Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series (Death Before Dragons #2) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,90
you in any way I can,” Nin said.
“Thank you. I’ve already made some arrangements, but you can definitely help by providing some weapons for—”
My phone buzzed with a text message, and I nodded.
“Good, one of my distractions has been confirmed. Someone from Willard’s office is making arrangements for the police to visit the Northern Pride’s headquarters tomorrow at nine p.m. They’ve got a warehouse near the freeway at the north end of Woodinville. It seems that people have been complaining about them operating a meth lab out of it, so a warrant is being issued for a search.” I tapped the file Willard had sent about the Northern Pride. I’d finally had time to read everything about them and brainstorm ideas.
“I have not heard of a shifter-operated meth lab,” Nin said.
“Me either—Willard’s research says the shifters meet at their headquarters regularly to socialize and play with boxes and that’s about it—but it’s amazing how rumors can catch on and spread like wildfire. I’m hoping that a strategically timed visit from the police will prompt a number of shifters to be called back north and leave fewer for me to deal with at the brothers’ house.”
“Play with boxes?” Dimitri said, rounding the corner of the truck and joining us.
“I may have filled in that detail myself. The report only mentions pool tables. But workers in the neighboring buildings have reported suspicious activity at their headquarters at night before, so it wasn’t hard to get a couple of them to snitch to the police.”
Willard was also going to send a couple of subtle plainclothes agents to the mobile-home park tomorrow to clear out the houses around the Pardus house—an unfortunate gas leak would require the homeowners to stay in a hotel for the night. I hoped to take care of the brothers without causing collateral damage or hurting anyone nearby, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
It had taken me some time, and a reminder of past favors done, to convince Willard to do any of this, since this wasn’t an assignment she’d given me or even wanted me on, but I’d promised I’d be back on the dragon problem sooner once I knew Nin was safe.
I pointed at Dimitri. “Is it late enough to get Zoltan on the line?”
“I’ll check.” Dimitri tapped his phone screen.
“Thanks. Nin, got anything we can use to sit on? Let’s get this party started.”
While she brought out coolers to serve as chairs, explaining that she would have to use them for food storage until she could get her refrigerator repaired, I answered a text regarding one of my other distractions and summoned Sindari. Since I would need his help, it made sense to include him in the planning.
I perched on the edge of a blue Coleman cooler while Nin and Dimitri sat opposite me on some knockoff brand called the Insulation Sensation.
“I am here,” Zoltan’s Hungarian accent came from the phone.
Dimitri held up the screen, the vampire’s infrared lights glowing red behind him, so we could see each other.
“Zoltan, I’m going to infiltrate a compound of panther, lion, and tiger shifters up in Bothell. One-on-one, I can usually handle these guys, but there have been at least ten hanging out there every time I’ve gone by.”
“A shifter compound? I am not aware of such a thing in the area.”
“Technically, it’s a manufactured house in a senior mobile-home park.”
“How formidable.”
“They’re formidable, and I think they’ve got magical defenses on the house.”
“I should hope so. You really can’t call it a compound otherwise. Unless there are some turrets and a portcullis, I believe I’m going to have to downgrade it to a lesser structure.”
I rubbed my face, remembering the first time I’d visited Zoltan and tried to extract information from him. He did have a tendency to wander off topic.
“Is there at least a moat?” Zoltan asked.
“There’s a river behind the back yard.”
He pursed his lips in disapproval. “I fear that is insufficient. How could a river contain half-starved alligators strategically placed to munch on invaders foolish enough to attempt crossing when the drawbridge is up?”
“Zoltan, can you make me some alchemical weapons by tomorrow? Ideally something especially effective on felines, though that’s not a requirement. I can go in wearing a gas mask if I have to. I just need to get this out of the way soon. There’s an injured dragon out there that wants me dead, and I’d like to make sure Nin is safe before he shows up to kill me.”