Lucas spoke from where he stood beside Nikolai. “Considering there won’t be any distracting army attacking—maybe we’d be better off going into the garden where they had kept the kids. From there, we can Jump to Isobel.”
Cara tapped her chin. “I promised Tareal and Lora we would get Jinsic out.”
“If Isobel is working on Brock, she’ll be on the uppermost level,” Rafael said. “The Hitzu was in the dungeon. Opposite ends of the building.”
Vali spoke up. “I’ve been memorizing the blueprints. I can keep us oriented if we have to use our feet to get there.”
“I can Jump a group into the garden off the library,” I said. “And then, we’ll have to split up.”
“How big a group can you Jump?” Talakai asked.
I raised my chin and met Lucas’s worried gaze. “My body seemed to handle the last load of crystal dust. If I take enough of it—and you Dragons stay human—I should be able to take a small strike force.”
Kiko and Vali looked at each other. Then Kiko said, “Vali might be our walking blueprint, but I can set people on fire. I’d like to go.”
Lucas looked around at everyone. “Me. Rafael. Anna. We’re the Isobel strike force.”
“You’ll need backup. Isobel won’t be alone,” Talakai stated. “I’m going with them.”
“Count me in,” Sebastian said.
“Might as bloody well make it a party.” The Aussie ran his hand through his hair.
Marcus straightened. “I’m in.”
“So am I,” rumbled a deep voice from the doorway.
Every head in the room swiveled, except for Cara’s. One corner of her mouth quirked up.
Havoc. How had he sneaked in here without me knowing? He refused to look at me, but kept his gaze on Cara.
“When it comes to killing, they don’t fucking get better than me,” the Dragon shifter said.
Despite the danger, my heart suddenly felt like singing. I met Cara’s gaze from across the room.
“Can you do that many?” Cara asked me.
I would have to. “No problem,” I said.
* * *
I rubbed the sore spot on my arm and stared at the golden rays dancing through the leaves.
The sunlight reassured—the council would not send in its forces until dark. It gave us time to complete our mission. And if we were successful—they wouldn’t need to go at all.
Tyrez and the others wouldn’t need to die.
Of course, Ash had clammed up as to who else he’d seen killed in this effort. But I hadn’t been the only one to notice his eyes skitter between Talakai and Sebastian.
The knot in my gut twisted tighter as I stood at the top level of the primary residence, where a huge open window had been shaped to reveal the jungle beyond. It was so beautiful, and the perfect place for me to embrace a few quiet minutes before we left. Time for the Hitzu venom to work its magic, which would connect Tareal to me while we were in the palace.
The Hitzus would be staying here at the treehouse with Cara, Ash, Nikolai, and Aria. Cara and Aria would be tasked with keeping Nikolai’s power in check, when he sent it to the strike team.
I was Jumping two teams with me. The strike team was made up of Rafael, Anna, and Lucas, but they would have the protection of Anna’s Bellati mate, Sebastian, the Aussie Dragon, Matt, and Havoc. The retrieval team—tasked with getting the Hitzu mate, Jinsic, out of the dungeon, would be me, Marcus, Kiko, Vali, and Talakai.
I got the feeling Talakai would rather have been on the strike team, but Ash insisted he go with us. Anna had placed a hand on his arm—the Dragon had stared hard at the Oracle, before giving in.
Ten adults. It was more than I had ever Jumped with before, but with the help of the dust, I was confident I could do it.
