Kira glanced at Harlow. "There, you see—I told you they'd be up for it."
The Curs had always been risk takers. No matter how asinine the plan. It was good to see some things hadn't changed.
"When are we doing this?" Blue asked.
No time like the present. Kira threw the covers back, sitting up in the bed. A loud cough from the doorway had her freezing. She looked over to find Quillon glaring daggers at her.
Ah right. Doctor's orders.
She tugged the blankets over her legs and laid back down. "How does tonight sound?"
The storm that had rolled in while Kira was unconscious was still going strong as she and Raider snuck toward the curtain wall guarding the outside of the Inquisitors' Hold. Rain poured down from the heavens, drenching them as they moved as silently as possible.
"The patrol just passed. There's a three minute window until the next one," Blue announced over their comms.
Kira and Raider maintained mission silence as they slid down an embankment before darting across the stretch of open ground and to the wall on the other side. Once there, they went still, listening for signs they'd been discovered.
"Did you refer to these mini drones as Jin's spawn? They're quite amazing I must say. Very useful for surveillance since you said Jin is occupied somewhere else tonight. I'm going to have to ask him how he created them when I next see him."
Kira frowned, having no idea what Blue was talking about for a moment. Realization dawned a second later.
Oh right. The lie she told Blue. That Jin was on another mission of vital importance.
"You should have told her the truth," Raider mouthed silently, kneeling to remove the small pack he was carrying and swinging it in front of him.
Kira shrugged. She would if it became necessary. Until then, she wasn't telling anyone about Jin's little sojourn.
Raider shook his head in resignation as he dug through the pack, pulling out a bundle of metal rods the length of Kira's hand.
"Hold," Blue barked.
Raider went motionless as Kira trained her eyes on the ramparts.
"The timing for their patrol is off. Someone decided to go on walkabout early."
Blue’s warning came at the same time a pair of oshota appeared overhead, the quiet murmur of their voices reaching them a second later.
Raider shifted the rods to one hand as he reached for the modified zuipi Blue had made him.
Kira caught his hand, shaking her head in warning.
"No violence," she mouthed.
That was Harlow's price for helping them. Either they got in and out undiscovered or they surrendered.
Raider glared at her in frustration, his hand tense under hers.
Her shrug was unconcerned. This was the deal they'd made. No one got hurt. Not by so much as a stubbed toe.
Raider yanked his hand out of her grip. To her relief, he didn't reach for his weapon.
"They're gone. Proceed."
Kira bent to help Raider, holding the rods as he unhooked the straps around them before trying to pry one away from the rest.
It didn't budge.
He tugged harder. The rod lifted a millimeter, a wave of sparks cascading off it and feeding into the others.
