“This is the warehouse where we believe Luther is operating from. We think he has at least four or five men with him. Zane and Yvette will take the back entrance, Gabriel and Quinn will come in from the roof, I’ll be with Thomas going in the front. Amaury and Ricky, you take the side.”
“Weapons?” Gabriel asked.
“Stakes and semiautomatic guns with silver bullets. Ricky, get them out from the arsenal below when we’re done here,” Samson ordered and threw him a set of keys.
“I want to take him alive, but if your lives are in danger, you know what to do. His men are all new vampires; they are most likely inexperienced. We can use this against them.”
Finally he looked at Amaury. “Where’s Nina?”
Amaury didn’t like the way the question sounded. “In the living room with Delilah.”
“You brought her here?” Samson seemed outraged.
Amaury squared his chest. “She needs to be protected.”
“We can’t trust her. We have reason to believe her brother Edmund isn’t dead, but was turned into a vampire by Luther. We think he’s working for him.”
Amaury felt his throat constrict. “Are you sure?”
“Ninety-nine percent,” Gabriel answered in Samson’s stead.
“She’s most likely a mole and has been handing information to Luther all along,” Samson went on.
Amaury shook his head. No. This wasn’t possible. Nina wouldn’t do that. She was his mate. He would sense if she was betraying him.
Thomas cleared his throat. “Are you gonna tell them, or should I?”
He looked at his gay friend and swallowed hard, before he met his boss’ and best friend’s inquisitive stare. “I’m blood-bonded to Nina. And as such I will defend her with my life, no matter whose side she’s on.”
Amaury barely heard the collective gasps and mumbled comments of his colleagues as he looked at Samson’s reaction. His friend closed his eyes briefly, then looked back at him.
“Amaury, how? What happened?”
Amaury shrugged his shoulders, not being able to explain it himself. All he knew was Nina was his, and she would remain his. If she was indeed helping Luther’s side, he would do everything to turn her away from him. And if his own friends wanted to harm her, he’d take her away from here and live in exile with her. As long as he was with her nothing else mattered.
“She’s mine, Samson. You of all people should know what it feels like. It was the only thing I could do.”
Samson nodded slowly. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“I’m prepared for the consequences. If she’s guilty, all I ask is that you give us a day’s head start. I’ll sign my interest in the company over to you.”
Samson’s mouth dropped open. “You would leave us for her?”
Amaury had never been so sure of anything else in his life. He would exchange two-hundred years of friendship for eternity with Nina in a heartbeat.
“She’s mine to protect. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.” Amaury widened his stance, ready to prove he wasn’t bluffing.
“She’s played you,” Gabriel accused him. “You of all people. Didn’t I warn you this could only end badly? But you didn’t want to listen, did you? How did she get you to do it? Is she really that good in bed that you’d give her such power over you? Are you that far gone?”
Livid with rage, Amaury lifted his arm and swung—but didn’t connect with Gabriel’s face. Instead, he found himself being restrained by Samson. Amaury twisted out of his grip and faced him.
“When I’m done with Gabriel, I’ll deal with you!” Yes, he’d given Nina power over him, but he trusted her with his life—she wouldn’t betray him. “Nobody gets away with insulting my mate.”
A nod of Samson’s head and Zane and Quinn took hold of Amaury, their grip viselike. No matter how furiously he tried to shake them off, they held him fast.
Then Samson shoved a pointed finger at his chest. “You, my friend, listen to me now. We’re going to take out Luther, and you can either be with us or against us. Nina will remain here—Carl will watch her. If she does anything suspicious, Carl will restrain her. And there’s not a thing you can do about it. Delilah will talk to Nina.”
Samson’s wife was a former auditor and as such had an uncanny way of finding out information. “We’ll see what she can find out. If it turns out she’s innocent, you’ll get my sincerest apologies, but in the meantime, my word is law. So, what’s it gonna be?”