Wild and Free (The Three #3)(110)

Abel looked to the backseat. “You all right?”

It was a pertinent question. Hook looked wiped, hungover, and worn way the f*ck out.

Then again, Hook had decided to spend last night with his vampire and it was written all over him they both gave it all they could give.

“Can’t complain,” Hook answered. “Fucking with that bitch feeding, meetin’ a woman who can hold her liquor as good as I can and go all night, finally hit the foot of the stairway to heaven. So yeah, I’m all right. More than all right. But that doesn’t mean I’m not f*cked out, my balls shot dry, and I don’t got bourbon instead of blood in my veins. Even so, if things go south for me this mornin’, least you know I ended my days on this earth just like I wanted.”

Abel faced forward, murmuring, “Way too f*ckin’ much information,” then heard Hook’s chuckle.

Callum must have felt his mood because he didn’t chuckle.

Instead, he assured quietly, “All is in place and we’ve planned well, brother.”

Abel said nothing because Callum was right. They’d planned well. No matter what happened that morning, they’d get something out of it. Hopefully it would be one of the enemy, alive and breathing, who they could break for information. But even if no one showed, they had human scouts everywhere surrounding the meeting place—fishermen, campers, hunters, and just men who were driving the roads like they had somewhere to go but were on the lookout.

This mission, on the face of it, was Lucien meeting with his friend Cosmo.

Cosmo was in charge of the vamps, wolves, and wraiths in the surrounding areas who were keeping an eye out for the enemy, something the supernaturals reporting to Cosmo shared were nonexistent.

That didn’t mean the enemy didn’t have human eyes.

But Cosmo couldn’t approach the compound, because if he did, the enemy, if they were watching, would know he was the one leading that effort. And according to Lucien, Cosmo was a force to be reckoned with and his involvement and proximity to The Three at that juncture was something advantageous to keep secret. Lucien, and Gregor, wanted their enemies to guess what Cosmo was up to, not know.

Now they were outing Cosmo themselves, with a purpose.

Their road trip was early, the meeting place clandestine, the route they were taking to it was circuitous, all of this to show anyone who might be watching that they were taking precautions to hide the fact this was a trap.

And if they found themselves with a fight on their hands, they’d know they were being watched. Even if no one showed, the scouts they had in place were trained to spot who they were supposed to be spotting. So if Cosmo was followed but not approached, or their convoy was, they’d still know that they had enemy eyes on them, active ones.

That didn’t seem much to Abel, but he was cool with it because it was doing something. But Callum and Lucien said any intel was good to have in order to analyze and then strategize.

And this, they said, was only the beginning. This wasn’t a for-the-f*ck-of-it mission so they didn’t climb the walls of the compound.

Callum and Lucien had planned beyond this mission.

No more sitting on their hands.

Thank f*ck.

This was something else Gregor wasn’t fired up about, and Abel knew, when they found out, all three of their women were going to lose their minds.

But again, it was doing something and he’d take Delilah’s sass just to breathe different air. He also had a feeling she’d get that. He’d just have to put up with her bitching before she got to that place.

Callum followed Lucien off the road to a narrower one, and not long after, they all turned onto a dirt lane. They drove into the forest and the trip wasn’t short. Eventually, they stopped, parked, got out, and hiked a short distance where they found the ATVs.

They loaded up and trekked deeper into the forest.

They were at it for five minutes before some of the ATVs pulled off, their security detail riding through the trees to set up watch.

They were at it another five minutes before, out of nowhere, the wolves joined them, running at the sides of the ATVs.

Callum, ahead of Abel, looked back and jerked up his chin.

The wolves were good.

By the time they hit the small clearing, all that was left were those close to The Three, the rest of the detail having moved to their positions. The remainder of their party drove their ATVs around it, circling it before they stopped, all the ATVs facing in, their lights illuminating the clearing.

In the clearing was a big, blond vampire, his only company being the wolves that had followed them, patrolling beyond the ATVs.

Hook, Wei, Xun, Calder, and Caleb took positions outside the SUVs, keeping watch.

Lucien, Callum, Ryon, and Abel approached the vampire.

“Cosmo,” Lucien murmured, offering his hand which Cosmo took.

Greetings were given, as well as an introduction for Abel, who Cosmo took in head to toe in a sharp way that gave the impression he missed nothing. This was something that made Abel feel more at ease. The vampire was obviously not a moron. Then again, he had yet to meet one who was.

“Were you followed?” Lucien asked once the preliminaries were done.

“No,” Cosmo answered, shaking his head. “Nothing. Not a hint.”

“We’ve had men in these woods for two days. They’ve seen nothing either,” Lucien shared.

“They either have human allies, which I can credit, your father’s skilled with charming his victims before he goes in for the kill,” Cosmo replied. “Or they’re concentrating their efforts elsewhere. Planning something that will draw you out.”