Evans, Gabrielle - From This Moment [The Moonlight Breed 7] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic Ma by Gabrielle Evans (best desktop ebook reader txt) 📕

“I kind of do,” Zavion answered with a soft smile.  Then he pushed  up on his toes and pressed their lips together. “Everyone is waiting.  You better hurry.”

It had  been  barely twenty-four hours since he’d affirmed  that  Zavion was his mate. Now, their relationship was already being  tested. Not only was there a chance that he’d lose the man if he did as  he’d promised and took him on this crazy mission, but if they stayed  in Wyoming and did nothing, he could lose Zavion that way as well.  Then there was the little part of him that just wanted to throttle the  shifter for even suggesting something so dangerous.

Any way he sliced it, the outcome appeared bleak. So instead of  arguing or begging Zavion to reconsider, he just  kissed him on the  forehead and exited the room. If they got the meeting over with  quickly, he could spend the rest of the night with his lover and try to  pretend that the entire day had been just one bad dream.

“Okay, we’re all here now,” Blaise announced  when Cian entered  the kitchen. “I think we might have some good news for you.”

Cian liked the hell out of good news, especially if it was the kind  that kept Zavion safe at home where he belonged. “What did ya  find?”

“We didn’t really  find anything,” Cole answered, but he was  grinning from ear to ear. “However, I think we’ve managed to figure  out why that is.”

Willow cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter from his  perch on Blaise’s lap. “Who figured it out?”

Cole chuckled as he leaned over to kiss his mate. “Yes, baby, you

are a genius.” Resuming his seat, he  folded his hands on the table and  looked around the room at the others gathered there. “Willow had the  idea that they might be cloaking this lab some way.”

44                        Gabrielle Evans

If they lived in a normal world, Cian would probably find the theory ridiculous. Since his world was anything but normal—a world where men and woman transformed into animals, and witches,

faeries, and elves ran rampant—he was a bit more inclined to agree  with Cole’s assessment of the situation. Besides, Zavion and his

friends were living proof of the type of power The Hive held.

If they could transform  regular shifters into strange and contrived  mockeries of themselves, why wouldn’t they be able to hide their  location?

“Do you really think we’re mockeries?” Zuriel asked in a small,  wavering voice.

Cian felt like a total ass for not remembering that Zuriel could  hear his thoughts as clearly as if he’d spoken aloud. “I’m just upset,”  he assured the man. “I don’t think any less of ya, Zuriel. I  swear it.”

“I’m not buying it,” Demitrius said, ignoring the exchange and  speaking directly to Cole. “I agree this place is hidden, but if we’re  talking magical concealment charms or whatever, that just sounds  phony. It would take a lot of damn witches with a lot of damn power  to pull that off.”

“Well, it’s the best we’ve got.” There was a shrug of his  shoulders, but Cole didn’t appear very happy about Demitrius’s argument. “We’ve searched all the homes for troubled youths,  including juvenile detention centers, within a hundred-mile radius of  where that cave is in Missouri. We’ve even looked at abandoned

buildings and foreclosures. There’s nothing there, Dee.”

“What about the address on those contracts?”

“Bogus,” Blaise confirmed. “No such place exists.”

Cian listened intently, racking his brain for the crucial piece of the  puzzle they were missing. He couldn’t deny that Demitrius had a  point. It would take a lot of energy to conceal something as large as  an underground lab. Then again, Cole had a good point  as well. How  else could it be so carefully hidden?

“Why are we lookin’ for homes for troubled kids?”

From This Moment                       45

With a tilt of his head, Demitrius indicated Oscar. “That’s what he

said.”

“Why would ya think that?” If the shifters had been kept  underground, how would  Oscar know what front The Hive used?

“During exams, the Doctors would scribble stuff down on these  sheets of paper. At the top of those pages was the name of a youth  center.”

Zuriel nodded vigorously in agreement with Oscar. “I remember, too. It was something like  ‘Bridgemont Center for the Seriously

Fucked Up. ’”

While Cian snorted in amusement, Cole pulled his laptop to him and began tapping away at the keyboard. “Bridgemont Center for  Disturbed Teens and Young Adults,” he read after a moment. “It’s almost two hundred miles from  where the cave is located. We didn’t

look that far away.”

“I’m on it,”  Demitrius announced. Then he slipped out of the  kitchen, digging his cell phone from his jeans as he went.

He didn’t want to get his hopes up,  but this could very well be the  break he’d been hoping for. If they could get a lead on this  Bridgemont place, then just maybe he wouldn’t have to go on a wild  goose chase with Zavion in tow.

“So,” Oscar said, interrupting Cian’s thoughts, “who is this  Redway guy? I’ve heard his name several times, but no one will  explain what he has to do with anything.”

Cian only knew parts of the story, so he didn’t feel he was  qualified to explain the sordid tale.  His attention turned to Blaise, and  everyone else followed his lead, looking to the alpha from Cloud Peak for an answer to Oscar’s inquiry. Truth be known, Cian wouldn’t  mind a bit more information on this mysterious bad guy, either.

“To cut to the chase,” Blaise began, “Cyrus Redway was the  leader of this coven a few years ago before his death. He had two  mates and at least two children, and one of those mates was obsessed

with finding a way for Cyrus and his children to walk in the sun.

46                        Gabrielle Evans

That’s where the kidnapping, trading, and enslavement of paranormals we’ve been dealing with started.”

“It’s okay, Blaise.” A deep sigh fell from Cole’s lips, but when he lifted his head, there was determination burning in his eyes. “One of  Cyrus’s mates was my father. He was the alpha of the Cloud Peak  Pack before Blaise