“I thought there was four of you.” He frowned.
“Sir,” Julian addressed him, letting me know this was the president of the Hunter’s Guild. “The vampire is watching the building for us.”
“Is this all you brought?” Jack leaned forward, trying to peer around the large man dressed in black. She spoke as if she were talking to a family member rather than the leader of her whole guild. “Seriously, Uncle Tristen, five people? When we asked for backup, we meant, like, the whole barracks.”
The president’s gaze landed on Jack. “You’re lucky I haven’t sent you home. Your mom will kill me if you end up dead because of me.”
Jack crossed her arms. “Try it.”
They stared each other down for a moment before I slipped in between them, offering my hand.
“Hi, I’m Tate. The werewolf boyfriend. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
Tristen looked down at my hand and then met my gaze, his larger hand engulfing mine. “Thank you for backing my goddaughter up in this.”
“Of course.” I took my hand back after a moment, shoving it into my pocket. “We all want to keep Jack safe.”
“Alright, alright.” Jack pushed between us, digging in the van behind Tristen. “Enough with the touchy feely. If this is all you brought, we’re going to have to be sneakier than I expected. Did you bring my flak jacket?”
Tristen twisted to the side, giving her more space. “Yes, and this isn’t everyone. I sent one of the vans to the other end of the street, and we have two more groups waiting at the north and south points of the building.”
Jack grabbed something out of the van and then handed one to Julian. They both put on these sleeveless jackets, zipping them up to their necks. While her godfather explained the plan, I watched as Jack checked the pockets of her jacket, adding a dagger or two. She looked like a real hunter.
“What?” Jack glanced up at me with a smile.
I shook my head. “I always knew you were a hunter, just never thought I’d see you looking like one.”
“Oh, yeah?” Jack spun around for me. “What do you think?”
I grabbed her hand, pulling her in close. “It’s kind of hot. Maybe later you can arrest me.” I waggled my brows at her with a sly smirk.
“I think that can be arranged,” she murmured, pressing her body to mine.
“Alright, stop that you two,” Tristen interrupted us. “Going to make me barf. Does everyone understand the plan?”
Jack nodded, pulling away from me to a polite distance but not completely. “We’ll go through the front and act as a distraction. Then, after we give the signal, your groups will rush in.”
“And the signal is?” Tristen asked, handing her and Julian a small earpiece.
Putting the earpiece in Jack sighed, reluctant to say it. “Just wait until my fathers hear about this.”
“Right.” Tristen grinned from ear to ear, completely giddy over the code phrase. “Everyone ready?”
A chorus of replies responded to him. The older man then looked at me.
“Is your guy ready to go?”
Kyren appeared at my side in a cloud of shadows. Glancing from Kyren to the others, I puffed up my chest.
“We’re ready.”
Chapter twenty-five
Jack
Outofalltheyears I’d been hunting, I’d never been this nervous. I kept telling myself this was like any other bust. I should be focusing on the fact that Hamish tried to kidnap me. That the other supernaturals in there had literally almost killed me.
Except… the only thing I could think about was Iris.
