Captiva Capitulation by Talyn Scott Page A

and Sixten put the wheels to our hunt. Everything else is second, got it?”
    “On it, Master."
    “Speaking of Donors, I want to see that hard drive, please. If you have it,” Dru requested. “Oycher brought a copy to me, said my brother-n-law was on it with Blythe, Dakota, and many others. Obviously, when I looked it over, I was very ill from the shifter attack. I would like another look at it. I don’t see how there’s any way Terje is a Donor.” He shook his head. “Not a Nordic pure blood werewolf, he can’t be.”
    Maestru moved to his desk. “Terje is still off continent with Renee and Arian, yes?”
    “For now.”
    Maestru spun his laptop around, sitting on the desk’s edge. It wouldn’t take him long, considering vampiric speed and the simple fact that he’d already downloaded a handy copy. When he opened the file, he clicked through in fluid haste. Terje was the only male on the disc, wouldn’t be hard to locate. A few more clicks and… “There he is.”
    “No.”
    “No?” Maestru and Kash echoed simultaneously.
    “I see the resemblance is uncanny, remarkably uncanny, but Oycher is mistaken.” Dru shook his head. “My Master, whomever that is, he is not my brother-n-law.” A deep line marred his forehead. “Zoom in on his eyes, please.”
    Kash did, expanding the picture until it pixelated. “I’ll have to agree, Doctor. Those eyes don’t belong to a Nordic Were Beast.”
    Maestru couldn’t believe what he saw, couldn’t believe he missed it earlier. “A Lovec.”
    Dru asked, “Why would they make a hard drive with pics of Donors and a Lovec?”
    “They didn’t make it. Blythe’s brother did,” Kash spoke up. “Stupidly, Anthony would have used it as an insurance policy…but his best bet would have been to sell it to the Dynasty. Doesn’t matter, he accomplished neither before Poison killed him.”
    “Okay.” Maestru scrubbed his hands down his face. A few hours of sleep would ease him before a long working night, which loomed ahead. “That’s item one thousand and one on our list, Kash. Go and get with Sixten. Currently, your task is most important.” Kash inclined his head, misting.
    “Doctor, will Dakota require you tomorrow?”
    “Undoubtedly, she will.” A shiver ran over him. “Not to worry, I’ll feed from Bane again before I arrive. You know, as a precaution.”
    “Few I trust, Dru, one of them would be you. Again, I ask why she has not pulled through these injuries yet.” He placed his palm against the desk, its coolness seeped into his hand. “After I fed Dakota, her throat closed right away, yet she maintains weakness.”
    “I’m certain she’ll come around, though I cannot say when.” Dru leaned against the desk, crossing his ankles. “Let’s just hope that she doesn’t remember anything, and she lives her life as a human should live it.”
    “Until she’s hunted by Lovci, you mean.” Maestru bit back a strangled hiss. “Or better yet, until a shapeshifter smells her again.”
    “Rock killed the shapeshifters who fed from her.”
    “Before her placement inside the joint faction facility, she had open wounds while being carried by Rock through the city. Certainly, others lingered, scenting her. I’m sure of it.” Most immortals had loads of patience, were willing to wait for something entirely worth it. And Dakota? She was definitely worth it. “I’m so sick of power toppling power. The biggest shovel in the sandbox wins all. Innocents, such as Dakota, always lose when faced with the powerful. And the ones who don’t deserve power to begin with are the worst offenders.”
    “Yes,” agreed Dru, his expression unreadable.
    “Go home and rest, Doctor.”
    “Good day, Master.”
    Maestru dissolved when Dru did, heading straight to his bed for a few blissful hours of sleep before nightfall.
    An opaque mist left the darkened corner in parts of three, a section reforming inside Maestru’s foyer. “I think we should pay a visit to the