CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“ D on’t fucking shoot me, but I’m telling you, this is going to take a bit of time,” Darren said, giving him a dark look. To be fair, the looks Oliver had been firing at the team were probably not the friendliest, either.

Nor were his the most patient.

He knew the drill, though. Leave the damn tech guys to do their work or they were not focused.

On the other side of the room, Ari was staring at his laptop, looking calm and collected, but Oliver knew better. The vampire might be more skilled at patience than most of them, but this was his mate’s sister.

Sage would be on his case, constantly worried.

He knew the feeling.

He could barely breathe.

Kurt pushed away from the wall and pulled on his jacket. “Well, I nearly died today so I need a fucking beer.”

A few sniggers filled the room.

Everyone knew it would be pretty hard to kill anyone in this room. Although, if Oliver hadn’t reached out to Travis and Ari both he and Kurt would be ash scattered across the earth right now.

He shivered.

Instead, they were still powerful immortals. Or as close to immortal as any living creature on earth could get.

Hopefully, the blood samples taken would give them information about how humans were able to incapacitate vampires so easily. And stop them.

Ari had said Sage was going to order some equipment and set up a small lab. But they didn’t have time for that right now, so somehow, they needed access to a non-BioZen scientist—because fuck no; she was not going near that organization again—to do the testing.

She was the perfect person, obviously as a lab assistant, and Ari said it would keep her mind busy.

Finding out what they were using to weaken vampires would be an incredible step forward in this war. Because it was becoming a war.

“He needs a beer, too,” Darren said, looking pointedly at Oliver, in an obvious attempt to get rid of him.

Oliver frowned. No he didn’t. What he needed was a certain sassy brunette, who wouldn’t shut up, back in his damn arms.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Oliver replied. “Unless y’all get a location, then I’m gone.”

Ari looked up.

“Go. We can call you in seconds. You know that.” It was an order. “Go and give these guys space to breathe and focus.”

God damn it.

Kurt nodded at him. “Come on. Let’s go swap war stories.”

Oliver groaned and grabbed his jacket. “As soon as—”

“Go,” Ari said, raising a brow.

TEN MINUTES LATER, the two of them were holding up the bar, or rather leaning their big-ass bodies on the wooden bar top of their local. The same one he and Ari had met Sage in not that long ago.

“Bit fancier than what I’m used to,” Kurt said, lifting his bottle to his lips.

“Don’t be fooled by the designer shoes and watches.” He help up his own Piguet-clad wrist with a grin.

Kurt turned his wrist to show off his own oversized silver watch and shrugged. It went without saying that those in jobs like theirs were incredibly well paid by excessively wealthy employers.

They shared a laugh.

“Give it another hour and these rich assholes will have far fewer manners and class than a bar full of leather and denim,” Oliver said. “Trust me.”

Medina, where the mansion was located, was home to tech mogul Bill Gates and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, to name but a few of the billionaires in the area. While they were unlikely to walk through the door, many of their top executives lived in the area. Not that Oliver gave a shit about any of them right now. His mind was on Piper.

Was she alive?

Had they hurt her?

Was she scared?

He was only just holding it together, but Ari was right about giving the tech team space. No one performed at their best when someone was breathing down their neck.

“We’ll get her back,” Kurt said, reading his mind. “And it’s time we showed these humans who they’re dealing with.”

Oliver nodded.

“I had the same chat with Ari.”

“What did he say?” Kurt asked.

“He didn’t disagree.” Oliver replied. “What do you think the king will say?”

Kurt lifted his beer to his lips, thinking, and then dropped the glass heavy-handed on the bar. Oliver had a feeling it was on purpose to get the pretty bartender’s attention. It wasn’t the first time Kurt’s eyes had lingered on her.

“I honestly don’t know. He’s strategic, you know. Not a warmonger,” Kurt said, his eyes glistening as the female stopped in front of him.

She was a vampire.

“I’ll have another beer and your phone number.” Kurt smirked.

Good grief.

If he’d known Kurt was this bad at picking up females, he’d have brought some back up.

“Really? Is that—” The female froze her rebuttal and narrowed her eyes. “Oh my God. Are you...” Her voice lowered. “You are! You’re Kurt Mazzarelli, one of the Moretti SLC’s.”

Kurt’s lips stretched into a slow smile.

A knowing smile.

Well, then. Who needed moves when you had a fucking fan base? Oliver wanted to slow-clap the vampire.

Cute Bar Female leaned forward. “Are you from Italy?”

Kurt leaned an inch toward her. “ Si .”

The female blushed and Oliver was sure that bounce on her shoulder-length blonde curls was a sign of joy.

He tipped his beer and placed it on the bar. Not softly.

Neither of them noticed.

“You know, I think I’m going to wash my hair, do a pedi-mani, and have an early night after all.” Oliver slapped Kurt on the shoulder and gave the girl a grin. “Y’all behave yourselves.”

Kurt turned. “Night buddy. Don’t forget to extricate. Or whatever that shit is.”

“Exfoliate,” the female corrected with a giggle.

Yeah, Kurt was about to have a really nice evening.

Oliver grinned and left the bar. Stepping out into the cold night air, he plunged his hands into his denim pockets.

Where the hell are you, Piper?