Cain’s eyes narrowed on his brother. “Are you insane?”
I felt Abel get tense so I put my hand on his knee and squeezed.
“No,” my man clipped.
“You are, brother. You’ve totally lost it,” Cain returned, and I squeezed harder.
We’d learned, not surprisingly, that Cain was born first.
And we were now learning, also not surprisingly, that even though he was about fifteen minutes older than Abel, he definitely had big brother tendencies.
“What do you suggest we do?” Abel shot back.
“I don’t know,” Cain retorted. “But not that.” He shook his head in frustration. “Dammit, you got all of me, why didn’t I get all of you so I could go instead?”
I understood this.
Cain didn’t have Abel’s mind-control abilities.
That was just for the last of The Three.
“I wouldn’t want you in danger either, brother,” Abel bit out.
“Yes, well, I didn’t spend a century keeping you safe, and the century before that watching our parents do it, for you to go on a suicide mission,” Cain bit back.
It was me who got tense at that.
Needless to say, when Abel shared this plan with me, I wasn’t gung ho on it either.
But he was my man, my mate, the one destined for me.
I had to have his back.
This meant at the current juncture, I had to keep my mouth shut.
Abel felt my tenseness. I knew it when I heard his voice get tight as he said, “It’s not even close to a suicide, man. We’ll be covered.”
“You sure about that?” Cain returned.
Abel’s voice was still tight when he answered, “Nothing’s sure in war. That doesn’t mean you sit back and wait for devastation to occur before you do shit about it. We need as much information as we can get, considering we don’t have that much of it, and even if this guy doesn’t have much either, what we get will be more.”
“I understand that, so have the people who’ve got him work him,” Cain suggested.
“They are,” Gregor butted in. “Cosmo and Stephanie are both skilled in interrogation. They just aren’t succeeding.”
“So bring him here,” Cain said to Gregor.
“They’re chipped,” Callum told him something that Cain, having been fully briefed on the situation, already knew.
“So?” Cain asked. “A chip is not going to erase what he knows on his way across the country.”
“If we move him to this location, they’ll know we have him. Currently, he’s being kept in his home, which won’t arouse suspicion,” Lucien pointed out.
“And I’ll repeat, a chip is not going to erase his memory,” Cain stated.
“Yes, but if he is, indeed, important, whatever he knows and can share they’ll also know, and they might make moves to change plans if they believe he’s been compromised,” Yuri put in. “We must know what they’re planning, not what they planned and aborted because we captured one of their men.”
Cain sat back in his chair and I watched his jaw get hard.
It was a little freaky seeing the spitting image of my man, who was sitting beside me, also sitting across the breakfast table from me. I knew I’d get used to it. It didn’t make it any less freaky.
There was a sharp rap on the door and all eyes went there. But before anyone could call the invitation to come in, the door opened and a vampire stood there.
He was looking at Gregor.
“Sir, if I can have a word,” he called.
“Nothing you say cannot be heard by those in this room,” Gregor called back, circling a hand in front of him. “Come in, Terrance.”
The vampire stepped in and started to close the door, but he also started talking before he accomplished that feat.
“We’ve had a communication from Gastineau,” he declared.
I pulled in a breath and leaned closer to Abel, who, in return, draped an arm on the back of my chair.
“His rescue attempt of Serena was unsuccessful,” the vampire Terrance went on.
“Oh no,” Sonia whispered.
“Phantom losses were significant,” Terrance stated. “He’s requesting reinforcements.”
“So he found her,” Gregor noted, tossing his napkin on the table and pushing his chair back.
“Indeed,” Terrance agreed.
“Did he report that Etienne was at that location?” Gregor asked, moving along the table to the door.
“No, sir, he didn’t report that. He didn’t report anything except their failure and his desire to make another attempt. He’s on Skype right now. He wishes to speak directly to you.”
Gregor nodded, not looking back to the room as he said, “I’ll return with news.”
He walked out the door, followed by Terrance, and Terrance closed it behind them.
“Not good news,” Leah murmured.
“Phantom losses were significant,” Cain stated in a way that got everyone’s attention.
But his attention was solely on his brother.
“Do me a favor,” he went on quietly. “Wait. A day. You want to give me a gift, wait two. See if that witch gets a vision. See if the others can locate the leader. Just wait, give it a little time, so maybe we’ll know what we’re facing, or when you go in, you’ll have a target that’s worth the risk.”
“The Three have to agree,” Abel replied, and I felt something loosen inside me.
Maybe he was giving in.
Cain pushed back his chair, his gaze moving around the table, before he said, “Then you’ll all be doing me a favor. I finally have my brother. I don’t want to lose him.”