Chapter 21
Varek
The map lay between us on a flat slab of stone, crude lines and ink smudges catching the firelight. I watched the way Soren traced the city’s outline with one callused finger, how her jaw set hard when she reached the Council block.
“You want the northwestern gate first,” I said, voice low, keeping it simple. “It’s got the lightest rotation of guards. Two squads, maybe less during the afternoon lull. If we hit it fast and hard, we can flood people through before they know the gate’s been compromised.”
Rowan folded his arms and leaned in. “That’s the weak point you circled,” he said. “But weak doesn’t mean undefended. You’re relying on precision and timing.”
“Precision and timing,” I agreed. “And distraction. That’s where Silas and Rowan come in, pulling their attention away from our entry point. Keep the patrols busy.”
Silas’s eyes reflected the fire like molten gold.
“My pack will run sweeps along the ridge lines. Small, noisy ambushes they’ll have to answer.
We don’t want to annihilate them out there.
We want to make them look over their shoulder every two minutes.
Keep them from sending reinforcements to the gate. ”
Soren’s mouth was a hard line. “Diversion buys time, but it doesn’t take the facility. We go in blind, or we go in smart. I’m for smart.”
“Then we go inside the city with objectives,” I said. “We hit the control rooms first. Take over the power grid, gate controls, comms. If we can blackout key systems shortly after the gate goes down, they can’t organize. They’ll be blind and deaf. Confusion is an effective weapon.”
Soren tapped the map with the tip of her finger. “We cut the power. Then you funnel the humans through the gate while we secure the controls on the city. Communications go down; the Council can’t call reserves or coordinate troops. That’s our window.”
“What about the breeding compounds? The labs?” Silas asked with a scowl.
“We destroy the labs completely,” I said flatly. “We free the women carefully and quickly. We neutralize any stockpiles. We don’t let the fertility drug or the rage serum move another inch.”
Rowan’s voice was as flat as mine when he asked what I already knew he wanted to know. “How do we stop both of those things?”
“We work together to stop the Watch from dosing every captive woman into a blind rage. Elsie’s people will give us the intel we need and then we burn the labs, seize or destroy every vial, and make sure there’s nothing left.
” I looked up, meeting every face in the circle.
“We’ll need the cooperation of both the Resistances and the Watch to do it. ”
Soren’s eyes squinted then softened at the edges. “That’s a fragile peace to ask for in the middle of an assault.”
“It’s not peace we’re bargaining for,” I replied.
“It’s survival. If anyone doses the women—The Council or the Watch, on purpose or by mistake—humanity is doomed.
One dosed female, a weakened nineteen-year-old girl mind you, took down seven full grown, trained wolves in minutes, then went on to kill several lab technicians.
It took everything I had to fight her, and I still nearly died.
It still took Mariah shifting and tearing her throat out to stop her.
If anyone doses enough people with the rage serum, there’s no winner left to pick up the pieces. ”
Rowan rubbed the bridge of his nose. “If the Watch agrees to stand down and fight with us, this looks possible.”
The night wind hissed through the trees. Somewhere in the dark a twig snapped, and every hand went to a weapon.
A familiar voice called from the shadows. “Relax, mutts and martyrs. It’s just me.”
Elsie stepped into the firelight, grinning like she’d just walked into a bar instead of a war council.
Her coat was half buttoned, her rifle slung casually over one shoulder.
She looked at the map, then at Soren. “Don’t everyone jump up at once.
I know I’m late. Blame the mountains and a very talkative sniper. ”
Soren’s brows shot up. “You’re making jokes?”
“That’s my default setting,” Elsie said.
“I tried grim and silent once. Didn’t take.
” She dropped into a crouch beside the fire, warming her hands.
“But since we’re all friends now, let’s talk business.
My name is Elsie. I met with the Watch. Good news, they didn’t shoot me. Bad news, they think I’m crazy.”
Silas folded his arms. “And?”
“And…” she said with a grin, “after a lot of shouting and a few threats I mostly meant, they agreed to an uneasy truce. The Watch, the human Resistance, and your furry freedom fighters are officially on the same page.”
Rowan’s mouth twitched, fighting a smile. “That’s… better than I expected.”
Elsie shrugged. “Don’t thank me yet. They still hate wolves. They just hate the Council more. But they’ll follow my lead long enough to storm the city.”
“Then that’s the plan at least,” I said, “The Council dies with its experiments. The women live. And the Watch doesn’t get to use what’s left of that poison serum to kill everyone else.”
Elsie blew out a long breath and straightened. “Guess that makes me the referee in this little apocalypse. Great.”
Soren’s mouth and brows both rose in a hopeful expression. “You’re certain you can keep your people in line?”
“Absolutely not,” Elsie said, deadpan. “But I’ll try. They’ll behave long enough to take the city. After that, we’ll see if we can manage not to kill each other.”
“We move as soon as possible and set our rendezvous point in the forest outside the northwest gate. The Council’s not expecting wolves, humans, and the Watch to stand on the same side. That’s our advantage,” I commanded.
Elsie stood, brushing ash from her knees. “Then let’s give them the surprise of their lives.”
Soren nodded once, decisively. “We end this.”
I met each of their eyes in turn.
“Together,” I said.
They nodded and then leaned down to look at the map more closely, working through some of the finer details of setting up an operation this big.
Elsie caught my sleeve and tugged me away from the map and the others, pulling me into the dark between two stacked crates where the firelight didn’t reach.
“I need to talk to you. Alone,” she whispered.
Even in shadow she looked fierce, cheekbones hard, eyes bright with a dangerous sort of focus.
“Is there something else?” I asked.
She smiled without humor. “Yes. We need to talk frankly.”
I leaned my back against the crates and watched her. She lifted her chin and pulled her shoulders back, almost as if she were preparing herself for a fight.
“We all agreed to a joint attack,” she said, no preamble.
“Good. Smart. Pretty. But I have one ugly truth to shove onto the table.” Her eyes found mine.
“If the Council sees wolves and humans march on their gates together, they will immediately drug the breeding compounds with the fertility drug. They’ll dose every woman in their keep before we can reach them. ”
“They would, wouldn’t they…” I murmured, a cold feeling slicing through my chest.
“Oh, they absolutely would,” Elsie said. “They’ll be desperate. When the barn is on fire, the farmer throws the remaining grain into the flames if it means stopping the thief. It’s ugly, but predictable.”
“How do you know?” I asked. I didn’t doubt her, but I wanted to know what she knew, what her resources had found out.
She shrugged. “Rumors spread. People talk where they shouldn’t. The Watch has ears in plenty of places. Plus, I met a scientist who was too drunk to lie. He gave a nice little soliloquy about contingency protocols.” Her jaw tightened. “The point is we can’t let them have the chance.”
“Then we destroy the lab first and free the women as simultaneously as possible to that action,” I offered.
Elsie nodded. “Exactly. And that’s where your sweet little mate comes in.”
I blinked. “My—what?”
She rolled her eyes. “Your mate. Mariah. I need her on this run. No one else. Not because I’m sentimental, but because the Watch knows you’d die for her. It’ll keep you honest, in their eyes.”
“You want me to hand her over,” I said slowly, “to go into the belly of the beast, to use as collateral.”
She didn’t flinch. She folded her arms and leaned in until the firelight cut hard lines across her face. “Listen to me,” she said, her voice quietly urgent. “The Watch will not throw their people into your plan without assurances that they won’t be caught bare-assed in the midst of it all.”
My jaw tightened. “You told them that I’d agree.”
“Not exactly,” Elsie hedged.
“You’re using her,” I said, voice tight.
“No,” Elsie shot back, softening only a fraction. “I’m asking her to choose the only chance those women have. The Watch will agree to a truce, but they made it conditional. Mariah goes with me, or they don’t come at all. The Watch wants a sign of good faith. This is it.”
I felt the animal in me bristle. “And if she refuses?”
“Then you lose,” Elsie said bluntly. “You storm the city, and they dose them all, or you don’t storm the city and nothing changes. Either way, the women die after being used and abused. Again.”
There was a beat of silence as I processed what she was saying. I gritted my teeth, not seeing any way out of this that wouldn’t put my mate in danger.
“All right,” I said finally. “She goes with you, with my blessing and my blade. But one condition.”
Elsie arched a brow. “I was wondering when you’d get to the part where you tried to be dramatic.”
“You keep your people in line,” I said. “If anyone in the Watch tries to dose anyone with the rage serum, you stop them. I want you to swear it.”
Her eyes measured me for a long beat, then she laughed, and the sound was genuine. “Fine. I swear it. I’ll babysit my own rabble.”
She extended her hand and I took it. Her grip was rough and confident.
“Good,” she said. “Get her fed. Get her rested. She leaves with me in first thing in the morning.”