“I let her use it,” Jack says with a sigh. “You’re on speaker, but it’s just us.”
“I followed Graeme and Jack to the resistance meeting,” Cora says in a rush, as if admitting it out loud for the first time.
“I know. I felt you there,” I tell her. “You heard everything?”
“All of it,” she confirms, voice resolute. “And I want to help, but carefully this time. You mentioned wards. I’m getting better at casting, but there’s no way I can take down wards yet. I wouldn’t even know where to start. But if you can get me in, I think I can get counts of the Soldiers, see their rotations and find out where we need to focus our fights. I can run around and hide as necessary,” she goes on quickly. “I won’t engage the hostages so as not to tip anyone off. This is the information you need, isn’t it? To stage the attack.”
“It is,” I allow. “But Cora, this will be dangerous. We think there could be a hundred Soldiers holed up in the consortium.”
“So you said. Look, a million things could go wrong. There could be internal warding in parts of the consortium we’re not aware of. Try as I might, I could be captured. But Juniper, it’sworthit. We have to free those omegas before your father can operate on them. I can’t stand by while more omegas are tortured and killed. If I can infiltrate Saint Galen’s, then we can attack.”
“She’s right,” Jack says reluctantly. “I don’t like this at all,but Cora is right. She’s capable of getting the exact information we need.”
“Cora, are you sure?” I ask, hoping she is and hoping she isn’t. We need this information, but I’d never forgive myself if something happened to the omega I’ve befriended. “We can find another way.”
“I’m the way. I can do this if you’ll help me.”
I bite my lower lip. “Let me talk to Ian about the wards. If he can get you in, I can’t stop you. Iwon’tstop you. You have every right to want to fight.”
“Damn right I do,” Cora mutters. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”
I sigh. “I’ll call you back after I’ve talked to Ian tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Juniper. Really, thank you. “
“I need to do this,” Cora says in earnest. “Surely, you must know how that feels.”
Surely, I do.
I feela spike of fear in my bond with Cassian and run to the family room where he has the TV on. Once again, Baphomet’s Prince has stolen the airwaves. I shudder as I take my mate’s side, Simon joining us just seconds later. Slowly, the rest of my pack filters into the room, feeling my anxiety flood through our bonds.
I swallow hard as I take in the infamous Prince. His mask looks no less vicious than it does in my visions, more refined than the other Soldiers wear, but terrifying nevertheless.
“We have taken control of the Council of Nine,” the Prince intones.
“Through murder and hostage taking,” Ian says with a scowl.
“With our control of the government complete, troops have been commanded to stand down. The siege of the Saint Galen Consortium is over, and the hostages will be dealt with. I have your hero, your beloved councilor Gerard Leclerc, in the palm of my hand, and I intend to squeeze.”
Cassian’s fear is like a bottomless pit, but he doesn’t try to block it from me. He lets it wash through his bond with me, letting me shoulder some of the burden. In truth, I’m just as worried for his parents; they’ve been the loving family I’ve always wanted, and I don’t know what I would do without them. I squeeze my mate’s hand, just as Simon does the same. I feel him, just a gentle brush through my bond with Cassian, and he’s troubled, his worry for Cassian so sharp, so savage that he’s barely holding it together.
“We have taken out those who would stand against us, dismantled the institutions in the way of our new world order. My master race rises by the day, built on the spilled blood of our fallen foes.”
The test subjects. It’s their spilled blood that’s allowed him to build this horrific master race of affinitied alphas.
“Do not resist,” the Prince says, and the airwaves return to the news broadcast Cassian had been watching before Baphomet’s Prince stole the airwaves.
My summer-sunshine alpha bows his head as Simon and I surround him. My pack mates set hands on his shoulders, murmuring their support, their own fears.
Pack Leclerc has become a family to all of us, taking us all in without hesitation. They can’t die. They can’t.
Saints, we have to act quickly. We need to get Cora into Saint Galen’s.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Marcus holds me close, tracing his thumb over his mating mark, grumbling. “I don’t see whyyouhave to go. Ian’s the one who will be tackling the warding.”
“Cora’s my friend, Marcus. Besides, I can use my affinity to make sure there isn’t anyone else in the tunnels. We don’t know for certain that the Soldiers haven’t found the tunnels yet. It makes sense to use my affinity to know if we need to make a quick retreat or stand our ground.”
