Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
My sleep is filled with hazy dreams of my father’s new affinity, of feeling bolted to my chair. Watching my fingers tap a table when I’d done nothing to lift them. I dream that I’m his puppet, forced to do whatever he wants me to do.
It’s past midnight when a buzzing stirs me, and I clamber over my pack to reach my phone, waking them all in the process. When I see the call is from Graeme, I immediately assume the worst. Has Cora been hurt or caught? We haven’t heard from her in over a day, and I’ve been worried.
I put the phone on speaker, and my pack circles around it.
“Graeme?”
“Wrong again. It’s Cora.”
Thank the saints.
My heart thunders in my ears. “You’re safe?”
“Right outside the castle’s magic. I’ve got Graeme and Jack with me. I got it, Juniper. I have the information we need to take down the Soldiers and free the hostages and omegas.”
“And the hostages?” I ask, feeling Cassian’s glimmer of fear through our bond.
“Alive,” Cora confirms. “But you heard the Prince’s announcement. We have to act fast. Come to the castle and bring your map.”
“Cor,” Jack protests. “It’s the middle of the night.”
“We’ll be there in twenty,” I promise, looking around the circle of my men, earning a nod from each of them.
Simon and I dash to the library, and he rips the map from the wall before rolling it up tightly.
He pulls me in for a quick kiss, energy thrumming through his whole body.
“This is it,” he says, just a whisper between us.
“And you’re ready, kit-kat. I know you are.
Ian told me how well you’re progressing in your training, and I couldn’t be prouder.
We’re doing this, and we’re going to win. ”
I return to my nest, and Simon heads to the adjoining room he shares with Cassian. We dress quickly and meet the rest of my pack at the door to the garage. We pile into the SUV, and then we’re off into the night.
By the time we reach the castle, Cora and Jack are both wired on coffee, ready for the long night ahead.
Graeme puts on a fresh pot of coffee as we enter the makeshift kitchen, nodding to each of us in turn.
He nurses his ever-present cup of tea as we crowd around the table.
While Cora would have balked at being surrounded by so many alphas before, she’s at ease now—and determined.
Simon spreads out the map and hands Cora a few colored pens.
“Have at it, Cora,” Simon says, and Cora gets down to work.
She writes furiously on the map for a few minutes, marking off rooms in red pen.
“It was hard to get a count of the Soldiers,” she says, “because when they’re not asleep, they’re in those creepy masks and they all look alike, but my estimate is that there are two hundred Soldiers in the consortium.”
“Two hundred? Truly, that many?” Jack grimaces. “I don’t like our odds. We’re more than outmanned.”
“I do like our odds,” Cora says quietly. “Especially if we attack at night.”
“We?” Graeme asks, aghast.
“Obviously I’m coming with you,” Cora says, a hardness in her voice I recognize. I used it with my alphas when we were talking about infiltrating the collar facility. “I can help. You know I can, so why are we arguing about this?”
“You could be hexed again! Or worse,” Jack exclaims.
“I survived the hex, didn’t I? And I survived life on the streets, confinement in an omega rehabilitation center and time in that awful collar facility. I’m stronger than you think I am.”
“We have no doubts about your strength, Cor,” Jack says softly, a look of supplication in his dark eyes.
He reaches across the table and takes her hand.
She flinches until she realizes she hasn’t zapped him, still wary of her magic, then laces her fingers with his.
“Surely you understand why we don’t want you fighting. ”
“I do,” Cora admits. “But you need to understand why I have to do this. There are omegas in there who will suffer a worse fate than I did as a collar test subject. Thirty-four of them, Jack. Slated to die so an alpha can have their affinity.”
“Did you see my father?” I ask quietly.
“Briefly,” Cora says with a sigh. “He’s surrounded by no fewer than five guards at a time.”
More than when I was held captive. His work must be pleasing the Prince.
I press my lips together and nod. I haven’t told my pack, but my intention is to face down my father.
I’ll be of better use taking him out than in battle, no matter how much my combat magic skills have improved.
Something in my soul needs this, to finally sever the puppet strings my father holds in his hands.
“You didn’t see…” I begin, my stomach roiling.
“An operation? No, thank the saints. But I wasn’t able to get as close to the medical school as possible.
It’s warded. I don’t know what operating room he’s using for most of his work.
” She drums her pen on the table. “There are still guards during the night, but they’re a skeleton crew.
The rest sleep in the ballroom. They’ve converted it into barracks.
It’s guarded by ten Soldiers through the night.
Plus, there are at least two Soldiers guarding each room holding hostages.
Another five doing rounds where the omegas are being held. ”
“That’s not insurmountable,” I say slowly, ticking the numbers off on my hands.
“Not insurmountable until the Soldiers wake up,” Graeme argues.
“It’ll be impossible to do this quietly, not with the volume of hostages and test subjects.
We must assume we’re facing the full contingent of Soldiers.
Jack is right. Even if every resistance member joins us, we’ll be out-manned by a large margin. ”
“What about the other omegas here?” Cora asks, leaning over the map to tap the section of the consortium holding the test subjects. “They’ll want to rescue fellow omegas. I know it.”
“We can’t ask them to—” Graeme protests, but Cora cuts him off.
“They want to fight back, Graeme. You know they do. This is their opportunity. Let them fight while they have a choice. The Prince isn’t going to stop at conquering the Council and the consortium.”
“It’ll be all-out war on the streets of Fairhaven,” I murmur. “I’ve seen it. We need to ensure that there are fewer affinitied alphas when that war comes, and the only way to do that is to take down my father and free the omegas in the consortium.”
“My darling, you never said,” Ian says softly.
“It was the other night while I was training. I saw affinitied alphas leading armies of Soldiers, and their affinities were brutal.”
“Plus, you heard what the Prince said about the hostages,” Cora cuts in. “In the palm of his hand and he’s about to squeeze? I know you don’t like the odds, but we have to do this.”
“I don’t like this either,” Marcus sighs. “Your father is heavily guarded, Juniper. We just don’t have the numbers.”
“Yeah, but we have affinities on our side.”
“So do they!” Marcus says, his voice raised, fear flashing through our bond. “Your father has given at least twenty-one alphas affinities.”
“And if left unchecked, he’ll only create more,” I grit out. “He needs to be stopped. Plus the hostages… Cassian’s family.”
Cassian’s expression is bleak. “The Soldiers aren’t negotiating for the release of hostages. When he made his announcement, he was talking about my father. But as much as I want to save my parents, this isn’t the way.”
“Then what is?” I demand, standing and slamming my hands down on the table.
“Baphomet’s Prince has the Council, and he ordered the army to stand down.
Help isn’t coming from anywhere else. We don’t have time to sit on our hands waiting for more members to join the resistance. We have to fight with who we have.”
Luca takes my hand and laces his fingers with mine, fraught tension flooding down our bond.
He doesn’t like this either, but he also knows that I won’t be stopped.
“Juniper has seen things that terrify me. Her visions have been accurate, and we don’t know if we can change the future.
If we can’t, she’s right. We’re looking at all-out war.
A war where we’ll definitely be out-manned.
Doing this the right way didn’t work. We’re all that’s left between now and a future so fucking horrible, she can barely talk about it.
If you value omega lives at all, we need to move, and quickly. ”
“This is Juniper’s life,” Marcus roars.
“And her choice,” Simon says, ice in his tone.
“And my choice too,” Cora adds, shooting a glare at Graeme and Jack.
“Cora,” Jack protests.
“We’re getting nowhere,” Graeme cuts in, trying to diffuse the situation. “Listen, I can arrange a resistance meeting. We can talk about it then. Try to formulate something approaching a plan that isn’t utter suicide.”
Aimee sticks her head into the makeshift kitchen. “We’re taking the fight to the consortium?”
“Yes,” Cora says resolutely. “We’ll tell the rest of the omegas in the morning.”
“Too late,” Aimee says brightly. “Your arguing woke most of us up. You keep running your mouths. I’m going to go get everyone together.”
Aimee gathers the omegas, and to my surprise, nearly all of them gather in the great hall, ready to hear about the fight we need to wage.
Graeme stares at the omegas, a frown on his face. I understand his reservations. While I’m amazed so many have volunteered, I almost wish they hadn’t. I can’t promise their safety, and neither can Graeme.
And my pack can’t promise mine.
I’m overwhelmed by their fear. My bonds are overloaded, and all that fear is for me.
For my life. But they won’t be able to protect me forever, not if the future can’t be changed.
No, I can’t think like that. I’ve seen other things.
Good things. I have to believe our actions can alter the course of this terrible war.
I have to believe I won’t be forced to watch them die.