Later at night, I would lay awake and think about Ireland, about Zara and Sera and their packs, and hope that they were safe and that they were having as much success as we were.
A few nights later, I didn’t sleep at all.
I lay on the narrow mattress in Mirae’s safehouse and listened to London’s steady hum through the walls. The city never truly went quiet. Most nights, it lulled me to sleep, but apparently tonight wasn’t one of those nights.
After a few hours of tossing and turning, I stopped pretending rest was going to happen and sat up. I swung my feet to the floor and padded down the stairs into the common room where everyone else was apparently already up.
Eamon was leaning over the table with a cup of tea in his hands, looking at the map like it might move if he stared hard enough. Bishop sat opposite him with his sleeves rolled up, a pencil behind his ear and his face half-lit by the dimlight of the moon slipping through the slit in the curtains. The others were scattered around, sipping tea, eating something, or just trying to shake off the fog of sleep.
They all looked up when I entered.
No one asked why I was awake.
Elias held out the mug without comment. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t be able to sleep in today.”
I took it. It was hot and bitter and exactly what I needed.
Eamon looked up. “You sure about tonight?”
I didn’t answer immediately because I was still trying to figure out whether my instincts were telling me to act because it was right, or because I was tired of waiting.
I took another sip of my tea and forced myself to slow down.
“Talk me through it,” I said.
Elias didn’t hesitate. “If we go tonight, we hit the lab during its lowest traffic window. We’ve watched enough to know their schedule. We know the stairwell Ashcroft uses, and we know the maintenance corridor that bypasses the main checkpoint.”
Griff added, “We also know where the exits are. We can seal the service doors and force anyone down there to stay down there.”
Nox chimed in, “And we know which guards pretend to do their jobs and which ones actually keep watch.”
Eamon’s tone was careful. “And if something changes? If there are more people than expected?”
Bishop answered that one. “Then we get the fuck out of there. We don’t force it. We’re not going down there to die.”
I looked at them one by one.
They were all looking to me for guidance and that made my chest loosen a fraction.
I was not only their mate, but their leader.
I could do this.
“All right,” I said. “Let’s lay it all out.”
Bishop flipped the map to the annotated side and began marking with a pencil. Eamon pulled out a scrap of paper and started listing what we needed to carry.
Elias spoke first. “We enter through the maintenance hatch by the pressure hall. Same one Nox used to follow Ashcroft before. We’ll be dressed as maintenance workers. We’ll fit right in.”
Nox nodded. “If anyone asks, we’re there to check some faulty valves.”
Griff grunted. “And if they keep asking?”
Nox smiled without humor. “We dispose of them. Cleanly and quietly. Then we hide the body.”
I swallowed hard and pointed to the lab level on the map. “Once we’re inside, our main priority is destroying the stocks of the feral drug.”
Eamon leaned forward, hands braced on the table. “That’s on me. I know what their storage units look like. I’ll take the pry bar and the two incendiaries Mirae provided us with. I will break every vial, and burn what’s left so nothing usable survives.”
