Toni blinked. It was Stone Cauffyn.
"What are ye doing here?" Ian demanded as Phineas dragged the newscaster forward.
"Are you the good guys?" Stone asked. "I was hoping you'd come. I want to help." He patted his perfect hair. "I want a piece of the action because I'm not boring!"
"Shhh." Ian hushed him. "Can ye wield a sword?"
"No, but I'm real good with a hairbrush. Oh, and I know where there's a secret entrance. Will that help?"
"Yes. Ye'll take the mortals in through the secret entrance," Ian ordered. "Gregori, go with them. The rest of you, ye know what to do. Let's go." He strode toward the end of the alley.
Toni ran to join him. "Ian, please don't do this. There has to be a better way."
"I've weighed the options, Toni. If we attack, Jedrek will kill the hostages. This way, he'll think he's won, and he'll be easier to defeat." He gave her a worried look. "If I begged you to stay here in the alley, would ye do it?"
"You know I can't. I have to be there for you."
Ian sighed. "Doona try to take on a Malcontent."
"Yeah, yeah, the vampires are superior. I've heard it before. I'm not good enough."
Ian stopped and took her hand. "No one is more valuable to me than you. Doona blame me for being terrified for yer safety."
"I feel the same way about you."
"I'll be fine. Trust me." He kissed her brow, then skirted the alley wall to enter the DVN parking lot.
Toni said a silent prayer for him. Hot tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them away. No time for that now.
Phineas, Dougal, Zoltan, and Jack moved stealthily into the parking lot, keeping themselves hidden, while Ian strode straight to the entrance door.
"Let's go." Howard motioned for her, Carlos, Gregori, and Stone to follow him. They crept along the back of the DVN parking lot, staying in the shadow. They stopped behind two large cars to watch.
Ian approached the entrance, where two Malcontent guards pointed their rifles at him. He raised his hands. "I'm Ian MacPhie. I've brought the drug for Jedrek."
One guard held his rifle on Ian while the other patted him down. "No weapons."
"What about his purse?" The Malcontent pointed his rifle at the leather pouch in front of Ian's kilt.
"It's a sporran." Ian opened it and showed them the vial of greenish liquid. "I'm to deliver this personally."
Toni's breath caught. Did he really have some of the drug with him?
The guard checked Ian's sporran. "There's nothing else inside. Let's go." He opened the door and motioned for Ian to enter.
The guards scanned the parking lot, and not seeing anything, they both went into the building to escort Ian to Jedrek.
About five minutes later, Toni saw a blur of movement as Phineas and Dougal zipped at vampire speed toward the now unguarded entrance. They slipped inside. Two more figures crept from the shadows. Zoltan and Jack stood on each side of the door, pressed against the wall.
Gregori cursed under his breath. "Their alarm just went off. There must be a Malcontent in the security office, and he spotted our guys."
"We knew that could happen," Howard whispered.
"At least the recording studios are soundproof," Gregori said. "Jedrek can't hear it."
Toni recalled the plan that Ian had explained in the alley. Phineas and Dougal were supposed to take over the security office as quickly as possible.
The two guards who had escorted Ian returned. They ran out the front door with swords drawn, but they didn't get far. Zoltan and Jack jumped them, and in a flash, both guards were nothing but piles of dust on the pavement.
Zoltan and Jack sheathed their daggers and drew their swords. Then they rushed inside. Their mission was to zoom through the building, killing any Malcontents they came across. From what Toni could tell, they looked quite capable of the job.
"All right, Stone, let's go." Howard gave the newscaster a push.
They ran to the side of the building. Stone moved a heavy potted plant to reveal a trapdoor in the pavement next to the building. He pulled on a metal ring to lift the door and revealed a staircase leading into the basement.
Howard pulled a small LED flashlight from his utility belt and flipped it on. "Let's go."
"This is all storage," Stone whispered, once they were downstairs. "No one comes down here except Tiffany and the boss when they want to—"
"We gotcha," Gregori muttered. "Take us to the stairwell that's closest to the control room."