Page 133 of The Satyr's Guilt
“If I can verify the names you give me, Iwill tell you who we have.”
Miller sighed. The usually chipper Braelynsounded down. “Something wrong, luv?”
“Nothing concerning you.”
“Okay. Let’s meet.”
“Name it. When and where. Remember, where Igo so goes Rein.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Bring the steroid-dosed bloke.I’m in St. Louis. Can you meet in two hours at Mama’s on the Hill?I’m hankering for Italian.”
He heard Braelyn chit-chatting, the soundmuffled as if her hand cupped the receiver.
“We’ll be there unless Rein gets called toduty.”
To kill time, Miller wagged off by walkingthe streets for an hour. Centuries had passed since the forming ofCustodes Templii. They had one job. To track and protect thedescendants of the Blood Coven while they waited for the bad partof the prophecy to kick in. At least, it was the Kool-Aid they’dbeen sold. Why on his watch? Still, the action made life knees up.And he wasn’t one to ignore a little excitement.
Traveling from city to city, Miller not onlystayed one step ahead of Cerberus but he tracked his own bloodline,looking for those who might be missing. So far, everyone was inplace.
Ten minutes before the meeting, he walkedthrough the door of Mama’s, choosing a table in the shadows. Withhis back to the wall, he eyeballed the door. After about fiveminutes, the beautiful Braelyn walked in, tucking her sunglassesinto her shirt, hand-in-hand with the huge, cold Firebrand. Millercould do without the bodyguard. Did she say mate? Anyway, hewouldn’t mind some one-on-one time with the lady. Not happeningwith the big bastard glued to her side. Besides, he wasn’t intopoaching.
As his visitors approached, he kicked outtwo chairs.
Rein waited for Braelyn to sit, his eyesprowling the restaurant. When he took a chair, he glared at Miller.“You slipped out on us last time, mutherfucker.”
“Sorry about that, mate. It wasnecessary.”
“I’m not your mate, asshole.”
“What’s good here?” Braelyn was probablytrying to tamp down the testosterone.
“Toasted raviolis, luv.”
“She’s not your love.” The Firebrand’sarctic-blue eyes were as icy as his frown.
All talking stopped while the waitress tooktheir orders. When she walked away, Braelyn opened the chat. “Let’sfocus on our common problem. What names can you give us,Miller?”
He jotted the names on a napkin, sliding itto Braelyn.
Rein twisted toward his mate, his nod almostnon-existent.
“Skyler Maxwell and Margo Hunter are withus,” she said. “We don’t know the other three.”
Miller scrubbed a hand across his chin.“I’ll let my guys know to stop worrying about Skyler and Margo.There’s mybona fides. Now tell me who you have safelystored so I can tell my trackers to mark them off. I’ll let youknow who else pops up as missing. My people are still checking.Then you can see if this Cerberus might have them.”
“We can help you protect your charges,” saidRein.
“While I’m chuffed as hell about that,here’s the thing. First off. We have thousands on our watch lists.Second. No. You can’t. Each of my trackers manages one bloodline.Nobody else knows the names on another bloke’s list. It’s veryhush-hush.”
The waitress returned with a bottle ofChianti along with three glasses. When she left, Miller said,“Changing the procedure will take discussion and time.”
“Here are the people who are with us. Youcan tell your guys they are safe.” Braelyn took a piece of paperout of her pocket, wrote down names, and handed it to Miller. “Youmust contact us immediately if anyone else is missing.”
“We’ll continue the chit-chat. You have myword.” Miller studied the list, got out his lighter, and turned thesheet to ashes, both Braelyn and Rein arching their brows. “Goodmemory.”
After the waitress brought them each toastedravioli, they dug in. Between bites, Braelyn asked, “So, you guyslive to check on Blood Coven descendants?”
“Right-o.”
