Urijah was no better off three weeks later than he’d been the day he returned home to New Atlanta. If it wasn’t for training, he probably would have disappeared, but now he couldn’t. Rafael wanted Uri to lead his brothers into war. There was no way he would shirk his duties to the Clan, and there was also no way he could avoid asking Banyan to join the fight considering he was equally as skilled as Urijah was with a sword. Two thousand miles wasn’t far enough between Uri and his mate for his sanity. Fighting side-by-side with Banyan was going to do Uri in.

He’d been a fool to think he and Finley could have something special outside of friendship. Seeing his best friend in California with Sinclair and the two women had been the wake-up call he needed. Finley would never feel the same about Uri as Uri did him. Did he really want a relationship with a male who wasn’t his mate?

I still love you. Banyan’s words were branded into his memory as was the kiss they shared. No matter what Uri did, those tormented words haunted his every waking moment. He stuck his hand in his pocket and rubbed the ring he kept on him at all times. The weight often gave him a sense of peace until he remembered what happened thirty years before. It wasn’t like he was willing to forgive Banyan for what happened in New Orleans.

He had known Banyan for almost eight hundred years, and he’d known the male was his mate for almost as long. What he didn’t know was how Banyan could be from an Original bloodline. Their fathers had been best friends. They had forged weapons side-by-side as long as Uri could remember. Their homes had been in the same village, and Banyan’s family had not been any better off than Uri’s. If they were Originals, they would have lived in a manor worthy of royalty as was the case with Originals all those years ago. Instead, the Sorensen’s home was as modest as the Aldobrand’s.

Urijah shouldn’t care that much about Banyan’s bloodline, but he couldn’t shake the feeling he was missing something. Where Banyan came from shouldn’t matter, since Uri had no intention of ever completing the bond with Banyan, but it did matter. It bothered Uri that he didn’t know his mate at all. Had never truly known him. That much was evident by the events in New Orleans. The male he thought he knew turned out to be a complete stranger. What did you expect when you hadn’t seen him in over four hundred years? Uri expected him to be the same easy-going friend he’d grown up with instead of the…

The only way he was going to find out the truth of Banyan’s past other than asking the male himself was to ask the one Goyle who knew everything about everyone – Nikolas. Urijah had to satisfy his curiosity. Once that was done, he’d put it behind him. He had a war to help plan, and knowing about Banyan’s heritage might not help in any capacity, but it would be one less thing on Urijah’s mind to distract him from leading the Clan against Alistair.

 

 

Julian was at his wits’ end with regards to the basement. When Tessa arrived back at the ranch, she nodded her head at the overflowing garbage can and said, “Damn, Jules. How many sodas have you had?” She was carrying two computer monitors, so he stood and took them from her.

He wasn’t a big coffee drinker, so he opted for the caffeine from sodas to give him a boost. Considering his Gargoyle metabolism, it took a lot of the sugary drinks to do the trick. He shrugged and replied, “Not enough.”

“Have you found anything on the basement?” she asked as she sat down next to Gregor to look at the screens monitoring FSM.

“Not yet, and I’m afraid I’m not going to at this point.”

Tessa asked Julian, “Have you asked Landon for help? Not saying he’s better than you…”

“He is better than me. I have not reached out to him yet. Thank you for getting these. It saved me a trip to town.”

“You’re welcome.” Tessa waited as he turned one of the monitors her way. As soon as it was hooked up, she pulled her laptop toward her and found the software that allowed her to see inside both agents’ homes.

“Are you worried he’s not who he says he is? Sophia was adamant he’s hiding something,” Gregor asked.

“I put a tracer on all the computers at the lab. I can follow every keystroke he makes, and I haven’t caught him doing anything suspicious.”

“I hate to say this, but if he is better than you, wouldn’t he be able to detect your tracers?” Tessa asked.

Julian shrugged. “That’s just it; I don’t know.”

“I think you should ask him for help with FSM. If he wants to cover his ass with whatever game he’s playing – if he is playing a game – he’s going to help you if he can. He hasn’t sabotaged anything since he’s been at the lab, has he?”

“No. He’s been able to find things I couldn’t like Katherine’s whereabouts. Whether or not he is hiding his true identity, he hasn’t done anything detrimental to the Clan that I am aware of. I am going to call him. We need to get into the facility, and we are going to need those schematics to do it.” Julian picked up his phone and dialed the male. New Atlanta was an hour later time wise, but it wasn’t so late Landon should have already gone home.

“Julian, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Landon asked upon answering.

“I need your help. I’m looking into the architectural plans for FSM in Texas. I am sending everything I already have to the main frame. What I need help with is finding the drawings for a basement at the facility. This takes priority over everything else with the exception of anything Rafael asks for.”

“I’ll start looking now. Is there anything else I can help with?”

“No. Like I said, this is priority.”

“Then I’ll get to it.”

“Thank you, Landon.” Julian disconnected and scrubbed a hand down his face. He tossed back the can he’d been drinking from only to find it empty. “I’m going to take a walk,” he said, adding the empty container to the others in the trash can. Neither Gregor nor Tessa responded as he let himself out the back door. Every time one of the mates had been in trouble, Julian had wondered how the males were able to keep their shifter under control. Now he knew the answer – with a lot of mental force. His beast was constantly at the forefront of his mind, pushing to be turned loose. It wasn’t helping the situation at all. Katherine. Their mate’s name came unbidden from within, and it surprised Julian. It was the first word it had spoken, and Julian couldn’t ignore it.

He made his way to the barn where he could hide from the bright sunshine. Instead of retreating to the loft as he had before, Julian remained down below, not wanting a repeat of his shifter surprising him. He closed the door behind him, blocking out quite a bit of daylight. Julian sat with his back against a stall door and willed his mind to relax and his shifter to leave him alone long enough to try reaching out to Kat. Mentally, he called to his mate. Kat, are you there, Sweetheart?

He thought he felt something tugging at the outer recesses of his consciousness, so he tried again. Katherine, it’s Julian. Can you hear me?

It hurts.

What hurts, Sweetheart?

My head. Make it stop.

Am I hurting you?

No. Food. Poisoned. Can’t…

Kat, Sweetheart, you can’t what? Kat? Are you still there? I need your help. Katherine?

Julian lost the connection, and his shifter roared in his head as well as his body. “Stop it! I cannot help her with you acting like an ass!” he yelled, even though it wasn’t necessary. Julian was pissed that his mate had been poisoned. He sprung up from the ground and ran back to the house.

“Julian, what’s wrong, Brother?” Gregor asked as soon as Julian cleared the door.

“They’re poisoning Katherine. I’ve got to get in there.”

“You can’t, Jules. Not until we have a solid plan and the masks,” Tessa stated. He knew she was right, but he couldn’t help the anxiety that was getting worse the longer Kat was imprisoned.

“I know you’re right, but fuck!” Julian paced the length of the kitchen into the living room and back. He ran his hands through his hair, tugging the ends. There was nothing that could ease his torment. Not even letting the beast loose would be enough. Not until he had Kat safe in his arms.

“I take it you reached her again?” Gregor asked with his eyes glued to the monitors.

“Yes. She could barely speak. She’s in pain. When I get my hands on Rayaz, I’m going to kill the bitch,” Julian seethed.

“You can’t go killing humans, Jules.”

“But they’re torturing an innocent woman!”

“They don’t know that. You’ve seen the evidence. If you didn’t know Kat was your mate, what would you think if you saw the proof they saw?” Gregor held his hands up. “I’m playing devil’s advocate here, Brother. Don’t get mad at me. Get mad at the one responsible for falsifying documents. For setting your mate up.”

“I swear by all that’s holy, when I find the bastard responsible, I will have his godsdamn head on a pike in my front yard.”

“And I’ll help you put it there, but for now, you need to calm the fuck down. You aren’t doing Katherine any good by losing your shit. The masks will be here tomorrow. Hopefully by then, Landon will have found a way into the basement. Why don’t you get started on supper and clear your mind? Tessa’s waiting for Rayaz to get home, and I’m not taking my eyes off the prison.”

Julian willed himself to calm down. He knew his cousin was right. Both Gregor and Tessa were being the calm he needed. He did as Gregor suggested and started pulling things out of the refrigerator to cook. Tessa had the sound turned up on her laptop as she watched both Rayaz and Everhart go about their business at home.

Everhart was quiet, settling in with his take-out Chinese food and a baseball game. Rayaz was a different story. She talked to her brother on the phone while cooking supper. When she’d disconnected, the agent sang a song in Spanish while stirring whatever was on the stove. She drank a glass of wine, and when her food was ready, she poured another. The bitch responsible for torturing his mate acted as if she didn’t have a care in the world. She would care when Julian got finished with her.

He had just finished plating their meal when his cell phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, his heart sped up at the possibility that Landon had found something. “Landon?”

“I just sent the information to your email. It took some deep digging, but I found what you were looking for. One of the contractors had not destroyed the plans like they were supposed to. The government was serious about keeping the basement a secret.”

Julian forgot all about the food and pulled up the email. “I got it. Thanks, Landon. I don’t know how I will ever repay you.”

“Just doing my job. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Julian couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He had searched through all the contractor’s files, or so he thought. He was definitely going to turn over the lab to Landon on a full-time basis after this. The male was obviously more adept than Julian.

“Are those the plans you needed?” Gregor asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Yes. Landon was able to find them,” Julian muttered.

“Don’t beat yourself up, Cousin. You have too much on your mind to be able to focus the way you needed. Once you have your mate, you’ll be back at kicking computer ass.”

Julian didn’t tell them his plan to step down. Instead, he said, “Supper’s ready.” Leaving his plate untouched, Julian focused on the drawing on his screen. Wanting to see a larger version, Julian redirected the information to the television. Tessa and Gregor ate their meal while looking at the plans with Julian. It was a crude drawing, but the rooms were labeled. “Here…” Julian said, pointing to a row of cells on the hallway to the left. “These are the only cells shown, so Katherine has to be in one of them.” Instead of there being five halls in total as there were on the first and second floors, there were only two. The one to the left where the cells were and the one on the right where four rooms were located. “These must be where they take the prisoners to torture them,” he said, indicating those closed off rooms.

Thinking of his mate being held in those rooms and subjected to inhumane treatment, Julian lost his appetite. Instead of dwelling on what he couldn’t control or change, he focused on what needed to be done. Pulling up the first-floor schematic, Julian did an overlay of the basement to see where the steps and elevators going down were located. “Gregor, have you noticed anyone going in or out of this door here?” he asked, pointing to the one that led to the stairwell going down.

“I haven’t focused on it, because I didn’t know where it led. I can always rewind the feed if you need me to.”

“It looks like this elevator only goes down as well. Now that you know where they both lead, please focus on who comes and goes in that area only. If we don’t get much movement, we will probably want to rewind. If someone is poisoning Kat, I want to know who it is.”

“So you can do what? You’re not a cold-blooded killer, Jules,” Tessa reminded him.

“No, I’m not, but if someone has harmed Katherine to the point where she cannot recover, I am not making any promises.”

“Let’s focus on getting her out, Brother. Stay positive. Katherine’s going to need you to be strong when you get her home. Believe me; I know what I’m talking about.” Gregor ran a finger down Tessa’s cheek. It hadn’t been that long ago that the redhead was in a coma fighting for her life. The couple returned their focus to the task in front of them as Julian studied everything about the basement. According to the plans, there were only two ways in and out – the elevator and the stairs. He made note of the nearest exit on the first floor and retrieved his notes from when he’d visited the prison the week before.

Neither Rayaz or Everhart had used the back exit in all the times he’d observed them. As a matter of fact, that exit wasn’t used by anyone. All personnel came and went through the front entrance. Julian switched his laptop over to show the same feed Gregor was seeing, except where his cousin was now focusing on the area leading to the basement, Julian focused on the main entrance. He and Tessa would need to know standard protocol with regards to the prison’s security measures. Julian rewound the feed until he found what he was looking for.

Terry Everhart’s hair was short. Much shorter than Julian’s. He would need to get a haircut before going inside. Instead of flashing an ID badge, the agent stepped up to a scanner and placed his hand on the screen. It took only seconds for the machine to determine his identity. He wasn’t asked to remove the weapon Julian knew to be on the man’s left hip. “Tessa, is Everhart right or left handed?” he asked as he watched the feed for Rayaz to enter the facility.

“Hang on… He has the remote control in his left.”

“Good, I’m also left handed, so that will make things less awkward. There is a bio scanner at the entrance where the agents are required to place their right palms. We’ll need to get fingerprints.”

“I have those. I got them when I was in their homes along with samples of DNA just in case. I also wrote down Everhart’s suit size. If you can fit into one of his that would be easier than trying to find an exact match to purchase. I’ve already planned how to fill out Rayaz’s clothing. I’ve also ordered a wig, and it should arrive tomorrow. I didn’t have one that matches the agent’s hair style, but it wasn’t hard to find something similar since she wears her hair in a long ponytail.”

“Can’t you dye your hair the same color?”

“I could, but I’d have to cut quite a bit of mine.” Gregor growled low in his throat, and Julian laughed.

“A wig it is.” He didn’t blame Gregor. Tessa’s hair was a beautiful red that hung down to her waist. Katherine’s hair was a similar color, but it wasn’t nearly as long as Tessa’s nor as wavy. “How do you get all your hair tucked into a wig?”

“Very carefully,” she said and winked before turning back to study Agent Rayaz.

Julian looked over her shoulder to the monitor that showed Everhart. The man was boring. He sat on the sofa drinking a beer and watching the baseball game. He didn’t get excited when either team scored. He didn’t change the channel during commercials. If he didn’t take a sip from his bottle every so often, Julian would have thought him to be asleep. The feed from the prison showed more of his mannerisms. He didn’t walk like a man with something to prove or a chip on his shoulder. He also never smiled, which was good for Julian. He and Tessa might wear prosthetics, but as quickly as they’d put this mission together, they didn’t have time to worry about teeth. If either Agent’s teeth weren’t straight and white, that might be a giveaway.

With the help he’d received today from Gregor, Tessa, and Landon, Julian was closer to getting his mate away from the federal government. Somehow, everything was falling into place, and it wouldn’t be long before they went in to rescue Kat. Julian sent up a silent prayer to the gods to watch over his mate. He didn’t understand why they allowed the bad shit to happen, but it wasn’t his place to question. He had to accept that bad things happened to good Goyles and humans, and the trials they endured would make them stronger in the long run.