Chapter 498
With a sigh, I concentrated harder on Christian himself, hoping I could pick up on his thoughts without actually leaping into his head. It was difficult at first. Like trying to tune a television using those big rabbit ear antennas. I had to keep searching around for a signal. Eventually, I found it, though, and tuned it in enough that I could get a picture of Christian driving an SUV through the mountains. He was getting close to the point where he’d leave the vehicle and get out and search on foot. Satisfied that I had a decent idea of what was going on, I shifted.
It was not my intention to try to leap into Daunator’s head. Doing so would be hazardous. I could tip him off that Christian was on the way. I could let him know we’d been discussing coming over there but had decided not to, which would be an indicator that what he was doing was working and he should keep at it. No, I wasn’t going to try to get into Daunator’s thoughts, but I did want to probe around and see if I could sense anything important, sort of like standing outside of a house and looking inside to find out what the family is watching on TV. It’s risky, but not on the same level as climbing in.
It was easier than it should’ve been to find the monster. I stayed back because I realized that was because he wanted to be found. He was seeking me out almost as directly as I had been looking for him. I didn’t stick around his thoughts for long, but I did sense an uneasiness, as if he was aware we were finally starting to act—in one way or another.
Rather than stay with the beast, I skirted off in the direction of his minions, looking through Vampire minds in an attempt to locate the ones who had been doing Daunator’s dirty work recently. They were all aware that Eliza and her team were starting to take them out, that LIGHTS was on to them, and it was just a matter of time. There was a lot of chatter among the Vampires, warnings to each other, especially the newer ones. Be careful. They could be anywhere. I liked the idea that we were making them nervous, but I assumed that was more Mila and her team, which included Eliza, than Christian or what we were doing back at headquarters, which was essentially nothing.
That part of Europe was very active, though. Hannah hadn’t mentioned that. Whispers from Vampires, afraid they might be next, weren’t just confined to Budapest and Prague. I stretched out my radius and picked them up in Vienna, Krakow, even in Moscow. Our teams there were acting, even if Aaron wasn’t around and Hannah wasn’t being forthcoming with that information, at least not to me.
While that made me feel better, I was still upset that I wasn’t there and that we’d decided to wait. The heart of all of this activity resided in the mountains of Klet, and while Christian was on his way to hunt him down, if the rest of our team were with him, it would be much easier.
My probing was interrupted by two quick flickers of my IAC. I’d been getting a few messages from friends but hadn’t heard from Brandon in a few hours until he popped in. “Whatcha up to?”
I would’ve given him a nicer response if Eliza hadn’t messaged me almost at the exact same time, and since I couldn’t remember ever having that particular Guardian in my head, it caught me off guard. I needed to see what she wanted, especially if she was on the way to hunt down a Vampire on my list. If I could help her, I needed to do that.
So... that meant I had to push Brandon off. “I’m busy. Check in later.” I fired that off to him, hoping it would come across nicer than it sounded in my own head, and then addressed Eliza who’d just asked if I had a minute. “What’s up?”
“Hey, sorry to bother you. We’re headed into Honey’s prime territory, and I was just wondering if you happen to have any idea where she might be. You can do that, can’t you? Leap into people’s brains and know where they are?”
I assumed Christian must’ve spoken to her about me. Why else would she suddenly be asking for my help? The idea that I was now working with two people I really couldn’t stand at all, the same two people who’d driven a wedge between my sister and Aaron back when she’d just joined the team, made me nauseated. But they were the only ones actually doing something, so if I decided not to work with them, I would not be helping people like Havel and his wife who was still MIA. Despite my reservations at being involved with someone who would do the things Eliza had done, I found myself wanting to help.
With a deep breath, I replied, “Yeah, usually. Sometimes.” I probably should have said more, but I waited for her to continue, trying to figure out what she was going to ask me to do.
“Well, if you could get us a location within a few blocks, that would be great. If you can keep me apprised of exactly where she’s at, that would be even better.”
There really wasn’t any question as to whether or not I could do what Eliza was asking me to do. It was more of a “why would I want to help you” business. But then, I realized, if Eliza was on a hunt right now with her boss, Mila, then that meant that Hannah had spoken to them. And Mila hadn’t tried to involve me. Neither had Hannah or Aurora. Why they wouldn’t want me to help when I obviously wanted to be a part of this was beyond me—and it annoyed me to think they hadn’t just asked me to sit in on the hunt to begin with. So if the only way I could do anything was through Eliza, in a sneaky, back door sort of way, then so be it.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, telling Eliza, “Give me a sec,” as I narrowed in on Honey. Now that I knew what she looked like and where she was most likely to be, more or less, it shouldn’t take me long to find her.