If there was one coming at all.
“What would Noah gain by telling you about an attack that never happens?” I asked.
Rav’s brows drew down behind his mask. “Takes us off the playing field?”
“And why send out the empty trucks? From the real lab?”
“Keeps Pendragon off the field, too?”
“But he literally brought us all here!” I glowered at the bound man on the ground and could have kicked him for his smirk. “It doesn’t make any sense!”
“Because Noah’s no match for Enzo.” The man spat out a mouthful of blood. “The phoenix will rise, and there’s nothing you can?—”
Rav kicked the man to shut him up, then removed his mask to access his earpiece. “Bobcat, do you copy?”
I shifted my channel to communicate with Pendragon as well.
“This is Rav.” His jaw clenched. “We’ve confirmed the amphitheater is not the target. Repeat: the amphitheater is not the target. We’ve captured one Fenix operative with tech that was blocking our cameras. I think we’ve been played.”
“Copy that.” A tense silence followed before Bobcat’s voice came through. “If they’ve been toying withbothof us, the element of surprise is gone. My men are back at the lab with me. We’re moving in—see if we can confirm what’s inside and maybe find evidence of the real target.”
“You didn’t get your weapons released, did you?” I asked, concerned about my team wandering into danger without any firepower.
“That’s a negative, Doc,” Bobcat replied grimly. “We’ve got this, all the same.”
“Copy,” Rav said. “We’re heading out of the drainage system. Let us know what you find out.”
We started moving, forcing our captive along as we navigated the narrow passages. Three years spent tracking every possible lead on Greek Fire, and I’d utterly failed at least three times now.
Lark had helped his hacker in Warsaw get away from us.
We were wrong about Mnemis.
Now, we were wrong about Pompeii.
The music swelled above us as we walked, the concert beginning in earnest. Eight thousand people gathered in one place, apparently just as safe as they’d all expected. The danger had all been a play.
“Almost there,” Rav said, setting a punishing pace along the final stretch of the tunnel.
The music dimmed, replaced by a voice booming through the sound system. “Welcome, people of Pompeii! Tonight you will witness a miracle!”
Scarlett’s voice cut through our comms, sharp with alarm: “Oh, shit.”
The voice continued. “A rebirth!”
Scarlett breathed, “It’s Noah.”
Rav’s hand snapped to his earpiece, as though he couldn’t believe what she’d said. “What’s going on?”
Our captive stumbled on a rock, then laughed. “The phoenix is about to rise.”
Chapter 36
Rav
“Noah’s tied up,”hissed Scarlett. If she was backstage in her disguise, surrounded by Fenix operatives, she wouldn’t be able to provide enough intel. “He’s in the middle of the stage. There’s a masked man at the microphone making the announcements.”
The maintenance shed was thirty feet ahead, but my knees were screaming from how many times I’d had to crouch-run through the low passages or drop to my knees. Every third step, our captive stumbled or swore or just tried to slow us down, and I had to shove him forward.
