by Olivia Ash
“I think you’re going to like this,” Jace says, holding open the door to the private war room in his suite.
The table inside is littered with dark blue papers. White markings and sketches cover every page, and my heart leaps with hope.
The blueprints.
Finally.
And none too soon.
I jog toward the pages, spreading out the papers one by one as a slow smile breaks across my face. “Is this—”
“All of them, yes.” Jace shuts the door behind us and rifles through a few of them. “Drew’s contact really came through. Even I’m impressed,” he adds, a bit reluctantly.
“Wow.” I page through four levels of the compound, marveling at the detail. Secured room notes. Access panels. Codes.
This is a goldmine.
All that waiting really paid off.
“I’ve secured the medevac chopper and a few guards to protect it,” Jace adds. “Two medics will greet us and tend to Irena during the flight.”
“You must have cashed in quite a few favors,” I say with a glance toward him.
He shrugs.
“Thank you,” I say, truly grateful.
With a modest nod, he continues to rifle through the blueprints, and I figure I already bled him dry for the day in terms of warm-fuzzy moments.
“Rory,” he says, his tone serious and firm. “For this mission, I want you to stay close to me. No matter what happens.”
I frown, but after everything we just discussed…
“Fine.” I sigh. That complicates things a little, but I can work with it. “But Jace, keep in mind—Ian told me he would kill anyone I bring with me. If you go in with me—”
“He won’t kill me,” Jace says with a confident shake of his head. “Or Drew. He knows he can negotiate for a shitload of money by holding either of us hostage.”
I let out a little sigh of relief. “You’re sure?”
“Very.”
“And Tucker? Levi?”
“They’re at risk,” Jace admits. “But both of them already know the dangers, Rory. They’re doing this despite the threat of death. You already know that.”
True.
I sigh, mind buzzing with ideas as I debate the best way to keep each of them safe.
Jace clears his throat. “However, I don’t suppose you would be willing to exclude—”
“Nope.”
If Levi, Tucker, and Drew want to help, I won’t stop them—besides, Levi proved he would go with me into battle, no matter how hard I try to stop him. Tucker and Drew would probably do the same.
Jace groans, shaking his head a bit in mild irritation, but I catch the barest hint of a grin on his face as he looks away.
He and I—well, it seems like it’s back to business as usual, and in this case, I’m entirely okay with that.
In my pocket, Ian’s flip phone vibrates. I fish it out, expecting a phone call—but the text message icon flashes instead.
Jace and I share a brief glance, and I scan through the message.
It seems we’re running out of time to play our game… Let’s make the final moments interesting, hmm?
I frown.
Interesting indeed.
Ian Rixer has no idea the storm that’s coming for him—and that’s the point. I don’t want him to have even the slightest hint of what I intend to do to him.
Time to set my sister free.
“We still have no idea what this bio-weapon of theirs is,” Drew says, absently tapping his finger on one of the blueprint pages.
Drew, Jace, Tucker, and I stand around the table covered in blueprints, three hours into our planning session. Tucker chomps on a powdered donut in the corner and leans against the wall, since Jace forbade him from touching anything.
Jace scratches his jaw. “My contact in the hospital is prepared to figure out what she was infected with. There’s nothing else we can do except wait, unfortunately. With his expansive lab, he’ll be able to run tests on Irena’s blood once he gets her in there. He’s prepared to do so at a moment’s notice.”
“And the antidote?” I ask.
“He’ll examine it first, of course,” Jace says casually. “Just in case it’s a fake. But with a bit of analysis and some blood samples, they’ll determine if the antidote will work or not.”
I tense, not liking the risk in this plan, but it’s all we have.
As I rifle through the papers, a plan begins to form in the back of my mind. “Where’s the page with the tunnel access? The one that—”
“Here,” Drew says with a wry smile, pulling out one of the papers from the rest and setting it in the middle of the table.
I grin in thanks, unable to mask a flirty sidelong glance at the fire dragon.
In my periphery, Jace tenses, glancing jealously back and forth between me and Drew.
Eager to diffuse the situation before either of them can start anything, I clear my throat and tap the page. “We don’t have much time left, so we have to act tonight. It looks like there are four main entrances we can take that have minimal security.”
“Minimal is being a tad generous, don’t you think?” Drew says with a laugh. “There’s at least four men at each post, plus an access panel and cameras.”
“Yeah, well, I never said it would be easy.” I shrug and point to one of the tunnels. “Drew, I think you should go in here. You can overwhelm the guards before they sound the alarm, and I’ll give you some of my remaining voids and my modified handgun to take out any cameras you encounter. How’s your aim?”
“Impeccable,” Drew says with a cocky grin.
“Voids?” Jace interrupts, confused.
“Yeah, uh—hmm,” I hesitate, wondering if he’ll make the connection to his command center. “They’re little square devices that can—”
“Put a camera on loop?” the dojo master finishes with a weary sigh. He sets his face in his palm and shakes his head in frustration. “Rory, seriously? The person breaking into my command center—that was you?”
“Exonerated!” Tucker shouts from the corner, pumping his fist in the air.
Jace shoots the former Knight an irritated glare and just gestures for me to continue, like he can’t deal with this right now.
“Right.” I clear my throat. “Tucker enters here—”
“No, no, not there,” Drew says with a frown. “Too much surveillance.”
I hold the paper up, tilting it a little. Quirking an eyebrow, I wonder what he’s seeing that I’m not.
“Here is better.” Drew taps another tunnel, not far from the one I originally chose. “Trust me. With the limited angle of the corners here—” He taps the page. “—and here, Tucker can get in without being seen. Provided he can take out the guards.”
“Bet I can get more than you,” Tucker says with a smirk.
Drew leans his palms on the table, surveying the weapons expert with a wry grin. “I’ll take that bet.”
“Alright, gents, focus.” I shake my head, trying to suppress a laugh. “Levi distracts them here,” I say, pointing to another spot on the map of the fortress exterior. “Ian is smarter than Mason, so he’ll be expecting a decoy attack and will quickly mobilize against Levi, but Levi is stealthy and lightning fast. He can handle it.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Tucker polishes off the last of his donut. “His body count at Mason’s place was almost a hundred. Eighty-three, I think?”
“Really? Jesus,” I mutter. “Well, he’ll be able to draw military power away from the main compound. Drew, you’re our security guy. I would like for you to get to the command center and cut off surveillance and power. Uh, please,” I add with a brief glance, trying to comply with the no-bossing-each-other-around rule. “Tucker, you’re going to get us out of there in one piece.”
In my peripheral vision, Jace tenses, glaring daggers at the former Knight standing across the room. “Are you sure it’s smart to leave him in charge of our only way out?”
“Dude, I’m right here,�
� Tucker snaps, clearly annoyed.
“We have to do this as a team, Jace,” I say curtly. “Together, or not at all.”
The dojo master shrugs in answer, and I get the distinct impression he’s coming up with another plan in case my trust in Tucker falls through.
Trying to bite back my annoyance, I press on. “At this point, just about everyone knows about Jace’s connection to me, so they’ll be expecting him to be there. They might know about Drew and Tucker from Mason’s security footage, but I doubt they’ve been able to identify everyone. They likely have no idea who Tucker or Levi even are, and we can use that to our advantage. Given Drew’s strength as a dragon, I figure they won’t expect him to infiltrate their compound in human form, and that gives us a leg up. They’ll be looking at the skies, waiting for him to attack from another direction. All of that gives us a distinct advantage.” I look around the table at each man, pausing for a moment. “Any questions?”
“Yeah,” Drew says with a slightly sarcastic tone. “What are you and Jace going to do? Sit back and drink cocktails?”
I grin, leaning my palms on the piles of paper littered across the desk. “Since they know for sure both Jace and I are coming—” My grin widens at my mischievous little plan. “—he and I are going to get caught.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jace and I crouch behind a thick mountain bolder overlooking the Vaer compound where they’re holding Irena.
This is it.
I stretch my fingers in anticipation, knowing full well there will be a lot of bloodshed before the night is over.
Careful to keep my head low, I feign an attempt to hide. Beside me, Jace does the same, his body temptingly close. His attention focused on the compound below us, he absently slides his hand across the boulder near mine, and I can practically feel sparks as our bodies ache for each other.
I scan the compound beneath us, trying to ignore the way my heart calls for him.
Their advanced thermal tech has probably already picked up our heat signatures, but that’s kind of the point.
“Twenty soldiers on patrol,” Jace says quietly, squinting as he surveys the scene below. “Wait, twenty-four.”
“Every bit as bad as we thought,” I say with a shrug.
The tension builds in my shoulders as I wait for the signal. We can’t move until Tucker and Drew are in position—they’ll only get one chance each to tear through the weakened defenses once Levi, Jace, and I act as decoys.
This is a risky plan. It’s built on precision, timing, and trust—trust that Drew can get to the command center. Trust that Tucker can get us all out. Trust that Ian is cocky enough to gloat and show me where Irena is.
I grit my teeth, a little nervous, wishing I had more control over the situation. The intel we got was good, but there’s always risks at a facility this advanced—and well-guarded.
“Hey,” Jace says quietly, his voice a little gruff. It’s a soothing tone, soft and tender, and it catches me off-guard.
Though the rest of me remains utterly still, my eyes flit toward him. He’s watching me with a concerned expression, and as our eyes meet, he leans slightly toward me.
“This is going to work,” he admits. “Yeah, sure, I would rather you were safely back at the dojo, but this is our best option. You came up with a solid plan.”
I smile. “Did that hurt for you to admit?”
“Maybe a little.” He chuckles, turning his attention back to the facility below us. “I’m used to coming up with the logistics by myself. It’s not usually a team effort.”
With a small chuckle, I shrug playfully, trying my best to diffuse the tension in my shoulders.
Without a word, Jace slips his hand over mine, and a small white spark pops in the air between us as we touch. It fizzles, like static electricity. Heat courses up my arm, radiating from him, and I feel a bit calmer with his touch. He squeezes my hand lightly, weaving his fingers through mine.
It’s intimate. Kind. Gentle. Everything I’ve come to think Jace can’t be.
He gives me a brief smile and returns his attention to the facility.
In true Jace form, that one little moment said so much, and he did it all without saying a word.
We can do this, it said.
Together, we’re unstoppable.
And, perhaps most notably—Don’t give up on me.
My smile fading, I try not to think too much about the quiet little moment. As difficult as he can be, as much as he pushes my buttons and drives me wild, I just can’t dwell on any of it right now.
The facility—Irena—needs my full attention.
Despite the tension in my shoulders, I try to relax. So much of this plan hinges on me playing coy. I have to appear relaxed and confident—even when my gut is twisting with anticipation.
For the fight.
For my family.
For revenge.
A roar splits through the night, piercing and violent. Instantly, it’s met with a dozen more, and a colorful assortment of dragons take to the skies.
Levi’s signal—and the beginning of our little attack on one of the most secure buildings I’ve ever seen.
I square my shoulders. No turning back now.
Time to get caught.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
With a sharp punch to the back of a soldier’s head, I take him out.
He falls to the ground, his black uniform identical to the other four guards we just took down.
A red light beeps on the control pad by the door that leads into the fortress, and Jace quickly tugs an access card out of one of the soldiers’ pockets and slaps it on the scanner.
He holds his breath, eyes shifting between the still-red access panel and the door. I fidget, eager to get in, eager to get on with this.
Two angled half-walls arch out from the door, offering a small enclave for us to hide in. I lean my back against one of them, trying to stay out of sight of the camera in the concrete yard between us and the wire fence.
It should be turning toward us at any moment, and we absolutely have to get inside before it does.
We can’t get caught out here.
It’s too early.
On the ground, the soldiers should be out of frame on the camera. Sure, security might notice the sudden and suspicious absence of guards by this entrance, but all that matters is we get inside.
We have a bit of hunting to do.
The access panel flashes green, and the door buzzes as it opens. Jace holds the door and ushers me inside, his eyes fixated on the camera as it slowly turns toward us.
We race through the empty hall toward the laundry room—our ticket into the fortress. A boring entrance, sure, but we ideally need to explore a bit first.
It’s good to have a backup plan, and we need to know what we’re up against in terms of military forces.
Jace and I sneak through the halls, and I wish I had a com in my ear so I could talk to the others. However, we can’t give Ian access to a secure communications line, and he’ll definitely check for one when he catches us.
Too bad. I want to know how Levi is faring, fighting all those soldiers. I want to know if Tucker made it through into the tunnels. I want to know if Drew is heading to the command center, or if he’s been caught.
The success of my plan hinges on everyone else’s success just as much as mine, and it makes me nervous to have so many moving parts. At any moment, the tide could turn, and we would be royally screwed.
Every instinct I have warns me to take out the cameras as we pass them, but I can’t waste the voids. Not when the point is to eventually get captured.
Ahead of me, Jace pauses at a corner, peeking carefully around. My ears strain for the clatter of footsteps, but it’s quiet.
Too quiet.
One of the flaws in my plan is that we have no idea where Irena is. Even Drew’s guy didn’t know, so part of my job in all this is to goad Ian into taking me to her.
An arrogant guy like that—once he sees
me in chains, he’ll want to gloat. Show me how close I came to saving her. Maybe force me to watch as he injects a poison, trying to get me to agree to things in an effort to save her.
Men like Ian—they like having power. Over others. Over life.
True, he could just throw me in a cell and kill Irena out of spite, but the man put a dining table in the middle of a field, just to throw me off.
He likes his theatrics.
In a way, I suspect they’re his only source of fun, and he’s not about to let a prime opportunity to display his power pass him by.
I’m taking a risk, true, but it’s my only option.
Jace looks back at me and nods his head toward the corridor, a silent gesture to follow him as we continue our hunt through the fortress.
I nod.
“No, not that way,” a familiar man’s voice says over the loudspeaker.
Ian’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard after all the silence, and I grit my teeth, wondering how long he’s been watching.
Jace and I hesitate, making eye contact, but ultimately we can’t give ourselves away. He could be bluffing, or this could be a recording—we have no evidence he actually knows we’re in here yet.
We continue as we were, ignoring the voice, though the thin hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Through the muffled loudspeaker, Ian clicks his tongue in disappointment. “Rory dear, I offered you quite a fair deal. And this is how you repay me? Taking out my men?”
We pause at another corner, trying to ignore the voice. It cuts through the air, affecting my ability to listen for signs of soldiers around us, but I strain to do it anyway.
As far as I can tell, it’s clear.
As we turn the corner, Jace stiffens, setting one arm out to shield me.
A man stands in the hallway, standing perfectly still. He’s dressed in an immaculate suit, his hair perfectly combed and tidy. With one hand in his pocket, the other holds a cell phone near his mouth.
He grins knowingly at us. “Hi there, Rory dear.”
His voice booms through the speakers in the ceiling, probably for added theatrics.
