now our rescue mission is for two, not just one. Find someone else to drive the second vehicle, let’s meet quickly downstairs to reconfigure our plans and then move out in thirty minutes, got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Hansen said as he turned and headed downstairs.
“You okay?” Tess said as she joined Colton in the walk in closet to don her own black fatigues.
“About Stryker? Yeah. It troubles me, sure, I mean, I hate to lose my best fighter. And it’s weird because he’s usually so careful. I mean he wouldn’t be stupid enough to jeopardize all of us just to pick a fight, so something must’ve happened to cause him to confront them, and for them to be so bold and aggressive definitely worries me. But we can’t put things off now. We need to stick to the plan and move tonight. So, we’ll reconfigure the lead teams and head out.”
After a quick strategy session, they piled into the two dark SUVs, Hansen driving the first one, Craig now driving the second, in place of the missing Stryker. The sun was just dipping below the horizon when they pulled off the road and parked their vehicles, hiding them in the trees about half a mile from the house. They would continue on foot from there. Colton looked up at the small sliver of moon hanging in the sky and smiled, no full moon, full-strength werewolves would be waiting for them tonight. They moved forward as a group for about a hundred yards before Tess’ hand on Colton’s bicep brought them to a stop. “What is it, love?” he said.
“She’s got protection spells all over the place. Give me a few minutes to counteract them.”
Tess moved forward, concentrating, chanting and moving her hands as she quickly weaved her counter spells. “Follow directly behind me,” she mumbled then she went back to her incantations. Colton and the others fell into single file behind her as they slowly moved forward. As they neared the edge of the tree line and Colton caught his first glimpse of the ramshackle, abandoned pre-1800’s New Orleans mansion that the wolf pack was currently calling home, he couldn’t help but grimace as he thought about how differently these two species lived: vampires preferred money and the finer things in life while werewolves lived, well, they lived like dogs. Rapidly moving, thick fog caught Colton’s attention as it moved towards them. “Are you doing that?” he said to Tess.
She nodded her head but didn’t open her eyes or break he concentration, “Figured it would help with camouflage.”
After a few more minutes she turned around and faced the men. Colton’s brows knit together because she looked pale and weak. He could see that this had been a huge strain on her. “Okay, the perimeter of the house is clear, team B can take their positions. I’ve put sleeping spells on all heartbeats that I can find in the house, except for one that beat much slower than all the others which I think is Stryker’s so I left that one alone. Team A should be cleared to enter the house from spells but beware of booby traps, I can’t detect those, you’re on your own with those.”
Suddenly she wavered and Colton reached out to catch her before she passed out, “You need to feed,” he growled.
“I’m fine. I don’t want to weaken you,” she whispered.
Colton sank his fangs in his wrist then pressed it to her lips, “Drink, there is no debate,” he said.
She wanted to protest but when she looked into his eyes she knew that this was one fight that she would definitely lose so she dropped her fangs, latched on and began sucking down his sweet nectar as he cradled the back of her head with his other hand. As she drank, he quietly gave orders to his men to get into position. When Tess felt she had taken just enough to not feel dizzy anymore she pulled away and wiped her lips with her finger. “You sure that’s enough?” Colton said.
“It is for now. Let’s get inside,” she said.
They moved forward and stepped onto the porch. Tyson reached into his coat pocket and produced a small canister. Tess looked at Colton with questioning eyes. He leaned down and whispered, “Oil, for squeaky hinges.”
Kryton and Craig peaked through cracks in the boarded up windows as Tyson worked on the door. “Living room appears empty,” Kryton whispered.
“Good. Proceed,” Colton said.
Tess didn’t realize that Tyson had the door ready and