7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

"Why are you always here?"

Remmus perked at the sound of Ava's voice. After two hours at Sagan's den, he'd finished the recoding process, then installed the microchips containing traces of the bio-weaponized substances he wanted the systems to detect. They'd returned to Estes Park soon afterward.

After a restless night in his borrowed quarters, he'd emerged in search of some sustenance. He hadn't been given a room with a kitchen or even basic amenities to prepare any food. Raeths rarely ate, so he couldn't blame his hosts for the oversight, and he'd heard nothing but praises about werewolf cooking.

His she-wolf came to stand behind him as he was finishing his meal at the long table, surrounded by women intent on filling him to the brim with tasty treats. While his flirtatious nature had won out and he'd happily engaged with all of them, none of them had made his pulse spike like Blondie.

His response to her grumpy greeting was, "Wolves make the best food!"

"Your kind almost never eat," she replied. "Why are you so different than other Raeths?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Remmus offered her his most seductive smolder, his gaze hooded as he patted the seat beside him. What she didn't know, would never know, was that he burned far more energy than most Raeths. It was a self-inflicted wound. Remmus was constantly fighting the urges of his past and the compulsions placed on his mind that would never break.

Ava's nose scrunched as she regarded the open seat beside him.

"No thanks, I have no interest in knowing more about you, Raeth." The sigh that escaped her said much the opposite. "But I do have an interest in figuring out more about our immortal friend who's aligned with the Citizens."

"Wouldn't you know it, so do I. Are we picking up your alpha and his mate before heading back to St. Louis?"

Remmus stretched, leisurely climbing to his feet and intentionally closing the distance between them under the guise of standing.

"No. They're staying behind to help administer a new shipment of vaccines. If we decide to blow it up down the line, we'll come back for Cortana's advice on explosives. It's just us today."

Her words were filled with distaste, as though the thought of being alone with him was utterly repulsive.

The vaccines were the werewolves' answer to the threat that was the Citizens: it offered some measure of protection from rabidity if they were poisoned with silver-sunlight, through bullets, smoke bombs or HVAC infiltrations. Too many wolves had already been lost to the terrorist organization's aim of eradicating all immortals from the face of the earth.

Remmus smiled. "Shall we, Blondie?"

Extending his hand, the Raeth watched as she frowned before sniping, "I thought you didn't need physical contact to teleport unless I had to provide you with a teleport lock?"

"It helps," Remmus chuckled, "especially now that I've already established a mental and physical shield around us."

Nervous eyes speared through the space around them as if she could see the shields. Remmus didn't mind another chance to study her features. Her ocean-blue eyes, crystalline as they reflected light, were even more astonishing now that he knew more of the resilient mind hiding behind them. Only one other person he'd known had ever come close to having eyes as breathtaking as Ava.

"Fine. But don't get handsy with me. I'll bite your fingers off."

Her shrewd tone brought him back from his contemplation. His level of danger must have proved acceptable to the skittish wolf.

Electricity sparked up his arm at the direct contact with her soft skin, the whisper of citrus that was her scent. Inhaling deeply, he resisted the urge to sigh at her zesty aroma. The urge to put his nose on her neck and inhale was nearly overpowering, but he somehow resisted.

He teleported them to the frozen site only seconds later, and the resulting shudder had nothing to do with the cold. Both of them landed in a drift of snow up to their ankles, the chill of the late December air kissing their exposed skin.

Ava's hand jerked out of his the second they solidified. Now that she'd seen what the staff of the Citizens facility were capable of, she immediately began surveying the area surrounding them.

"And you're sure the other Raeth can't sense us now?"

"Ye of little faith."

Remmus' concentration was on diligently scanning the facility while maintaining his psychic shielding. He took every precaution to ensure that neither of them would be discovered while they were there.

"No Raeth today, fortunately," he said, "but even if he returned while we were on site, he wouldn't be able to detect us through my shield. I've convinced the humans to ‘look away'."

Suspicion swiftly darkened her gaze. "How did you do that?"

"Gentle telepathic suggestion," he replied. "Now, if you don't mind, let's do what we came here for."

The pair of immortals followed their original plan to the letter—this time without being shot at. Once they were within sight distance, Remmus teleported them to a nondescript wall near the A2 entrance. He continuously scanned the facility for any signs of Raeth activity. Only the cleaning crew was active within the building, and they were easily avoidable.

Based on the original blueprints, they quickly located the offices near the front of the building. The moment they stepped inside, Ava stiffened.

"I have his scent," she whispered.

"Whose?"

"The Citizens Raeth." Her eyes flashed. "I'll be able to track him now."

"Assuming he doesn't teleport," Remmus answered, prowling in behind her.

Ava filled her lungs once more, then moved toward a shelving unit along one wall. She scoured each shelf before finally nabbing a stress ball from one. She pulled a resealable bag from her pocket and dropped it inside.

"Now I've got something with his scent on it—it'll be easier to ask other wolves if they recognize this particular Raeth."

They had to get in and out without being detected, and this needed to be quick. Sliding behind the desk, Remmus quickly sent a pulse into the technology that idled on the surface. Meanwhile, Ava stood by the door, listening intently for the sound of anyone approaching.

Since he'd been inside the office now, he could teleport back here at any time. It would prove beneficial if things went sideways and they needed to leave in a hurry.

Remmus was already pilfering through the computer's data. As a wave of encrypted data crashed against him, he began to pull on threads that would prove useful. Though a programmer could read and write code, he had an inborn understanding of the digital language, far deeper than anything a human would ever possess. The entire operation, everything they'd documented, sprawled out before his mind with infinite ease.

"Their ammunitions, liquid sunlight, silver nitrate—all of it runs through this facility, and specifically through her: Hannah Preston," Remmus said, his voice low. "She's the lynchpin. If we topple her, we topple them from the inside out."

"That doesn't solve the problem of their people."

"No, but their people can't make a dent in our forces if they don't have a weapon to aim at us." His eyes narrowed as he opened technical product documents. "They're making armor-piercing handgun ammunition."

Ava stilled. "That's illegal."

He nodded. It was a felony to possess handgun ammunition designed to penetrate metal or armor, and another to manufacture, import, or transport it. Remmus quickly filtered through their licensing documentation and found that none of it was above board.

On paper, they produced silver nitrate and liquid sunlight—and nothing else. The fact that the Citizens operation was producing ammunition without a license was only the first in a running list of federal crimes they'd committed.

"This is gold, Ava. We don't need to plant any evidence: it's already here. All we need to do is send it to the right people."

"How hard would it be to spin this and make it look like they're trafficking to small arms dealers? Level domestic terrorism charges against them?"

Remmus grinned. "I'd need time to gather the evidence and create a case to send, but it'd serve to villainize her, and anyone associated with her. She'd go away for decades."

He glanced at the framed pictures beside the screen and his eyebrows shot up. Turning around the frame, he said, "She could be your twin, Ava."

Squinting, she grunted.

Another Raeth psychic signature brushed along the periphery of his in the next moment. Remmus stiffened and the computer in front of him went dark, shutting down on his command. "Ava, the other Raeth just returned."

Her wolf leapt into her eyes. "What do we do?"

"He can't sense us, but we need to leave. He could be coming here, to the office."

"Agreed," Ava paused, then asked, "Can you find out anything else about him this close?"

Remmus nodded.

Surprisingly, she went silent as the grave, allowing him to delve into the other man's signature with finesse. The morbid list of traits grew the longer Remmus studied him.

The Raeth's psychic signature was potent, and magic seemed to seep from him in the same way Nina's did. While he was telepathically strong, his transfiguration gift was weak. His abilities with teleportation were unclear. Again, the born of destruction traits were present, along with the fact that he was clanless and wholly aligned with whomever in the Citizens facility he was speaking with.

None of what Remmus had discovered put him at ease.

Undetected, he receded from his psychic inspection, shrugging off the warped psyche of the other man like he would a soiled cloak.

"I've got it," he confirmed. "We need to leave."

"Fine, but put us back outside in the snow. I'm going to run the perimeter. See if I can pick up any other scents."

While he wanted to argue, now wasn't the time. He silently rose from the desk chair and sifted his fingers through hers. A moment later, they were in the cold fresh air.

"Blondie, I don't think running the perimeter is a good idea." Frowning, Remmus shook his head. "You hardly blend in with the scenery and my ‘look away' request doesn't mean you're invisible."

She gave him a look. "Wasn't asking for your permission, Raeth. Besides, I do blend in."