Wait here, Seth instructed.
He strode ahead, eyes sharp, until he reached a big enough break in the trees for him to shift and launch into the air.
Only a mile away, the compound was eerily similar to the one he and David had destroyed in Texas. A three-story brick and mortar structure, nearly devoid of windows, rested in the center of a sizable clearing. A large parking lot peppered with vehicles painted the ground in front of it black with white stripes.
Behind the building, narrow wooden structures he’d heard some call pigeon coops or shacks formed two rows. Barracks for his mercenaries?
Those without families anyway. Those with families probably lived in nearby towns. Darnell would have to uncover all of their names so Seth could either eliminate them or wipe their memories, depending on what he found housed in their thoughts.
Near the back of the clearing lay two hangars of roughly the same height with domed roofs. The doors of both were open, allowing Seth to see a couple of Black Hawk helicopters within one. The other brightly lit interior housed a few armored vehicles, being serviced by industrious mercenaries, and a lot of empty space where the vehicles they had lost in the skirmish at the network probably used to reside.
A similar structure had just been erected at Chris’s behest not far from the new network headquarters and housed the vehicles Seth had salvaged from the battle. Chris’s mechanical geniuses had been working furiously on them while the network’s soldiers who were military veterans practically salivated as each awaited his chance to get behind the wheel.
Which they did tonight. Three armored personnel carriers hid among the trees five miles distant. Should they be needed, they would have to take the main road and come right up the drive in order to avoid any other land mines the mercenaries might have placed along the compound’s perimeter.
The drive leading to the compound from the highway was a two-lane road the same black as the parking lot and parted dormant vegetation, allowing all visitors one way in and out after they passed through a gate guarded by men carrying automatic weapons. Those guards walked stiffly in the cold, shoulders high, hands tucked into the pockets of their thick jackets, asses no doubt as frozen as the ground beneath their boots or the breath that frosted the air in front of their mouths.
Other guards manned a fence strung with razor wire that circled the compound.
Seth flew past, looped around, and doubled back. One of the guards along the fence looked up and marveled at the big-ass owl soaring overhead.
Surveillance cameras clung to the corner of every roof and some of the fence poles, all with red lights and the faint hum of electricity indicating they were operational.
Seth rejoined Ami, David, and Marcus. Then they made their way to the immortals and Chris Reordon, who waited not-very-patiently for him amid the trees. Borrowing one of Chris’s ever-present notepads and pencils, Seth sketched a quick map that included placement of the guards and the land mines he had spotted.
Ami, Sarah, Melanie, and Lisette were maneuvered into the front, then the men peered over their shoulders at the drawing.
“Based on the heartbeats, I believe the vampires are being held in this area.” Seth indicated an area of the main building with his pencil.
Chris took the pencil and pad back when all had memorized the hasty schematic. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you real-time satellite surveillance images, but my contacts in the agencies that could supply them are too new. I didn’t think this would be a good way to break them in and . . . we don’t know how closely Emrys might be watching for such things. His tentacles are far-reaching, so getting the satellite images could tip him off.”
“Understood,” Seth said. “David and I will enter the main building first. Bastien, you and Melanie follow and take out as many as you can, but focus on reaching the vampires as quickly as possible. Marcus, you and Ami enter next. Ami, I want you to concentrate on feeling the presence of anyone you remember from the Texas compound. The moment you find Emrys, summon me.”
Marcus’s eyes flared with fury and promised pain.
“Marcus, do not deliver a swift death to Emrys. Disarm and disable him, then summon me.”
When Marcus didn’t agree fast enough, Seth told him telepathically, I want him to suffer for what he has done.
Marcus gave an abrupt nod.
“Yuri and Stanislov, disable the helicopters.”
Chris held up a finger. “If you could do that without destroying them, I would appreciate it. Those things aren’t easy to come by without sparking scrutiny.”
“Won’t be as fun,” Stanislov grumbled, “but we’ll try.”
Seth smiled. “When you’re done with the helos, do the same with the armored vehicles in the next hangar. Ethan, you and Edward take out the guards on the grounds and make sure no one enters or exits. Lisette and Étienne, take the barracks. Scan the minds of the mercenaries before you kill them. If you think any are good men, knock them out and restrain them. Perhaps we can recruit them ourselves. If not, I’ll erase their memories.”
The siblings nodded.
“Richart, do your thing. You cause more chaos and fear than any of the others.”
Richart grinned and gave him a cocky salute.
Roland grunted. “You forgot us.”
Seth shook his head. “You and Sarah are free to wreak havoc where you will, though I’d prefer to have you in the building with us. There were a lot of heartbeats in there when I flew over, so the bulk of Emrys’s troops are likely there.”
Roland and Sarah nodded.
Chris held up a finger again. “My tech team will begin blocking outgoing cell signals on my mark, but they can’t block satellite phones. If you hear a call going out, take out the caller without damaging the phone so we can find out who the hell they’re calling.”
More nods.
“Okay,” Seth said. “We clear on our assignments?”
Everyone nodded.
“Then I’ll mention one more time that everyone here is to do everything in your power to ensure Ami is not taken by Emrys.”
Ami’s brow furrowed as she glanced at the warriors around her. “I’m sorry.”
Several large hands clapped her on the shoulders and patted her on the back with rough affection.
“You’re our sister,” Étienne said. “We protect our family.”
Her eyes shimmered suspiciously when she smiled at them.
Seth knew she must be terrified. She was about to enter the den of the monsters who had tortured her for six months and nearly robbed her of her sanity.
He nodded at Chris. “Make your call.”
Chris called his tech people. As soon as he disconnected the call, Seth led the immortals forward.
Melanie’s heart pounded so loudly she expected it to burst from her chest.
Seth and David moved phenomenally fast. Roland and Sarah were right on their heels. Melanie put on a burst of speed and kept up . . . until she realized she was leaving Bastien and the others behind. He had been right. Having Roland transform her had leant her the same strength and speed of a millennium-old immortal.
She fell back to run alongside Bastien and the d’Alençons. Ethan and Edward followed next, with Marcus and Ami bringing up the rear.
Ami ran just a bit faster than a human. Marcus could have carried her and kept up with Seth, but Melanie guessed he was hoping the others would clear a path for them and reduce the danger to her.
Over the fence the immortals bounded.
Even though she was scared as hell, Melanie couldn’t help but smile as she leaped easily over the twenty-foot fence. Her heart raced with excitement as she sailed through the air and landed smoothly on the other side. Barely a bend of the knees. No jostling of the joints. Then she was racing forward.
Seth and David plowed through the front doors of the main building before the mercenaries patrolling the grounds and manning the front gate even knew they were under attack. And they plowed through them literally. Neither stopped to open a door. They just burst through the heavy glass, bending back the metal frame as they went so that it looked as though it had imploded.