“Hey, gotta go. Robert’s about to land. Do me a favor and see if Zane got the picture I sent him, okay?”
“Will do. Be safe.”
“Yup. Bye.”
Pocketing his phone, Jackson headed inside to see Zane.
~/~/~/~/~
Working feverishly, Ian tried to prevent Fionn from crashing. Barking orders at Colton to intubate their patient, his mind quickly sorted through what might have been injected to cause the symptoms the dragon had. Once the ventilator was connected to Fionn and was breathing for him, Ian paused, pleased to see some color back in his face. Looking up at Colton, Ian asked, “Where’s Mac?”
“Cody brought back the needle used on Fionn and Mac took it to the lab to analyze. He should be back shortly.”
“It’s an overdose,” Ian muttered.
“Overdose? Are you sure?” asked Colton. “Cody said the attackers were trying to seize Hunter and Fionn…why try to kill them if they just wanted to kidnap them? Oh shit, what about Hunter? He was injected with something too.”
“Whatever was used might react differently in dragons than in wolf shifters and if I had to hazard a guess, I believe some kind of barbiturate was used. It would explain Fionn’s reaction to it since it’s easy to overdose a dragon on those drugs.”
“But wolves tolerate it quite well,” Colton said.
“Yes, they do. And since they were attacked by wolf shifters…”
“I have it,” Mac said, hurrying into the triage room. “It was a combination of a fast-acting sedative and phenobarbital.”
“Colton…”
“I’m on it.” First removing the tube from Fionn’s throat, Colton then held his breath, calling on Archangel Raphael to help him. Reaching out his fingers, he touched Fionn’s chest. Power surged through his body and exited through his fingers, while a blinding green light filled the room. When the light and tingling in his fingers finally faded. Colton removed his hands…and waited.
~/~/~/~/~
At the bottom of the stairs, Jackson turned toward Zane’s computer lab, hoping his brother would have some news about the attackers. He’d have to tell his cousins about their brother being taken—and still missing—but at least he hoped to have some information as to Hunter’s whereabouts. Giving a quick rap before entering, Jackson wasn’t surprised to see David sitting next to his mate.
“Hello Alpha,” David said, glancing up. “We’re looking for the man.”
“And…any luck?”
“Maybe,” mumbled Zane, staring intently at his screen. “Ahh, there you are, fucker.” Taking a series of screen shots first, he then clicked the print button. Looking up at his brother, he said, “The man is a member of a pack advertising itself as having soldiers…for hire.”
“Mercenaries,” Jackson clarified.
“Yes. Their home base is located in the mountains of Motuo,” Zane said.
“Never heard of it,” replied Jackson.
“Hardly surprising,” Zane said. “It’s hidden in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China…perfect place for them since it’s inaccessible except by hiking an overland route that goes through the Himalaya Mountains.”
“Is the pack registered with the High Council?” asked Jackson.
“No. It’s made up of convicted wolf shifter criminals along with some rogue wolves, which explains why they picked one of the remotest places on earth. They keep out of view and only advertise their services on the dark web.”
“Do you know how many are in the pack?” asked Jackson.
“From what they say, about three hundred…give or take. But I think that’s bullshit based on the satellite photos I found of their compound.”
“Why is that?”
“Not enough structures for one, and the other is it’s a fairly new pack located somewhere that’s hard to find…it’s unlikely they’d have built up that kind of strength this soon. Also, they’re really isolated…no roads within miles so you need a guide. And since the humans living in Motuo are kinda hostile to outsiders, they’re not likely to act as guides.”
