I cut that train of thought off with a shake of my head and took a sip of water, peeling my eyes away from them—painfully. As I set down the cup, my eyes caught on Jed, and he sent me a smirk and a wink.
Shit. I was pretty sure he’d caught me checking out Oak.
“Here. Eat up, big guy,” Oakley said, setting my plate back in front of me.
I sent them a smile and a nod and dug in, ignoring Jed and everyone else in the room.
Everyone but Oakley.
I couldn’t ignore them even if I wanted to… and I didn’t want to.
It had been hours since the woman and four men from the other night set up chairs right outside the barn and put a small stage in front of them. Now we were waiting for their clients to show. I assumed it’d be any minute now since we’d been here for what felt like forever. I supposed I was anxious to get this mission going. The waiting was the worst part since there was little to distract me.
Or, well… in this case, it was simply too much to bear to be beside Oakley for so long without pulling them into my arms.
“Hey,” Oak whispered from where they lay on their belly beside me, staring through their night vision binoculars. I was happy they were my partner tonight, even though I really wanted to tuck them under my wing and keep them there, safe and sound, forever. “There’s a truck coming down the driveway.”
I used my own binoculars to watch the small pickup truck slowly make its way down. “Finally. People are arriving.”
They hummed under their breath, and the two of us watched the truck pull up close to the barn. The woman from the other night directed them to park off to the side, and once they did, two people climbed out.
I heard Oakley sniff at the same time as me, and they said, “One vamp. One shifter. And a wolf, I think.”
“That’s what it smells like to me.”
Oakley turned on their mic to report our findings to the rest of the teams. We were lucky that we and everyone helping us had spells covering our own scents. So hopefully no one would pick up on being watched, even if they were downwind.
Another car came down the driveway followed by another and another, so the two of us gave our team numbers and species for the next half hour while the clients arrived—AKA, the assholes who wanted to buy people.
Every time I thought about the horrors those poor souls inside the barn could face, the horrors that others before them were already facing, it made me sick to my stomach. It made me want to shift and eat every blasted one of them. I wanted to burn them and their entire operation to a crisp.
I really fucking hoped I had the chance because this had to stop.
Wehaveto stop them.
When the last car was parked and everyone was seated, we waited so we could record exactly what these disgusting people were doing. We wanted to catch them in the act, not before they actually did anything, so we had to let the auction begin, unfortunately. I felt terrible for those poor kidnapped people. They had to be petrified, and being auctioned off like that would only make it more terrifying for them.
Oakley made a disgusted noise when the woman brought out the first poor fae woman. They made her stand on the stage in only a bra and underwear—thank goodness the poor thing wasn’t forced to stand there naked—while she cried and shook in fear.
The incubus began the auction, and we could hear his words loud and clear through our equipment and enhanced hearing.
People in the audience held up their little numbered signs to bid on the poor fae, and bile filled my gut, my stomach queasy.
We were told to let them auction off two or three people, just to have more hard evidence against the group since we were recording it from several different cameras, before we busted in, as long as no one tried to leave.
We watched two more fae men be auctioned off like they were cattle before I looked at Oakley and asked, “We’re good now, right?”
They nodded. “I definitely think we have enough evidence.”
“Good, because I can’t watch this anymore.”
“Me either.”
Into my mic, I said, “All teams ready?” After I got affirmations from everyone, I gave Oakley a small smile and spoke into my mic. “On my count. Three… two… one. Go, go, go!”
We swarmed the barn like a group of angry bees, coming out of trees, off the street, out of the fields, from everywhere.
Oakley and I had our guns raised as we approached the barn from the west end, and I shouted to the crowd, “Keep your hands up. Any sudden movements will be seen as a threat and result in you being shot. Hands up where we can see them!”
