Everyone agreed.
“Basil, how many can you take with you?”
“Three others for sure. I could do more, but it’ll be harder to blend in with a large group.”
I glanced at Oak, and they said, “Rome, me, Basil, and one more?”
Hiro stepped forward. “I’ll go.”
I wasn’t about to try to separate viramores, so I was fine with it. Oak must’ve had the same thought because they nodded. “Perfect.”
Agreements were given, and Ailin said, “I think the rest of us should retake our positions around the building as overwatch and backup.”
I gave him a nod. “Agreed.”
After a little more discussion, we called it good, and everyone either went to bed or went for some food. Of course, Oakley decided they were hungry, so I ended up eating as well before I cuddled with them in our bed. It was tiny for two adults, but I didn’t mind. It just meant they had to sleep right up against me all night long.
My heart was in my throat at the thought of bringing Oakley inside that building, of them having to face others from the cult, of them possibly getting hurt.
But they would never want to be left behind, and I would never ask them to stay. I was scared, but they were capable.
And I’d be right there to protect them the way I knew they’d protect me.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Roman
Basil’s magic was amazing and perfect for this mission.
I’d met and worked with witches with a shadow affinity in the past, but never one as powerful as Bas. And to be honest, I wasn’t even sure how his magic was working exactly, but it was as if the four of us had become shadows.
I could feel my body, and I still felt whole and… three-dimensional, for lack of a better word. But people had walked right next to us in a small hallway and… didn’t bump into us, didn’t see us, didn’t feel us standing there.
So were we actually still three-dimensional? Or were we actually a flat shadow against the floors and walls?
I didn’t know the answer to that question, and now wasn’t the time to ask Bas for more details.
We’d breached the building three minutes ago but had to hold our position in the first hallway while several people moved about. It was unfortunate that we’d had such bad timing, but there’d been no way to know what was going on inside the building. Their wards were too strong, and since we didn’t want to make them aware of our presence, we couldn’t disturb them more than needed to let us four pass through unnoticed.
Luckily, Ailin and Sebastian had supplied us with the strongest anti-sound and anti-scent spells I’d ever seen.
Honestly, I was pretty sure they were both worrying over Bas and Hiro coming in here without them, which was why they’d cast such strong spells—they’d definitely overdone it. But I’d rather be overcautious than be caught in here, surrounded by an unknown number of blood witches.
The spells were cast over all four of us, so we were able to speak to each other—albeit quietly, just in case—and still hear one another. And each of us had an earpiece mic so we could communicate with our teammates outside. All of them were surrounding the building.
I’d wanted to take the lead, but Bas was the one casting his shadow magic and had told us that it was easier for him to ensure we were all covered if he went in front. Something about it being easier to have a large portion of his magic following behind him, rather than trying to push it forward and predictexactly how far someone in front of him might walk or which way they’d turn.
It made sense, but I didn’t like being in the back. If I didn’t think Oak would know exactly what I was doing, I would offer to switch places with them so I could cover them—block them—from attack. Although, I supposed I was covering them from the back as it was, so at least there was that.
Basil gave the go signal, and we all remained close, moving as one down the hallway. Hiro was behind Bas, then Oak, then me.
Bas and Ailin had come up with a spell that would map out the building as we walked through, which worked out well so everyone could focus on keeping each other safe and figuring out exactly what was going on here and who was behind it, instead of one of us mapping things out with a pencil and paper.
Plus, there was less room for error this way… or so I was told.
It was Ailin’s spell, but he’d given control over to Bas. There was a large leaf, of all things, following behind Basil’s shoulder. I could see lines glowing lightly on it as we moved. I’d never seen anything like it, but I hoped Ailin wouldn’t mind sharing the spell with Tan and the other witches that worked for us because it could really come in handy on recon missions, and I was sure in other situations as well.
We were also placing video surveillance throughout the building so we’d have a better idea of what we were walking into when we raided the place. Plus, more evidence against all these horrible people.
