They ran through the snaking corridors toward the weapons room. Nearly all of the Order were already assembled and gearing up to roll out. Gideon announced he would be monitoring the operation from headquarters and holding the fort along with Savannah, Gabrielle, Jenna, and Elise. The hallway buzzed with hurried talk of unit strategy assignments and the jostle of weaponry as the men headed for the elevator that would take the teams down to the fleet garage.
Through the hustling crowd, Micah’s gaze found Phaedra. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t feel the electricity of his penetrating stare, or the spiral of longing it woke inside her. Nor could she deny the jagged bolt of fear clutching her heart as he and his comrades hastened to prepare for another UV battle with an enemy force that had already slain one of their own.
Zael and Jordana, also dressed in black like everyone else, intercepted Phaedra and Brynne as they arrived at the edge of the activity. Their small group was quickly joined by Sterling Chase and his daywalker mate, Tavia.
“Phaedra’s in,” Brynne said. “Do we have our plan of attack?”
“Yes,” Chase said, “and our odds of pulling it off just got better.” Turning a rushed nod and a smile on Phaedra, he then signaled to Lucan and the others that they were ready to move out. “Let’s go. We’ll lay out the details on the way.”
They split up into two units. Chase, Tavia, and Nathan took Phaedra, Brynne, Zael, and Jordana in one of the Order’s Rovers. Micah and the rest of the warriors followed Lucan and Tegan into a huge black SUV that looked as heavy and indestructible as a tank.
With Nathan at the wheel, Chase doled out instructions for their covert support strategy their team would be providing for Lucan and the others.
Phaedra prayed the plan would work. While Lucan feigned his intent to publicly surrender in front of the building, his warriors would be taking up positions around the location at various points of entry. Meanwhile, Phaedra’s team would be infiltrating the theater from the roof and service entrances with the goal of protecting the hostages and eliminating as many UV gunmen as possible until the Order could come in to safely rescue the captives.
“Everyone ready?” Chase asked after Nathan had parked the vehicle a couple of streets behind the historic building. At the round of assenting replies, he pulled his black knit cap over his light-colored hair. The tips of his fangs gleamed as he spoke. “All right, let’s get this done.”
They jumped out of the vehicle on silent feet and made their way through the darkness to the back of the old brick theater. Chase indicated the zigzagging fire escape where Zael and Brynne were to take Phaedra up to the roof. As they began the climb, Nathan wrapped his arm around Jordana, then leapt from the ground to a second-floor railed balcony that circled the building.
Phaedra held her breath as she watched Nathan stealthily unlock a pair of French doors then slip inside with his Atlantean mate. Chase and Tavia leapt to the balcony on the opposite side of the building and went in from their assigned position too.
Zael was the first onto the roof. Brynne hopped up from the top of the metal fire escape, then they both reached down to grab Phaedra’s hands and hoist her up beside them.
A chill night wind skated across the roof tiles, carrying the sounds of the video news crews and curious spectators who had gathered in front of the building after the reports of trouble inside. People on the ground out front started to shout when they spotted Lucan approaching by himself.
“That’s him!”
“Holy shit, Lucan Thorne’s actually giving himself up!”
Phaedra exchanged a smile with her two partners. The Order’s risky plan was moving right on schedule. Now all they had to do was execute their end.
Alongside Zael and Brynne, she stole toward the roof’s access door Chase had shown them on the digital blueprint they reviewed on the way from headquarters. Brynne mentally disabled the lock and the three of them slipped inside. On silent feet, they moved onto one of the many catwalks two stories above the stage.
The performance had been halted in a hurry, as evidenced by the knocked over stage props and vacated orchestra pit with its scattered chairs in complete disarray. The sounds of panicked voices and crying drifted in from the open doors of the vestibule in the front of the theater, where the gunmen had apparently corralled their hostages.
“Let us go,” one of the captive Breed males pleaded. “There’s Lucan Thorne now. You have what you wanted, you bastards!”
“Not yet, we haven’t,” came the smug reply. “All you bloodsuckers stay put and do what you’re told. We want a nice, big crowd out there before we open these doors. Anyone gets brave and we’re gonna ash another of you just for the fun of watching you fry.”
Brynne eyes flashed with rage at the human’s threat. She looked at Zael, giving him a short nod. Then she stepped off the edge of the catwalk and dropped to a crouch on the stage as silent as a ghost. She started moving swiftly toward the doors to the vestibule.
Zael listened to the earpiece connecting him and Brynne to the rest of the Order’s teams and Lucan. He nodded, then whispered to Phaedra. “Everyone’s inside. I’m going down to help Brynne get the hostages back into the theater. Tavia and Jordana are closing in from their positions too. Once we have them all inside, then you can shield—”
“Hey, bitch!” A menacing shout came from the theater below. “How the fuck did you get in here?”
Zael’s face blanched. “Brynne.”
His palms lit up with power—at the same time the crack of a gunshot split the air.
Phaedra sucked in her breath. The UV bullet wouldn’t have given Brynne anything more than a puncture wound. That is, if she hadn’t been fast enough to dodge it.
And if her Atlantean warrior mate hadn’t unleashed a ball of light from his palms at the same instant.
The human slammed against the wall from the impact of Zael’s assault, dead even before his broken body hit the floor.
Panicked screams went up from the crowd being held in the vestibule.
The men holding them there showed the first signs of alarm as well. One of them poked his head into the theater.
