Sia felt numb as she left Trygg’s quarters.
Her heart broke for the unimaginable pain and abuse he’d described. She ached to comfort him, but he hadn’t wanted that. He wanted nothing from her anymore, and his rejection opened up a hollow inside her unlike anything she’d ever known.
All the more reason for her to go and never look back.
But leaving Trygg was the last thing she felt ready to do.
Bella and Melena were waiting in the room when she returned. They took one look at her stricken face and rushed to her, ushering her back inside with tender words of concern.
“What happened? Are you all right?”
“Come in and sit down, Sia. You look as if you’re about to collapse.”
She felt like she could crumble, and the depth of her sorrow shocked her. “I really should go,” she murmured, shaking her head. “You’ve all been so kind, and I appreciate that more than you can know. But I have things to attend to before I—”
The sound of heavy boot falls pounding in the corridor drew all of the women’s attention.
Melena’s brows knit in apprehension. “What on earth?”
She and Bella hurried out to the hallway. Sia followed anxiously behind them, just in time to see Trygg jogging past dressed in full combat gear.
“Has something happened?” Bella asked.
He slanted the women a look as he passed, his gaze barely skimming Sia’s. “The tracer we put on Santino’s email address just spit out an alert. He’s got a cargo shipment leaving the port of Naples in two hours, heading for Trapani.”
“What happened to reconnaissance?” Melena asked Lazaro as her mate and Savage joined Trygg in the corridor, all of them garbed for combat. “I thought JUSTIS was going to handle the takedown?”
“No time for reconnaissance,” Lazaro said. “Lucan wants this handled now. JUSTIS can thank us afterward.”
Melena and Bella offered hasty but tender good-byes to their mates, while Sia stood by awkwardly, watching Trygg head out to the waiting vehicle with grim, solitary purpose.
In moments, the team had departed, leaving the women to monitor the mission back at the command center. Sia probably should have taken that as her cue to leave, but nothing could have persuaded her to go when she knew Trygg and his comrades were heading into a potentially lethal confrontation.
She hurried into the war room with the two Breedmates and settled in for what she feared was going to be a long, worrisome night.
* * * *
Just under two hours later, Trygg and his teammates arrived in the crowded, ancient city of Naples. The port was busy with tugboats and container ships loading and unloading in the dark. Impossible to determine which of the half dozen holds might contain Santino’s goods.
Trygg and Savage split up to cover more ground on foot, each of them keeping to the shadows as they sniffed around the crates and cartons of incoming and outgoing supplies. Lazaro had set out on his own to see if he might spot Santino or any of his lieutenants lurking around the wharf or in town. If the kingpin’s messages were anything to go by, tonight’s shipment was a high-value, top-priority one for his organization.
Which almost certainly meant a shitload of Red Dragon.
“Got a lot of movement on the south dock,” Savage reported over the receiver in Trygg’s ear. “I’m going in for a closer look.”
“Copy that,” Trygg murmured.
He had his eye on another cargo ship—a smaller one that was calling little attention to itself as its lines were cast off and it moved quietly away from the far end of the moonlit wharf. Whatever this unremarkable ship carried, it was apparently already secured inside.
Trygg’s Hunter instincts prickled to attention.
This was Santino’s ship, he had no doubt.
Although his orders were to surveil the docks and report to his teammates with any unusual activity, there was no time to waste. If he wanted a look at what that ship carried, he was going to have to get on board.
“I think I found something,” he whispered into his comm device. “I’m going in.”
Without waiting for a reply, he sped to the end of the dock and leapt off. His Breed agility carried him straight up to the rear deck. He landed soundlessly, dropping into a tight roll that took him behind a large wooden crate.
A group of five crew members in gray coveralls manned the deck. They didn’t notice him as he crept along in the dark, making his way to the stairwell that led to the holds below as the ship pushed farther out to sea. He waited a few minutes until the coast was clear, then he ducked inside and headed down the metal steps.
In his ear, Lazaro’s deep voice crackled in a broken string of impatient words. “Trygg. DC. Intel. Abort.”
Shit. Even garbled and full of static, that didn’t sound good.
But Trygg was already in the cargo hold, and he could smell the sickly sweet odor of Red Dragon coming from the cartons stacked row upon row in front of him. He freed the lock on one of the containers and threw off the cables that secured it. Prying open the lid of the large carton, he peered inside. It wasn’t what he expected.
Instead of a carton packed to the gills with the Breed-killing narcotic, there were only a few sealed bags inside. Just enough to leave a scent for anyone searching for them. Anyone Breed, that is.
Specifically, someone from the Order.
Jesus Christ.
Trygg reached in and moved some of the bags aside.
The real cargo lay beneath them. Trygg’s nostrils filled with the acrid metallic odor of explosives. Enough to take down half a city block.
Or a small cargo ship.
* * * *
“Oh, my God.” Melena’s face went slack as she ended her call with Lazaro. “It’s all been a trap.”
Bella gaped. “A trap? What do you mean?”
“They were set up. The intel Trygg’s email worm provided was false. Santino only wanted the Order to think he had a shipment of Red Dragon leaving Naples. He was hoping to lure them out to intercept the shipment for some reason.”
Bella’s gaze was grave. “There’s only one reason for him to do that.”
Sia saw the worry in her friends’ faces and knew her own must look equally stark. “Where’s Trygg?”
Melena gave her a sober look. “Lazaro lost contact with him a couple of minutes ago. He’s been trying to warn him, but something is hampering their comm devices. Lazaro thinks it’s some kind of a signal block.”
Sia’s heart sank with dread as each second ticked past. “Where is Trygg, Melena?”
“He’s on the ship. He jumped on board by himself as it was leaving port.” She shook her head in sober apology. “Lazaro doesn’t know if any of his attempts to reach Trygg have gone through or not.”
“Someone has to warn him.” Panic flooded her, along with a crippling sense of grief.
No. Whatever this trap of Santino’s might be, it would not claim Trygg. He was too strong for that. Too smart.
But that didn’t keep the fear from taking hold of her.
The man she loved was in danger, cut off from communication and possibly totally unaware that he and his comrades had just played right into Santino’s hands.
“Someone needs to find Trygg before it’s too late.”
Melena nodded. “Lazaro and Savage are working on that. They’ll get him, Sia.”
“What if they don’t?” Her voice rose along with her alarm. “What if they’re too late?”
Anxiously, she paced over to the large illuminated map on the war room wall. Two red dots glowed in the area of Naples. The third was missing. Trygg’s signal, cut off by the same block preventing his teammates from reaching him.
“Where is the cargo ship located?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Melena said. “Lazaro didn’t say.”
“Find out, Melena. Do it quickly. Please.”
“All right.” She called her mate and asked him for the information. When it seemed to take more than a few seconds for the reply, Sia marched over and took the phone out of her friend’s hand.
“I need the exact coordinates, Lazaro. As close as you can pinpoint.”
She stood in front of the map as he rattled off an approximate location several miles out to sea. Sia concentrated on that spot on the map. It wasn’t exact, but it would have to do.
It might be the only hope she had.
Sia tossed the phone back to Melena, then turned all of her focus onto the bracelet on her wrist. The tiny orb of Atlantean crystal began to glow. It kept burning brighter, until it finally lit up like a supernova.
And then she was gone.