Sawyer’s gums and fingertips ached, his fangs and claws trying to get out. He’d already hated Seamus before, but now he flat-out wanted to kill the bloody bastard—preferably by ripping his throat out with his bare hands.
“It goes without saying that MI6 wants to get Yegor back in our custody—badly.” Weatherford scowled. “It’s an embarrassment that the man escaped without us knowing it. The fact that he’s responsible for the deaths of three of our agents only makes it more imperative we find him quickly and before he goes after anyone else on your team. Unfortunately, while we were able to collect a lot of information on Yegor’s actions prior to the auction in Greece, we have no idea where he is at the moment.”
Sawyer couldn’t help but notice Weatherford didn’t mention the fact that he was likely on Yegor’s list, too.
“Finding Yegor would be easier if we knew what he might be up to next,” Rory pointed out. “It’s possible he’s trying to arrange another auction, but since he doesn’t have Brielle to find more supernaturals for him, that seems unlikely.”
“We’ve had our analysts working on it nonstop since talking to you the other night and have even been working directly with the Americans in STAT, but we still don’t have anything concrete on what Yegor’s up to,” Weatherford said. “Our best bet is that he might be looking to pick up where he left off with his original plans.”
Sawyer had to actually think awhile to dredge up the memories of what Yegor had been up to four years ago. Most of the details escaped him, but all he could say for sure was that Yegor and his brother had been pissed about the Russians encroaching into areas historically accepted to be Ukrainian territory. When the European members of NATO, especially France and the UK, had refused to get involved, the two brothers had lost their entire family oil business, something that made them furious.
“Do you think Yegor might be planning a major terrorist attack against the Russians?” Rory asked, his dubious tone giving away the fact that he wasn’t buying that.
Weatherford made a face. “I agree it seems like a stretch, but right now, it’s all we have. We’re working on this around the clock. Once we find something, I’ll pass it on to you and the STAT team.”
“The easiest way to figure out what Yegor is up to is to talk to Brielle,” Sawyer pointed out. “She was part of his inner circle from the very beginning and implied she knows what he’s up to. She’s willing to tell us if we let her and her brother go, but STAT is more interested in getting their hands on her for her ability to detect supernaturals than in stopping Yegor. Any chance MI6 can put some pressure on them to let her walk in return for information?”
Weatherford thought about that a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “We’re well aware of her abilities and the Americans’ interest in her. I’ll talk to McKay, but honestly, I’m not holding out a lot of hope.”
The virtual meeting broke up shortly after that, with Sawyer’s team stuck in a holding pattern until they knew more.
“Erin and Elliott never made it back to headquarters,” Rory said the moment the teleconference connection was off. “Do you think Yegor got to them?”
Sawyer frowned. “I don’t think so. If Yegor killed them, he’d want us to know they were dead. There’s no payoff for him otherwise. I’m hoping they’re just having second thoughts about walking on us and are at some hotel figuring things out.”
“Considering you’re a werewolf and probably have better instincts than I do, I’m willing to go along with that,” Rory said. “So what’s the plan?”
“I’ll keep trying to contact Erin and Elliott, but since they haven’t answered my calls or replied to my texts yet, I doubt they’re going to.” And Sawyer would be lying if he said that still didn’t sting. “In the meantime, we keep working with STAT to figure out what Yegor is up to.”
Rory nodded. “Okay. What about Harley? Are you going to talk to her?”
Sawyer didn’t have to think about it. “Yeah. I just have to find the right time.”
“Bollocks,” Rory said. “Something I learned from experience is that if you wait for the right time, you’ll be waiting a long time. Take my advice and talk to her. Or you’re going to end up regretting it.”
* * *
Harley heard her teammates talking softly in the kitchen at the same time she picked up the delicious aroma coming from that direction. She smiled as she hurried down the last few steps, touched her new family was keeping the noise down so they wouldn’t wake her up. She hadn’t meant to sleep in, but after Sawyer left this morning, she couldn’t help snuggling his pillow and breathing in his scent. When she opened her eyes again and looked at the clock on the night table, it was well past noon.
She’d hoped Sawyer was back from his teleconference with MI6, but he was nowhere to be found. She supposed the reality of both their jobs had to intrude on the fairy tale that had been last night at some point…no matter how perfect that fairy tale might be. Her teammates, on the other hand, were all gathered around the big table having lunch.
“Hey,” she said, giving them a smile as she walked over to the counter where everything was set up buffet style. She was half afraid there wouldn’t be much food left, considering Caleb ate more than the rest of the team combined, so she was pleasantly surprised to find a nice selection of pita sandwiches, kabobs, salad, and baklava.
“Late night, huh?” Caleb asked.
She shrugged as she took two pita
