ChapterTwenty-Four
It was hours after the fae witch had located Ambrose's general vicinity when Leo crept through the darkness, following the banks of the River Thames, toward the west. While the water didn't stink nearly as much as it had prior to the introduction of the sewage system decades ago, Leo still did his best to breathe through his mouth and focus on not tripping on whatever vile thing had washed up on the riverbank.
He especially needed his wits about him since Leo was outside his own territory and inside the one belonging to the human king of the underworld in Covent Garden. Leo and all paranormals did their best to steer clear of Alfie Cross, and acted cautiously when they couldn't help it. The male sometimes didn't mind working with them against the human authorities, but Cross always required a gift or favor in return for his help. However, there simply hadn't been time to follow the formalities and ask permission before sneaking toward Cross's domain this evening.
Which meant if Leo and his males weren't careful, they could start a war with the human and his gangs on top of everything else.
If it weren't for the ticking clock—they had less than two hours before he was supposed to trade Yesenia for Ambrose—he would've been more cautious. But he'd learned in the army that if one had an opening, even a small one, then one pounced before the chance went by.
And since Leo lead by example, he wasn't going to expect his fighters to go in without him.
When they finally reached the rotting wooden dock marking the edge of the area Helena had given them, promising Ambrose was inside the circle she'd drawn on the map, he held up his hand to halt those who'd accompanied him.
Inside the boundary drawn on the map, there were two warehouses made of brick, and an old, wooden tenement with the roof caved in on one side. A few abandoned houses, a pub, and a pawn shop were also inside the area just south of the main rookery of Covent Garden. Combined with all the narrow alleyways and dark corners, where anyone could be hiding this time of night, it was going to be tricky to search for Ambrose and not alert the entire neighborhood. On top of avoiding Cross's notice, Leo couldn't let anyone holding his nephew know about their presence.
Other vampire teams were scouring different areas, but Leo had claimed the two warehouses since they would be his first choice to hold a hostage in secret. The old buildings from last century often had a number of underground tunnels and hidden rooms, a relic from the old days of when shipping companies often hid smuggled goods from the city's authorities. Those would be a perfect place to keep someone against their will, even torturing them, without the world being any wiser.
Not wanting to think of his only nephew being tortured, Leo signaled to John—his man of operations was deadly with a knife or pistol—their first search destination was the warehouse on the left. They divided into two teams. One would go in from the back, and another would watch from the front and warn them, if need be.
Leo approached the back, using the rubbish heaped near the rear entrance as a cover. He listened intently, but apart from the sloshing of the river, and a few drunken laughs further down the street, it was fairly quiet.
Thanks to his ability to see just as well at night as during the day, Leo made his way to the door without tripping on anything or making any loud sound. He paused at the door, which was slightly ajar and hanging on a single hinge, and the scent of rotted fish filled his nostrils. Since this building had been used as a whale oil factory at one point, he ignored the smell. Once he ensured the interior was quiet, Leo eased the door open slowly, only making one small squeak.
He waited, but after several moments with no noise or movement he could detect, Leo slipped inside, a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other, with the rest of his team behind him.
Apart from some rotting wooden vats, long abandoned, and some rubbish heaped here and there on broken tables and chairs, he didn't see anything—or anyone—else. There was a staircase that led to the upper level, but he deemed it irrelevant. If someone wanted to be secretive, they'd want some place that might not crash underneath your feet at any minute. And given the rotten beam supports above, that was a real possibility.
Scanning the room, he finally noticed a doorway with stairs leading downward. However, he dismissed the obvious. Smugglers wanted secrecy, not a giant arrow pointing to their hiding spots.
Leo signaled to John and his other males to fan out and look for the cache to open or outline of a secret door along the walls.
Keeping the pistol in his hand and sheathing the blade, Leo ran his hand along the wooden surface, looking for the slight indentation or hitch that would signal a hidden door.
John had just signaled he'd found something when a birdcall whistled through the air.
Fuck.Someone was approaching the front entrance.
Leo and the others rushed to where John had just opened the secret door. It was a risk to blindly enter, but he'd rather take his chances than have to run away, leaving Ambrose in the enemy's hands for who knew how much longer.
As soon as they were all inside, John shut the door behind him. A few beats later, he heard several male voices, thick with the accent common to Covent Garden, and knew Alfie Cross was aware of some kind of trespassing inside his territory.
However, Leo would deal with the human male later; finding Ambrose was his top priority.
Once he'd listened a few beats for anything coming from the stairs below and was certain no one waited for them, Leo signaled his team to head downward. Speed was on their side—only shifters were faster than vampires—and they managed to descend with only one creak between them.
At the bottom, a tunnel fanned out in several different directions, doorways sporadically placed along the way.
And each one could hold either Ambrose or the enemy.
Exchanging his pistol for his knife so he could better keep their element of surprise, Leo took a deep breath and gestured for his men to proceed with caution. Even if he'd like more time to plan, or to have more males with him, Leo'd come too far now to back down. Especially since Cross's men could go asking questions in the neighborhood and Ambrose's captors would hear about it and move him.
Or, worse, kill him outright.
No, he couldn't let that happen. And Leo's gut said he needed to keep moving and find his nephew straight away. The next attempt could—and probably would—be too late.
And that would devastate his sister.
Fuck no.He'd failed Nora when he was younger, but he bloody well wouldn't do so now.