Blood Assassin (The Sentinels #2)(96)

“Possibly.”

Lana didn’t miss the lack of confidence in his voice.

“What do you think?”

It didn’t occur to him to try and sugarcoat the truth. Lana wasn’t a female who wanted to be pampered and protected.

Hell, she’d demote him to kitchen duty if he even tried.

“I think that someone waited here for Anna,” he admitted. “Either to join them or shadow them.”

She nodded, accepting his explanation without hesitation. Wolfe hid his wry smile at his stab of pleasure.

Idiot.

“Can you sense if they’re high-bloods?”

He gave a shake of his head. If a high-blood had been in the area they would have left behind an electric charge in the air that would linger for hours.

“Norms.”

Lana sent him a startled glance. “Then it’s very unlikely they work for Bas.”

“He’s prejudiced against humans?” It wasn’t an uncommon flaw among high-bloods.

Many felt their special talents made them superior to mere humans.

Not Wolfe. That sort of belief allowed a man to underestimate his opponent. Something Wolfe was never stupid enough to do.

“Bas has no interest in anyone who doesn’t have a power he can exploit,” the Mave said, her voice edged with disgust. “He’s always considered humans beneath his notice.”

“Charming guy.”

She pretended not to hear his sarcastic remark.

“Unless he’s changed over the years then the people in the SUV weren’t working for him.”

That made it simple.

If the SUV full of norms wasn’t part of Bas’s crew, then they’d been waiting behind the rocks for one purpose.

“Then they’re following Anna,” he said grimly, pointing toward the tracks that ran parallel to the road.

Lana didn’t bother to disguise her fear. “We have to get to her first.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Fane peered around the corner, staring at the abandoned warehouse across the street.

The plain brick building was shrouded in darkness, but it’d clearly seen better days. Several of the windows were boarded over and the front fa?ade was spray painted with human graffiti.

Still, it appeared structurally sound and in a neighborhood that was deserted after the sun set.

The perfect location for illegal cage matches.

He glanced toward the assassin who stood next to him. They’d parked several blocks away and made their way to the neighborhood through several back alleys that had made him gag in disgust. Nothing like piles of rotting garbage and human feces to make a man regret his heightened senses.

Now Fane was anxious to be on the hunt. Dammit. Each tick of the clock was a brutal reminder that time was running out.

It wasn’t going to take much for him to explode.

Quite an admission for a man who’d once considered his rigid control to be indestructible.

“You have your people in place?” he asked of the assassin standing at his side.

Bas pointed upward. “I have two Sentinels on the roof and the rest spread through the neighborhood,” he explained. “Kaede is inside.”

Silently Fane added Marco and one other Sentinel loyal to him in hiding in the shadows. He’d sent a quick text to Marco as soon as he’d learned the address of the fight.

If things went to hell he wanted to make sure he had someone he could depend on to get Serra out of danger.

Not that their hidden presence made him any happier to have Serra walking into the potential trap.

He grimaced, acutely aware of the female pressed against his back. He’d had a moment of insanity earlier, attempting to convince her to stay in the car while they investigated the club. He might as well have tried to ram his head through a brick wall.

Stubborn female.

“Did you find any info on the club?” he demanded of Bas.

Bas shrugged, his attention locked on the warehouse. He was standing so close Fane could feel the tension that hummed off the man’s tightly coiled body.

Fane wasn’t the only one on the edge of self-combustion.

“From what Kaede could discover it’s a group of norms who make money betting on the fights, selling drugs, and pimping females in a back room.”

A typical fight club.

Which told him nothing.

“No connection to a high-blood?” he pressed.

Bas appeared equally annoyed with the lack of information. “Not that he could uncover.”

“Which means that the kidnapper might have chosen to meet his potential hit men at the last fight club because it was a convenient cover,” he rasped. “He might not have any connection at all to the fights.”

Bas smiled with lethal intent. “I’m about to find out.”

Fane returned his attention to the warehouse. From the front it appeared deserted, but he easily spotted the two men leaning near the double doors in the center of the building. He didn’t doubt there were several more sentries posted around the place.

It wouldn’t be easy to slip in unnoticed.

“Did you get us invitations?” he demanded.

“Better.” Bas reached into the pocket of his slacks to remove an old-fashioned key chain. As always the assassin was attired in a white silk shirt and black chinos that looked ridiculously out of place in the decaying neighborhood. Obviously he had more vanity than sense. Fane had on his usual camo and tee. “I have the key.”