Chapter 67 #2
I know, I reply, but that doesn’t mean I have any ideas beyond waiting them out. But I’m not the strategist here. I glance at my mate, finding his blue eyes resolved. Got a plan?
Yeah, he says. It’s a bad one.
Still better than none.
Signalling the others, we creep back the way we came, moving extra slowly so we don’t step on any loose twigs as we let the rogues enjoy their borrowed time. Scouts stay posted, but the rest of us circle up with the leaders who’d spotted the rogues too.
“They know they’re not making it out of this,” Maverick mutters, eyes locked on the treeline. “They just want to take out as many of us as they can on the way.”
“I’m not losing any more wolves,” says Alpha Imrie, the alpha of the Blood Stone Pack. My chest tightens. I still see the remains of those charred wolves.
“No, we’re not,” Julian agrees.
“Then how are we getting in?” Idris presses, watching Julian like she knows that he has something up his sleeve. “There’s only one entrance, and they’re guarding it with everything they’ve got.”
“There’s a second entrance,” he says. “There are wolves on the roof—they got up there somehow.”
“Maybe, but then how do we get in from there?” Beckett asks at his side.
“From above,” Julian answers. He’s not looking at us though. He’s focused on something else. Someone else …
I follow his gaze to Kat plucking petals from a tiny flower, one by one. She’s mumbling something under her breath as she does, but stops the moment she senses eyes on her.
Looking up slowly, she lets her surprise show for only a moment before she glowers. A second later, she teleports to stand right in front of us. The others flinch but Julian and I are used to it.
“What?” she asks plainly.
“Kat,” Julian asks, not bothering to sugarcoat it with a thanks for all she’s done already. “Do you think you could take a set of us to the roof?”
“Yeah, and?” she asks, raising a brow.
“That’s it,” I say.
But Julian shakes his head. “And place each of us right on top of the rogues up there?”
I whip my head towards him like the other alphas.
“That’s insane,” I scoff before she can answer. “She can’t do that and keep all of us hidden out here. She just fought a bunch of witches too. I know she’s strong, but she’s not that strong. There are too many of us and too many of them. To pull that off would be—”
“Madness,” she says with one of her terrifying smiles.
“I’d have to teleport you, and I can’t do that without a visual from above myself.
Or …” She runs a hand through her beaded hair.
“I could carry us all up and position you above, and then, I guess, drop you.” She chuckles.
“Alright, I’ll try. How many are we talking here? ”
“Enough to match the rogues up there,” Julian says as he scans the group before looking back at Kat. “Once they’re down, we take their weapons and snipe the ones outside from above before heading in.”
“Right,” Kat says slowly, “but to pull that off, you’ll need me to mask the whole rooftop too. So they won’t smell any blood or hear anything.”
“Exactly.”
She groans and stretches. “Geez. Am I doing everything?” she asks with a yawn. “I came to help, but what would ya’ll do without me?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Julian replies, a simple fact that makes Katerina quiet while he continues.
“If this works, we’ll finish off the outside sentries in minutes.
Once we’re in, we’ll take out as many as we can without them even knowing we’re here.
We’ll be quick and quiet until we can’t anymore.
That’s when you’ll attack,” he says to the other alphas, “so they’re ambushed from both sides. ”
Sitting back on his heels, Julian nods to himself as his plan cements itself in his mind. “We trap them. No chance to escape.”
“That’s it? That’s the plan?” Maverick asks, incredulous. “It’s built on a bunch of ifs.”
“If you have a better one, I’m listening,” Julian growls, tilting his head just enough to shoot a glare that could level a forest. “If we do everything the way I described, then we’ll be fine.”
Pride swells in my chest when no one else challenges him or questions his logic.
Julian’s a smart motherfucker, and they’d all be idiots to think this isn’t the best course of action—and the one that saves the most lives.
“Kat?” I ask, glancing her way as she cracks her neck.
“I’m good to go,” she says, flashing a thumbs up.
“Wait,” Imrie interrupts, straightening with a frown. “Shouldn’t we wait until nightfall, at the least? We’d have better cover and—”
“There might be a child in there being tortured,” I state, cutting her off before her hesitation spreads.
Eyes widen around me as the air sours with revulsion.
“The alpha said as much before we killed him,” I continue. “He might’ve been lying, but he might not. We don’t have time to risk it.”
The ends the discussion. Resolve cements itself into each of them before they pass on the word to their respective packs, just as we do. And when we all look to Kat, there’s no more doubt.
The majority of the wolves that would be waiting outside spread out to surround the structure, moving taut along the shadows so that the enemies are none the wiser.
When they’re in position, only nine of us remain: Julian and I, Kat, Maverick, and four of his.
Kat steps forward, serious now. “We’re all going up together,” she says, rolling her shoulders. “It’ll feel weird, but I need you to keep your shit in check. Don’t look down until you’re above the rogue I place you over. And for the love of God, don’t scream.”
When firm nods return without comment, Katerina’s eyes fill with that familiar purple as the air around us suddenly goes still. Then she rises into the air like we’ve seen her do so many times, only this time, she takes us with her.
My advantage of having done this before keeps me the most placid in the bunch. Everyone else? Not so much. You can hear the controlled panic in their breathing while Katerina’s magic strains to see her will done.
We rise into the air, climbing higher until we’re past the trees and well above the rogues littered below. I don’t look down, not trusting myself until the wind rises beneath me and my body draws closer to the ground.
Julian was right—there’s a door, manned by one of the wolves that he’s placed above as Katerina’s magic spreads us out, getting us into position. The only hitch in this plan, I realise too late, is if one of them were to look up now, we’d be fucked.
Get ready, Julian says through the link as everyone takes their stance, claws outstretched.
Closer, closer …
Tension drags out each mocking second before the magic around me dissolves, and I’m free-falling.
I land directly behind a rather stocky rogue with my hands already reaching for his head. One sharp twist, and he’s done. I look around to see that everybody has done the same. Heart pounding, I check over the edge and let out a breath when I see the rogues on the ground, still oblivious.
Kat had already thrown up the barrier, but when I glance at her, I can see sweat dripping down her face and a flicker of the light in her eyes.
“Quickly,” I hiss, grabbing a discarded bow and arrow.
Steady, Julian warns as we all draw our arrows, aiming each at a rogue below. Steady … on my count. Three, two, one—shoot.
The arrows fly all at once, whistling through the air. They pierce hearts, necks, and eyes in unison—sending each rogue to their knees as bodies drop like flies.
Katerina sinks to the floor with a heave a second later, and the visible weight of her magic disappears as she folds over with a wheeze.
“You alright?” I’m at her side before I think about it.
“Peachy,” she rasps before plopping herself down like a starfish. “But I’m done. Good luck with the rest of it.”
“Thank you,” Julian says, right as I do. “For everything.”
She nods, smiling just a little, one of her real smiles.
“Let’s get a move on,” Maverick calls from the door. “Two groups—Griffin, Beth, and Roland, you’re with me,” he states, which leaves Julian and me with Emitt, Beckett, and Isabel.
We station ourselves at the door. When Maverick cracks it open, cold air slaps us in the face, and the dark interior has our eyes shifting to adjust. We file in one after the other, steps silent.
The halls are a patchwork of galvanised steel and tarp, lit only by flickering candlelight, like some fucked-up haunted house. The air reeks of blood and rogues.
Maverick kills the first rogue we run into with a thrust of claws into his neck, and Griffin is right there to catch the body. While he sets it down, we keep moving, running into another pair and ending their lives before they can register their surprise.
It continues like that until we reach a fork inside that forces us to stall.
“Split up?” Julian whispers, and we all nod.
Wordlessly, our groups diverge, mine and Julian’s heading right while the others go left.
The entrance was barely lit, but the further we get, the more candles there are—until there’s not an inch unlit by some well-placed candle. Shadows stretch around us, but the visibility cuts down our time.
What? I ask Julian as I watch him eye a room ahead.
They don’t know we’re here yet. If something strange happens, they’ll only think to investigate it.
So, what are you thinking? Make a ruckus, bait them, and when they come running, we take them out?
Exactly that, he replies as we all glue ourselves to the walls. Push that candle down, Emitt. You’re bait.
What? Why me? he whines as his eyes fill with panic.
Because you’re most bait-like, I reply, earning his scowl, but he doesn’t waste time arguing.
Emitt tip-toes into the light, keeping his movement subtle before knocking the candle over. It crashes to the floor and almost immediately, heavy footsteps follow. The door swings open to reveal a cluster of rogues. Emitt gives them a shaky wave.
They start towards him—cautious, but it’s already too late. We rush them, taking them out before a single shout can rise.