“Easy.” He releases me and takes a step back with his hands raised. “You’re in the pack house. You fell asleep in the conference room.”
I scrub my hands over my face and will my heart to stop racing. The conference room comes into focus around me—maps spread across the table, empty coffee cups clustered nearthe edge, and the whiteboard covered in Caleb’s scrawled notes about Cheslem safe houses. Gray morning seeps through the windows, which means I slept through most of the night.
I clear my throat and ask, “Any news?”
“That’s why I woke you.” Thomas gestures toward the door. “Luna found something. She’s in Nic’s office with Caleb and the others.”
I’m on my feet before he finishes speaking.
Skylar has been gone for two days, and every hour that passes feels like a knife twisting in my gut. I haven’t slept more than a handful of minutes at a time before now. Haven’t eaten anything except the protein bars Connor keeps shoving into my hands and the coffee James forces on me every few hours. I haven’t done anything except stare at maps, make phone calls, and try not to lose my mind while the people around me work to find her.
My Black Ops contacts came through six hours ago with satellite imagery of suspected Cheslem activity in the mountains northeast of Silvercreek. One of my former teammates—a wolf named Dexter who still owes me for saving his life during a mission in Alaska—pulled strings to get me thermal imaging of an abandoned mining facility about forty miles from pack territory. The images show vehicle movement and body heat signatures, the hallmarks of an occupied compound trying to look deserted.
It’s not confirmation, but it’s more than we had before.
Now I need Luna to tell me it’s the right place.
Nic’s office is crowded when I push through the door. Luna is at the center of the room with her hands braced on the desk, and the dark circles under her eyes tell me she’s beenpushing her magic hard. Ruby hovers nearby with one hand resting on Luna’s arm like she’s ready to catch her if she falls. Nic occupies his usual chair behind the desk while Caleb paces near the window. Dylan and Connor flank the doorway, scowling.
Everyone turns to look at me when I enter.
“Tell me,” I prompt without preamble.
Luna straightens and tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “The mining facility your contacts identified. It’s the right place. I couldn’t get a clear picture of the interior with Rafe’s wards blocking most of my scrying, but I felt her there. Skylar’s alive, Bryan. Hurt and scared, but alive.”
The relief that floods through my system is so intense that it nearly buckles my knees. I grab the back of the nearest chair to steady myself.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. They fitted her with a silver collar to block most of her wolf, which is probably why it took me so long to find her. But I was able to catch traces of her magical signature during a gap in Rafe’s wards. She’s in that facility, underground, in some kind of holding cell.”
“Then we go get her.”
“It’s not that simple,” Nic argues. “Caleb’s been analyzing the satellite imagery, and the compound is heavily fortified. They have at least twenty wolves on patrol at any given time, plus whatever forces Rafe has stationed inside the buildings. Guard towers at each corner, motion sensors along the perimeter fence, and only two access points that we can identify. A direct assault would be suicide.”
“I don’t care about—”
“I know you don’t.” Nic cuts me off with a raised hand. “But Skylar would. She’d want us to do this right, not throw our lives away on a rescue mission that’s doomed to fail before it starts.”
I open my mouth to tell him that every second we spend planning is another second Skylar spends in Rafe’s hands, another second she might be suffering while we sit here talking about guard rotations and access points. But some small, rational part of my brain recognizes that he’s right. Charging in without a plan won’t save her. It’ll just get us both killed.
So, I take a breath. “What do you suggest?”
“A two-pronged approach.” Nic rises from his chair and walks to the map pinned to the wall. “The compound has two main access points—the front gate here, and a service entrance on the eastern side that looks like it was used for equipment deliveries back when the mine was operational. Caleb says the service entrance leads to the lower levels where they’re most likely holding prisoners.”
Caleb stops pacing and joins Nic at the map. “Matthias used this facility years ago, back before the corruption fully took hold. I was young, but I remember the layout. The cells are underground, accessible through a series of tunnels that branch off from the main complex. If we can get a small team inside through the service entrance, we can reach Skylar without fighting through the entire compound.”
“And the front gate?” I ask.
“Distraction.” Nic taps the map. “I’ll lead a group of our best fighters in a direct assault on the main entrance. Make enough noise to draw Rafe’s forces to the front while your team slips in through the back.”
It’s a solid plan. Risky, but solid. The kind of thing I would have designed myself back in my Black Ops days, when extracting hostages from fortified positions was just another Tuesday.
“How many on the strike team?”
“Four, including you.” Nic meets my eyes. “Any more than that and we risk detection. Any fewer and you won’t have enough firepower to fight your way out if something goes wrong.”
“I’m in.” Dylan declares. “Sera was Cheslem once. If there are other prisoners in that facility—other wolves who were taken the way Skylar was—she’d want me to help bring them home.”
