Cole's Redemption (Alpha Pack #5)(59)
“So, what?” Zan pressed. “You feel cheated?”
That word seemed to startle their friend, and he practically bristled. “No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just different than I expected. Noah has a good soul, and he’s one of the best people I know.”
There. That was more like a mate defending what was his.
“I know that. I was just wondering if you did.”
After that, they let the subject drop. They rode in near silence, the tension growing as it always did the closer they got to a dangerous target.
All too soon, the vehicle stopped, and Ryon turned off the ignition.
Time to bag a rogue. His mate was waiting for him to return to her arms.
Twelve
The Pack’s first move was to bring Kalen forward to do his thing.
All eyes, including Zan’s, were on the Sorcerer as he summoned his staff and closed his eyes, his body going very still. Then he uttered a few words in Latin, the sound of his voice almost musical. Zan thought it was so cool how the guy did that and found himself a little envious of the man’s gift.
“That is f**kin’ awesome,” Micah whispered from beside him.
“No shit,” one of the vampire soldiers replied, eyes wide. “Even I wouldn’t f**k with that dude.”
Another vamp arched a brow. “Right?”
Yeah, a Goth guy all in black, right down to the ankle-length leather duster, who could actually turn you into a toad tended to impress people.
In moments Kalen was done, and he turned to the group at large. “I placed a cloak of invisibility around us as far as the humans are concerned, and the good news is there aren’t many. I’m thinking they were probably compelled to leave. The bad news is the cloaking spell won’t work on the rogues.” He appeared troubled. “They’ll see us the second we move in, if they haven’t already.”
Nick swore. “Then we need to move in fast to press whatever advantage we’ve got before it’s gone. Get into position.”
“One more thing,” Kalen told them. “I unlocked the side and back entrances as well as all the interior doors to the rooms so we can go in quietly.”
“Good job,” Nick said.
Tarron motioned for his men to go, and they all spread out to surround the motel. Zan headed for the back of the complex, along with Micah, Nick, Hammer, Jax, and Phoenix. Last-minute intelligence gathered from one of Tarron’s men showed that the rogues were concentrated at this end of the building, on the lower floor. Thank God for small favors. Their job would be hard enough without the creeps filling the whole motel.
There was scant cover, so they hurried to the outer wall and flattened themselves against it, near the back entrance. The door normally required a card key, but Nick pulled on the handle and the door opened, just as Kalen had claimed it would. He slipped inside first, Zan and the rest after him.
The first thing that struck his notice was that the inside was like a tomb—and in more ways than just the dead silence. The interior was dark. Lightbulbs were out, either naturally or unscrewed, in a few of the hallway sconces. He figured the rogues were trying to even the odds, make it harder for their enemies to see what was coming. There was also a bad smell permeating the air. Like stale garbage and rotten eggs. And old blood.
His stomach turned, and his wolf let out a low growl of disgust. He didn’t know how any vampire could choose this life, one of death and stink. Killing and hiding, rinse and repeat. It didn’t make sense to him how any creature derived pleasure from causing suffering and death.
Moving fast, they split up and started a room-to-room search. Once again Kalen had come through, as none of the doors were locked. Zan simply twisted the handle and went inside the first room—only to find it empty.
Puzzled, he went through the small space in a matter of seconds, checking the bathroom as well. Nothing. Conscious of the possibility of an ambush from above, he even checked the ceiling, but found nothing unusual. There was nobody here.
He repeated the process along with Nick and the others, their search turning up no trace of rogues as they progressed. Other than the stench indicating they’d once been there, that is.
“Someone must’ve warned them we were coming,” Nick said, obviously pissed. “Goddammit!”
“Who?” Zan wondered aloud. “Nobody knew the plan but us!”
“Except Grant.” The words caused their whole group to freeze.
Zan shoved a hand through his hair. “You don’t really think he’s involved, do you?”
“No. But someone close to him is, which supports what Daria’s uncle told us—someone in our own government is f**king us over.”
“No, really?” Micah retorted sarcastically. “And that would be different from any other day, how?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “Come on. Let’s get this finished so we can get out of here and figure out what to do next.”
Resuming the search, they checked the rest of the guest rooms on their wing and then eventually ran into the teams coming from the opposite direction. Tarron reported the same results, that they’d found no one. The whole scenario didn’t sit well with the group.
The last areas to check were the office, the conference room, the laundry room and workout room. As Zan and his team finished the office, one of the vampires jogged up to them and gestured excitedly down one corridor.