Dare matched Mace’s sarcasm. “How’d you know?”
“You guys done?” Tayla popped her fists on her hips and gave them all a mom-look. Everyone shut up. “That’s what I thought.” Shegestured to the castle blueprints. “This isn’t a typical nest. It’s Nosferatu clan.”
Tension sapped the residual humor hanging in the air. The Nosferatu clan was slippery, the mobsters and terrorists of the vampire world, skirting the edges of human law. Sadistic, brutal, and powerful, the vampires who ran with the clan were the worst of the worst, forced to pass tests of strength, endurance, and savagery before being allowed into their tight-knit group.
“How many?” Blade asked.
Tayla shook her head. “Unknown. Intelligence from The Aegis and our own sources caps the number at around a dozen, depending on the day.”
Mace snorted. “A dozen for just the three of us? Easy.”
Easy? Mace was too confident. Nosferatu were vicious and not easy to kill. A team of four gave them good odds for victory, but not an easy one.
Mace gestured to Dare. “We don’t need him.”
“You do need him,” Tayla said. “He’s an expert on the Nosferatu clan.”
Interesting. Scotty gave Dare a second, lingering look. Big dude. Thick, muscular arms, and she was pretty sure there was at least an eight-pack under that tight black tee.
Those eyes, though. Piercing and dark, they looked right through you.
“An expert?” Scotty asked. “How?”
“I used to hang with them.” Dare’s blunt answer stunned them all into silence. Except Mace, who was rarely silent about anything.
“You used to hang with them? Why?”
Dare shrugged. “Misspent youth.”
“That’s quite the misspent youth,” Blade chimed in, watching Dare with hooded eyes, a predator assessing another predator.
Something niggled at the edges of Scotty’s memory. This was all sounding vaguely familiar. Dare. Dare…Dare?
She gasped. Gaped at him like an idiot. “Are you—?”
“Cat and Hades’ son,” Tayla finished.
Mace and Blade both whipped around to stare too. Because holy shit. Yes, Scotty was the daughter of a Horseman of the Apocalypse. Yes, she was friends with the Grim Reaper’s daughter. Yes, her grandfather was one of the most powerful angels to ever exist.
But come on.Hades? He and his fallen angel mate had lived inSydney for a few years while he worked to rebuild Sheoul-gra, and they’d visited her father’s island a couple of times. But once Hades had constructed enough of his realm for them to live in, they’d all but disappeared.
“So, is that why Hades hasn’t finished Sheoul-gra?” Mace asked. “Because you’ve been fucking around with Nosferatu instead of helping him?”
“Mace!” Scotty hissed under her breath, giving him a jab in the ribs with her elbow. He’d never been in control of his mouth, but antagonizing a complete stranger for no reason went too far, even for him.
“No, it’s okay,” Dare said, his voice as smooth and deadly as asp venom. “Sheoul-gra is close to completion. And I’d be honored to welcome Mace as our first…guest.”
Ooh, nice one.Guestsof Sheoul-gra were dead, spending their time in misery and torture until they were reincarnated—if they were lucky.
“Let’s save the death threats for after the mission is successful,” Decker said. “Back to the situation. There’s a complication. The vampires have prisoners. Human prisoners. The Irish government wants them returned safely.”
Mace held up his hand. “Wait a minute. Leap Castle isn’t that big. I took a tour when I was a kid. It’s too small and dilapidated to hold a nest of vampires and prisoners.”
Decker shook his head. “The castle has been partially restored since then. And the vampires have tunneled through the hillside. They have multiple entrances and exits now, plus a lot of places to hide.”
“Do the Nosferatu know they’ve been discovered?” Scotty asked.
“We don’t think so,” Tayla said. “But The Aegis has been tracking two different cells for about eight months, and one fell off the radar a month ago, so they may have an idea that The Aegis is after them. That said, The Aegis isn’t exactly subtle. The Nosferatu won’t see DART coming in.” She glanced over at Dare. “And there’s another complication.”
