“Fine, I don’t want you to come because your head is thinking about Nate, not about what I’m going to do.”
“Tommy, Olivia, Kasey, and Selene are all taking turns at holding a vigil over him. I don’t think I’m wanted.”
“Go find out. Morgan, you loved him once, and they will understand that. But the last few weeks, I’ve seen you get more and more exhausted as you push yourself. Eat, sleep, go talk to coma Nate. He can’t talk back. Trust me, it’s brilliant.”
Morgan smiled and kissed Mordred on the cheek. “Don’t die out there.”
“Why do people keep telling me to be careful? It’s not like I have . . .” He paused. “Yeah, I can’t even finish that sentence. I’ll be fine. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He walked off and met Irkalla and Remy at the front of the hangar. “You feel like telling me your plan?” she asked.
“I thought you liked being surprised,” Mordred said.
“I also like knowing how crazed you are.”
“We’re going to kill someone,” he told her.
“We figured that out,” Remy said. “Who is it?”
Mordred pulled his hood up. “That envelope contains information about Viktor and Daria. Both escaped from LOA custody after Polina’s team were attacked by people saying they were to take charge of the investigation. Polina and two others escaped with their lives. Sky and Olivia pulled a few favors, and I discovered that Viktor and Daria are both in a hotel in New York. Both have been a great asset to Merlin and his people, and I plan on ending that help.”
CHAPTER 36
Mordred
New York City, USA
They arrived in New York, and after a day of planning and checking the target’s location, Mordred, Irkalla, and Remy had finally put together a way into the twenty-story hotel that allowed them to get out again without having to jump out of a two-hundred-foot-high window.
Mordred drove the black Mercedes AMG C63 to the Stewart Hotel in Manhattan and parked in one of the few available spaces in the underground parking garage. They had a valet service, but when time is of the essence, waiting for someone to bring your car back does not make for a quick escape route.
“Are you sure you want to go in there alone?” Remy asked through the earpiece that Mordred wore.
“Yes,” Mordred said as he walked through the parking lot to the lift that would take him up into the hotel lobby above. “You’re the best shot, so you get to play with the rifle and cover my ass.”
“And Irkalla gets to be my spotter,” Remy added with some enthusiasm.
“I am not your spotter,” Irkalla said tersely.
“You have binoculars—therefore you are my spotter.”
“I can see why Diana is always threatening to kill you.”
“Sky, too,” Remy said cheerfully.
“Yes, he’s a regular ladies’ fox,” Mordred said as the lift doors opened and he stepped inside.
“You still hear me okay?” Irkalla asked while the lift began its ascent.
“Loud and clear,” Mordred confirmed. “I’ll let you know when I’m heading up to the penthouse.”
The doors to the lift opened, and Mordred stepped out into a bright, albeit busy, lobby. His magic switched off as he knew it would. According to Mordred’s research, Avalon employees picked the hotel because it didn’t allow powers during visits. The runes were built directly into the very fabric of the building.
Mordred smiled at a guard in front of a set of lift doors and walked around to the reception area of the lobby. He leaned up against a wall and pretended to look at his phone while he checked out the few dozen people milling around. Most of the crowd were dressed in suits, huddled over one of the many tables, looking at laptops, or drinking coffee and chatting to colleagues. A large sign said there was a business conference in the hotel and anyone involved should go to the lobby and check in. Mordred had put on an expensive suit for that purpose. He’d also only been able to take the silenced pistol, as the MP5 was too big to hide under a jacket, so he’d subbed it for a belt of throwing knives that sat against the small of his back. Eight knives, each one with a silver finish. If he needed more than that, he was probably already dead.
There were a few people at checkin, but he discounted them as a threat since they were clearly tourists with children. So that left four people in the lobby and checkin area who presumably worked for Avalon. The good thing about having been on the outs with Avalon for so long was that most people didn’t know what Mordred looked like now. He assumed that people would be on the lookout for someone with shoulder-length dark hair, so he’d buzzed his head as close as possible without being bald, and he’d already been in the process of growing several weeks of beard, so he just left it alone. He knew it didn’t exactly make him the friendliest looking person, but he also didn’t care.
Mordred walked over to the reception and smiled at the woman behind the desk. “Hi, I’m here for the conference,” he told her.
“Ah,” she said. “The main talk has already started.”
“Is it okay if I just check in and wait for the talk to finish? The person giving it gets funny about being interrupted, so I’d rather not get shouted at. Also, it gives me time to freshen up.”
The receptionist smiled. “That’s fine. And your name, sir?”
“Matthew Drew. I believe I asked for the Azure Suite.”
She tapped a few things on the computer. “That’s right, Mr. Drew. We have you here. You get to use the private elevator at the end of the hallway over there. Please be aware that we have several dignitaries staying in the penthouse, so there will be a guard traveling up and down with you in the elevator.”
“How exciting,” Mordred said as he passed the receptionist a credit card. “Anyone famous?”
“I’m not at liberty to say,” the receptionist told him. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay. At least I know I’ll be secure with all these guards about. Best not let Jerry get drunk at the conference, just in case he gets seen as some sort of security threat. Actually that would be funny.”
“I don’t advise you do that, sir.”
“I’m joking. I won’t really let Jerry get tazed, no matter how entertaining it would be.”
The receptionist passed Mordred the keycard to his room. “Enjoy your say.”
“Thanks.”
Mordred went to the lift door and showed his keycard to the guard there. “I’m in the Azure. I assume you’ll be going up with me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can’t have me pressing the wrong button and ending up in the penthouse.”
The lift came, and both men got in. “So, who’s here?” Mordred asked after showing his card to the reader on the control panel and watching as the word “Azure” flashed up above it. “See, you didn’t need to come with me. This only lets me go to one place.”
“It’s my job, I’m afraid.”