Simon lets out a triumphant “ha!” and the illusion that once hid the pull off to the facility falls, revealing an old dirt logging road. Even in nothing more than the light of the moon, it’s easy to tell it’s been used recently. Tire treads are deeply worn into the earth, twigs and branches on either side of the road snapped off where large trucks have passed.
“You’re up,” Simon tells Ian.
I join my alpha at the edge of the first layer of wards, reading the sigils of the counterspell to him off my phone. It takes fifteen minutes of careful, practiced casting for us to dismantle the first set of wards. Ian is calm, his full attention on the task at hand, while I’m wound up. Adrenaline surges through me, and I startle at every rustle of the low, brown brush at the base of the trees.
“First wards are down,” Ian says into his earpiece.
The second set of wards is just a foot inside the first, and Ian and I repeat the process. The forest hides our view of the facility and the guards that walk the grounds, but it also hides us from them. Simon wasn’t able to fully track the movement of the guards outside of the facility. With no badge swipes to rely on, he tracked them via satellite using the energy signature of the mage tech they wear, but with so much mage tech surrounding the facility, getting clear readings was next to impossible. A guard could come upon us at any point of Ian’s delicate work, jeopardizing everything.
The second set of wards fall.
“Second wards down,” Ian confirms, before taking a deep breath and stepping a few feet into the woods. We find the third wall of wards about ten paces into the trees, and Ian swears. “These don’t match the readings Simon took. It’s possible they routinely rotate the warding spells to prevent, well, exactly what we’re doing.”
“Can you dismantle them?”
Ian screws up his mouth in a frown, but finally nods. He takes a reading of the wards with Simon’s device just as Alena’s voice comes in over our earpieces.
“What’s the holdup, kids?”
“Ward switch-up,” Cassian explains. “Ian’s on it. Hold your position.”
Ian and I huddle around the device the moment the reading is complete, quickly scrolling through the lines and lines of sigils.
“There!” I whisper, pointing to a row in the spell. “That’s the only thing that’s different.”
“You’re sure?” Cassian asks.
I quickly read through the rest of the warding spell and then nod, resolute. “Yeah. I’m sure of it. That’s it.”
“She’s right,” Ian confirms, stealing a quick kiss. I would protest that time is of the essence, and we can’t afford to lose a second, but I know my imperious alpha is already going through the spell, working out its counter, even as his lips brush mine. “I’ve got it. Simon, be ready to jam the mage tech the guards are wearing the moment the wards are down.”
In moments, Ian’s casting the last sigil of the counterspell, and only seconds later, Simon’s fingers fly across his laptop’s keys.
“Mage tech and internal comms are jammed. Cameras are down,” he says into his earpiece after a moment. “They’ll be coming for us. Keep your guard up.”
“Confirmed,” Graeme replies, his voice echoing in my earpiece. “Teams, move out. Saints watch over us all.”
I start into the woods with my pack, Luca slipping through the woods ahead of us, clearing the way.
A twig snaps in the woods, followed by a dull thud, and Luca emerges from the trees a moment later, a smug smile on his face.
“Guard down, restrained and stunned,” he says, and while I should be relieved that he neutralized one of the guards, I’m more worried that a guard was able to get this close to us.
Luca gives Simon the coordinates of the guard he just took out so Graeme can anonymously pass them along to law enforcement after our sweep of the facility.
My bad boy alpha cracks his knuckles and disappears back into the trees. He downs another three guards before we make it to the clearing. The moment we’re spotted, two guards run toward us, firing off hex after hex, but Cassian dispatches them with practiced ease, leaving them bound and stunned where they fall. Simon logs each guard’s coordinates, and we make a break for it, dashing across the clearing just as Alena’s team hits the facility’s front doors.
I see spells fly, silvery sigils lighting up the night, and then Alena’s team is in. We’ve breached the facility.
We beat Graeme’s team across the clearing, skirt the stunned guards Alena’s team left behind, and swipe our way into the facility. A second round of guards flood the lobby, sending hexes flying, but my mates are fierce and fast, stunning them before a single spell even comes close to hitting me. Not that Marcus would let that happen. He’s stationed himself in front of me, just like he’s done before. My human shield.
Ian cuts in front of him, deflecting a hex with a quick shielding spell, and Marcus gives him a nod of gratitude.
My vision fuzzes and an ache sears through my head as a vision strikes, but it’s all the warning I need.
“Ian, duck!”
My alpha drops to the ground and a spell whizzes over him, striking the wall behind him, causing the concrete to crumble.
