“Let’s move to the conference room so we can video conference with Anne.” Hunter directed the group to the meeting room.
Once seated around the table, we connected with Anne via video feed.
“Do we know who he would choose as a replacement?” Anne asked once she’d been brought up to speed.
Marcus spun to face her image. “I don’t know who made his short list. I’m guessing they were all from my coven though.”
“You seem to know a lot about Michael’s coven. Why can’t one of your people extract Gabrielle?” Hunter asked Marcus.
“I like to keep all of my business separate.”
“That way no one person knows too much?” Alena questioned.
“I am not trying to be duplicitous.” Marcus’s shoulders rose and fell. “Everything I do, I do for the good of my family and the witch community.”
“I believe you in that.” Anne turned away from the camera as if in thought.
My brain turned over and over the various scenarios. Marcus’s assumption that we’d be implicated if Camille and Gabrielle were taken the same night sounded spot on. What if we made it look like we thought Camille was still at the compound? Stage a rescue attempt at the castle as a distraction? Marcus could take Tyler, as planned, and Grady and I could go to the northern site to rescue Camille. Alena and Hunter wouldn’t have to be involved at all.
Ideas and strategies proposed by team members were recorded on the electronic screen. In the end, we didn’t have the intel to stage Camille’s rescue that night. My knee bounced with frustration, but I didn’t want to rush into anything. We wouldn’t get two shots. We agreed to lend support for Gabrielle’s extraction as planned that evening. The team removed Tyler’s role as he wasn’t needed. Marcus would handle getting Gabrielle to her waiting father and brothers, and they would escape via boat. Anne assigned six vampires from her guard to go on the point boat and six to follow on each of two more boats.
It surprised me that she was willing to commit so many resources to Marcus. Perhaps she assumed they had become true allies. Maybe Anne felt if she went all in, he would too. I wondered if she were investing a lot in a prophecy that might or might not help her people. Did she really believe vampires had no souls? How could any being not have a soul? Did I think toads had a higher consciousness? Not really. But my mother? If she were half vampire, half human, did she have a soul? Did I believe in this prophecy? I wasn’t sure, but I knew Camille did, and I would do anything for her.
My thoughts wandered to Anne’s predicament. Masses of vampires believing they were soulless meant they believed they were damned from the beginning. They had no chance for an afterlife, therefore no reason to be a good citizen. Would performing a ceremony with a magic ritual, that supposedly granted her people souls, rein in a wild vampire community? I wondered if my mom felt empty inside because she was soulless. She’d battled drug and alcohol addiction since puberty. She’d tried every spiritual fad that came along. Of course, I figured being half vampire and unaware would put anyone over the edge.
“Do we know how Gabrielle feels about this?” Alena’s voice brought me out of my thoughts, and my eyes cut to Elia and his sons.
Elia shook his head. “She’s seventeen. She thinks Theron walks on water, that he’s the prize bull.”
“A bull is a good metaphor,” Hunter chuckled.
“Has anyone tried to talk with her? Will she be willing to go with you Marcus? Or will she put up a fight?” Alena asked.
Marcus cleared his throat. “She won’t suspect me. I can get her to the exit point.”
Hunter stood. “Then we’re all set. We should get you to the boats. Dimitri will take you.”
Anne stood too. “May the spirits be with you, soldiers.” She pushed a button on the desk, cutting the feed from her location.
“Do you have specs for other safe houses Michael’s coven may keep?” I shadowed Marcus as he made his way to the helicopter pad.
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow. I’m expected for dinner, and I’ll be late as it is.”
I watched him get in the helicopter, praying he had some intel for us. When I spun to go back inside, I slammed into Tyler.
“He know anything?” He fell in step with me.
“I don’t know.”
“I hope so.”
I held the door for him. “At least you’re not bait anymore.”
Inside, I tried to rally the troops to talk about Camille’s rescue.
Alena wrapped her arm around Hunter. “They haven’t found anything on the satellite images yet. I’ve got to get something to eat and blow off some steam. You with me?” She kissed his cheek.
“Sure.” Hunter smiled at her and then looked back to me. “We’ll get on it first thing tomorrow.”
Grady, Tyler, and I took our meals to the tech room and studied the maps, listing possible scenarios. Without intel on the structure, we couldn’t get far, and we joined Alena and Hunter in the communications room to monitor Gabrielle’s abduction. I’d tried not to think of the mission that way, but after hearing that she was perfectly happy with her situation, it seemed to fit better. I got that you didn’t want Michael’s coven to have that much power, but I figured they’d replace her with another from Marcus’s family. I wondered how he would play the kidnapping. He’d have to fake being upset and enraged.
The team arrived with the girl after midnight. She kicked and screamed as they led her handcuffed into our building.
Alena approached Elia. “She doesn’t look happy.”
“No. She’s been completely brainwashed by Theron. He’s told her he’s been watching her for months, couldn’t wait to finally meet her, and now that he knows her, she’s even better than he imagined. She sees a white wedding dress, being adored by everyone, and she’s bought it how do you say? Hook, line, and sinker.”
“I’ll talk to her.” Alena skipped ahead.
“Don’t take the cuffs off. She’s quite powerful,” Elia called after her.
“Got it.” She followed them into the room we’d arranged for Gabrielle. Elia and his sons exited to her screamed accusations of them treating her like a prisoner.
Tyler and Hunter posted themselves outside the door, but I followed Elia. “When will Marcus return?”
“He has his part to play.”
“We need him.”
“I’ll contact him tomorrow. I need rest.”
Finding no one in the halls, I made my way to the satellite room. Orm sat watching the screens.
“Any word on how Marcus is doing?” I asked.
“No one has noticed Gabrielle’s gone yet. The signal that they knew was to be a call from Marcus to Elia.”
“Where’s Marcus now?”
“Sir.” A tech guy motioned to Orm. “Marcus is leaving the compound.”
“Stay on him. We can’t bring him back to this base yet. We’ll extract him tomorrow.”
I took a deep breath. Marcus was my best hope for rescuing Camille sooner than later.
Orm placed his hand on my shoulder. “You should get some sleep. You look like hell. We have our best tech people searching the satellite images.”
“Thanks, I think.” With my adrenaline rush wearing off, I stood and walked out of the room.
Navigating to my quarters, I contemplated sleep. I hated it. Every time I lay down, Camille’s image appeared behind my eyes. My chest ached with her absence. You need rest, I told myself. You have to be at the top of your game. Lying in bed, I rattled off prime numbers in my head until I fell asleep.
In the morning, I wound through the base looking for Orm. Finding him in the cafeteria, I bent down to speak to him. “Where is Marcus?”
“Good morning, how are you? I’ve been better, thank you.” Orm patted the seat beside him. “Sit down and eat, son.”
“Sorry, but we need to get moving.”
“He’s sleeping. Something I would love to do more of.”
“He’s here?” I spun around, thinking to
go knock down his door and demand information.
A chair slid out, blocking my way. “Eat something, I said.” Orm’s voice came from behind me.
“Not bad for an old man.” I smiled at him.
“You better watch it. I’ll old man you.” He ranted as I walked away.
Joining the food line, I loaded my plate, and sat down beside Alena and Hunter. “Were you guys up when Marcus came in?”
Hunter nodded. “Yeah, he wasn’t happy that we’re keeping him.”
“I say Marcus, Elia, and the sons go nowhere until Camille is safe.”
“That’s a little extreme,” Alena commented.
“We helped him. How is the girl anyway?”
Alena shrugged. “Probably the same as I’d be if I were her, angry.”
“I guess Theron didn’t try to impress her by killing her friend.” Hunter stuffed a bite into his mouth.
“Do you have to remind me of that?” Alena frowned.
“Sorry.” Hunter wrapped his arm around her. “Just want to keep fresh who he is.”
“We’ve talked about this before. He’s a pawn.”
“No, if he wanted to help you, he would be here instead of there.”
“Why would you think Theron is a pawn?” I cut in.
Alena dropped her fork to her plate. “Because, he wants to be free, doing their bidding gives him power. Once he’s in power, he’ll be free. That’s the only out he sees. He doesn’t see that if he joined us he’d be free.”
Hunter leaned towards me and pointed at her. “She’s deluded herself into thinking he can be saved. She feels bad for him because he’s a hybrid with a deranged father.”
“How do you know he wants to be free? Maybe he wants power like Sonia and Thanatos. How will fulfilling the prophecy help him?” I looked past Hunter to Alena.
“Once the witches are free, and the vampire’s souls united with their bodies, everyone will see that witches aren’t a threat to vampires, vampires aren’t a threat to witches, and hybrids aren’t a threat. Then we’ll be free, both of us, all of us.” Alena lifter her fork and made a circle in the air.
“You’ll still be the most powerful beings on earth. You’ll always have a target on your back.”
“Once Theron’s free, he won’t feel the need to create an army of hybrids.”
“What did I tell you?” Hunter picked up his bagel. “Hopeless optimist.”
Alena stood and walked away. I caught Hunter’s arm as he rose to follow her. “Why is Alena so adamant? Why does she think she knows him?”
Hunter’s eyes grew hard. “They went out a couple of times, dated sort of.” He turned and walked away.
I was batting zero for the morning, so I took my tray and headed to the satellite room.
“Any luck?” I asked the technician.
“There’ve been no changes since the twenty-first.”
Realizing we’d need to compare the pattern before and after the winter solstice, I pointed at the display. “Mind if I give it a try?”
“Go ahead.”
I went back to the prior month, noting the traffic to and from each residence surrounding the sites we slated for Camille’s location. Remembering the pattern, I started examining the satellite footage for each day following the winter solstice. Several people came and went behind me, but I lost track of time.
“Thank goodness he found something to do,” I heard Alena’s voice behind me.
“I can hear you, you know.”
“Don’t forget to eat.” I heard the door close behind me.
Eight days after the solstice, the movement changed. Instead of one trip from the house to the east of the target, there were two. Checking the footage for the next few days, the traffic renamed the same. A vehicle arrived at seven and, a few minutes later, a similar vehicle—I couldn’t be sure whether it was the same one or not—left. The same thing happened twelve hours later.
“This is it.” I jumped up. Realizing I was the only one in the room, I checked my watch. It read six thirty, and I made my way to the dining hall. Seeing Alena and Hunter, I pulled them to the far wall. We passed Janine and Grady, but I decided not to get their hopes up until I was sure.
Alena put her hand to her hip. “You’re trembling. Eat, and then we’ll talk. They said you didn’t leave that room all day.”
“I found it. I want you to look at it to confirm,” I whispered to them.
“Good, because Marcus hasn’t been any help.” Hunter’s eyes cut to the table where Marcus and his family sat.
“Where’s Gabrielle?” I asked.
Hunter rolled his eyes. “She won’t come out of her room.”
“Let’s not tip off Marcus. We’ll review the footage with you after dinner.” Hunter slapped me on the back. “Good work.”
I filled my plate and took a seat next to them. While eating, I ran through the various ideas for getting to the location in my mind. A plane would be fastest but more dangerous. A boat in the dark water could be easier to hide, but it was slower and there was the ocean factor. The vampires Anne had sent to transport Gabrielle seemed to know the area. Perhaps their knowledge should be the first place to start.
We need to get everyone together. I pushed the words to Hunter’s mind.
“Alena and I are thinking of going to the gym tonight. Want to come?” he asked.
“Sure, sounds good.” I agreed.
Finishing my meal, I made my way back to the satellite room and studied the maps while my food settled. Alena and Hunter joined me a few minutes later. They agreed that the change in routine at the eastern structure indicated it was most likely the coven’s building. They agreed to let everyone know to meet in the gym, and left to change. I waited a few minutes, switched clothes in my room, and made my way to the gym.
“I think we should call a midnight session,” Hunter whispered as he spotted me. “I don’t want Marcus to know anything.”
“Works for me,” I told him, thinking I might literally crawl out of my skin before then. At least we had some options from the research I’d done.
Tyler and Grady joined us, and after exercising our muscles, we worked on our magic. Grady taught Tyler a cloaking spell, and after two hours of working on it, Tyler could hold the shield for five minutes.
“I’m going to get a shower. I’ll catch you later,” I told them after my three-hour workout. Then I communicated via my telepathy. You heard about the midnight meeting, right? You should make sure Janine knows.
“Yep.” Grady nodded. “Catch you tomorrow.”
Our core group—including Fahim, Dimitri, Aaron, Anne’s head guards, Orm, Chalondra, Janine, Grady, Tyler, Alena, Hunter, and myself—met in the tech room at midnight. Anne’s image appeared on the screen minutes later.
“So, Jude, I think this is your show,” she said.
“Yes.” I stood, clearing my throat. “Thanks to all of you for coming.” I started by explaining how I’d noticed the changes.
“But we can’t be one hundred percent sure that the location is the correct one?” Grady asked.
“I went back two months in the satellite data. There was only one time a day that a vehicle traveled to or from that location. Since the twenty-ninth, there are two at twelve hours apart. All the other residences are consistent. There weren’t any changes in their travel patterns.
“And you double checked that your blood”—Tyler’s shoulders shuddered—“stopped at those coordinates?”
“Yes, we blew the image up to get a precise location.”
“The intel is solid,” Alena stated.
“So, the question is, how do we get there, how do we get in to get Camille, and how do we get out? And when do we go?” I made three columns on the board.
After two hours of deliberation, we’d come up with a solid plan. It would take two days to gather all our resources and coordinate travel, but I felt confident that within three days I would have Camille back. At nearly three, I made my way to my room. Too wound up to sl
eep, pulled out my laptop and found a map of Sardinia. I pricked my finger and let a small drop of blood fall on the screen. Again, it traveled north to the open space just south of the coast. I cleaned the screen and lay on my bed, feeling more connected to Camille than I had in weeks. I reached out to her with my mind praying she’d have some sense or feeling that I was close. As it’d been since I’d left her in the castle, there was no response. This time, I didn’t fret knowing we would be together soon.
I was responsible for the gear, ground team, and travel arrangements. We needed a vehicle on Sardinia, and a flight to get six people into the nearby airport. There was a charter from Rome that flew twice a day, and I reserved seats for the five o’clock landing time. I haggled with the rental car company until they agreed to have a black sport utility vehicle with tinted windows available when we landed.
After making those arrangements, I focused on the tools we might need. I met with Grady, Tyler, and Alena to assess their skills, I packed a backpack for each of them filled with weapons most suited to their strengths. Tyler would carry the tools, Grady the chemical weapons, and Alena the knives, nun-chucks, and first-aid items. I packed my martial arts weapons and blades. Each of our bags included a wetsuit, breathing masks, and three ready-to-eat meals. Mine contained double of each for me and Camille.
It took me a day to prepare, and then it became a waiting game. The team held workout and mission planning sessions that evening and a final mission review the next morning, but it still left me enough time to be anxious. My focus shifted to thoughts of Camille and the condition she’d be in. She’d been in pretty good shape before, and I prayed she still was. I didn’t let myself entertain thoughts that they harmed her. I couldn’t, or I’d go crazy.
“Did everyone double check their gear?” I asked as we loaded our bags in the vehicle.
“Yes, Jude.” Alena rolled her eyes and crossed to where Hunter stood. “Be careful.” She kissed him, and I diverted my gaze. With my ear turned their way, I continued to listen in.
“You be careful. And don’t do anything stupid,” Hunter whispered.
“I think I have five guys making sure of that.”
Kingdom of Honor (Kingdom Journals Book 3) Page 12
