And while he could think of a lot of interesting ways to pass the hours with Seraphina alone in her tent, he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he’d rather explore those options in the comfort of the villa.
Which meant getting his ass out of her bed ASAP, so he could expedite that process.
With care not to wake her, he eased himself out from under her and rolled away from the thin mattress on the floor.
Dressing quietly, he then slipped out of the tent to begin the trek toward the place he’d parked the Rover. He was the only one outside so soon after the storm. He hoofed it through the quiet camp, his boots putting fresh tracks on the sand-drifted road that cut through the center of the tents and outbuildings.
The Rover could have been worse. Sand coated the black vehicle and had blown into every crack and crevice. He dug it out and brushed it down as best he could and was just about to start it up when his preternatural hearing picked up the sound of men’s voices elsewhere in the dark. Somewhere near the main supply building.
Jehan recognized Karsten Hemmings’s dramatic tenor instantly. The other man sounded like one of the helpers who’d assisted in unloading the delivery earlier tonight.
Jehan listened, suspicion prickling his senses. On instinct, he reached into the Rover and retrieved the pair of daggers he’d stored under the driver’s seat. Although he had busted Seraphina’s pretty ass over the fact she’d brought her phone to the handfast, his breach of the terms by bringing his Order patrol blades was probably the worst of the two offenses.
Right about now, he was damn glad he had the weapons.
Tucking one into his boot and the other into the back waistband of his jeans, he stole around the rear of the tents and outbuildings, his senses trained on the pair of men. Sand sifted with their quick footsteps. Karsten issued orders to his accomplice in a low, urgent whisper.
“Pick up the pace, Massoud! My contact has been waiting on this shit for days. We’ve got less than an hour to make the drop and collect our money.”
What the hell?
Karsten’s Jeep was parked at the rear of the outbuilding. The back hatch had been swung open, while Karsten and the other camp worker were apparently loading the vehicle with crates taken out of the main supply.
Jehan crept through the shadows, peering at the contents of the Jeep while both men had gone back inside the building for more. Three crates labeled as canned meat sat in the back of the vehicle. Supplies that he and Seraphina had delivered earlier tonight.
One of the crates had been pried apart, several of the cans inside opened. An odd blue glow emanated from inside the containers.
At first, Jehan wasn’t sure what he was seeing.
Not canned meats, that much was certain.
Each container held a palm-sized electronic object comprised of a metal casing and a glass center chamber. Inside the glass was a milky blue substance that glowed like a vial of pure energy.
Like a source of harnessed, weapons-grade ultraviolet light.
Holy shit.
The instant realization dawned on him, Karsten’s cohort came around the back of the building. He was empty-handed, but the second his eyes lit on Jehan, he reached for his gun and fired a panicked round. Reacting almost instantly, Jehan let his blade fly, dropping Massoud dead in the sand.
The discharged bullet flew wild into the air. The cracking report of the gunshot echoed, shattering the sleepy calm of the camp. Screams and commotion stirred at once in some of the nearby tents.
Karsten raced out of the supply building. “Massoud, for crissake—”
He drew up short when he came face to face with Jehan holding his comrade’s gun.
Jehan bared his fangs. “Doing a little dealing on the side, I see. What’s the going rate on UV grenades these days?”
Karsten narrowed his eyes. “More than you could imagine, vampire.”
The impulse to blow the human’s head off was nearly overwhelming. But caution warned him that this was also Seraphina’s longtime coworker. She considered Karsten Hemmings her friend.
As much as Jehan wanted to waste the bastard for profiting off Breed-killing UV arms and using Seraphina’s goodwill to front it, that call wasn’t his to make. Not like this.
“We both know you’re not going to use that gun on me,” Karsten taunted. “She’ll hate you for it. Of course, if you pull that trigger, you’d better be prepared to die with me.”
It was then that Jehan noticed the human held something tight in his fist. The blue glow poured out between his fingers.
“The detonator is already tripped,” he confirmed. “The UV blast won’t give me more than a sunburn. You, however...”
Jehan ignored the threat. He would deal with the fallout if and when it occurred. Right now, he wanted answers. If he had any chance of getting information to the Order, he needed answers.