As I put my bags in my trunk, closing it and taking a breath, looking at my dark violet Aston Martin SUV as I was about to head to the base in Nebraska, I would start there and then see if I would move somewhere else.
I had the past two days getting back on things by looking at the dark web, and I had told them I was coming; I could only imagine a horde of people needing my opinion.
I had also sent guys a little bit everywhere; Magnum and Wulfe went to California.
There was a nasty Sark and Krycheck invasion.
Tim and Taylor, as well as wizards, went to Canada; there were black witch covens.
Alaric, Charles, and Adam refused to go anywhere else but stayed by my side.
They had a car of their own and one of mine, but I would drive alone.
Elena, Katherine, Mimosa, Shadow, Demon, and Lepard went to New Orleans, as Nick was making an uproar, and there were Sarks there too.
Colin also came with me, but he went in his own car, as he had gotten information about just what bases medbay had been lacking, so he had a lot of stuff with him, as he had collected it for a few days in warehouses.
Murdock and Dexter were hot on Krychek’s heels.
After I gave them a nice long list of where they had been spotted, those hound dogs did not need much else; they were too eager to hunt.
I opened my door, went inside, and started my car, feeling the powerful motor come alive.
This was not just an electric car but a hybrid.
Electric cars were a bit too unreliable; I mean, a nice hit from an EMP made your car dead as a dodo, and it was not good for missions, so we usually had hybrids or gasoline-running vehicles.
As I started to drive, I put my playlist on, smiling mirthlessly as the first song happened to be “Eternal Flame.” Well, it still worked, and I sent my love to the Salvatores, making them a bit confused, but I could feel their dark lust.
I sent a bit of my superlust to boost them too.
Let’s see how long their fuck vacation takes; surely blood and its effects will be gone in a few weeks, but it might be that Princess will demand some making up, her pleasure, and their stay in the Azores; fine by me.
As I knew myself, when I got on things and my work, time would just flow by, and I would be pretty oblivious to how long it had been.
I had my hyperfocus, so it made my mind focus on the task and really concentrate on it.
Once again, the road was full of idiots, blind people, someone who had no idea how to drive a car, or those who were afraid to make the damn car move.
A stream of cussing erupted freely from my lips as I was alone in my car and had no need now to behave.
My car was perfect to drive, but these damn dolts and pissants spoiled my driving pleasure.
Driving into base took a little less than 45 minutes, and I finally drove to my place, others following suit as they had been driving behind me.
I exited the car, stretching.
I was wearing skinny, studded black jeans, black boots with some heels, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket.
I reached for my bags as I opened my trunk, knowing that it was more than likely that our replacement crew would soon come and check that my trunk was fully equipped and everything was working as it should.
Despite this being winter, we had a magical barrier here keeping us warm, and my jacket was warm enough; my t-shirt was angora, and my jeans were thicker.
Besides, I was going to be inside at least for starters.
I walked to the door, letting others go first, knowing the sea of staff was waiting for me, and Colin, Adam, Charles, and Alaric walked in.
They started to go around tables and workstations, seeing if there was anything acute.
I thought Alaric hung pretty close to me, waiting for me to pass him certain documents right away.
I stopped in a suitable spot and started to take on my staff one by one.
I was given piles of papers, like procurement lists, latest hints, threat reports, lists of warehouses, and a list of missing people.
Alaric hovered still nearby and said to me, “Give me those procurements and warehouses; I can start with them.”
I leafed through the papers in my hands and handed him those as well, again, one KRYSTA report, meaning Krycheck-Sark threat assessment; he could deal with it.
Paula, one of our analysts, said to me, “Here is the contact info on the FDA as well. Your handlers in the NSA want to meet, and there will be someone from the FBI or CIA, or the Pentagon; it is up to you.” Read this novel at novelping dot com for the best experience.
I furrowed my brow.
Adam happened to be close by; he went to Colin, who was interrogating more or less Steven, the medic in charge, and Adam spoke to him in a low voice.
Colin soon glanced at me and came to me.
Saying, “My love, I will be in that meeting as well; it might be the whole council will be too. It is high time for us to get to know these guys as well.”
His voice was tight enough.
I said, handing him contact info, “Fine, set it up. Ask Magnum’s or Wulfe’s opinion. Do we need a liaison from Magic House? We’ll call them and ask what this meeting is all about, and we will take it from there.” He nodded; Charles was nearby too.
Tom, one of our gun experts, gave me lists of new guns we had gotten, but because of the world-saving mission and whatnot, they were not tested.
I took the list and put it on the ever-growing pile of paper on my arm, knowing I was at least one who could test them, but not when.
Next up was Cecile, our cook, who gave me a list of needed ingredients we were lacking from the kitchen, mainly machines and utensils as well as a few rarer spices; that list too went to my pile.
A few guys gave me long killing lists and who had been taken out and newly updated priority assessments, meaning who the primary target was and who might wait unless I would get us more snipers.
And there was a roster of who was free and how many they could take.
It took two hours for me to take care of most acute things.
Alaric was hovering around me and snatching this and that from the pile of papers in my arms.
Adam, as well as Charles, was texting others like Magnum and Wulfe about what I had to do, what lists had been given, etc., so they were aware as well.
I sighed to myself as I finally trudged to my office, leaving my bag on an enormous sofa.
What I had here was light brown, all-leather and soft, sinking very nicely to sit on.
My desk was top-modern, and I knew Damon had not been in this base.
I had my workstation with a holographic display, built-in keyboard, retinal scanner, and fingerprint scanner, so it was top-secure as well.
It was on the right side of my desk.
On the left side, I had a printer, piles of papers, folders, phones, a fax machine, my music player, and a collection of coffee cups.
My desk was near the back wall with no windows; the sofa was opposite the wall next to the door.
On the right side, there was a door leading to my bathroom and shower, a quite big one as well, and my locker of clothes.
Then there was my locker, next to the door leading to the bathroom, and there I had my guns, gear, and whatnot.
The door was soundproofed with technology, not padded like in old Bond movies.
Then there was a large bookcase full of folders, papers, yet another printer, and whatnot.
I sat in my seat, starting my computer and logging myself into the system with my eye and fingerprint.
I had put a pile of papers on the left side, and I started to go through them, sorting them crudely into piles: what I needed to take care of at first and what could wait.
Just as I was starting to go through the first set of papers, a threat report for me, my door was knocked on, and I said, “Come in; it’s open.”
The door opened, and Hannah, one of our demolition and explosives experts, came in carrying a briefcase.
“Hey, Boss, here are the latest new explosives. Jeremiah has gone through these; there is his report and suggestions for usage. As these are quite strong, I have not tested them.”
I said, “Fine, I can take them; just leave them on the table and give a report to me.”
She handed me a thick folder, and I put it in a pile.
She exited and closed the door behind her. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
I kept trying to find doers for my threats because they were nasty; since I hadn’t been seen in a year, Sarks had had time to devise a variety of plans, and there were about 30 other instances as well as The Centre.
It appeared that my most recent wedding had piqued their interest, as there had been some interaction with my pretender side.
Fuck, another complication.
Someone brought me food at one point, which I ate; Alaric paid frequent visits, grumbling under his breath as he entered, and looked through my inbox and piles, taking several stacks to himself without explaining.
I was just about to make maybe Winchester boys have at Sarks and Krycheck; if they were free, they were multidoers, but I had no idea if they were on a mission.
I hadn’t had time to check on them when my door opened, and Wulfe, Magnum, Dresden, Constantine, Alaric, Lepard, and the rest of the pack walked in, except for Salvatores and Mariella.
Wulfe said, “My unicorn, let’s see if we can help you out, as you’ve been here for two weeks.”
I blinked; sure, I’d had a shower and eaten, but time meant little to me once I was focused on work.
Magnum zeroed in on the explosives with Murdock and asked, “Did you have a report on these?”
I grunted, dug it out of my pile, and handed it over.
Alaric, Lepard, and Demon came and took my threat assessment before going to sit at another table, phones ready, and seeing what they could do.
Adam and Charles delivered food to me again.
There was tuning in Wulfe; well, everyone was tuned up, and I’m guessing Sarks and Krychecks had been especially naughty because I recognized this type of tuning.
I had one mission in planning, big place, but it was just the beginning.
The estimated number of live victims was 400 or more, but because there were Sarks and Krychecks, I had to find an entirely new way in, which was not our standard, and it was not easy.
As I had eaten and continued to check a few facts on my upcoming mission and was trying to come up with a new way to handle it, Wulfe came next to me, pulled a chair from somewhere, and started to read my notes.
“Hey Magnum, check this out; we have one nasty mission coming up. This needs one hell of a team,” he commented.
This got Magnum coming over as well, Adam and Charles too, and not to mention Wizards and Alaric, who were in the room too.
He said, “Let’s go to the planning room; we have more space there. Grab your things, brat; this is ours, not just yours.”
I rolled my eyes.
It seemed each pack member had a nickname for me, but it was fine.
I took my laptop, my papers, and the satellite pictures that I had asked for, as well as lists of missing persons, their medical files, and also their heritage.
In order for us to understand what this facility did, we had to know why these victims were sought.
Had they supernatural genes, or some gene anomaly?
What about their enzymes?
What made them targets?
And for us to find that, it gave us a better point of action, as we could then predict somewhat what shape victims might be, how heavily guarded the facility was, and what we were going to most likely encounter.
I knew that there was a ton of stuff yet to be solved, all kinds of hints and tips as well as surveillance and an overall big picture before we could move to an actual planning stage, but now it was time to do this as a pack, as a group, and I noticed it was not so hard for me, not anymore, as I had learned to be part of something more than just me during that time.
I said to Alaric, “Well, I have other stuff to do as well, but let’s get this one on the road.”
Adam asked, “Honey, what other stuff? Let’s delegate, shall we?”
I stammered, “Well, I have a ton of procurement orders and kill lists to be updated, and I should start making our new mission list as well.”
Charles said, “Well, Harry will take care of the mission list; he and his team can pick and choose. Let’s see if Fred, Tamsin, and Carl will update kill lists, and our procurement team will take care of those orders as you just sign them or put your priority classification on them.”
Magnum texted his phone, and soon base leader Vera Derrington came and said, “Boss, let me have those papers; I will make sure they are done. I asked if there was anything needed.”
Fine, I handed her a pile of paper and got up from my chair, getting ready to move into our so-called war room to hash this out.