Frynn stirred inside me, snarling back. “Watch your tone, beast.”
I swallowed hard at Pantar’s unamused look, forcing a smirk. “He was just joking.”
Pantar flicked his tail.“Your Draxon will come in handy.”
Oren spoke quietly. “Stay out of sight. The guards won’t hesitate to kill you.”
Pantar rolled his eyes.“I go where my Nexus is.”
“Can’t you just order him to remain invisible? He was yours before he was Reverie’s.” Nathan smirked.
“He doesn’t take orders. He listens only to Reverie, andthat’snot even guaranteed.” Oren flipped him off.
“Great,” Nathan grinned. “Just like Zane.”
“Hey, dickhead,” I growled.
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Jet broke the silence, his tone cutting through the night. “We need to move.”
“They change rotations every six hours. Next shift’s in less than one. Once it flips, the eastern tunnel will be half-guarded for maybe ten minutes.” Deshawn looked to Jet.
Oren nodded, “That’s our window.”
Deshawn knelt, sketching quick lines in the dirt with a broken blade tip—clean, efficient. “Two entrances. North gate is suicide. The East tunnel connects to the fighter prep hall. If we move then, we can reach Reverie before the next round begins.”
Jet crouched beside him, his null energy pulsing faintly. “If I dampen our signatures, we can slip through the barrier wardswithout tripping alarms. But it won't be easy. I haven’t truly mastered this new ability yet.”
“Do it,” said Oren.
Zeke crossed his arms, frost curling from his fingertips. “What about the spectators? Hundreds of them. Even if we get in, gettingoutwill?—”
“We won’t get out the same way,” Oliver interrupted. “There’s an old drainage channel beneath the arena floor. It was sealed off decades ago, but Deshawn was able to find the schematics.”
Deshawn gave a single nod. “Runs all the way to the southern cliffs. Flooded, dark, but navigable.”
Nathan grinned. “So, we break in, steal my Nexi, and surf out through a sewer.” He waggled his brows, “Romantic.”
“Only you,” I gagged, “could describe escaping through ancient piles of shit as romantic.”
He shrugged. “I can make anything romantic. It’s a gift.”
Chloe cut in, voice shaking with tension. “Selene isn’t going to let her walk out alive, not after everything.”
Oren’s eyes flared with heat. “I hope that bitch tries stopping us. I’m going to skin her alive.”
“I’m going to help.” Nathan’s face lost all humor.
None of us mentioned what Selene had done to our Nexus. It felt like something only we should know, like her pain was sacred and belonged only to us.
Oliver stood, brushing dirt from his hands. “All right. We strike on the shift change. Zeke and Jet cover the rear. Deshawn leads us through the fighter’s hall. Oren, you and I clear the eastern corridor. Nathan, Zane?—”
“Chaos squad.” Nathan said instantly.
I saluted. “Damn straight.”
Jet’s mouth twitched—the closest thing he ever got to a smile, unless Reverie was involved. “Just try to leave some for the rest of us to kill.”
Pantar’s tail flicked.“If they die, I will finish their work.”
