Wyatt tossed a paper ball at her. “I was thinking more along the lines of Just Married with someone’s name. Or Just Mated. They’ll think a pack is having one of those mating ceremonies.”
I chortled. “That is the corniest sneak attack I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah, but it’ll work like a charm,” he countered. “Fireworks in the morning? They’ll be running all over the place trying to figure out what’s going on.Butif we toss in the plane, they’ll breathe easy, thinking a wedding is going on in the neighborhood. We’ll have it fly back and forth during and after the fireworks. It’ll cost extra, but it’ll work.Blast!” He shot to his feet. “I don’t have a computer.”
“Then call him,” I suggested.
“He can only be reached online.”
“And yet he’s your buddy?”
“You don’t have to know someone in real life to be a buddy.”
I stretched back on my hands. “You need to get out more.”
Viktor tapped his hands on the armrests. “I want all of you to rest and sleep. We cannot do this today as it is a few hours before dawn, and we need more time to prepare. Christian, forget about going to Keystone. I want you to get Wyatt what he needs to complete his mission. Blue, gather as much information as you can about how many guards you see at the mansion and their locations. Report back to me every six hours and then return home this evening to sleep.”
“Gotcha.” Blue glanced at the clock on the nightstand.
“What do the rest of us do?” I asked.
Viktor stretched his arms. “I do not care how you spend tomorrow, but I want everyone back here before the sun has set.”
“I have a suggestion,” Niko offered.
Viktor turned his attention to Niko. “I am open to every opinion.”
Niko walked around the bed to the sliding closet. His black hair slipped forward when he bent down, reached inside, and removed his katana. “Send me and another to Lenore’s house at the same time you’re rescuing Hunter. We already eliminated two. Sparrow will be too distracted to answer any calls for help his men might make, and we’ll have at least one or two fewer Vampires to worry about. Each kill is like removing one of his appendages. He can’t alter his plan. He has no viable way to gather everyone from the party to provide them with a new location if they want to join his army. He’ll either send replacements to Lenore’s house or move in there himself with all his men. I don’t imagine him giving up Keystone, but either choice makes him weaker.”
“I like that idea,” Shepherd piped in. “But I can’t go.”
“Don’t look at me,” Wyatt said. “I’m busy organizing a death party.”
That only left one person.
Viktor mulled it over for a minute. “Christian, you go with Niko.”
Christian paced by the window, a vein protruding from his forehead. “If something goes wrong—”
“We’ll have Raven,” Viktor assured him. “Give her your blood, and she will not need your help. This mission is not about partners. It is about all of us working together to do everything in our power to weaken this monster. You and Niko will perform the attack after we begin our mission but not before. If we target his men and word gets back, it will put Hunter’s life in jeopardy. We can time the fireworks so you will know when to begin.” Viktor stood and headed to the door. “I will inform Miss Parrish of what she needs to know.”
“Are you going to stay here with her while we’re getting Hunter out?” Blue asked, her voice laced with skepticism.
Viktor half turned. “Nyet. Miss Parrish is capable of defending herself now that her powers have returned. She requires no special protection beyond this secret location. I will be there with my team. As long as she remains here in the human district, she has nothing to worry about.”
Shepherd looked at Viktor. “And if she doesn’t stay?”
Viktor reached the door and opened it. “Then she is no longer my responsibility.”
CHAPTER13
After our meeting, I went back to my hotel room on the sixth floor and crashed for a few hours before the sun came up. Everyone followed Viktor’s orders on getting rest. Our mental health was important, especially since this was unlike any other mission. Missions normally pumped me up, but this one had me unsettled. We weren’t just rescuing strangers or gathering information; Hunter’s life was on the line—a little boy who was probably petrified that his father was dead and we had abandoned him.
I woke before noon, the stale air livened by the aromatic coffee sitting on the nightstand. Since I couldn’t taste it, I left it alone. It was strange waking up with perfect hair, no wrinkles in my dress, and no need to brush my teeth or shower. It left me with time on my hands. Christian and Wyatt had left early in search of computer hardware, internet access, and whatever else Wyatt needed. No one reported any new changes in their condition, but the day was young.
Unable to sit idle, I headed out. Viktor had given us the freedom to do whatever we wanted today, as if it were our last day on earth, just as long as we were back by nightfall. People on the streets stared. Not because of my fancy dress but my lack of winter attire. Light snow flurries caught in people’s hair, windshield wipers, and winter coats as they bustled from one place to the next.
I rode the train and then cut corners, flashing before I made it to my destination. I strolled through the large chain-link gate of an auto repair shop toward two men in blue coveralls working on a motorcycle.
