Everyone was confused as to why the crooked government officials had put the prisoner spies there. Why not just a regular prison? Hire a strong enough witch, and it would be easy to ward it against them.
Our confusion had evaporated when Dasha explained that the government built Dulce Base on what used to be an ancient godswood. A site that Native American magicals had once called sacred ground. The land was positively brimming with the power of aether. We were sure that the government had employed an aether-blessed fae to secure the area.
After the retreat of the old gods from our world, and the devastating hunting of their half-human offspring, the godlings, only the fae remained as aether wielders. The fae the government hired would likely have used the fifth element to create external wards that were sensitive to magic. And because they were made of aether, they would be impenetrable by magicals other than aether-blessed fae. Magicals of that type were rare in this realm.
Thank the universe that Prince Halad’s cousins had joined us. We now had five such fae.
Still, we all knew what we were about to do was freaking crazy. Especially considering we had only one healer. Alex had gone to recruit Tiberius Thorn, while his parents had stayed at the fae academy to prepare for an onslaught of patients. If anything happened, and a handful of people needed a healer before we returned to the fae academy, we’d be screwed.
Dasha ground to stop. The wolves and shifters behind her fell in line, and the vampires skidded to stand motionless, waiting. A flutter of wings told me that the fae were descending.
Dasha glanced around at her mates. I got the sense that they were having a conversation mind-to-mind in the way that packs could.
Howley nodded, and with Hunter on his back, prowled forward.
Hunter shot us a terrified look. I pressed my finger to my lips before the darkness swallowed him up.
The seconds ticked on. My heart pounded so hard, I thought it might fly up my throat. It seemed like an eternity had passed when finally, Howley’s bright white fur glinted in the full moon’s light, and the wolf prowled out of the darkness.
Howley motioned with his paw for Hunter to get off. Once Hunter’s feet were on the ground, the air around the white wolf began to shimmer as he shifted. A few seconds later, where a wolf had been, Dasha’s bespectacled mate appeared.
“We’re close to the aether barrier,” Howley said. “My nose says it’s not even thirty yards away. Once the fae break the aether enchantment, we need to move right away, quietly. There are guards nearby. I could smell them.”
“Perfect.” I scanned the vampires. “You know your roles, right?”
“We’re ready,” Francis responded for the group of fifteen vamps.
“Once the aether ward is down and you take care of the external guards, Eva and I will be in the first wave to enter. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to warp when we get inside, or if that would even be useful. There’s too much mystery surrounding this facility. We’ll have to wait and see. Diana and Hunter, stay with us, okay?”
Hunter scoffed. “As if you could get rid of us. If I’m going into some secret government base, I’mdefinitelytaking a warper and my black magic sugar-mama with me.” He winked at Eva who playfully slapped his arm as she shook her head.
“Black magic sugar-mama? Where do you come up with this shit? And why do the girls seem to love it?” Diana teased Hunter before directing her attention to me. “Yeah, you know I’m with you.”
I chuckled and slipped off Dasha’s back. The Tornas and Halad’s cousins crept forward with a wolf escort. A minute later, flashes of light, aether magic, caught my attention. Someone, a guard, yelled for help, but the fae’s work brought the forcefield-like shield down quickly.
The man cried out in the darkness again, and the vampires hissed as they shot forward.
I clenched my jaw as everybody listened for the sounds of snapping necks. It came a second later, six of them, then Simone and Magdalena dashed back our way.
“The outside guards are dead,” Simone said, her face covered in blood. “Francis is disabling the electronic surveillance. But we won’t have long until the inside guards realize they’re flying blind, if they haven’t already.” The raven-haired vampire relayed the information succinctly, as if she’d done this before.
She probablyhaddone something like this before. The government used vampires as spies more liberally than other magicals, precisely for their speed, viciousness, and strength.
Everyone advanced. I tried my best to ignore the bodies on the ground, and focused on Francis, hanging off a steep pole and messing around with wires and pressing buttons. One knob glowed green just as we joined him, and a door eased open.
He pumped a fist in the air. “Hacker-life! Still got it!”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as we assembled before the door of the facility.
The vampires streamed in first, taking care of the five human guards who patrolled the upper level, while Eva and I scanned for magical opponents. There were none, so we called in the rest of our rescue squad.
There was no indication of which way to go. Luckily, there weren’t many options. Two long hallways stretched to the left and right. Directly in front of our fifty-person infiltration squad was an industrial looking elevator.
“Any ideas?” I asked as people piled into the complex.
Magdalena stepped forward and sniffed the air delicately. “I don’t think there’s anything on this level. It smells like microwaved food. There might be a few offices or a break room up here, but nothing magical.”
I nodded. That made sense. Why keep the most dangerous prisoners so close to the exit?
