“Junior, go around this building, come up in the rear and protect the girls. I’d like the Tinas alive, but you have my blessing to use deadly force,” Hank told his brother.
“There’s nothing I’d enjoy more, little bro. Where’s Granny?”
“She stayed in town. Go, go, go.”
Junior quickly shifted and left.
“Dwayne?” I inquired.
“He’s also in town doing crowd control, seeing as he was the one who caused the massive disaster.”
“You left a Vampyre and my granny in charge?” I was shocked and impressed.
“Not just any Vampyre…A three hundred year old gay drag queen Vampyre who can blow up Dragons.”
Hank put his hand over his mouth, closed his eyes and gathered himself for a moment. I was becoming increasingly more relieved that I’d missed Dwayne’s new party trick.
“Your buddy is apparently the hit of Hung. The crowds started chanting ‘Gaga’ as soon as they saw him. They were listening to him more than they were listening to me, so I told him he and Granny were running the show and to clean up his mess. Then I left.”
He shrugged and grimaced.
“Plan?” I asked.
“Your call.”
I swelled with pride that Hank was going to follow my lead. The simple fact that he trusted me meant the world.
“He has fertilized eggs in there somewhere. We need to get them and any computers or files we find.”
“Wait. Eggs? Fertilized?”
“They’re trying to crossbreed species, dismantle the Council, and take over the world.”
“That was nice and succinct.” His eyebrow shot up and I flipped him the bird.
“I’m good like that.” I grinned and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll go in first and pretend I was running from the Tinas… I’ll tell him they were trying to kill me—that I’m scared. I’ll throw myself in his arms and squirt him.”
Hank pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, a sure sign of I don’t like this plan…I ignored his body language and went on. “As soon as he’s wet, you come in and shoot him in non-kill spots. We’ll restrain him and I’ll find the evidence.”
“Nope, not gonna work.”
“Why isn’t it going to work?”
“You have to get him in the eyes or mouth to make the solution work.” He winced, started to say something and stopped.
“What? Spit it out. We don’t have time,” I said.
“I cannot believe what I’m about to say, but…”
“Say it,” I hissed.
“You drank Dwayne’s blood. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“The solution won’t harm a Vamp and even if it stops your shift, I can shift if I need to.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you need to put some of the liquid in your mouth and kiss the bastard so we get it where it needs to go,” he ground out unhappily. His fists were balled up and his face had flushed red with fury. “I am sick that I just suggested that.”
“It’s brilliant and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Yes, it’s disgusting, but I really want to leave here alive today. Just stay outside until you hear me tell him, um…tell him how hot his lips are. Do you get the double entendre thingie I just said?”
He rolled his eyes and groaned.
“I thought it was pretty good,” I muttered.
“Inspired,” he snapped. “Put the crap in your mouth and let’s do this. I’m going in human. I’m going to try not to shift unless it’s necessary. Even losing a second with a Dragon is deadly. He can still blow fire in his human form. As far as guns go, their healing power is extraordinary and guns are useless. We’ll have to go hand to hand and break his neck. It won’t kill him, but we can restrain him. I fight first and you destroy whatever you find as far as the experiment goes. On the outside chance we die in there, I don’t want him leaving with anything which can be used to make a Wolf-Dragon. If I’m losing you can jump in and help me, but it will be more of a distraction than an advantage if I’m trying to defend you.”
“I find that insulting,” I snapped.
“Have you ever fought a Dragon?”
“Have you?” I shot back.
He stared at me long and hard and I realized he had. He had fought a Dragon. When in the hell had Hank fought a Dragon and how did I not know this?
“Just stay away from his mouth and nose once he’s pissed and we might come out of this in one piece.”
“How do you know all this?” How did he know all of this? This was info I’d never heard.
“Because I’m…”
“Where are they?” Puck bellowed. “Everything I’ve worked for is going to hell. I will kill all of them.”
“Go. Now.”
I quickly squirted some of the liquid in my mouth as I ran toward the door of the building where Puck Flame, the assjacket, was having a hissy fit. The taste was so foul, my eyes watered. Dang it… No, that was good. Crying was good. My inner wolf jerked and fought inside of me, realizing she was trapped. I had no time to calm her. I pushed her down and burst through the door. Eyes wild and body trembling, I took in the scene.
The room was positively high tech. It had been completely refurbished—had to have taken months to create a lab this sophisticated. This was no haphazard operation. Medical tools, computers and vials littered the counters. There was a metal gurney in the center of the room with thick straps attached to it. My stomach roiled as I realized what had happened to my Pack members on that table. Monitors beeped and small petri dishes were cooking under fluorescent lights. Bingo for the eggs.