CHAPTER SEVEN

“ S o, how’s mated life?” Oliver asked as they walked down an overgrown path to the waterline where the potential sighting of Callan had been.

“It’s good.” Ben grinned. “Amazing.”

“How long are you staying in Seattle?”

Ben shrugged. “Not sure. I guess as long as necessary, but I know Craig and Bray won’t want to stay away from their mates for long. So we’ll see.”

Oliver glanced at his longtime friend. “Can’t imagine feeling hamstrung like that. Don’t you hate it?”

Ben let out a small laugh. “Do you hate desiring sex?”

“No.”

“But you need sex.”

Oliver shrugged. “Sure, but I can sort that out myself if I’m hankering for some action.”

“It’s not the same though, right?”

“I don’t know, man. Y’all look like you’re losing your goddamn minds without your mates.” He laughed.

Ben rubbed his face. “It’s been nearly two days without Anna and the first time we’ve been apart. Ask me again in three days.”

“Yeah, see. Fuck that.”

“One day you’ll understand. There’s no way I can explain it. She’s literally as important as the air I breathe.”

Wow.

Oliver didn’t know if that sounded romantic as fuck or completely terrifying.

Oli.

Jason? You joining us?

Job just came in. Ari’s sending me to NY. You need another body there?

No. Ben and I can take this.

“It’s just us. Like the good old days.” Oli grinned.

“You good being the head now?” Ben asked, referring to his promotion to head assassin.

“Hell yes. I was pretty honored when Ari offered it to me. And shocked.” He kicked at some black cloth on the ground. They both stopped and stared at it for a long moment, assessing. Then moved on.

No words were needed. They’d worked together for a long time and knew how the other thought and functioned. It had taken zero-point-five seconds to rule out the cloth as an object of interest.

“Why? You were the obvious choice.”

“Yeah?” Oliver asked, trying not to sound like an insecure dick.

“I mean, you’re not as awesome as me, but you’ll do.” Ben playfully dodged the right hander Oliver aimed at his gut. “Dude.”

Oliver laughed.

“Well, I intend to show Ari he made the right decision.”

Ben began to say something, but Oliver interrupted him. “Check this out.”

Using a stick, he lifted a large white t-shirt from the ground. They both knew it was a stab in the dark. Callan had been wearing one similar when he left BioZen, and it was about his size, but it was hardly solid evidence. It wasn’t like they had his DNA to match.

About an hour later, Ben stopped.

“Let’s wrap this up and go for a beer,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything else. If he came through here, he’s long gone.”

Maybe.

THEY RETURNED TO THE mansion around one in the morning for the next meeting. When they walked into the room, both Ari and Sage were there.

“Hey, darlin’.” He smiled at her.

“Hey, Oli,” she replied, with the sweetest blush. Sage had stayed in Ari’s quarters for the past two weeks as she adjusted to being a vampire and forgave him for taking her humanity. Oli had seen her once or twice when she’d done the sketch for them, but it had been brief. She looked well. Bright-eyed and glowing as all new vampires were.

“It’s amazing, right?” he asked.

She shrugged and nodded.

“Too soon, Oli,” Ari said, his voice the dark protective one he used whenever it came to his mate.

Oli winked at her and took a seat.

“Do that again and you lose the eye.” Ari growled.

Oliver stifled a smile.

“This is Ben. He used to do my job and now works for the Moretti’s,” Oliver said, introducing them as the others all entered the room. “And you know Brayden and Craig.”

“Sage,” Brayden said, walking over to her. “Welcome to the family. How do you feel?”

Oh, right.

Sage was a Moretti vampire now. Not just because she was Ari’s mate, but because they all were.

“Good. Weird,” she said.

“When you’re feeling ready, I’d love you to come to Casa Moretti in Maine and learn more.” The prince added, his Italian accent roaring to life as he spoke his native tongue. “Willow would love to see you.”

“And Bri,” Craig said, referring to his beautiful red-headed mate that nearly every male in the race was in love with.

Not that anyone told the enormous vampire. That would be a death wish.

“We’ll visit soon,” Ari said, reaching out his hand and squeezing Sage with an affectionate smile. “Now, I have asked Sage to join us so we can go through her transcripts and see what we might have missed. We need a lead and right now we have zip.”

Muttered yup’s and yeah, fuck’s, filled the room.

“I’ll do my best,” Sage said.

“Pull them up on the screen,” Oliver said, glancing at Darren who was in his usual spot.

As they went through, page by page, reading the transcripts of the conversations that took place while Sage was inside BioZen and in the experimental laboratories, Craig glanced up. “Do you have any friends still working there?”

“We haven’t decided if Sage will keep her human life, or we’ll declare her deceased and all that,” Ari said.

“Like Bri did,” Craig said nodding. “It’s complicated. But if this is the only option available, we should consider it seriously. This is the protection of the race we’re talking about.”

Ari drew in a slow, even breath, and the air sizzled around him. Oliver watched all the powerful vampires navigate their dominance. In any normal circumstances, things would be more challenging, but they were all working hard to keep their alpha selves in check for the greater good.

For the good of the vampire race.

“Let’s table it as an option,” Ari said, and left it at that.

Craig nodded but shot Brayden a look. The prince didn’t respond.

They all knew how important this was. BioZen were experimenting on vampires for God knows what reason, but one thing they all knew—it wasn’t fucking good.

They’d held Callan for what appeared to be nearly half a year. The data and research BioZen would have obtained during that time was pretty thorough. Sage had only seen a very small sample of the data when she was promoted into the program and then, when she helped him escape, the vampire had fled.

Oliver didn’t blame him. He’d been tortured and used as a lab rat without mercy.

Sage had been unable to stomach what they were doing and shocked at the discovery that vampires were real—and that she was sleeping with one.

Well, technically two, if she counted Oli as well, but he wasn’t sure she did. Not openly.

He looked up and Ari was watching him.

Shit.

Don’t think about Sage.

Don’t think about Piper.

Except he was thinking about Piper. He wanted to know if she’d fixed that window.

Do not go back.

Darren continued reading out the transcripts until suddenly, Sage let out a little noise. “That. Go back.”

Darren scrolled up the page.

“There.”

They all read it. Once. Twice.

“Good morning, everybody. Sorry to rush you, but we need to get the induction started as I’m flying out this afternoon,” Dr. Phillips said. “This is Brian. He’s the lead scientist in the Callan lab. We’ll be showing you around this morning. Please follow all his instructions.”

“We’ll need you all in PPE gear after you’ve scrubbed.”

Oliver turned to Sage, wondering what she was seeing that they didn’t.

“Sage?” Ari finally asked.

The new vampire was chewing her lip. “Could be nothing. It’s just something I thought was odd at the time and then with everything that happened, I forgot about it.”

“No idea is stupid in this room,” Ben said. “Just tell us what you’re thinking.”

“Debatable,” Craig said. Ben gave him the bird.

“Ignore the incredible hulk,” Ben said. “Go ahead.”

“Well, Dr. Phillips never travels. I don’t know him well, but he’s always at work. You know the guy who never goes home and never takes holidays?”

A bunch of heads nodded.

“So, where was he going?” Craig asked, tapping his pen on his enormous shoe which was resting on his knee.

Sage shrugged.

“No idea. I think we should look into it. He heads up that department, so unless he’s going to Disneyland or the Bahamas, I think it could give us a lead,” Sage said.

“Good work, baby,” Ari said. “I want every fucking airport and airfield checked, and all air traffic control conversations scanned over that period.”

“On it,” Darren said.

“And fast. Get your entire team on this now,” Ari added.

He watched Darren pull up his message app and begin to instruct his team.

Brayden stepped away from the wall he’d been leaning on, and Craig glanced at him. The two were as in-sync as Oli was with Ben. “Get our team doing the same. More eyes and ears, and all that.”

Craig pulled out his phone.

Oliver looked over at Ari, waiting on his instructions. “Prepare a team to move at any moment. When we get a location, I want wheels up in thirty,” Ari said.

“Got it.” Oliver nodded, glancing around the room, which was empty of senior assassins, except for Travis who was more desk-bound these days. “Can we call anyone back?”

Travis frowned and tapped his tablet. “Alex in... twenty hours. Elijah in twenty-five.”

“Ben, you up—” Craig started.

“I’m in.” The former vampire assassin answered before he could finish. “I need some action.”

“Yeah, well, none of us are getting any action right now. Again.” Craig groaned.

“That’s why it pays to be single,” Oliver said, and realized he totally had the wrong audience as multiple sets of eyes glared at him.

“True that,” Travis nodded, without lifting his head from his tablet.

Thank you, Travis.

Darren shot him a smirk.

Ari stood, pulling Sage’s chair out for her. “Keep me posted. We’re going for a drive.”

Oliver checked his watch. It was four in the morning.

“Meet you in the training room in two hours. I have something I need to do,” Oliver told Ben, then found himself a short time later back on a certain female’s balcony.