Even Scheherazade got in on the act, standing on her hind legs to give doggie kisses, though that could have been because she had bacon on her plate. But somehow he didn’t think it was the bacon.
One person was missing.
“Where’s Medusa?”
God scowled from behind his coffee cup. “No idea. She told Loki she needed to check on something and left. Some days I wonder who’s in charge around here. All I can say is, her ass better be back here by the time we leave tonight, or she’s going to get the cranky side of Janus.”
Gilgamesh looked at Loki. “There’s an uncranky side to Janus?”
“Fuck off, you two. It was bad enough when I had to put up withthese idiots and all their fucking around. Now they’ve infected the team I thought was the alpha team.”
“Aww, did you hear that?” TB grinned with delight. “We’re the alpha team now. That suits my Dominant personality much better.”
“I’m nobody’s submissive,” Loki jabbed back. Steel was pretty sure he saw a glint of humor in the man’s eye, despite the grumbly voice.
“All of you fuckwitches are fired,” God announced. Then he amended the statement. “Once we get Waters and Ka-Bar back.” Then he stomped out of the room.
“Was it something I said?” Steel asked. “All I did was wonder where Medusa was, and he erupted like Mt. Vesuvius.”
Loki and Gilgamesh shared a look, then bent back over their maps. He turned to look at Nemo and Gem, his hands outstretched in awhatgesture.
It was Gem who answered. “Medusa’s been…” She looked at Nemo, as if searching for a word.
“A right cunt, I think is what you called her last night.”
She smacked him again. “Shush! That was supposed to be between you and me, not shareable information.”
Loki grunted from across the table. “No secret from us. She has been a right cunt, even more so in the last twenty-four hours. As for where she is, she’s probably off tweaking the engine on that damn boat to make it go faster. I wouldn’t worry about her. She’s more than capable of taking care of herself. And she’ll be at the boat and ready when we need her,” he tacked on quickly.
“Her eyes have been bothering her,” Gilgamesh said quietly. “Headaches. Blurriness. Loss of depth perception.”
The woman’s eye condition had never been discussed in detail. All they knew was that she wore sunglasses at all times, even at night. When she did take her glasses off, most of them froze to the spot at her nearly colorless pupils glowing from her eye sockets. Only the barest tint of light sea green lurked in the iris, hence her nickname.
She was responsible for all the logistics for Mythos, which in turnmeant most of their transportation. If her eyes were bothering her, that could make her job very difficult, particularly if her depth perception was off. Not only that, but she drove and flew like her hair was on fire, the world burning up two feet behind her. And on top of that? She was Steel’s counterpart in that she was their chief assassin, which also required perfect eyesight. It was no wonder she was being grouchy.
Clearing his throat, Loki reminded everyone, “We should get back to work. It’s now nine hundred twenty-five. At seventeen hundred, we will begin checkout procedures with Midas. He will ensure your trackers are turned on and functioning, and confirm with Nova that she can locate you. We will also be activating the new surface trackers Midas created.
“Everyone needs to be at their origin points at eighteen thirty. Midas will do another comms check at that time, then ask Nova to confirm once again where you are.
“At twenty hundred hours, we move out on our planned routes. Gilgamesh, God, and I will start by disengaging the guards and security systems. If all goes to plan, the mission should lose power at twenty fifteen. If we run into problems, you’ll know, and you’ll be on standby if we’re delayed.
“TB will approach from the north, under the cover of the motor pool barn. When the power goes out, he will assist with the ground-level security roundup.
“Demon will be in Puma Cove in case water rescue is needed. Medusa will drive Nemo, Gem, and Steel into the cove. Nemo andGem will begin the cliff ascent to the residence on the northeast side of the mission. They will be setting distraction charges along the face, but also available for rescue rappelling.
“Steel will be entering through the cliff entrance with Demon, using the tunnel we found on drone footage to enter the warehouses below the mission. From there, they will work toward the oubliettes, extract Waters and Ka-Bar, then exit back through the underground warehouse and tunnels to the boat.
“Topside, Gilgamesh, God, and eventually TB, will work to clear all security from the premises, and possibly meet Steel and Demon at the oubliettes.
“Once our men are secured and on the boat, Medusa will extract everyone from the tunnels. Those of us who are topside will go back the way we came to the off-road vehicles, which we will secure at the half-mile mark inside the tree line and off the highway.”
“What about me?” Daleyza asked.
“Change in plans. You’re staying here.”
Flashing her a sideways look, Steel saw that Loki’s declaration was not going over well with his warrior wife. Up to now, they had allowed her into every facet of the planning, but apparently, someone had decided she was to be wrapped up in cotton wool here at the hotel. If they thought she was going to agree to that, they had learned nothing about her in the last few days.
He would step in if he had to, but he wanted her to speak for herself, if she chose.
