“I doubt that. She won’t want to talk to us.”
“Then we force her to. Nine of us against one vamp? We could have answers before midnight.”
“And if she’s not alone?” he asks. “If we’re walking into a trap?”
“Like I said, there’s nine of us.”
Grant lets out a low, warning growl. “You’re not thinking clearly, Ro. We don’t know what’s going on yet or what she’s capable of. We don’t know her gift.”
“That’s not true.”
All eyes turn to Jericho.
“I’ve seen what she’s capable of. That woman can fly. She has wings, but they’re fragile. Like glass. And her nails are like tiny daggers, so don’t get too close or she’ll shred you.” He rubs his arm, as if he speaks from experience.
“Those wings grow back too,” Willow says. “We’ve seen it.”
“I’m with Rowen,” Jericho says. “If it’s only her, we can easily corner her and get her to talk.”
Sage’s gaze flicks between us. “Again, we don’t know that she’s alone. We’re just going by whatyousay,” he says, narrowing his eyes at Kaine. His distrust of Kaine is equal to Grant’s. The two men despise him.
“We’re certain she is,” Willow says.
“Still. Until we can see that for ourselves? I’m not willing to go in,” Grant says. “She could kill us.”
“She won’t,” Jericho says flatly.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, actually. I’ve seen her in action. She’s strong, but not too strong. We can overpower her.”
Forest’s patience snaps. “None of this matters. We’re not going tonight.”
My pulse spikes hard enough to make my vision shimmer. We don’t have time to wait. Every hour we do nothing is another hour Tobias’ life is on the line.Another hour I’m failing him.
I slam my hand against the table, making the floating lights above us quiver. “Why not?”
Heads turn from nearby tables, and Forest’s glare warns me to lower my voice.
“If this woman knows where Foxx is, then why wait? It’s the lead we’ve been waiting for, Alpha.”
“We did come for answers,” Ivy says hesitantly. “I have to admit, this feels plausible. I’ve seen that woman in action too. We can do this.”
Our leader locks eyes with his second, and the two share a private conversation without words. Years of leading together have made them capable of forming entire strategies with barely more than a nod.
Dad had been the same way before he died.
“Fine,” Forest says finally, voice tight. “We’ll have someone scout the place. Quietly. But no one engages. Not yet.”
“We should all go,” I say.
His aura presses against me, making the hair on the back of my neck bristle. “Rowen—”
“We can split up. See the building. The more perspectives, the better.”
Before the argument can boil over, a brawl erupts on the far side of the room—a mix of fur and fangs. My wolf surges, ready to leap into the mess, to tear, todosomething. I swallow it back so hard my teeth ache.
A black wolf lunges at a spindly man with receding hair just as his friend whacks the wolf over the head with a chair. The wolf collapses. The floating beads of light scatter like pearls as two more shifters get up from a table, muscles taut.
