“Oh, Hec’s a special one,” Trent said, grinning. “He can charm the birds out the trees with that mouth.”
“Hey, I drag my arse halfway across the country to help you out of your sorry mess, and this is what I get,” Hector said, throwing his hands up. “You wanna deal with this on your own or something?”
“Not me.” Trent held his hands up peaceably. “And like you said – we’ll need a strategy. All we have right now is the location of a bit of land. Whether it’ll be guarded and how heavily, and howwe’llfind this egg when Hargreaves apparently hasn’t… that all sounds like a bit of hard work to me.”
“I’m up for it if you are,” Hector said, grinning. “And I’m sure these two are as well, once they get up off their lazy arses.” He jerked his head to where Rhys and Euan were sitting in the middle of the lounge area, playing with Goldie, Dusty and Quicksilver.
Trent had to admit it made for a pretty cute sight: two fully grown men, both the size of a fair-sized barn door, letting two little baby dragons and a baby basilisk scamper over their shoulders and forearms as if they were some kind of living playpen.
Rhys looked up, scowling –definitelynot a very fun and playful expression, Trent thought, though the effect was somewhat undermined by Goldie clambering about in his hair, her tail curled under his nose like a moustache.
“Hey – you want these guys climbing around all over you while you’re trying to work?” he snapped, as Goldie stuck the tip of her tail up his left nostril.
“Thanks for the babysitting services,” Trent said diplomatically, watching as Quicksilver slithered its slow way around Euan’s forearm. It wasn’tquiteas sprightly and fast-moving as Goldie and Dusty, but, Trent thought, that was probably for the best. “Zina thinks she might’ve found out where we need to go to put a stop to Hargreaves’s operations – or hopefully, anyway. So we probably need to start talking strategy.”
“I can multitask,” Rhys said, a little nasally, as he pulled Goldie’s tail out of his nose.
“Me too,” Euan concurred. “So let’s talk.”
“First is surveilling the area, obviously,” Hector said. “Rhys and I can handle that from the air. That’d be the safest bet, and we can cover a lot more ground that way. Find out where the entrances and exits are, and how many guards we can expect to deal with. What the lay of the land is like.”
Rhys nodded. “Sure thing. Can do.”
“And we need someone to stay back here and take care of these guys,” Hector said. “Rhys, once we’ve done our surveillance, I think that should be you. You can get them out of here the fastest if the need arises, and we might need Euan if it comes to a fight. I can handle any air support that’s needed.”
Rhys nodded without arguing, which Trent appreciated. He knew Rhys and Hector argued and needled each other like brothers did, but when it came to their jobs, they both took them deadly seriously. Hector was the most senior member of the team, and so he was in charge for the moment, and Rhys would follow his orders.
Glancing out the window, Hector continued, “It won’t be dark for a good while yet, but I think Rhys and I should get started looking over the area as soon as possible. It’s a long way out, so the only way we can get there is either by truck or in our shifted forms – so obviously you know which one we’ll be doing.” He glanced at Zina. “You reckon we got enough of a head start on this Bloodhound character you were telling us about?”
“I don’t know,” Zina said, shaking her head slowly. “He hasn’t shown up yet, and last time he didn’t exactly take a subtle approach when he caught up to us. So the best thing we can do for now is try to move fast, and be out of here quickly.”
“I agree,” Trent said. “I think if he were here, we’d know about it.”
Unless he’s laying low, because the last time he came in kicking doors down, things didn’t exactly go his way…
Frowning, Trent knew that was a possibility – but they also couldn’t sit around waiting for him to show up and announce himself, either.
“All right then,” Hector said, nodding. “I think we have as much as we’re going to get, then.” He turned to Rhys. “Let’s get into the air.”
Chapter 16
Night fell early out here in the desert, and it fell quickly and completely.
Zina blinked in the near-total darkness as she, Trent and Euan trudged out over the red sand, knowing that without her shifter eyesight, she’d probably need some kind of military-grade infrared goggles to see a foot in front of her. As it was, even her antelope’s sensitive eyesight and instincts needed time to adjust – or maybe it was just because they’d gotten a little rusty from disuse.
Youdidkeep me away for a long time this time,her antelope said, sounding just alittleannoyed.I could have helped you. You needed me!
I know, I know,Zina told it soothingly.But I need you now as well. I couldn’t do this without you.
The sweet-talking seemed to help calm the antelope down – it was a sensitive, flighty creature after all, and occasionally liked to have temper tantrums if it felt it wasn’t being appreciated as it should be.Zina had had a somewhat difficult time with it growing up, learning how to work with its moods and capricious nature, and she’d wondered for a while why she’d gotten stuck with such a temperamental creature – well, until the day she’d met a cat shifter, and then she’d realized how lucky she really was.
“We can shift now, I think,” Trent said, glancing over his shoulder. “And we stick to the plan. Euan, you’re on sentry duty. Zina and I will explore the mine. Hector will stay in the sky, keeping watch for anyone approaching. Hopefully this won’t take too long.”
Euan nodded, face impassive. “If anything happens, I’ll be in to get you out quickly,” he said. “Hector and Rhys seemed to think the place was lightly guarded, but…”
Euan trailed off, and Zina knew what he meant. Hector and Rhys had returned from their flyover of the area marked out on Hargreaves’s map, and had seemed puzzled by the lack of heavy-duty firepower at what was, after all, something Hargreaves had spent a lot of time and money pursuing.
Decided it’s a wild goose chase and moved on already?Trent had suggested, but Rhys and Hector couldn’t say.
