Nicole’s phone jumped ahead again.
Sean missed sunshine, too. When he’d decided to transform, he’d known he would but had thought it worth the sacrifice. He still did. And having to eschew the sun hadn’t bothered him much until now.
How he wished he could be by Nicole’s side, joking with her and making her laugh or just enjoying a quiet run as they passed from shade into sunlight and back again.
The app updated again, but her phone didn’t move.
Frowning, he refreshed it.
No movement.
Had she stopped to talk to someone? One of Becca’s friends, perhaps?
He supposed it was bound to happen. She’d been lucky to avoid them this long.
When her phone remained stationary, Sean stood and started to pace. Agitation thrummed through him. She was okay, wasn’t she? All of the previous attacks had taken place at night and had been conducted by vampires. Vampires couldn’t attack during the day. So, she had to be okay. Right?
Nicole hadn’t reached the lunch truck yet. Sean had learned the locations of all of them.
Maybe she’d paused to take pictures of a squirrel or something. She was always showing him photos she’d taken of birds and squirrels and flowers and frogs.
Her phone icon abruptly went dark, indicating she was no longer online.
What the hell?
His phone rang, startling Sean so much that he nearly dropped it. He glanced at the screen.
Darius, one of the special ops soldiers on campus, was calling.
Oh shit. “Yeah?” he answered.
“They took the bait,” Darius said without preamble.
His stomach sank. “Who did?”
“Unknown.” He sounded a little breathless, as if he were running and talking simultaneously. “Two males, one female. They camouflaged the kidnapping so students who saw it wouldn’t intervene. Our sniper has eyes on them. They’re heading toward the parking lot closest to the dorm. We’re on our way there now.”
Sean put the phone on speaker and tossed it on the bed. “Are you going to take them into custody?” He shoved his feet into boots.
“That isn’t the mission. The mission is to follow them discreetly and step in only if Nicole’s life appears to be in danger.”
“Fuck the mission,” Sean snarled, and crossed to the mini-fridge. “Get them before they leave. One of the telepaths can read their minds and tell us what we need to know.”
“Those aren’t my orders.”
“I don’t give a fuck. Do it.”
“These people may not know any more than the vampires did,” Darius continued doggedly. “Reordon’s orders were explicit: Let them take her and step in only if she requires our aid.”
Sean grabbed Nicole’s backpack and yanked the modified mini-fridge’s door open so hard it almost fell off. “Where are you?” With a burst of speed, he stuffed all but one bag of blood into the largest compartment, added a cold pack, then zipped it and looped it over a shoulder. He raised the last blood bag to his lips and sank his teeth into it.
“Approaching our vehicle.” Keys jingled in the background. The chirp of the alarm shutting off carried over the line seconds before a door opened.
“Don’t leave,” Sean ordered, tossing the empty blood bag aside. “I’m on my way.”
“What?” Darius blurted. “You can’t—”
“Just keep your ass there!” He redirected the Find My app to Darius’s phone. Thankfully, Reordon had given him every special op agent’s cell number so he could locate them in an emergency.
Leaving Becca’s dorm room, Sean headed for the side entrance that got less traffic. Bright sunlight spilled through the glass door at the end of the hallway. As soon as the app found Darius, Sean stepped outside, glanced around to ensure no one was looking, and shot off at preternatural speeds.
The campus took on a surreal strobe-light quality as he raced in and out of sunlight and shade. Students walking to class only noticed a breeze as he zipped past. Sean’s skin began to tingle as he reached the parking lot and spotted the network’s black SUV.
He reached it just as the engine started. When he tried the back door, it was locked.
Darius swung around in the driver’s seat and gaped at him. Both the woman in the passenger seat and the man in the back jumped and drew weapons.
“Open the fucking door,” Sean snarled.
Darius hit the unlock button on the door console.
As soon as Sean heard the telltale thunk, he yanked the door open and ducked inside.
“Are you out of your freakin’ mind?” Darius snapped.
Sean slammed the door. “Yes. Where are they? Have they left yet?”
The woman—Iris, if he remembered her name correctly—lowered her weapon and shot Darius a triumphant grin. “Ha! I told you they weren’t acting. He’s totally in love with her. You owe me fifty bucks.”
In the rearview mirror, Sean saw Darius roll his eyes as he put the SUV in reverse and backed out of the parking space. “If this op ends up FUBAR, it’s on you, Sean.”
“I’m okay with that.” He grimaced at the sunlight that streamed through his window. “Catch me up.”
Iris gave him a rundown of what had happened. Sean seethed when she told him the asshole had hit Nicole in the head with a football. Her returning the favor wasn’t enough. When Sean got his hands on him, that bastard was going down.
A screen in the SUV’s console displayed a map much like a sat nav would, a blinking dot showing them Nicole’s current location.
Sean scooted to the middle of the seat so he could monitor it and avoid the sunlight that kept trying to sear him. Feeling eyes on him, he glanced at the soldier beside him and found him smiling. “What?”
“Nothin’,” he replied. “It’s just… You’re my third immortal.”
Sean stared at him. “What?”
“I’ve only ever met two Immortal Guardians, Aidan and Seth. You’re my third.” He thrust out a hand. “I’m Rick. Nice to meet ya.”
Sean shook his hand. “Sean.”
“Don’t mind him,” Darius said over his shoulder. “Rick’s new.”
“He’s one of the gifted ones Gershom took but didn’t turn,” Iris added.
Rick’s smile broadened into a grin. “Do you know Dana?”
“Yeah,” Sean answered absently.
“We were roomies for a few hours at the base. I had the privilege of getting my ass kicked by her before we escaped.”
Sean had no idea what to say to that. “Okay.”
Darius laughed.
It sounded like a fun story, but all Sean could think about was Nicole.
The kidnappers drove a dark gray SUV. Darius remained far enough behind it that Sean only glimpsed it twice. When they turned onto a less-traveled road, Darius dropped back even more.
“Don’t let them get too far ahead,” Sean told him.
“If I get any closer, they’ll make us,” Darius responded, unperturbed.
Sean ground his teeth. “Damn Reordon for agreeing to this.”
“Seth agreed to it, too,” Darius pointed out.
Iris sent him a look of sympathy. “She’ll be okay, Sean.”