He laughed. “No, it’s ScentKill.” He held the can in front of me so I could read the label. “But it does smell like shit. The stink will wear off quickly, though.”
“Ooh,” Rosalina went for the can, “they sell that?”
Jake kept the ScentKill out of range. “Stales think it smells delicious for some reason,” he said, shrugging at me, baffled. “And no, they don’t sell it in the way you’re thinking. You have to buy it from witches or mages, and it doesn’t come cheap. It kills all scents so Skews with sharp noses can’t smell you coming.”
Turning to me, he squared his shoulders and placed his hands on his narrow hips. “Now, will you tell me where the hell to find Blake?”
Chapter 30
AFTER WE FOUND OUT the exact location of the warehouse, we waited until nightfall. Surveillance would be easier and safer under the cover of night, Jake had said. We rode his motorcycle toward North Riverfront, an industrial area near the Mississippi River.
We parked about a mile from our destination, hiding the bike in a heavily wooded location and tracking through the undergrowth and trees in silence. We were dressed all in black, knit caps keeping our hair out of our faces. Jake carried a backpack strapped to his back. Guns and magazines were strapped to the belts around our waists. He had given me a Glock with laser sighting, filled with bullets he’d called “special.”
“Why are they special?” I’d asked.
“They have a wolfsbane core that releases on impact. It’s high-grade stuff and will render a werewolf useless. Aim for the torso though, if you hit a vital organ, it pretty much means death, even for a strong werewolf like Blake.”
“Wow, wolfsbane bullets. I’ve heard of those. Aren’t they expensive?”
“Very, so take good aim.”
Jake and I stalked forward carefully, exchanging quick glances and stopping in our tracks when we heard the slightest noise. Our senses were on high alert, even if most of the sounds we heard were animals scampering through the dry leaves.
“You heard that?” Jake asked with a frown when I stopped suddenly after hearing a small scratching sound.
“Heard what?” I pretended to adjust my Kevlar vest. “This thing is so uncomfortable.”
“Better uncomfortable than dead.” He pressed forward, his steps barely audible despite his bulk.
I mimicked the way he walked, trying to be just as stealthy. My heart pounded in my chest with excitement, and I was reminded of the times he and I had gone on scouting missions looking for missing persons. I had never admitted it to myself, but now that I was here, feeling the adrenaline rush through my system, I realized how much I’d missed this.
God, what is wrong with me? Why do I enjoy it so much?
It had to be the wolf in me. There was no other explanation. The chase, the hunt, had to be something that part of me craved. They must be in my blood.
Through the thick trees ahead, the glow of electric light breached the darkness. I squinted, averting my eyes, the brightness hurting me, and for the first time, I realized that I’d been stalking through the dark ass woods without tripping or running into anything. I could see despite the pitch blackness.
Damn, this is cool!
Suddenly, I was mad at Mom all over again. She had deprived me of so much.
As we approached, Jake glanced over his shoulder, pressing a finger to his mouth.
We crouched low and approached at a near crawl. When the warehouse came into view, we lay on our stomachs, flat to the ground, and scanned the area from about a hundred yards away. The structure was about the size of two basketball courts, its walls made of corrugated metal.
Silently, Jake pointed at the building’s flat roof and the large, roll-up door. Three men armed with rifles stood guard: two on the roof and one by the door.
“Cameras,” I whispered pointing at the corners of the warehouse.
Jake nodded.
As we watched a moment longer, a fourth guard came out through a side door and joined the one by the door. I wondered how many more were inside, hopefully not many more.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“We need to create a distraction,” he whispered back. “Stay here.”
I grabbed his wrist as he moved to leave. “Where are you going?”
“To create a distraction.” He stared pointedly at my hand.
I let him go. “Please, be careful.” I planted a quick kiss on his lips before I knew what I was doing.
He blinked in surprise, then quickly recovered and ran his thumb over my lower lip as if promising he would pay me back.
I watched him slink behind the cover of trees, going around to the back of the building. I waited, wringing my hands and biting my lower lip. After five minutes, I started to get restless and was about to take off after him when I noticed a plume of smoke rising behind the warehouse.
It took the guards a moment to notice it, but when they did, the two by the door left their posts and rounded the corner to investigate. The other two, however, remained in place, growing more alert and pointing their rifles all around as they scanned the parking lot below.
Shit! Now what?
I was pondering what to do when I noticed a dark shape sneaking behind one of the guards on the roof. Holding my breath, I watched as the guard went down without a sound.
Man, he’s good.
I didn’t remember Jake being so... sneaky. Maybe he’d had some training since we’d last gone about St. Louis creeping through the night.
My sharp eyes homed in on the other guy.
Would he notice his partner had gone down on the other side of the long roof? I waited on pins and needles, but he didn’t. He was so intent watching for intruders on the ground that he didn’t notice the one right on his ass. Jake approached from behind, and a moment later, the second guard went
