I coddled them too much,I thought with a fond scowl.
Reaching over to silence the alarm before it could wake anyone, I slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Seri, who slept peacefully between Zane and me. The dim blue light of predawn filtered through the blinds, casting long shadows across our bedroom. Today was the day we’d catch Amabel, and I needed everything to go perfectly.
Perfection required preparation.
I padded into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and tied my hair up into a tight top knot. The face that stared back at me from the mirror was all hard lines and sharp focus, exactly what today required. By the time I returned to the bedroom, Koa was sitting up, rubbing his eyes.
“Time?” he mumbled.
“Almost,” I whispered. “Wake Z.”
Koa nodded and slid out of bed, then gently shook Zane awake while I moved to our closet.
“Five more minutes,” the menace groaned, burying his face in Seri’s ‘tit-pillows,’ as he called them. Vulgar beast.
“Now.” Even hushed, my voice left no room for argument. “Today’s the day.”
That got his attention. His eyes snapped open, suddenly alert. He glanced at Seri’s sleeping face, a protective shadow crossing his face before he threw off the covers and joined us.
We moved to the security room that I’d prepped last night: Maps of the estate spread across the table, security feeds from Koa’s spy eyes displayed on multiple screens, and our weapons laid out with military precision. Koa immediately went to his laptop, checking the feeds from the Bell homestead.
“Any movement?” I asked, strapping a tactical knife to my thigh.
“Nothing. Amabel’s still asleep.” Koa’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Foster messaged at 1 a.m. Said she planned to leave for the water witch’s by 10.”
“Perfect,” I said, checking my rifle one more time. “That gives us plenty of time to get in position.”
With Arabesque still at her witches’ conference in Chicago, Amabel was alone and vulnerable, distracted by her missing twin. The memory of Eluned’s final moments, her pieces crumbling to ash in our crucible, still warmed my heart.
One down, one to go.
For the next hour, we went through every detail of our plan. The positioning. The timing. The contingencies. By 6:30, when the first hints of sunlight began creeping over the horizon, we were as ready as we’d ever be.
“Time to wake Seri,” I decreed.
As if summoned by her name, she appeared in the doorway, Brumous at her heels. Her honey-gold hair was tousled from sleep, and she wore one of my button-up shirts that hung to her knees. Even half-asleep, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. My chest tightened at the sight of her, and I wanted nothing more than to strip out of this gear and carry her back to bed.
“You didn’t wake me,” she pouted, her voice still husky with sleep.
“Wanted to let you rest.” Koa crossed the room to kiss her forehead.
“An early breakfast?” Zane was already heading for the door. “I’ll make blueberry pancakes!”
Seri smiled, but I could see the anxiety behind her eyes. She knew what today meant just as well as we did. If all went according to plan, we’d finally eliminate the threat of Amabel Harrow, leaving only Arabesque herself to deal with. And that would be a battle for another day.
At Seri’s insistence, we’d given the entire staff a paid day off.
“No need for collateral damage,” she’d said, which had made my heart swell with pride at her forethought. Although she’d only been with us for a short time, she was already thinking like a strategist.
“I’ve been wondering,” she said now, stabbing a piece of pancake with her fork, “what does Arabesque pay her spies with?”
“Foster gets promises of power and position once her goals are achieved,” I shared. “That’s part of her payment plan.”
“But what about the others?” she pressed. “She clearly has one in the vampire court that your father and Sebastian are trying to root out.”
“Probably has one in most royal courts, if we’re being honest,” Zane pointed out.
“Money?” Koa suggested. “She must have amassed wealth over the years.”
