“They’re getting anxious,” a familiar grating voice said as we stopped in the hallway. “If we don’t get the Bouchers and Dalton fucking Cavendish under control, they’re going to back out.”
“The Bouchers aren’t willing to leave their little compound. Haven’t in weeks.”
“They took out an entire unit. The humans are worried.”
“That’s because someone had the bright idea to try to take them when they were all together.”
“The brothers weren’t supposed to be there.”
“Theyweren’tthere. But they didn’t leave the place undefended, and whoever thought they would was a fucking idiot.”
“It’s over. There’s no reason to keep harping on it.”
“If you think Erik Boucher and his boys aren’t planning something, you’re the fucking idiot.”
Three voices. Three very familiar voices. I looked at Chance.
No way in hell had we gotten this lucky.
“The Bouchers are hobbled, at least for now. They’re regrouping, but we’ve got time.”
“Have youmetErik Boucher?”
“It’s Cavendish we need to deal with. He’s been asking questions, and he’s not quiet about it—and he’s got that ridiculous company.Strike.Gods, he’s always been insufferable.”
“Hermann doesn’t care about Vampire squabbles. He wants results, and he’s getting them. He thinks another year, maybe two.”
“That’s at least twenty-five more mates, yes?”
“At least.”
“Well, that’s doable.”
“Not if Cavendish is telling everyone and their mothers that mates are disappearing.”
“He’s got no proof.”
“His son’s mate was held for over a week. Who knows what she heard? We need to take care of that.”
My eyes flickered, and I blinked hard, trying to stop them. It was never a good time to see things through a haze of red, but this might be the worst. I needed to keep my shit together.
“If she’d heard anything, we’d already know about it.”
“Cavendish sounds like a crackpot, and he won’t be a problem for much longer. I want to know when payment is coming through. They’ve missed the last two, and I’m notputting my head on the line if they’re not going to keep their end of the deal.”
“They’ll pay.”
“When?”
“I’ll talk to Baudelaire.”
I kept my eyes on Chance. Zeke had been right when he’d hypothesized that François Baudelaire was funding the project. He hadn’t even put it in his notes because it had just been an idea, but he’d mentioned it to Lucy and Charles before he’d gone back to his unit. Gods, if we sat here long enough, I wondered just how much information these Vampires would spill.
“They shouldn’t have killed the youngest Boucher. You do realize we’re fucked now, right? They won’t stop.”
“So we’ll stop them.”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
