Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

More laughter.

“I’ll do it myself,” Seth announced. “Zach, you’ll have to field my calls.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, unless Jared—”

“I’m going with you.”

Seth speared him with a warning glare. “Not unless you give me your word that you will not disrupt the mission and will do as I say.”

“You have my word,” Jared vowed.

“Fine.”

Leah smiled. “I’ll help Zach field your calls.”

Seth leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Thank you. David, will you keep an eye on Benford and the goings-on here in North Carolina? If he’s working in cahoots with someone else, he may be quick to let them know he’s on his way to see an immortal.”

“Of course. I will apprise you of anything pertinent I see or hear.”

Henderson’s phone buzzed. He glanced down at the screen. “Okay, we have a guy. A doctor. My special ops team is assembling outside of Houston and will head to his home shortly. Should I have them call you, Seth, when they get there?”

“Do it,” he commanded.

Henderson tapped a message on his phone. “A second team is assembling at network headquarters—the ones who will pose as maintenance and cleaning crew members. Rafe already went through our wardrobe stores and picked out uniforms identical to those he saw at the facility.”

Darnell looked up from his laptop. “I want in on that team.”

Chris nodded and turned to Henderson. “We need him on this. Trust me.”

“I’ll go, too,” Melanie added.

Henderson nodded. “I assumed as much, Dr. Lipton. Rafe will tell you if you’ll need to change your mode of dress to blend in.”

“Okay.”

“If she goes, I go,” Bastien insisted.

Chris grunted. “No shock there. Add Bastien to the list.”

That made four immortals, if one counted Jared’s unpredictable ass.

Sean frowned. “Can I go as backup? Tessa was there for me and Nicole. I want to be there for her, too.” And if things got hairy, he wouldn’t mind getting a little payback for those assholes hiring the vampires who nearly killed Nicole. Twice.

Nicole shot him a look, then addressed Chris. “If Sean goes, I go.”

“No way!” Sean protested. After everything she’d already been through?

She rolled her eyes. “I’m former special ops, Sean. I’m who Chris used to send on these missions.”

“She is,” Chris confirmed. “Nicole excels at this sort of thing. If I were going, I’d want her at my back.”

She smiled. “And there should be a mortal for every immortal on the team. You guys may kick ass, but you suck at navigating modern technology.”

“Agreed,” Chris said emphatically. “So Sean and Nicole will be on the team.”

His voice dripping with sarcasm, Henderson asked, “Are any of my guys going to be on the team?”

Chris grinned. “You can always add Rafe.” Turning in his chair, he searched the Seconds until he spied Cliff. “Cliff, how would you feel about going? You’ve proven you’re adept at spotting fail-safes or booby traps, and you’re a lot handier with a computer than the elders.”

His expression reflecting both surprise and pleasure, Cliff opened his mouth to respond but hesitated and glanced down at his wife.

Emma’s brow furrowed as she slipped her hand into his.

Seth sent her a gentle smile. “No harm will come to him. You have my word.”

Smiling tentatively, she nodded.

Cliff brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. “I’ll do it.”

Leah frowned as she studied them all. “That’s eight people.”

“Twelve,” Henderson muttered. “I’m sending my best two hackers and my two head researchers along.”

She nodded. “Okay. So, how big is their maintenance staff? I mean, won’t a party that large draw notice?”

Henderson shook his head. “It’s a four-story building, roughly thirty-five or forty thousand feet. We just need to make sure everyone has proper uniforms and credentials.”

She glanced at Seth, then back at Henderson. “Will they? It’s awfully short notice.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Henderson replied, no doubt in his tone. “My guys are already working on it.”

A trebly version of Skillet’s “Monster” filled the air.

Seth drew his cell phone from a back pocket and answered the call. “Yes?”

“Hello, sir,” a deep voice said. Sean and the other immortals unabashedly eavesdropped. “This is Lorenzo. Henderson said I should call you when my team and I are in position outside the doctor’s home.”

“Excellent. One moment, please.” Seth swept them all with a glance. “Is that everything?”

A rumble sounded as everyone murmured yes.

Seth rose and stepped back from the table. “Aidan, teleport all participating parties to network headquarters in Texas. Sheldon, I need you to step in for Darnell and redirect all my calls to Zach and Leah. David’s, too. David will be monitoring Benford, so don’t bother him unless you have to. Everyone else, hunt in pairs and be hypervigilant. Seconds, keep close tabs on your immortals. I don’t want anyone else to go missing.”