“He's two miles northeast,” Muriel said, her voice steadier than she felt. “In a mountain cabin built into the hillside. There are at least four men guarding him, more outside.”
Jason raised a dark brow. “You’re having visions?”
“Yes. No. I mean, I don’t think so. I think Brandon is communicating through the bond.”
Jason's dark eyes gleamed with approval in the moonlight. “Excellent. That gives us an advantage. Matt?”
The massive golden wolf huffed agreement. Around them, a dozen more wolves melted out of the shadows, silent as ghosts. Jessie’s beautiful sable wolf pressed close to Matt's flank, her eyes bright with predatory focus.
“Zarek and his males will approach from the south,” Jason said. “They’ll trip the wards at strategic intervals to create a distraction and draw them out. Matt's pack will circle from the north and east. They won’t be expecting wolves.”
“What about me?” Muriel asked.
“Find cover and stay hidden. You’ve been a tremendous help, but we’ll take it from here. Once we've secured Brandon, we'll signal and you can?—”
“What? No!” she insisted, wondering where this sudden burst of courage was coming from. She avoidedconfrontations, not ran into them. “He might have more information to share. You need me.”He needs me.
“We need youalive,” Jason countered. “And we need theCodexprotected. These aren't amateurs, Muriel. They're trained mercenaries who are counting on you to rush in there to save your mate. Do not forget thatyouare their true target.”
The words stung because they were true. Brandon had been taken because of her. The urge to protect him was fierce and overwhelming. If remaining out of sight was the best way to do that, she would.
That didn’t mean she was staying behind.
“I'll stay hidden,” she said, lifting her chin. “But I'm coming with you.”
Jason studied her, his black eyes calculating. Just when she was sure he was going to refuse her again, he nodded. “Fine. But you will do exactly as I say. If I say run, you run. Understood?”
“Understood.”
Just that quickly, they were moving.
They ran through the forest, and Muriel struggled to keep pace even with theCodex—now secured in a leather satchel across her body—lending her strength. Jason moved like shadow, barely disturbing the undergrowth. The wolves split off and disappeared to the left. Zarek and his men went to the right.
The cabin materialized exactly where Brandon's information had placed it. It was a weathered structure built against the mountain, taking advantage of the natural slope.The windows were dark. A single blacked-out vehicle was parked out front, barely distinguishable in the shadows.
The surrounding woods were quiet. Too quiet. No owls screeching. No crickets chirping. No rustling of leaves in the non-existent breeze.
They stopped just outside the wards, where the tingle of energy ghosted across her skin.
“Up,” Jason commanded softly, pointing to a massive oak twenty yards from the cabin's perimeter. “Stay hidden. Stay quiet.”
Muriel wanted to argue, but the tactical sense was sound. From that height, she'd have a clear view of what was happening. Watching helplessly while others fought the fightshe’dbrought to their door.
She climbed.
The oak welcomed her, its branches shifting to make the ascent easier. She settled into a fork thirty feet up, concealed by dense foliage, and watched Jason's hands move in complex patterns below. The wards shimmered, then dissolved.
Jason had magic?
With the wards gone, the air suddenly felt lighter. A gentle breeze caressed the leaves and lifted tendrils of her hair. Placing both hands on the branch, she closed her eyes and sent her senses outward. Down the tree. Into the soil.
Zarek and his men were to the south. The wolves were fanning out on silent paws, creating a barrier to thenorth and east. A sleuth of bears—bears?—had the west face of the mountain covered.
The cabin’s front door opened, and three men dressed head to toe in black walked out on the porch, weapons raised.
A shimmery form glided up the path toward the men. It was a woman—correction, the ghost of a woman—in a flowing white dress and silvery hair nearly touching the ground. Even non-corporeal, she was breathtaking. For a moment, the men stared as if in thrall.
A beat of stillness, then the specter was past the men, entering the cabin.