Blood Assassin (The Sentinels #2)(95)

Leaving Kaede to organize the troops, Bas moved to type the address of the warehouse into his laptop. He cursed as the satellite view revealed a three-storied red brick building that stretched half the block with boarded over windows and a flat roof.

“Shit.”

Kaede was instantly at his side. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s two dozen windows and at least six doors plus the loading bays.” He zoomed in for a closer look. “There’s no way we can keep a watch on all of them. We’ll have to go in.”

“Bas, there will be a hundred people at the fight. Most of them pumped full of steroids and all of them armed,” Kaede warned. “Let me do some recon and—”

“No,” Bas snapped, impatience twisting his gut. They had an address. A tangible location to try to trap the kidnapper. There was no way in hell he was waiting one minute longer than necessary. “There’s no time. We go tonight. Contact Fane.”

He headed toward the door at the back of the office that led to his private quarters. He needed a shower and change of clothes.

Then he was heading toward the warehouse.

Hang on, Molly, he silently urged his fragile little girl. Daddy’s coming.

Dusk was painting the sky in vivid colors of orange and violet and deep rose as Wolfe came to a halt to study the wagon tracks that were perfectly outlined by the powder-fine dust on the road.

Around them the flat landscape was giving way to low hills and prickly shrubs that clung to the dry, rocky ground.

A part of Wolfe appreciated the fact that they were at least partially hidden behind the hills and bushes. On the other hand, it made it impossible for him to see more than a few hundred yards.

Which meant he had to stay on constant guard while keeping focused on the trail they were following.

It slowed his pace, but he wasn’t about to walk into an ambush.

Not when he had Lana with him.

Sucking in a deep breath, he judged the scent of horse manure in the air. It was thicker than it’d been just a few miles back.

“I think we’re gaining on them,” he said, a frown touching his brow as the unmistakable stench of a recently smoked cigarette captured his attention. “They must be going at a snail’s pace.”

“They wouldn’t have any choice,” the Mave said, taking a drink from her water bottle. Despite the heat that coated her pale skin with a moist sheen, and the dust clinging to her jeans, she still managed to look as cool and dignified as a queen. “Even the wagon they’re using to transport Anna would have to be heavily reinforced with spells. It’s complicated enough to maintain magic under the best circumstances. It’s nearly impossible when you’re moving.”

Wolfe absently followed the acrid scent of smoke and burned tobacco, his thoughts trying to sift through the various reasons anyone would waste that amount of magic just to transport a dangerous high-blood.

“Bas must have an important reason to go to such an effort,” he muttered.

“Yes,” Lana swiftly agreed, following behind him as he headed toward a large rock outcropping. “He’s flown below the radar for years. He wouldn’t have risked exposure if it wasn’t something he considered vital.”

Wolfe agreed. Unfortunately anything vital to Bas, a man willing to use his own people as weapons, couldn’t be good.

And quite possibly catastrophic.

He paused, struck by a sudden thought. “There’s one angle we haven’t considered yet.”

“What?”

“How this connects to Serra.”

The Mave halted next to him, her gaze scanning the horizon as she considered his words.

“Is she still in St. Louis?”

“She was just a few hours ago.” Wolfe pulled out his phone to check for any new messages. “I don’t have any info that she’s been moved.”

Lana grimaced. “I don’t know whether to be relieved or terrified.”

Wolfe knew which he was.

Terrified.

“Could she be psychically linked to Anna?” he asked.

She considered before giving a sharp shake of her head. “Not at such a distance.”

It’s exactly what Wolfe had expected, but that didn’t prevent him from cursing in frustration.

“Then what the hell does she have to do with this?”

She turned to meet his smoldering gaze. “A question only Bas can answer.”

Of course it was. With a shake of his head, he continued around the outcropping, coming to an abrupt halt as he caught sight of the unmistakable indentation in the ground.

Even with the stench of a recently smoked cigarette he hadn’t expected this.

“Damn.”

Lana was instantly at his side. “What?”

He pointed at the ground. “Tracks.”

The Mave bent down to study the wide tire grooves in the dust. “A car?”

“SUV.”

She straightened, her perfect, beautiful face bathed in the warmth of the sunset.

“It could be a coincidence,” she said.

Wolfe used his boot to kick the small pile of cigarette butts next to the rocks.

“The SUV was behind this outcrop of rock long enough for the driver to smoke half a pack of cigarettes.”

“Hunters?” she suggested. “Humans enjoy killing things.”