He pointed his fingers to his eyes, then ahead to an area on our track, and I saw the reason he’d stopped us. A returningpatrol. Two ODL enforcers, two pixies, and a couple of lesser fae bringing up the rear. They were chatting and walking without worrying about how much noise they made, clearly not concerned about an attack.
We waited and watched as they wandered back into the camp, then resumed our circuit more carefully. I lost track of how much time had passed before there was a break in the small outer tents that allowed us to see farther into the camp.
I caught Julius’s eye and nodded toward the break, indicating I wanted a closer look. He nodded, and we inched closer, using trees and brush for cover. Eventually, the foliage ended, and we had to risk hiding behind one of the tents.
We peered around the edge, and I spotted the biggest, most ornate tent I’d seen yet, alone in the middle of a clearing.
“What do you want to bet me that somebody important is in there?” I whispered.
Before he could answer, Bastian himself strode through the tent flaps, a pixie flying out alongside him, hovering at eye level with the general.
No, I corrected myself. Not just any pixie—he wore a tiny golden crown, the rest of his body also adorned with white robes and an absurd amount of golden jewelry. This was the king. The troublemaker in chief behind the entire damn war.
Who apparently thought himself the next Julius Caesar.I resisted the urge to snort at the ridiculous way he was dressed.
Unfortunately, they were in the very heart of the camp, and there was no visible collar on the ODL leader that we could see.
I stepped back behind the tent out of sight and turned to Julius. “We found him, but we can’t get to him in the dead middle of camp in broad daylight. As many magic users as they have with them, there has got to be some shielding around here too.” Julius had a rifle slung over his shoulder, but we’d all agreed it would be a last-ditch option. Firing off a shot wouldalert everyone to where we were, and it also might not work. Any time we’d faced the ODL, their most powerful attackers had shields that took time and energy to break through.
From the tent at our side, a chainsaw snore ripped through our quiet conversation. Julius grinned. “But what if we could?”
Five minutes later, we’d tied up and gagged both of the tent’s occupants and donned their uniforms. Mine fit pretty well, but Julius’s was baggy. He’d lost rock-paper-scissors, and his sour expression said he was still salty about it.
He peeked out of the front flap of the tent. “Okay, so, we’re just trying to get close and keep an eye on the general, until we get a chance to get him alone. Other than that, we’re avoiding cats and any other supes that could identify us by scent.”
“Yep,” I agreed.
“Let’s do this, then.” He ducked through the flap, and, after a deep breath, I followed.
To my eternal delight, no one looked twice at us in the borrowed uniforms. We did our best to stay downwind of anyone we approached in case we needed to dodge anyone who might scent us, but the wind was pretty dead, which made it easier.
We wound through the tent city toward the center of the encampment, moving slowly to blend in with the other off-duty soldiers ambling about.
It took us a while to get eyes on Bastian again, and I knew Gael and Samuel had to be wondering where we were by now.
He was in a group of uniformed enforcers, so we passed him, doing our best to be inconspicuous.
After we made it fully out of sight, we doubled back, lurking behind a nearby outhouse. The reek of it kept most other people away.
You’d think with as many supes as they have here, one of them could have used a little power to deal with their shit in a less disgusting manner.
“Should we try to get closer?” Julius asked, grimacing about the stench.
I didn’t blame him. My wolf was pissed about it too. “Yes, but I think we should wait until the people he was talking to leave, or he leaves. We don’t want a crowd.”
“He’s psychic. He can call for help whenever he wants, and we can’t stop him,” Julius reminded me.
“Well, fuck. At least we’ll have a few seconds, then. If we knock him out, he can’t call anyone else while we search him for a mind-control device.”
“It’s as good a plan as any.”
With that settled, we headed back Bastian’s way, cutting in closer this time. He was only talking to a single enforcer, and Julius and I exchanged a look.
Go time.
We both turned toward them, strolling their way. Ten yards out, close enough to hear the conversation, it got harder to walk, like my legs were trapped in quicksand. A panicked glance Julius’s way showed he wasn’t faring any better.
“You there! Soldiers! Why are you in the restricted area without your clearance medallion?” Bastian snapped, glaring directly at us.
