“Okay,” Solon started as we dropped our bags and began setting up. “We need a plan that accounts for them coming back to sweep their tracks. I’m not stupid enough to think the guards didn’t alert them.”
“I thought the same.” I took a breath. “Why not use me as bait?”
Four heads whipped toward me at once.
“Absolutely not,” Dimitri said.
“Nope,” Slater echoed.
“Hard pass,” Zuko added.
Koa folded his arms, jaw locked. “I hate that idea.”
“It’s a simulation,” I reminded them. “And I’ve already been taken once. I’m the only one tourmalyke doesn’t work on. I’m the best option. I can pretend to let them take me.”
Sylver chewed her lip, her blue gaze wary as she looked at me. “From a purely tactical standpoint, she’s right.”
I shot her a grateful look.
“You know damn well we can die in here,” Zuko snarled, reaching out and grabbing my arm.
“Zuko’s right!” Slater’s demon form came out, and his tail swung low behind him. “I don’t want to risk your life again.”
“I’m with them,” Dimitri muttered, his jaw tight.
“I don’t like the idea of you in a human lab again,” Koa said hoarsely. “The sight of you chained to the bed with IV drips pumping into you fucks with me even now.”
I sent reassurance through our bonds as I grabbed Zuko’s hand that was clutching my arm. “I’ll be okay. I’m a spy for a reason.”
“She’s right,” Solon said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “Take the mate aspect out for a minute and look at her capabilities.”
“Unable to be affected by Tourmalyke, supernatural strength, can kill with a single touch,” Ivy listed off. “Oh, and well-trained for undercover work, yeah. She’s fully capable.”
I smiled at them. “See? I’m fully capable.”
“No one was arguing that,” Dimitri assured me.
“We just hate being away from you,” Slater whimpered, pouting.
“And the thought of not being there to protect you,” Zuko growled.
“Not to mention you being taken by humans again—onpurpose!”Koa huffed.
“What’s the plan, then?” I asked, glancing at Sylver.
“I’ll cast a regular protection ward around the camp, but I’ll leave a small ‘weak spot’ here.” She pointed to a patch of bushes just outside the ring. “Anyone trying to get in will think they’ve found a gap. Rune will patrol through the night, and they’ll snag her. We track them.”
“Good plan.” I grinned. “You all will sleep, and I will play clueless.”
“As if we’d actually be able to sleep,” Zuko grumbled.
Koa’s mouth twisted. “You’re never clueless.”
“I know.” I winked.
Sylver knelt, drawing a circle in the dirt with the tip of her dagger. She murmured under her breath, and magic flared around the makeshift campsite in a soft violet light that wove into a dome that settled over us like a second skin.
A witch had blessed the dagger with the Fate’s magic, and it’s given to all magical specialists so they could create wards with ease.
