Dave’s face looked bloodless inside the van as he took a quick right, rocking Jack into the seat and making Admes grunt. “How could she have the power to force them to split up my unit?”
“Maybe he’s just on leave.”
“Or maybe I’ve let them all down. If I’d been there, he wouldn’t be standing in the path of octopus-throat right now.”
“Your guilt, while attractive in this light, is really starting to piss me off. What do you say you let it go so you can start being the kind of leader they need?”
We stared at each other longer than it was really safe for us to, considering he was driving. Then he smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
“That’s the brother I’ve come to know and occasionally wish I could still kick the ass of. Here, let me check and see if Cole’s texted me lately.” Yup, he had. In fact, it looked like the message had come while I was talking to Aine.
Cam’s done working for the day. We’re off to slog some brewskies. Why do they call them Alps anyway? Too short a name for such big, frigging mountains!
I texted him back.
Where are you? If you need to clear the info-share with Pete 1st—do it ASAP. This is vital!
Seconds later I got his reply.
Sorry. If I told you, I’d have to . . . you know.
Shit!
Chapter Thirty
Krios couldn’t pull off a charter for me. His guys were ground-crew types, not administration or pilots. But he did suggest someone who could help. My old pal the werebear.
“Kozma, thanks for getting the Range Rover back to me so fast. How are your wounds healing?” I asked as soon as he growled a greeting into his phone.
“Jasmine Parks?” he asked. I heard him sniff, as if he could scent me through the cell signal.
“Listen, I know we already had a deal that made us even, but I need to renegotiate.”
“Really?” I was relieved to hear a note of amusement in his voice.
“It’s vital that my friends and I get a flight to Ljubljana, Slovenia, like, an hour ago. You got any connections?”
“At this time of night? Only one, and then only because he’s my brother-in-law.”
“Works for me. Can you two meet us at the airport right away?”
A pause that felt eternal and made my stomach twist so radically I began to suspect internal bleeding. “I think he’ll do it. That is, if you can pay.” He threw out a figure that would carve a major chunk out of my euro supply. As if I cared.
I took a second to remind myself how to breathe, then said, “No problem.”
Which was how we found ourselves strapped into an AStar B2 helicopter. Our relative comfort was due to the fact that the aircraft was designed for touring, its pilot a U.S. expatriate who’d earned his wings in the army. Dooley Green had met and married Kozma’s sister the year before—although Kozma made it clear Dooley didn’t know about the Were in his extended family and it would be great if that ignorance continued.
Keeping Kozma’s secret turned out to be a cinch. Dooley, who flew travelers all around the northern Peloponnese during the day, launched right into tour-guide mode as soon as we took off and only stopped talking twice. Once when we landed to refuel. And again when we finally saw the lights of Ljubljana.
At the beginning of his lecture, which started so far back in history I wasn’t even sure people were walking upright yet, I noticed Dave was actually trying to see some of the sights as our pilot described them. He sat with me in the back. We’d brought Jack as well. He shared part of my seat and the empty one to my left. Eventually I would have to convince him he wasn’t a lapdog. Definitely before his weight collapsed a major vein. But for the moment I enjoyed his warmth as he lolled across my thighs like a panting, woolly blanket.
Admes had wanted to come, but we’d convinced him to stay with his Trust, whose boundaries still needed guarding. Given the fact that Disa’s absence also offered him the chance to spend time with Niall without her interference, Admes decided maybe it would be in everyone’s best interest for him to drive the minibus back to the villa.
I gave up on texting and called Cole directly. Having no idea what protocol to follow in this case, I simply said, “Our mission seems to be overlapping yours in a potentially deadly way. Not for you two, I hope. But watch your backs. And your fronts. Okay?”
“Details,” he demanded.
“Not many beyond a couple of vampires.” I winced. “Including Vayl. But he’s not—”
“I knew it! I
“Cole! He’s on your side. I mean that sincerely. But he’s with an evil vamp who’s bonded him to her. In a sort of bippity-boppity-I-do type thing.”
“Well, how did he let that happen?”
“He didn’t intend . . . anyway, I’m sure he’s just—”
“Is that why you wanted to know where I was?”
