“You had me at a disadvantage.” Arlo grinned at her, and she returned his smile.
Honor cleared her throat. “Why don’t you show us what you learned? Or were you making out this whole time?”
Juniper blushed and stepped away from Arlo. “We were practicing most of the time.”
Arlo reluctantly let go of Juniper. “I’ve got to do a check in on Mary, make it up to her for forgetting the coffee run yesterday. You stay.”
“Yes. Stay and teach us a few tricks,” said Annie. “It will be nice to give Heath a run for his money the next time he challenges me to target practice.”
Arlo kissed Juniper’s forehead. “I’ll let you know when we’re ready to go.” He liked Juniper making friends at the base. The more attachments she had here, the better. It would make it harder for her to leave. She was his as much as he was hers, but her reckless side still worried him. Maybe Honor and Annie could make her see that sacrificing yourself to save others wasn’t the best thing to do.
He gave them a wave as he left the room and headed to the workshop. Right now, he needed to focus on their upcoming mission. He had bombs to worry about as well as Juniper.
“SO, YOU AND ARLO?” Honor grinned at Juniper.
Juniper shrugged, suddenly uneasy under Annie and Honor’s intense stares. “It’s a new thing.”
“You like him?” asked Annie.
“He’s... different. He’s always on the lookout for other people, wanting to keep them safe.”
“Which makes him an Ember brother,” said Honor. “Kade is the same. He quite literally saved my life after I sent him a message saying I was in trouble. I hadn’t seen him for over a year, yet he turned up and helped me when I was most in need.”
“Same goes for me and Heath,” said Annie. “We hadn’t seen each other for months and parted on bad terms. When he knew I was in need of help, he was the first in line.”
“They sound like the perfect guys.” Juniper’s mouth twisted. Her dragon side certainly wanted Arlo. Juniper knew she would never feel the same again if something bad happened to him. If she suddenly lost him. The thought made her mouth dry. She couldn’t lose Arlo.
“Kade is far from perfect,” said Honor. “He hates having his hair cut. He’s like a child when I suggest he gets a trim. He also works too hard. I sometimes think he loves his computers more than me. The other night, the only way I could entice him away from his computer was by stripping to my underwear in front of him. Even then, he finished his last piece of coding before throwing me over his shoulder.”
Juniper gave a startled laugh. “He sounds like quite the romantic.”
“He is that, all right,” said Honor, a contented smile on her face. “I wouldn’t have him any other way. He’s always there for me when I need him. And, I’ll let you in on a little secret; find him a shot of espresso, and he’ll be putty in your hands.”
Juniper tilted her head. “What about Heath?” she asked Annie.
Annie’s eyes sparkled. “Well, he’s just Heath. He’s always worrying about other people. And, much like Kade, he works far too hard. He’s learning to let go a little. Now that we have more people at the base, there are others to take on some of the responsibility. I’m not sure he likes letting go all that much. But I’m not giving him any other option. I’m not having him working himself to death. Not with the wedding coming up.”
“You’re getting married?”
Annie grinned. “Heath proposed a month ago. I’m not sure when it will actually happen, though. There’s always some new fire to put out.”
“It will be great,” said Honor, clasping her hands in front of her. “Juniper, you must come with Arlo.”
“Oh, well, I guess I can.” She’d never been to a wedding before.
“If you’re with Arlo, then you’re definitely coming,” said Annie. “All of Heath’s brothers will be there. Honor will be with Kade, and Lincoln will come with Anastasia and Skyler. You must come.”
“If I’m not out on a mission, then I’d love to.” It felt so weird, talking about something as normal as getting married. Juniper had spent so long hiding from everyone, deliberately not forming attachments. Suddenly, she was surrounded by people, making friends and feeling included. She was surrounded by friendship and love. And although it was weird, she sort of liked it.
“Come on,” said Honor as she lifted her weapon. “We need to get in some practice.”
It was late afternoon by the time Juniper finally put down her weapon. She felt like she’d improved. She also realized she wanted to be friends with Honor and Annie. They were fun to be around, good-natured, and clever. And they were clearly committed to Heath and Kade.
“I’ll catch up with you both later,” said Juniper. “I want to see how Arlo is getting on, make sure everything is ready for tonight.”
Honor’s expression darkened. “Be careful out there. I heard from Kade what you’re planning. The State will not let you take that egg easily.”
“They can try to stop us, but they’ll fail.”
“When you get back, we must get together again,” said Annie. “Maybe do something other than target practice.”
“We can meet in the Down and Out,” said Honor. “Lion has a new barrel of something very alcoholic on tap.”
“Yes, we can discuss wedding plans if it wouldn’t bore you too much,” said Annie.
“That sounds good.” Juniper had yet to sample the delights of Lion McGinty’s bar. It was located not far from the base, and you accessed it through an underground tunnel. She’d heard people complaining about their headaches after spending an evening at the bar, so whatever was served there must be strong.
Checking the time, Juniper’s pulse jumped. It was not long until they’d leave to investigate the new site. The site where another dragon’s egg might be.
She said a quick goodbye to Honor and Annie and hurried to Arlo’s workroom. It was empty, no sign of Mary or Arlo. Juniper headed to the vehicle bay and found Arlo loading equipment into the copter. “Is everything ready?”
He looked over and smiled when he saw her. She felt her heartbeat speed up. This man had a crazy good effect on her.
“Almost. I just need to get the last of this equipment on board.”
Lincoln strolled over and grinned at them. “I don’t suppose you fancy doing the final checks on the copter for me?”
“That is your specialty,” said Arlo. “I’ve spent the afternoon surrounded by dangerous explosives, risking my life so you have a clear passage in your safe little copter.”
“It never feels all that safe when the State are firing at me with their long-range lasers,” said Lincoln. He hopped into the cockpit and flicked a few switches.
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep the bad guys away while you fly this thing.” Arlo winked at Juniper. “And Juniper’s getting good with her aim.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Lincoln. “It’s always good to have another sharpshooter on board when things get tricky.”
Heath and Ranger walked into the vehicle bay, already dressed in protective gear.
“Are we ready to go?” asked Heath.
“Almost,” said Lincoln. “Give me five minutes to run through the final checks.”
“Is this everyone?” Juniper looked at the group. There didn’t seem enough of them.
“We need to make this low-key,” said Heath. “That means a smaller group. I want us in and out without any problems.”
“Do you think that’s likely?” asked Juniper. “They’ll know we’re coming.”
“We’ll go in stealth mode,” said Heath. “The Invis-Tech on the copter will keep us off State radar. We’ve also identified a back door.”
“Old places like that are all the same,” said Ranger. “The people who built them were paranoid of being caught in a siege situation. They’d create secret entrances and underground passageways to escape through before they got captured and beheaded by the latest group trying to overthrow them.”<
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“Jude sent a drone to scan the area,” said Heath. “There aren’t any guards by that entrance.”
“So we go in, steal the egg, and leave?”
“That’s the plan,” said Heath.
“He makes it sound so simple,” Arlo whispered in Juniper’s ear.
He did. It sounded too straightforward to Juniper. The State wouldn’t just let them leave with the egg.
“We’re ready to go,” called Lincoln.
Heath climbed in, followed by the others. Ranger sat opposite Juniper and Arlo sat next to her.
She looked out the window as the roof overhead slid away and the copter shot upward. It was gloomy outside, a purple hue sliding across everything as night drew in. The tension in her shoulders lodged deeply between the joints. This could be a chance to get another egg. The thought made her breath catch. She wanted the dragons back so badly, wanted peace and stability.
Arlo handed her a protective vest and helmet. She took them and slid the vest over her head before strapping it into place.
“It will be okay,” he said. “No heroics this time. Don’t risk yourself if we find another egg.”
Juniper nodded, but she wasn’t sure she agreed with him. She’d do whatever she had to if they discovered an egg.
Arlo took hold of her hand. She relaxed a little as his warm grip enfolded around her fingers. There was someone else she needed to think about. She wasn’t fighting on her own anymore. Juniper didn’t want to lose Arlo. She needed to keep him safe.
“Not far now,” said Lincoln. “I’m bringing us down low in case the State are looking for anomalies in the sky. We don’t want them picking up our heat signature.”
Juniper watched as the trees grew closer. She saw the occasional blink of a light on the ground, but other than that, the night swallowed everything else up.
A few minutes later, Lincoln was setting the copter down in a small clearing close to a high hedge.
Everyone climbed out. Heath led the way, the group moving as one. Juniper liked the feel of being part of that team, working together on the same mission.
“Jude, what’s the situation down here?” asked Heath through the comms. “Any signs of soldiers or guards?”
“You’re all good,” said Jude. “No sign of movement where you are. I’m tracking you all. Keep heading toward the entrance and you should be fine.”
Juniper looked around, peering into the dense blanket of trees to their right. It shouldn’t be so quiet. The tension in her shoulders grew worse. She looked up at the enormous solid brick castle wall. The place was like a fortress with imposing turrets looming over them. Anyone could be watching.
“Let’s move,” said Heath.
They hurried around the edge of the castle, keeping close to the wall.
Heath paused by an overgrowth of ivy and shoved it aside. Beneath the ivy was a small wooden door. It was their way in.
“The State probably don’t even realize this is here,” said Arlo.
“Which is good for us,” said Ranger. “There won’t be any nasty surprises on the other side when we sneak in uninvited.”
Heath tried the door. It creaked open on its hinges, the swollen wood scraping against the stone ground.
Juniper noticed Arlo moved in front of her. She rested a hand on his back and stepped to one side. “There’s no need to do that.”
“That’s what we do,” said Arlo, “we look out for each other.” He nudged her with his hip. “In particular, I’m looking out for you.”
A warm glow filled her stomach. It felt good to have someone making sure she was safe.
“It’s all clear,” said Heath. He led the group into the passageway.
It was a damp, narrow space. They were forced to walk in single file. Arlo was in front of Juniper, and Lincoln behind her. They emerged out of the passageway into an open courtyard. The ragged flags of former countries waved weakly in the breeze over their heads.
Juniper shuddered. The place felt creepy, like she was in the middle of some horror movie and the monster was about to pounce.
“I’ve detected movement inside the castle,” said Jude. “A dozen separate signatures. From the positioning of them, they’re guarding someone. There are guards in formation and a single person in the middle.”
“Whereabouts are they?” asked Arlo.
“Head into the main part of the castle and continue to the end of the corridor. That’s the room you want. Looking at old plans of the castle, that room used to be a dining hall.”
“Let’s keep going,” said Heath. “Look out for any soldiers on the way.”
They continued in their previous formation and entered the main corridor, the stone walls covered in torn tapestries. Once-majestic oil paintings had been torn from the walls and ripped apart.
Juniper shuddered against the cold seeping from the stone walls. She paused as she felt the thrum of machinery vibrating under her feet. She touched Arlo’s arm and gestured toward a door on her right. “There’s something inside there.”
“Heath,” whispered Arlo. He gestured with his gun toward the door.
Heath nodded. “Take a quick look.”
Easing open the door, Arlo went in first. Juniper was right behind him. As soon as the door was open wide enough, a sense of dread settled over her. It was full of cylinders with tortured souls inside.
Heath and Lincoln followed them. Ranger remained by the door keeping guard.
Juniper swallowed her horror as they investigated.
“There are no survivors,” said Lincoln from the end of the row of cylinders.
“And also no egg,” said Heath.
A mixture of outrage and failure filtered through Juniper.
“Let’s move on,” said Heath. “We can’t help the people in the cylinders.”
They progressed along the hallway toward the dining hall, Lincoln at the front this time. He pulled up short and hissed out a curse.
In front of the group were two cages on either side of a set of ornately carved double doors. Inside the cages were what looked to be baby dragons.
Ignoring Arlo’s warning to stay back, Juniper raced over to a cage, her heart feeling like it was snapping into a dozen pieces. Disappointment and relief filled her. Now that she was closer, she saw the mottling on their skin and their malformed limbs. They weren’t dragons.
Arlo grabbed her shoulder and pulled her against his chest. “Be careful.”
She inched closer to the cage bars and blinked away angry tears. They were some kind of mutant giant lizard with elongated fangs and claws that could disembowel a man.
The lizard snarled, and saliva dripped from its fangs.
Juniper was grateful to have Arlo behind her. “Why would they create these monsters?”
“To scare us,” said Heath.
“To make us think they’d succeeded in bringing back dragons,” said Ranger.
“Because they’re sick, twisted assholes,” said Arlo. “We should put these creatures out of their misery.”
“Not yet,” said Heath. “Laser fire will attract attention.”
Juniper choked back her protests. She saw the madness lurking in the creatures’ eyes. They’d been tortured and tormented. It would be a kindness to get rid of them.
“I’ve got good news,” said Jude over the comms. “I’ve got a drone within range of the room the people are in.”
“Who’s in there?” asked Arlo, his hand remaining on Juniper’s shoulder.
“There are eight guards and what looks like a throne in the middle of the room. There are also three women in there.”
“I wonder who’s sitting on the throne?” asked Lincoln. “A commander, maybe?”
“Someone overseeing this place,” said Arlo. “The Twisted Asshole Commander of Creepy Castle Zone One.”
“I’m going to risk getting closer,” said Jude. “See if I can swing round the side of the castle and get an image of who’s sitting on the throne.”
They wai
ted in silence. Juniper leaned against Arlo. The fight in her felt gone after the shock of seeing the lizard mutants and the cylinders. If she could find a hole right now, she’d crawl in and forget everything she’d just seen. Although, she wouldn’t do that. Not yet. Not until they were out of here and everyone was safe.
“Holy fuck!” said Jude.
Juniper jerked upright. “What is it? Who are you seeing?”
“You will not believe this.” Jude sounded breathless. “It’s Emperor Endrir.”
Chapter 20
Arlo looked around the rest of the group. He saw shock and anger on everyone’s face. They’d never been this close to the leader before. Emperor Endrir was renowned for being elusive, never appearing in public. Now he was on the other side of these doors. The leader of the Dinnorms.
Juniper took a step toward the closed doors, making the lizards hiss.
Arlo grabbed her arm. “There’s no fucking way you’re going in there.”
As she turned her face toward him, there was no anger. Tears glistened in her eyes. This meant so much to her. Taking down Emperor Endrir would change everything.
“No one’s going in for now.” Heath shook his head as if shrugging off the shock of what they’d just discovered. He gestured the group away from the door. “Danni, we’ve got a situation here. With Emperor Endrir in the building, we cannot miss this opportunity. Permission to take him out.”
“Granted.” Danni’s voice sounded calm and composed. “We kill their leader, and this whole charade will fall.”
Heath looked at the group. What he was asking of them was basically a suicide mission. The Emperor wouldn’t go easy. He’d use any means to keep himself safe.
Everyone nodded in support of the attack, though, Arlo included. They all knew the risks. The reward would be worth it.
“Jude, give me the positions of everyone in the room,” said Heath.
“You’ve got a person in the center, I’m assuming that’s Emperor Endrir. Three women standing either side of him, two to the right and one on the left. Then, the guards are surrounding the Emperor in the center in an octagon formation, one on each side. They’re all armed.”
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