Page 81 of Protector Unmatched

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Daphne was right. A thorough search of Harcott’s house had confirmed it. And another problem had cropped up: they searched all hotel reservations in the Los Angeles area, but Harcott’s name didn’t come up. He’d either booked his hotel under another name or was staying with friends. In either case, there was no way they could catch up with Harcott and take the dagger from him before he went to the cosplay event the next morning.

“At least we know where he’s gonna be and when,” Daphne said upon leaving Miami.

“Are you suggesting we attend the cosplay convention to find him?” Pearce asked.

“Yep.”

“In a crowd of what? A thousand people?”

“Make that ten thousand. The L.A. cosplay event is huge.”

Pearce exchanged a look with Enya. “We need more manpower.”

Enya nodded. “The entire Baltimore compound. And we’d better talk to Scanguards too. We need more hybrids.”

“And costumes,” Daphne added.

Many hours and many phone calls later, Pearce, Enya, and Daphne arrived in Los Angeles and entered a large vampire-proof mansion owned by Scanguards, the Stealth Guardians’ vampire allies. The place was tucked away in a side street in Brentwood, a fancy neighborhood not far from UCLA.

When they stepped into the large foyer, it was buzzing like a beehive. People carried overnight bags up the stairs, greeted each other, or stood in deep conversation, while a security guard with a clipboard looked at them. From his aura, Pearce recognized him as a vampire, even though he didn’t know him personally. He had to be a Scanguards employee.

“Stealth Guardians,” the guard said, and waved them to approach. “Name?”

“Pearce.”

“We’ve got you in the Cloud Room on the top floor. Sign’s on the door.” Then he looked at Enya. “You must be Enya.”

“Good guess,” she replied.

The guard shrugged. “It’s easy when you’re only expecting one female Stealth Guardian.” He looked at his clipboard. “You’ll be staying in the Sunset Room on the second floor.” His eyes roamed over Daphne, then they snapped back to the clipboard. He looked up and shook his head. “Sorry, must have been a mix-up, but I don’t have a human listed here.”

“She’s with me,” Pearce said. “She won’t need her own room.”

“All right, you’re all set, then.”

Enya was already turning away to greet somebody.

“Is everybody here?” Pearce asked.

The guard nodded. “You’re the last to arrive.” He pointed to an open door. “The meeting will start shortly. If you need a hand with your luggage, I can take care of that for you.”

“We don’t have any,” Pearce said. They hadn’t gone back to Baltimore, traveling straight from Miami.

“Oh, in that case, I’ll have toiletries and other necessities sent up to your rooms.”

“Thank you.”

Pearce took Daphne’s arm and steered her toward the open door, but a voice stopped him. “There you are.”

He turned to his left and saw Gabriel approach, his hand stretched out in greeting.

Pearce grasped it and shook it. “Gabriel, I can’t even tell you how grateful I am that you and your men are helping us with this on such short notice.”

Gabriel smiled, and the large scar that marred the left side of his face twitched. “Samson insisted. He would have come himself, but figured Patrick would be of more use than he.”

“Patrick?” Pearce turned back to Daphne. “Sorry, I should introduce you guys. Daphne, this is Gabriel, second in charge at Scanguards, our vampire allies, and Ryder’s father.”