Gideon exchanged a grim look with him. “Considering the way our luck’s running lately, I don’t think we can count on best scenarios.”
Nathan’s cool gaze flicked to the Order’s leader. “There’s no such thing as luck, only opportunities to be won or lost.”
“Well, this is one we can’t afford to lose,” Sterling Chase said, abruptly standing up and starting to pace. “We need to know where that ship is before anyone else gets to it.”
“Damn right we do,” Micah agreed. “Since I’m the only one of us who’s been in that godforsaken stretch of scorched taiga, I should be the one to go.”
Phaedra didn’t want to acknowledge the way her heart lurched to hear him volunteer to return to the area that nearly killed him once already. She had to remind herself that he wasn’t hers to worry over. Besides, she didn’t think she’d be able to stop him from taking on such a dangerous mission even if she tried.
That didn’t mean her heart had to agree.
“There is another thing to consider,” Zael said soberly. “We may not be the only ones searching the Deadlands in pursuit of the crystals.”
Sterling Chase glanced his way. “You think Opus might have intel on the crystals?”
“That’s one possibility,” Zael hedged.
“But you’re talking about a greater threat than that.” Darion’s deep voice drew everyone’s attention. “You’re talking about Selene.”
Zael nodded. “How long ago was it that the swath of Siberian land was rendered uninhabitable?”
“Ten years,” Lucan replied. “There was some kind of disaster in the region—nuclear or chemical, it was never fully determined. Whatever happened, it scorched hundreds of thousands of acres into a toxic wasteland. To this day, no one has taken blame for the event.”
“You think it was Selene?” Tegan asked Zael.
He gave a mild shrug. “If she suspected the crystals might be hidden in the area, what better way to dissuade anyone else from getting curious than to cast the entire region into forbidding Deadlands?”
Jax arched a brow. “If she made the Deadlands a decade ago, can we be sure she hasn’t already retrieved the crystals from the ship?”
“She hasn’t,” Phaedra said. “The crystals are still out there. Nothing else could have created the blast of light that hit Micah and his team.”
“You’re certain of that?” Lucan asked.
She nodded, feeling Micah’s eyes trained on her from across the room. “There is no doubt in my mind. I would never mistake their power for anything else.”
“That’s not all,” Jenna added. “The ship is protected, not only by the cloaking field that masks it to the outside world, but by a lock that can only be opened with a DNA key. I saw the Ancient press his hand to a digital panel as he arrived at the ship. It read his DNA before the portal unlocked for him.”
Gideon leaned forward as she talked, a smile edging his mouth. “So, you’re saying even if Selene knew where the ship might be, she wouldn’t be able to get inside?”
“That’s right.”
“Then, unfortunately, neither will we,” Tavia interjected from the other side of the table. “Of all of us in this room, Brynne and I are the closest genetic link to the Ancient’s DNA. Not even you Gen Ones are purer than us,” she said, glancing at Lucan, Tegan, and Nathan.
Jenna nodded at Tavia. “You’re right. There’s no Breed male or female here, be it daywalker, Gen One, or otherwise, who would be able to unlock the Ancients’ ship. The fact that Micah and his team triggered some kind of defensive reaction from the crystals when they got too close makes me certain they’ve been integrated with the ship’s perimeter security. Our best—possibly only—way to get inside is by faking out the system. There’s only one of us here who can do that.”
Brock let out a low growl. “Jenna. I know what you’re going to say, and it’s out of the question.”
She glanced at him. “I’m the only one who might be able to do this.”
“And if you can’t?” Scowling, he ran his hand over his head. “Come on, baby. There has to be another way. You know what’s at stake now if you’re wrong. You saw it for yourself—that thing is rigged to self-destruct if anything happens to you. If the crystals really are inside, then any detonation is going take the whole fucking planet along with it.”
“That’s exactly why I have to try. I’m our best shot at getting inside that ship.”
Low conversation rumbled among everyone gathered. Even Phaedra had her doubts that Jenna should risk any amount of harm. Still, her courage was remarkable.
Lucan stared at Jenna. “You sure you want to do this?”
“I have to do it.” Her hazel eyes were determined. “If we’re going to send anyone into the Deadlands to look for the crystals, you’re going to need me to come along.”
