Niko exhaled a curse. "First we have to find the bastard."
"Yeah, well, I'm all over that. I ran GPS tracers on all of Fabien's cell phones. Got a lock on a location about an hour north of Yakut's place - one of the properties on record for Edgar Fabien. It's got to be him."
"You're sure?"
"Sure enough that we've already sent backup your way. Tegan, Rio, Brock, and Kade are heading north to rendezvous with you as we speak."
"Backup on the way?" Niko asked, eyeing a sliver of UV light that was peeking through the leaves of the shelter. The Order had protective daylight gear for emergency situations, but not even a late-generation vampire wearing head-to-toe anti-UV clothing would be able to withstand the kind of sunlight that would hit him in the driver's seat of a nearly seven-hour road trip. "Jesus, you can't be serious. Who pulled the short straw for that mission?"
Gideon chuckled. "Headstrong females, my man. In case you haven't noticed, we've been overrun with them as of late." "Yeah, I've noticed." Niko couldn't help glancing over at Renata, who was checking some of the weapons they'd collected from Lex and the others. "What's the situation, then?"
"Dylan is driving the guys up in the Rover with Elise riding shotgun. Their ETA in your area is close to nine o'clock, just after sundown. Since Fabien has a number of unknown associates with him, we're gonna need to get in and out of there gracefully, without unnecessary casualties." Gideon paused. "Listen, I know you're concerned about the kid. Her safety is important, no question, but this is big, Niko. If Fabien can lead us anywhere close to Dragos, we have to make sure we bag him tonight. That's mission number one, straight from Lucan."
"Yeah," Nikolai said. He knew the mission. He also knew that he could not let Renata down, or Mira for that matter. "Shit... okay, Gideon. I hear you."
"I'll call you if Fabien moves between now and sundown. Meantime, I'm working on a rendezvous point for you to meet up with the guys tonight to put an infiltration plan in motion. I should have something in an hour or two. Call you then." "Right. Later."
Nikolai closed the phone and set it down beside him.
"Was Gideon able to get anything out of those phone numbers?" Renata asked, watching him carefully. "Do we have any leads on Fabien's Darkhaven?"
Niko nodded. "We've got his address - "
"Thank God," she breathed. Relief gave way swiftly to determination, as fierce as he'd ever seen it in her. "Where is he? Is his Darkhaven in the city proper, or on the outskirts somewhere? I can make a covert run over there right now to get the lay of the land. Hell, the way I'm feeling - no reverb, my shoulder on the mend - maybe I should walk straight up to his front door and hit him with a blast - "
"Renata." Niko put his hand over hers and shook his head. "Fabien's on the move. He's not in the city anymore." "Then where?"
He could have told her about the GPS signal Gideon was tracking. He could have told her that Fabien had Mira in his custody and that the girl was likely only an hour north of where they were sitting right now. But he also knew that if he told Renata that - if he gave her anything close to certainty on the whereabouts of the child who meant so much to her - there would be no stopping her from taking off on her own right now to find her.
Niko's pledge to the Order was his duty - his life-sworn honor - but Renata? This female was his heart. He couldn't jeopardize his brethren's mission any more than he could allow the woman he loved to walk headlong into danger without him there to see her through. Neanderthal thinking, maybe, especially given that Renata was one woman who knew how to handle herself in just about any situation. She was well trained and capable, definitely courageous, but damn it...she meant too much to him to take that kind of risk. Flat out, not an option.
"We're waiting for solid intel on where Fabien has gone," he said, the lie bitter on his tongue, regardless of his good intentions. "In the meantime, the Order is sending in reinforcements. We'll be meeting up with them tonight."
Renata listened, clearly trusting him at his word. "Does the Order have any idea whether Mira might be with Fabien wherever he is now?"
"We're working on it." Nikolai found it difficult to hold her unblinking pale green gaze. "When we find Fabien, we'll find Mira. She's going to be okay. I promised you that, remember?"
When he thought she might just nod her head or glance away, Renata instead reached out to cup his face in her palm. "Thank you...for standing by me through all of this. I don't know how I will ever be able to repay you, Nikolai."
He brought his hand up to hers and placed a tender kiss in her palm. He was going to say something glib, one of the usual empty quips he used so often whenever things around him got too real with emotion or too raw with honesty. He had his methods down pat: Deflect with humor. Disarm with nonchalance. Cut and run like hell at the first inkling of his own vulnerability. But all those old, reliable weapons he'd honed to razor sharpness failed him now.
He stroked his thumb across the back of Renata's hand and let himself get lost in the verdant haven of her eyes.
"I'm not very good at this," he murmured. "I want to tell you something...shit, I'm gonna f**k it up probably, but I want you to know that I care about you. I do...a hell of a lot, Renata."
She stared at him, going so still and silent he wasn't even sure she was breathing.
"I care," he blurted out, frustrated at himself for fumbling through the words that he wanted to be perfect for her. "I don't know how it happened, or what it will even mean to you - if anything - but I need to say it anyway, because this is real. It's real, and I've never felt this way before. Not about anyone."