She gave him a worried looking smile, but bobbed her head in the affirmative. “Be careful.”
“Always.” He gave her a tender kiss before stepping over to Razor.
“You don’t have to do this, Knox. You should stay with your mate.”
The former Hunter scoffed. “What’s wrong? You think my skills got rusty living up here in the frozen north?”
Razor chuckled despite his pain and worry. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, thanks.”
Knox inclined his head. “Let’s go find your woman and bring her home, brother.”
Although every movement was agony, Razor walked with Knox and the members of the Order out to the large black SUV parked in the driveway. They got situated inside the vehicle, Nikolai sliding behind the wheel.
Once on the road, he hit the gas and the SUV roared into motion.
Tavia pivoted around to look at Razor. “We’re going to find her, no matter what it takes.”
He nodded, but even as he did so he could feel his connection to Willow fading. Every minute that passed seemed to stretch his blood bond to her thinner and thinner.
Deep down, a sharp-edged panic began to settle into his veins. What if they were already too late to reach her in time to save her? What if he truly had lost her forever?
“Can this thing go any faster?” he muttered into the quiet of the SUV.
Niko met his gaze in the rearview mirror. The mood among everyone was too grim for humor now, even from him.
Without a word, the warrior floored the accelerator and the vehicle rocketed into the night.
CHAPTER 28
They made the drive to Montreal in record time, meeting up with the rest of Nikolai’s warriors on a dark street about a block from a gleaming glass high-rise tower of UWSI headquarters.
The infiltration plan had been hatched and agreed upon while Razor and the others were en route. The team’s objective was twofold, but of equal importance: Locate and rescue Willow; and confiscate every file, lab record, formula, and bit of information pertaining to Serenicure.
For Razor there was only one goal in tonight’s mission, and he wasn’t going to quit until he had Willow back in his arms. He clung to the fading vibration of his blood bond to her, which seemed to be diminishing by the minute.
He had to find her.
He had promised to keep her safe, to protect her with his own life. He couldn’t live with himself knowing he’d failed to uphold that pledge. It was hard enough knowing he’d also let her down in every other way that mattered.
“We’ll need to split up to cover ground quickly,” Chase instructed. “Tavia and I will take the east wing of the building with Razor and Knox.”
Nikolai nodded. “My team will form two groups. Renata and I will cover the west side of the building, while the rest of my unit will sweep the lab and offices for any intel we can collect.”
“Minimize casualties,” Chase cautioned. “Most of the security detail and other employees in there are just trying to do their jobs. Use lethal force only if necessary. Stealth infiltration is key, especially until we can determine if they’re holding Willow somewhere inside.”
Knox glanced at Razor in concern. “You sure you’re up for this?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” The UV burns were almost healed now. Even if he’d still been scorched to within an inch of his life, nothing would stop him from his mission to find and rescue Willow. “I’m more than ready,” he told his friend and the other warriors who were waiting for his answer. “Let’s go.”
Holstering the pair of semiautomatics given to him by the Order, he stalked ahead of everyone. The rest of the team moved stealthily too, their dark shapes vanishing into the night as the infiltration plan got under way.
Up ahead, the UWSI building gleamed like a beacon. Nearly every floor was lit up, the firm’s employees apparently working around the clock. On the street level, armed security guards flanked the main entrance and roamed the lobby inside.
With the game plan being to secure and trance all onsite staff, they were going to have their hands full. Unfortunately, it was a necessary step in order to allow the warriors to turn the building inside out searching for Willow and confiscating everything related to the drug UWSI was working on.
While the Montreal team moved to the headquarters’ west side, Razor and his three comrades slipped around to the underground garage without notice. Inside, they located a locked service door. Using a mental command to bypass the access code, they poured inside the building.
From what intel they had on the thirty-story building, the research labs were housed on the ninth and tenth floors. Meanwhile, Nikolai and his team should be sweeping through the administrative and computer rooms to secure those areas.
