Weekend Reading!

3/19/2026

Lucas decided it was his good luck—no, it was a real blessing—neither Declan nor Forge could read his mind because right now he wanted to kill them both. Lucas could do it, too. Ten minutes wolfed out was all he needed. Vampires might be faster, but werewolves were stronger.

Being in a surveillance van with three vampires wasn’t the fun and excitement one might expect it to be. Lucas liked Kai, but he was sure Ori would agree that in this circumstance, Kai would have to die too.

Forge was pacing, at least as well as a man could inside a van with three other decently sized men. Lucas was leaning against one side, gazing at a camera feed, and doing his best to stay out of the way and not strangle his best friend.

Declan put both hands on Forge’s shoulders and said, “Jonas, he’ll be fine.”

“He’s never done anything like this.” Forge turned and stared at the monitor. “Damn, I wish I could see him and not just hear him.”

“Jonas, it’s a pizza parlor, and she’s a research scientist. What the hell can she do to him?” Declan asked.

Forge and Kai both turned to look at him.

“One man associated with her is dead,” Forge grumbled.

Declan heaved a sigh and shoved Forge into the seat beside Kai. “Relax. You can hear every word they say and feel what Blair feels. If anything goes wrong, you’ll know it practically before he does. You and I muddled through information collection with far less support and lived.” Declan rolled his eyes and focused on Lucas.

“I should be in there to back him up. In case.” Forge started to stand, but Lucas helped Declan push him back down.

“In case of what? They run out of pepperoni?” Lucas asked.

“She might recognize you,” Kai said. “You’re the head detective of this town. There is no need to take the risk someone will recognize you and blow everything. Besides, when contacting someone with the express purpose of entering some sort of relationship with them, having your bondmate hanging around a few feet away is a bad idea.”

“He speaks from experience,” Ori chimed in and chuckled.

“You all do realize I can hear you, right?” Blair’s voice was crisp and clear coming from the speaker.

“Heads up. There she is. She’s about to walk through the door,” Kai said. He pointed to the monitor. “Got to love predictable people.”

Lucas and Declan leaned closer and peered over Forge’s shoulders. Forge hunched over the microphone and talked. “Focus on her heartbeat, Blair. Forget the other stuff we’ve practiced. You’ll remember later how her heartbeat changes as you talk to her, trust me.”

Declan grabbed the mic and swung it toward him. “Don’t forget what I showed you about distracting her so you can—”

Lucas put his hand over the mic. “Leave him alone!”

“She’s inside. I’m at the bar, eyes on her. She’s cute,” Ori chimed in. “Blair, just be your charming self and you’ll do fine.”

Forge pulled in a breath and opened his mouth. Lucas silenced him before he could say anything more by clapping one hand over his mouth. When Forge twisted in his seat and glared up, Lucas pulled his hand away and put one finger to his lips. “Shush.”

On the camera feed they could see Bronwen enter the restaurant and walk to a center counter. To the left was a small bar. Ori shimmered into view for a few seconds. He let go of the wristband he wore and disappeared a few breaths later. Blair had been given a similar wristband. A simple way for any vampire to be seen on camera was with a shot of adrenaline to their systems. Among other things, the wristbands were a delivery mechanism. If Blair wanted to be seen on camera, he’d push a small button and get a miniscule injection of adrenaline.

“He’ll tell us if he changes location,” Kai explained. “Those bands are only good for two or three hits of adrenaline before needing a refill.”

There were tables arranged along the window and to the right of the counter. Blair was waiting in the men’s room on the far right behind the tables.

“Hold your position…another minute…” Kai said in a low voice.

Bronwen turned her back to the restroom doors and leaned against the counter while she paid for whatever she’d ordered.

“Okay,” Kai said.

Declan grabbed the mic and bent over it. “Hold on. Wait until she picks up her order. She’ll be more flustered if you ‘run into her’ then.”

Kai looked over his shoulder at Declan, then turned back to his mic. “We’ll do it Declan’s way.”

Lucas immediately picked up on what Kai was doing, deferring to Declan in such a way. It would instill confidence in Blair to have his guidance come from someone he knew, as well as building trust on both sides. He tapped Kai’s shoulder and nodded once. Kai glanced over his shoulder at Lucas, dipped his chin, and offered him a small smile. Apparently, Kai appreciated his team-building techniques being noticed and approved of.
“All right,” Blair answered.

A short time later Bronwen took a covered plastic cup in one hand and a small pizza box in the other and turned away from the counter.

“Go,” Kai said.

“She’s got a tablet in her bag, I can see it. Grab it and make it look like her drink spilled on it,” Declan instructed. Lucas knew Blair would be carrying his phone in one hand, ready to clone her phone and tablet.

Before Bronwen took more than a couple of steps, the men’s room door swung open. Another few seconds and it was obvious Blair had bumped into her, upsetting her drink and sending the pizza to the floor.

When Bronwen bent, trying to scoop everything from the floor, they heard Blair say, “Oh damn, I’m so sorry! That’s what I get for trying to text and walk.”

An image of Blair holding his phone up to show Bronwen popped into Lucas’s head. He was a little amazed he’d gotten to know Blair so well since he’d come to live in Boggslake that Lucas could easily imagine Blair’s actions.

Bronwen’s elbow jerked and the large drink cup toppled over. Lucas knew Blair was responsible as the dark liquid splashed everywhere. “Stop helping, please. Really, I—” Bronwen straightened and gasped. The surprise that registered on her face morphed to shock, then sadness.

Forge went perfectly still and Lucas didn’t have to see Blair’s reaction to guess that his expression probably mirrored some of Bronwen’s feelings. When Forge sucked in a breath, Lucas put one hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. He leaned closer to Forge’s ear. “He’ll be fine. They both will be.”

Whatever the look on Blair’s face was, it must have concerned Ori as well. “No one is here to hurt her, Blair. We only want information. Start with something easy—the soda on her tablet.”

“I—I didn’t hurt you, did I? Are you okay?” Blair asked and they could hear him bend down, the tablet on the floor moved, then vanished. He must have picked it up. “This isn’t so bad.”

“You…I’m sorry. My research notes,” Bronwen’s voice was shaky and soft.

“I think I can get it working for you in no time. We need to dry it first,” Blair said.