My destiny was likely preordained, as well. I had no idea how long I could hold on. Because the fading issue was real. The crystals and the sword were merely staving it off, for now.
But if I gave in to it before Riggs was ready to protect her, the monster would break free.
It would consume her. And then Bree would know what it was like to be imprisoned within another.
I would die, again, before I let that happen.
23
Riggs
The Shades gathered in the bright lights that lined the front of the building.
Breana and I stood with the other Dragon team members. I admired the glitter of crystals in her hair—she’d tied them in, rather than leaving them around her neck.
I supposed shapeshifters needed to worry about those things.
It was now pitch black out. Cody read out a list of which instructors the teams had been assigned to. Most teams were working in pairs, but it seemed we were to be alone, with Cody as our instructor.
The Sabre shifter took us deep into the meadow before telling us why.
“Most Night Games are done with two teams—a recon, and a strike. But Dragon has the ability to fly solo—you have excellent recon talents with Adilyn’s Faerie form and Nar’s camouflage, as well as the strength to complete the actual mission.” He paused to let us absorb that. “As your team is so new, and hasn’t had much time together, I am going to accompany you. Physically, I will interfere as little as possible, but I will provide guidance.”
I relaxed a bit, reassured that he would be leading us. We’d worked together with the volcano refugees, but it wasn’t the same as training as a unit.
“Our target has agreed to provide us an educational opportunity. They know we are coming, but not exactly when. If they catch us, they will utilize nonlethal means to subdue us. And we, of course, are bound to the same means to complete the mission.” He made eye contact with each of us, and we nodded.
“Okay, team. Here we go.” He shouldered a substantial pack, and handed out dark cloaks for us to don, before leading us to the gateway. Pausing just outside it, he extracted ear communicators from the pack. “These have homing crystals for both our destination and the academy. So do not lose them. Hoods up.”
We obediently installed the comms and raised our hoods before he took us through the gateway.
We arrived in an alley, and Cody moved as though he knew where he was going. Adrenaline flooded through me, and every sense I possessed sharpened in anticipation. As we followed the Sabre down the darkened street, I realized I was enjoying myself.
What I’d sensed before hadn’t been a fluke—this kind of thing satisfied something deep inside of me. With my amnesia, it couldn’t be rooted in training or memories.
It had to be part of who I was.
My mother had said as much. Could she be right? That I was still who I’d been, despite my not remembering?
The thought was curiously reassuring as Cody took us to a building off the main drag and inside a space with a large “for lease” sign in the window. There, he pulled blueprints from his pack and spread them across a desk.
I peered at a drawing of a large four-story building that appeared to be surrounded by a substantial-sized forested area. It was located on the outskirts of the town.
“Okay. Our target is a machine, three feet by two, and it weighs about 200 pounds. It is held in the basement of this building, behind a locked door. The building is surrounded by a deep moat with a single bridge spanning it. Ground is open for three hundred feet, then forested beyond that, but not densely.”
I listened as he outlined the security—two guards at the bridge, another on the roof, and three that circulated through the surrounding forest.
He paused. “Each of you have talents that will help us achieve our objective. As you are all still developing them, we will be cautious in their use. Bree and Riggs, both of you require more training before you can reliably call your talents to bear. So for this mission, we will be relying on your physical aspects.”
Breana’s eyes had widened. “Do you mean my shapeshifting ability?”
Cody nodded. “Which do you think will be most useful for this?”
Her dark brows dropped. “The roof guard would see the Gryphon in an instant.”
“That’s right. If we get in a pinch during the withdrawal, it might be useful then. But that isn’t your only contribution.”
“My equine can carry weight,” she said.
