“Strip,” he said.
Thane raised an eyebrow. “At least buy me dinner first, love.”
Zel wasn’t in the mood “You’ve been in multiple locations. We don’t take chances.”
Thane nodded grimly and started peeling off layers—jacket, shirt, jeans—until he stood in just his briefs under the harsh lighting. The scanner hummed softly as Zel moved it methodically over his skin, shoes, belt, seams of his clothes. Lirian looked up from the monitors once, then turned back to his work without comment.
“Clear,” Zel finally said, tossing the scanner onto the desk.
Thane pulled his clothes back on, slower now, tension thick in his shoulders.
Lirian’s voice broke the silence. “I’ve managed to patch into a surveillance loop near the dock. Nothing fancy—it’s blind spot hell—but we’ll have eyes when the ship arrives.”
“What about the farmhouse? You did track it?” Thane asked.
Lirian raised a well-shaped eyebrow as if insulted. His long hair was pulled into an untidy manbun.
“Still the safest bet,” Lirian continued. “Whatever comes off that ship will go dark fast. We’ll have more coverage once they hit the warehouse. Multiple entry options. It will make for a cleaner extraction.”
Thane was only half-listening. His eyes drifted to the floor, then to the muted flicker of a CCTV feed on one of the screens.
“She looked…wrong,” he murmured to himself.
Maro had just entered from the side hallway, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “Who?”
“Theodora,” Thane said, his voice quieter. “I know we wanted Trish for information. I played the game, gave her what she wanted. But if it comes down to it…” He looked up, eyes steady, voice like ice. “I’ll put a bullet in her head. This is going to be a pleasure.”
Zel glanced over, a question in his eyes.
“I have to save that girl,” Thane went on. “Theodora. She’s suffering like we were. There was this expression in her eyes. She’s trying to hold it together. If we don’t act…if we wait too long…they’ll destroy her. I know it.”
Maro exhaled heavily, then stepped closer. “We need to stick to the plan,” he said. “We can’t deviate. You know that. We go off course now, and we risk everything. Too much at risk.”
Zel stayed silent for a moment, then said quietly, “It’s not her, Thane.”
Thane blinked.
Zel’s voice was gentler than usual, but firm. “She’s dead. You need to accept it. Whatever you think you saw, it’s your mind playing tricks. This is going to destroy you.”
Thane’s fists clenched and unclenched slowly. “I know, all right? You think I don’t know?”
He turned away, jaw tight, staring at the window though it only reflected the flat’s dim interior.
“I’m going to get some shut-eye,” he said at last. “They’re not letting me stick around for the drop-off. I’m no use until then.”
He didn’t wait for a response, just started walking toward the back room, his shoulders drooped. He walked to the bathroom to take his brown contacts off. His unusual eyes made him a liability. He had started wearing contacts since he started university.
Behind him, Lirian added, “I’ve got partial eyes on the docks…but trust me, the best chance we’ve got is when they move the shipment. Once they’re at the warehouse, we strike. Until then, we have to hold.”
The room fell into silence again.
Thane could vaguely hear Zel call Robin and Garric for backup.
The light from the screens blinked in soft hues. Fans whirred. Somewhere outside, a siren wailed distantly, swallowed by the night.
And in the shadows of his mind, Thane saw haunted blue eyes and blonde hair burning against a fire-lit sky.
***
