a spell for that, but it doesn’t mean Zohar hasn’t created one.”
Remy held up his hand, stopping any further discussion. “We need to act quickly. Once the Council members have left the building, Kaden along with Zohar and the others will head to the holding cells and discover the low-level magic users are gone. Once that happens, our element of surprise will be gone.”
“He’s right,” Carson said. “They have to be our first priority…everything else can wait.”
“Agree,” Dylon said. “With the guards asleep and the other magic users gone, Kaden will need the remaining four magic users to help move the low-level magic users out of here.”
“Do you still want me to shift and find Kaden?” asked Logan.
“No, Remy can find him. But I don’t want him to do anything until we’re sure all the council members are out of the building, so let’s split up into teams,” Dylon suggested. “Logan, you’re by yourself, Sawyer’s with Glenn, Zane’s with Mystia, and Cody’s with me. Kieran, you stay here with Remy, Carson, and Brady. Once you check out your area of the building, report it clear and get back here as quickly as possible.”
“See you guys soon,” Carson murmured, watching the group leave. Snaking an arm around Remy’s waist, he tugged him to him, needing the closeness to settle his nerves. Things were gonna get bad fast once Zohar discovered the low-level magic users were gone.
~/~/~/~/~
Popping a large potato chip into his mouth, Riley crunched down on it, pleased with the sound it made. Doing it again, he grinned, enjoying himself during the spare minutes he had while running several search programs. At the agency he became used to the ‘hurry up and wait’ aspect of his job running through thousands of databases, some of which only he had access to. He never thought of trading his job for anything until Glenn had asked him to join the group.
Even if Riley hadn’t owed Glenn for saving his life when that strange Oracle came after him, he still would have done anything for the man. Fierce and loyal to a fault, Glenn was everything he wanted in a mate and, for a time, Riley wished they were. But as time went on, he came to the conclusion they were better off as friends so when Glenn found his mates, no one was happier for him than Riley.
Taking a sip of his raspberry lemonade, Riley licked his lips, savoring its sweet-tart taste. Then shoving a handful of chips in his mouth, he tilted his chair back, chewing while his mind wandered back to the latest information from Ghost and Smokey. His instinct was telling him there was more to the involvement of humans in their world than any of them thought, but damned if he could put a finger on it.
Wiping his hands off on his jeans, he grabbed a pad of paper and pencil. Drawing a line down the center, he began writing the facts he knew in the first column. As he’d discovered in college, lists helped him see the bigger picture, allowing him to focus on what steps were needed to solve the problem.
With everyone gone, Riley welcomed the silence in the room, allowing his mind the freedom to retrieve all the facts, starting with the appearance of humans at an auction selling shifters. He wasn’t assigned to that case but had heard about it through one of his fellow computer buddies at the agency. At the time, he’d chalked it up to a fluke. but now, staring at his list, he realized it wasn’t. The appearance of human hunters in the campground and the ones who’d stalked Kevin’s parents confirmed there was more to it than he’d first thought.
Moving over to an unused computer, Riley entered his password and search parameters into the agency’s top secret database. It was a risk; his superiors at the agency might find out what he was doing, but that didn’t stop him—if his hunch was right, they’d give him a freaking medal. Hitting the search icon, he leaned back, eager to see the results.
Even back in his office at the agency, he didn’t have this sweet a setup. As his eyes kept track of data coming up on several different monitors, he continued to crunch contentedly on more chips. Then, zeroing in on one of the screens, he jumped from his chair and grabbed its mouse, to turn the volume up on a video file. Riley’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the chatter in one of the groups he followed on the dark web. Suddenly, fear filled him. He grabbed for his phone and quickly dialed. “Ghost?…Riley here.”
Chapter 17
“Hey, what’s up?”
Breathing a sigh of relief at the sound of Ghost’s voice, Riley asked, “What did you do with the second bunch of humans?”
“They’re tied up in the back. Why?”
“Get them out,” Riley yelled. “They’re rigged with explosives!”
“I know…found ‘em when I was removing their trackers. All taken care of.”
“No, it’s not…there’s still more,” Riley cried. “You gotta get away from them…do it now!”
Hearing the panic in Riley’s voice, Ghost swerved over to the side of the road and came to a stop. Jumping out, he ran to the back and lifted the hatch. Grabbing the first human, he pulled him out, and passed him to Ivan who’d joined him. “Get him away from here.” Then he handed the next one to Hawkeye, giving him the same instructions. When his vehicle was finally emptied, he turned to Ivan. “Watch ‘em until I find out what the fuck is going on.”
Returning to the front of the vehicle, Ghost reached through the window and grabbed his phone, still connected to Riley’s. “What the fuck is going on?”
“The humans…what did you do with them?”
“They’re across the road, lashed to a tree. Now…talk,” Ghost growled.
“I found out the explosives in the trackers were decoys so once you found them, you wouldn’t look further,” Riley explained.
“Your source must be pulling your leg. I stripped-searched each of them, from their hair to their toes and all the bits in between and they came up clean.”
“It’s in their stomachs,” Riley said. “Whoever heads this group borrowed a trick from the drug cartels and had them swallow the explosives. I’m guessing each triggering device is wireless so their leader can decide when to detonate them.”
“A fucking suicide bomber.”
