The suit indicated one of them. “This one easily has 85% of all the humans taken. But again, no monsters.”
They talked about the buildings for a while and what they’ve seen around them. I stared at the map, trying to see something that wasn’t there. Or see something that was there, and no one thought to look at. Not that I knew what I was looking for. Maybe there was nothing else to see.
“Your plan is to hit one hard, isn’t it?” Bryn asked after a while.
At first, my family didn’t say anything. But eventually, Koh nodded. “Yes. We’ve been leaning toward taking out their headquarters if we can identify it with reasonable confidence.”
“And then what?” the dragon asked.
“Go in, guns blazing,” Koh answered. He shrugged. “We need to figure out which facility our target is before we begin a plan. Planning will depend a lot on the individual location.”
“When are we planning this?” the thunderbird asked.
Saar shook his head. “No, Idris. There’s no ‘we’ in this.” His voice was quiet, but his words hung loudly in the air.
“What do you mean?” Kiley asked, frowning.
“I mean that while we appreciate your help with preparing, and we will absolutely accept all the help we can get in the following days or weeks, however long—this is something we’re doing alone,” Saar said.
“Alone,” Hadrian echoed.
Several of my men nodded in agreement.
“We know we’re being somewhat reckless in doing this,” Kohara said. “This is a direct retaliation from their attack on us. We can’t ask you to put your lives and families in danger for that cause.”
“You’re not asking,” the dragon said. “We’re still with you.”
“As you would be with us,” Juniper added.
Koh smiled, resting his head against Tem’s back. “Yes, I know, and we would be. But for now, I’d like to concentrate on this plan where we’re working alone.”
His statement felt like nails in a coffin. I can’t say that I’d have turned down the help of these people. Together they’re nearing a hundred strong. Alone, we’re just a dozen. I swallowed, sinking back into Raiden’s lap and taking a deep breath.
“I think we can agree to that—” Kormak began.
The dragon snorted under his breath. “No, we can’t,” he mumbled.
“As long as you’re in radio contact the entire time,” Kormak continued. “And understand that if you break radio contact, we’re there; whether you like it or not.”
Saar frowned. “That’s not—"
“Here’s the thing,” Kiley said. “You will let us help you and therefore, you cannot stop us from tagging along. So, you agree to the constant communication throughout, or you don’t get a say in whether you do this alone or with a whole lot of angry backup.”
For a small woman, her words were glacial and hard. Demanding obedience and agreement.
Saar chuckled. “Fine. Radios. But you stay the fuck away.”
“Sure,” Juniper said. “Ryker isn’t at all hungry. I’ll let you tell him he doesn’t get to eat.”
Koh laughed. “Done, June.”
Nightmares were nearly extinct. I was sure that this one would be careful. Not that I knew him at all. Maybe I was completely off base here.
But the conversation continued as they discussed operations that revolved around twelve individuals. Twelve storms.
And only twelve.
Bronte
