Juliet let him know it was her and filled him in, reading Parker’s notes straight from the pad.
Kazimir listened without interruption. Then, “Dagger is desperate. He has nothing to lose. I send your padruga Lucia and two enforcers tonight. They watch the perimeter. If any vampires interfere, we eat them for you. For free.”
I could hear Lucia in the background, laughing. “We like to see good wolf fight. It is entertainment for us.”
Juliet said, “Thanks, Kaz. Weowe you.”
He laughed. “You owe me nothing unless you want to kill Otero for me. I hate that prick.”
Juliet said she’d pass it on. Then, before she hung up, Kazimir dropped his voice to a hush.
“Tell Parker: if she survives, she is always welcome in Philadelphia. Our hackers are lonely.” Then the line went dead.
Menace grinned. “See? We have friends everywhere. They come in damn handy in a fight.”
Bronc turned his attention to Parker. “You did good. We have the intel. Now we make the plan.”
We spent the next hour running down every option, every weak spot, every route in and out. Gunner and Arsenal would man the gate with heavy weapons. Doc and Maddie had already moved the civilians into the storm bunkers with quad leaders. Menace and I would sweep the perimeter at midnight and again before dawn, looking for anything that didn’t smell like us. Papa would coordinate in the war room, running comms through the new secure relays Parker built from scratch in her bedroom while she was still healing.
Parker stayed on the edge of the conversation, taking notes, occasionally correcting someone, but never quite joining the circle. I wanted to pull her in, to remind her this was still her pack, but she seemed determined to keep one foot out the door.
The plan settled like cement: We’d let Greenbriar in. Lure them toward the compound, then hit the kill box. If Adramal or another demon showed, we’d try to draw him into the old meat locker on the property, then collapse the structure with C-4. Thankfully, our munitions were kept separate from the clubhouse, so the bomb hadn’t come near them. If it had, the explosion would have taken out half of Dairyville.
Then, as if on cue, the front door opened and in swept Pearl, her silver hair glowing in the kitchen lights. She wore a yellow sweater, carried a tray loaded with sweet rolls and a thermos ofcoffee. Maddie followed, her eyes dark but alive, clutching two huge boxes of medical supplies.
“Brought reinforcements,” Pearl announced, as if her entrance had been scripted. She set the tray down on the table and began pouring coffee for everyone. Maddie set the boxes down on the island.
“You planning on starting a field hospital?” Bronc asked, with a little smile cracking the granite of his face.
“We already did,” Maddie replied. “Doc’s setting up cots in the old shed. Anyone who can hold a gun is on guard. The rest are locked down, per your order.”
Pearl smiled at Parker, her eyes warm but tired. “You holding up okay, sweetheart?”
Parker managed a nod. “Just ready to be done with this.”
Pearl’s look was all sympathy, but she didn’t push.
We were halfway through another strategy run when a new car pulled up in the drive—a blacked-out Charger, engine idling like a panther. Bronc’s son, Tyler, home from deployment. He walked in with the loose stride of a man who’s spent too much time in desert heat: tall, lean, haircut so fresh it looked like it still itched. He nodded to Bronc, hugged Pearl, shook hands around the table.
Then he saw me and Parker. He hesitated. His eyes, blue like his father’s, narrowed at the sight of us together. Maybe he’d heard the stories, maybe not. It didn’t matter.
He sat at the table, took in the maps and printouts. “So it’s war again,” he said, as if reading the weather report.
Bronc nodded. “That’s the long and short of it.”
Tyler looked at Parker. “You’re the one who killed Silas?”
She met his gaze, flat and even. “I am.”
He grinned. “Cool.” Then he poured himself a mug of coffee and started reviewing the plan.
The rest of the night passed in fragments: people coming and going, the house filling with the ghosts of past battles and futurecasualties. Parker slipped outside just after dark, and I followed, the wind sharp on my face.
She stood on the porch, staring at the sky, arms tight around her ribs. I leaned against the rail beside her.
“Everything ready?” I asked.
She shrugged. “It’s never ready. But it’s close.”
