Chapter 29
“Ready?” Nikolas walks over to the trunk carrying a large box, dressed in dark clothes.
“Yup.”
Kiya carries over two more boxes stacked so that they reach her chin.
“How safe is this?” I ask, looking at the wires coming out of one box.
“If we don’t crash, we’ll be okay,” she says.
“Good to know,” I say, climbing into the driver’s seat.
Nikolas gets in and slides the seat back to fit his legs.
“Sorry, it’s not designed for a werewolf.”
“It’s why we’re using it,” Kiya adds.
I pull out and see lines of werewolves forming at the house, all varying in height. Most are going on foot to the other side of the camp for daylight.
While we drive, Kiya goes over the plan and each of our jobs.
Nikolas is here to help with the weight of the wire.
We can only get so close driving, so we’ll have to carry it the rest of the way.
Plus, like Pratt and Stark, he has more experience in fighting humans. Not that experience is always enough.
I grip the steering wheel and practice being cool. I need our human heat signatures to be low. Of course, only so low—though me glowing whiter than a fire’s core is not going to help if someone turns their scope in the right direction.
A few hours later, we turn off the main road, and I slow the car to crawl for the narrow trail. The tires spinning in the deep mud, and I switch us into four-wheel drive. The boxes in the trunk thud as we heave over a bump.
“What about bumps?” I ask.
Kiya leans over the center console. “We might need to walk sooner than planned.”
“I’m down with that. I’d rather not explode,” Nikolas says.
Not wanting to risk any explosions, we roll a bit farther before stopping. With the engine shut off, Nikolas climbs out first.
“Stark told me you’d be staying put,” Kiya says.
“He isn’t here and will never know.”
“Aloka, we can’t disobey him.”
“You’re not disobeying him. I am. And I’m not risking this going wrong just because he’s overprotective. I know where we have to go.” I leap out, avoiding the mud the best I can. She follows and eyes me at the trunk, I don’t want to argue anymore.
“You two good?” Nikolas looks at me with concern.
“Of course,” I say.
“Let’s get moving then.” Kiya opens the hatch. I pull out the three sticks I added at the last minute and tuck them under my arm. She hands us each a wooden box with wires hanging out of them. “Now, you should know not to drop them. It’s better to be slow and not fall.”
I nod. Good to know. Amputation is certainly beyond my healing skills.
I adjust my grip, hugging the large box against my torso, and step into the woods. We’re coming in from the city side, where they don’t station any lookouts. All their guards are lined up facing our territory.
I watch my step in the limited moonlight as Kiya leads and Nikolas follows behind.
I keep tuned in for any sign of werewolf connection.
I might not be able to say anything, but I don’t want to miss important details.
The ground sinks in most places, and as we reach a fallen tree, I’m forced to go around so I don’t drop the wooden box.
We weave through the trees. I check the stars a few times to make sure we haven’t gone off course. In the distance, the camp comes to view with a haze of light in the sky, and I stop. “Here,” I say.
Kiya turns and comes back to me. We shift behind the biggest cluster of trees nearby. I rest the box on the flattest part of ground and shrink down.
“The building we’re looking for is on the edge, right ahead of us.
It’s not guarded, though we still need to be cautious.
There are often others walking around, even before daylight.
Especially on the inside of the camp, near the bar a few doors down.
We will stand out without guns on our backs.
These might be enough to throw someone off from a distance.
” I hand them each a large stick with a rope tied around it.
“Toss it over your shoulder so it crosses your back.”
“You thought this out well,” Kiya says while she adjusts the rope across her chest.
“We have no choice. If we fail, then this is all for nothing.” I pull in a breath of the damp air and crouch down over the boxes. “Go over it one more time, then we’ll move in.”
Kiya bends to sort through wires. “I can connect a few more things now if you and I can stay next to each other.”
“Okay,” I say.
She pulls out a pair pliers and twists wires together in the dark. I hope she knows what she’s doing. “We can leave the boxes here once everything’s set up. We want to move quickly. If someone sees the wires or us and we’re too close, we will get hurt.”
“Then you two turn and run. I’ll stay and light it,” I volunteer.
“No, Alo. I can’t leave you.” Nikolas places his arm on my shoulder.
“You have to. I blend in for real, and I might get away with being found. The second it’s done, you two turn and go far enough not to be seen by the scopes. Go help the others. They might need it.”
Kiya’s eyes find mine in the dark. “I agree with her.”
“Fine, but I’m not telling Stark this happened,” Nikolas says.
“Good. That’s probably for the best.” I start to tremble from the nerves crawling into my chest and stand.
Kiya finishes her part, and we start walking again. This time, Kiya and I are side by side. Nikolas follows us with the large spool of wire now out of its box, running along the forest floor.
“Another bust, man.”
We pause and listen. Two men walk together around a building on the far right, and we wait until their voices become distant.
Let’s go, Nikolas says through his connection.
Kiya nudges me, and I step forward. Nikolas tucks in behind the trees and hands me the end of the spool. I balance it on top of the small box, then Kiya and I move in.
We stop outside the glow of all the buildings, less than fifteen feet away from the unsettling man inside. I do wish I could get him out, but that’s not how wars work.
We look at each other and nod. Our footsteps are quick, my heart racing inside my chest. The second we crouch underneath the building, I take a breath, then drop the box and leave Kiya to it.
Out in the open on the pathway, I step on the wire to blend it into the muddy path. My chest feels tight, like I’m waiting for a bomb to go off next to me.
When I hear footsteps, I have no choice other than to stand tall and walk in the opposite direction.
I keep on the path, and their steps continue this way.
The stick swings a bit, and I cut around the sharp corner of the steel-sided building next to the one Kiya’s under.
I slow my uneven breath and duck underneath it, crawling on my hands and knees to hide my shadow.
The footsteps pause right behind the armory, then turn past it.
I crawl forward and spot Kiya’s form underneath the armory, hooking up the explosives.
She pulls at the tape, the stripping sound far too loud for comfort.
I scan the bases of the surrounding buildings for any sign of humans.
Hoping it stays clear, I crawl out and cross between the buildings to join her.
Dropping onto my hands and knees again, I motion for the tape.
When she hands it over, I tear off pieces slowly, not chancing the harsh sound she made when rushing.
Once she connects everything together, the bottom of the trailer will be a circuit in the darkness. I hope she got all the wires right without seeing the colors under here.
When she’s done, we shift to where we first ducked under and wait. Creaks in the trailer come from above our heads, and Kiya’s eyes go wide. I didn’t tell her anyone would be inside.
She’s more like Stark than I thought, Kiya thinks.
I try not to smile at her admitted thought.
We grip each other’s hands and bolt across the path into the forest. We reach Nikolas, and Kiya hands me the lighter, her other hand gripping mine tight.
“Go,” I say.
Nikolas gives me a hug and squeezes the air out of my lungs.
They both headback the way we came, and in seconds, two large wolves appear, then fade into the darkness. They’ll reach the pack in no time.
Now it’s my time to finish the job.
I follow the wire Nikolas placed and reach the end. I stare at the trailer, then toss my fake rifle onto the ground. They killed my brother, and I will do anything for my revenge.
As the sky above starts to lighten, the pack lines should be waiting on the other side.
I flick the lighter to test it, and a small flame sparks. I hold it down to the wire. It sizzles, and a small ember snakes along the forest floor. It speeds up, then disappears. Still, I wait, holding my breath.
Nothing happens.
I take careful steps to where the line is now disintegrated in the dirt. The line hit a puddle in a tree’s roots. I lift it up and dry the line with my shirt, but I’m too close now. I’ll have to make it work.
The building is less than five trees away when I light the line again. The small glow sizzles to the edge of the forest floor, and I gulp. I let heat fire in my limbs and bolt.
The second an explosion erupts behind me, I hit the forest floor behind a fallen tree. The boom tears through the air, shaking the ground beneath me. The sounds don’t stop ammunition ignites, and bark snaps off trees above as bullets and debris fly.
I stay down, hearing shouting over the shots. I lift my head up to see the armory engulfed in fire and no longer standing.
It worked.
A huge blaze burns, and the building next to it burns as well. Humans try to get close, but drop to the ground each time a shot goes off.
I suddenly feel a burn on the side of my shoulder. I turn and look through the hole from a bullet inside the trunk of the tree beside me. I pat my shoulder, and blood covers my fingertips. I have no time, though. I need to move.
Cooling the heated nerves in my limbs, I run.
It’s a long way to get to the other side of the camp through the trees.
If I just changed, it’d be easier, but I don’t know what the humans’ reaction will be.
They might start stationing each other in all directions.
Luckily, Kiya and Nikolas should be far ahead of me.
“Someone’s running.”
I twist and see two men running toward me.
They killed Pratt, I remind myself. I let the feelings flood me—his smiling face before he left the morning before, the knocks that came to the door in the middle of the night. The realization that I was alone. Tears prick my eyes and I take fast, short breaths.
“Who is it?” One of them shouts. I recognize the voice, Mike?
“Hey, you.” Guns in hand, they raise them at me.
My feet slow, then I toss the lighter and walk in their direction, straight toward the end of the two black barrels. Behind them, a huge blaze is lit as the humans try to put it out.
“It’s Aly. I, um, took a wrong turn. My SUV is stuck in the mud.” I point in the general direction of the old hunting trail. “I was walking along, hoping to find someone, when—” I look behind them and cover my mouth at the sight. A third building is now set ablaze.
Mike checks over me from head to toe. “Did you see anything out here when walking?”
“No,” I gasp. “No, I heard gunshots and ducked. Not fast enough.” I angle myself, and he shines his flashlights on my shoulder like it isn’t near daylight. Humans . . .
“Come with us. They’ll want to talk to you,” the hooded one says, not lowering his gun.
Mike adjusts his opposite of me. “You’re lucky we found you. Keep your eyes open. The beasts might be close.”
“You think?” I ask.
“The armory just blew up. Who else would’ve done it?”
“Maybe it was an accident,” I offer innocently.
“You’re the sharpshooter girl? I thought you left,” the other says.
“I did, but I changed my mind.” Flames prick my legs and feet. They have no reason to suspect me, other than the terrible timing of this. My SUV will be in the mud when they check, so that’s something.
They escort me back to camp, one on either side, guns scanning the surrounding area.
Mike guides us with a flashlight we don’t need.
The intensity of the fire stretches deep into the forest, lighting the way.
Voices shout over the blaze, and cracks come as the side of the building next door collapses in on itself.
“Let’s go around,” the hooded man says.
I don’t get much choice. We walk through the edge of the forest, where heat reaches our faces.
With no running water out here and only the holding tanks, they don’t stand a chance against the fires.
Large chunks of debris float into the sky lit with sparks.
I will them to land on other buildings. The forest is damp, so it should be safe.
There are more shouts as we reach a cluster of people, and a head turns, the stance hard to forget.