I hate men pointing their fingers at me and demanding I obey. Sometimes diplomacy is overrated.
“You’re right, Manny. I hired you.” I crossed my arms and squeezed my biceps to keep from sprouting claws. “And now I’m firing you. Thank you for your service. You can keep the money and I’ll take your SUV and the demo.”
I turned away from his astonished expression to face Mike. “Mike, can you teach me how to set off those explosives?”
“No need,” said Mike. “I’m going with you. You can’t fire me, and I won’t stay behind.”
Manny spluttered, “This is insane! Mike, you can’t follow this crazy woman on a suicide mission.”
“I’d follow Luna through the gates of hell, Manny.”
16
One hour later we were driving through the midnight streets of Riyadh. Manny was at the wheel, Mike in the passenger seat, and I was back in the rear seat.
Manny had a few comments about going off half-cocked, but he had stopped complaining as soon as Mike and I had picked up our packs and made to leave. He even smiled while driving.
We parked the SUV about three blocks away from the compound where Logan was located, in a dark spot under a broken streetlight. It probably looked like the Saudi Electricity Company was working on a busted transformer.
Mike and Manny wore jeans and work shirts with the power company’s logo on the back. I was back in my abaya. I had volunteered to chop my hair off and wear a loose shirt and pants to blend in as one of the work crew, but both Mike and Manny had vetoed that idea.
“No matter what you wear,” Mike had said, “anyone can tell you’re a woman.”
We exited the vehicle in silence and stood for a moment.
“Mike, before I forget, you need a hug.”
Mike stepped into my arms willingly. I nuzzled his cheeks, spreading my scent on him. With my mark on him, Logan wouldn’t blindly attack.
I turned to Manny and opened my arms. “Your turn, Manny.”
“A cactus like you is giving out hugs?” Manny said. “You think letting me cop a feel before we go is gonna make up for you taking us on this insane mission?” His tone was light, but I knew he was still frustrated.
“It’s for good luck, Manny,” offered Mike. “It’s something we do before every mission.”
“Luck,” Manny scoffed. He took a deep breath. “I don’t need luck, I need—” He oofed as I moved in and squeezed him tight, tight enough that he couldn’t speak.
“I’ll do my best to keep you alive, Manny,” I whispered as I nuzzled his head.
I relaxed my grip. “You can still walk away.”
I could feel the tension seep out of him as he returned the hug. “I never bailed on a mission in my life, and I’m not about to start.”
He eased a bit more, then quipped, “You know, if you want to get together after this—”
“Don’t try to take advantage of my superstition. I’m still happily married.”
He wrapped his arms around me tighter and said, “Then give me all the luck you can spare, Luna.”
“Thank you for coming, Manny,” I said as I broke away.
Manny looked down at my feet and said, “Where’s your shoes?”
“Country girls don’t like shoes,” I said.
I stepped away, closer to the next section of brightly lit sidewalk. “I’ll wait for you at the perimeter wall.”
I gestured, and the next streetlight blinked out.
Manny’s steps started in my direction, then halted as Mike said, “Wait before you place that charge on the transformer. We don’t know what Luna’s directed EMP gadget will do to the demolition charges.”
Directed EMP? Mike had a talent for passing off my use of magic as high-tech gadgets.
I raced barefoot through the night, zapping streetlights, cameras, and sensors as I ran, weaving a path of darkness through the city.
At the foot of the outer wall, shielded from observation by darkness, hexed cameras, and a one-woman cloaking spell, I prepared for our assault.
I put on my indestructible gloves, crafted from the hide of a Nemean lion, and pulled Silkworm from my bag.
I tossed her knotted head up against the wall while holding her tail. She slithered over the wall and under the razor wire. The line pulsed under my hands as she found purchase on the far side and locked in place.
I looped her tail to form a belay loop, stepped into it, and ordered, Lift me up, Silkworm.
The line tightened and lifted me by six inches, then halted. Silkworm pulsed under my hand as she tightened and convulsed, but she didn’t have the strength to pull me up. Poor little thing still wasn’t recovered.
I extruded my claws through the slits in the fingertips of my gloves, allowing me to gouge them into the cement wall and pull myself up to assist Silkworm.
Just below the top of the wall, I halted. I created a soundproof bubble around myself, then jammed the claws of my feet into the wall to support my weight. I wanted to let Silkworm rest a bit while I worked.
I examined the obstacle. Stainless steel coils of wire were strung along the top of the wall, a razor blade welded in place every few inches. I scraped a claw against the metal and barely made a scratch. This was tough stuff.
Well, against werewolf claws, it was tough. Against werewolf claws combined with magic, it parted like tinfoil. Once the steel was cut, I pushed the links apart, leaving just enough room to slide over the wall. I could have cut out a larger section but dropping a loose coil on either side of the wall would have attracted attention. Hopefully, in the darkness, no one would notice the tiny gap for the short time it would be open.
I dropped to the ground and patted Silkworm on her head. Wait here and make noise if anyone comes. I felt her nod before I raced to the next wall and repeated the procedure on that wall’s concertina wire.
This close, Logan’s agony called to me. I resisted the urge to race to him, destroying everything in my path to free him. Racing blindly into danger had gotten him into this mess, and I didn’t want to repeat that mistake.
Silkworm rustled to let me know someone was approaching. I raced back and clambered over the wall to drop back on the street just as Mike and Manny arrived.
I concentrated, juggling multiple spells at once. I managed to sheath us all in cool air to thwart heat sensors, created a soundproof bubble to prevent us from being heard, and froze the cameras in place around the wall. They would still show images, but halting them in the right place had left this section of wall as a blind spot.
“Okay,” I whispered, “you can set your bombs here.”
They both shook their heads. Manny said, “We want the explosives to blow debris away from us. The charges go on the inside of the walls.”
I wouldn’t have thought of that. Good thing I had recruited experts.
“Good idea,” I agreed. I reached above my head with both hands, grabbed Silkworm, and jerked. A twist in mid-air and I was sitting on the cleared space at the top.
Mike and Manny were staring up at me. “What?” I said. “It’s only twelve feet. Tie the packs to the line and I’ll pull them up.”
One by one, I pulled the packs up and lowered them gently to the other side of the wall. Silkworm made it easy—she unknotted herself at my mental command to release the packs once they were on the ground.
That task finished, I dropped Silkworm back down the outside wall and slid down, landing silently beside my team. Mike had put on his impervious gloves; Manny had a set of plain leather gloves.
I made a knot to form a belay line at foot level. “Mike, put your foot here and climb. The loop will follow you up and keep you from slipping.”
“I don’t need the loop,” said Mike. “It’s only twelve feet. I could probably jump up and scramble over.”
“The sound suppressor only works when we’re close. The loop will let you get up and over silently.”
Mike nodded and climbed up and over the wall. A quiet thump announced his landing on the
other side as I made another loop in Silkworm for Manny.
Manny was squinting through his night-vision goggles at the knot. “What the hell kind of knot only works in one direction? And where did you learn to do that?”
“Free-climbing champion of Wyoming,” I said. “Now get your ass over that wall.”
Manny put one foot in the loop and pulled himself up with a grunt.
Uh-oh. His arm was still weak from months of being immobilized. I put a hand under his butt and pushed, raising him to the top of the wall. He scrambled over and made a louder thump upon landing.
I didn’t bother with the belay loop, just grabbed Silkworm and jerked myself up and over the wall through the gap in the concertina wire.
I held on with one hand and pulled the wire back in place to hide the fact that it was cut here. Not a great disguise, but the longer we went without discovery, the better. Then I dropped to land silently beside my team.
“Good girl,” I whispered to Silkworm while patting her on the head. She retracted and coiled herself up into a neat bundle.
Manny was busy a few feet away, so intent on setting his charges that he had missed my comment.
While Manny worked, Mike and I humped the other pack over to the inner wall. We repeated the sequence to get the pack, then Mike, over the wall.
It was straining my resources to their limits to maintain the infra-red and soundproof shields over Manny at one wall and Mike at the other, but I pushed through the effort. Mason made this stuff look easy.
I was able to ease up on the magic when Manny finished and ran over to the inner wall.
Manny gestured for me to go over the wall first. Had he been embarrassed that I had pushed him over the outer wall? Should I let him take the rear? Could Manny hang by one hand and close the concertina wire? Hell, no.
I shook my head forcefully and whispered, “Manny, get your geriatric ass over that wall. I’ll follow you.”
He shook his head and I glared at him. Something in my eyes must have convinced him—either that or he remembered his chain of command—because he scrambled over the wall quickly.
I repeated my actions to close the wire and dropped to the inside of the compound. Mike and Manny worked quickly to set up the second set of demo charges here.
While they worked, I took a deep breath and probed the night, using senses both magical and wolf. This close, I could scent both Logan and Alisha. They were being kept in separate sections of the building, Logan in some underground facility and Alisha in an upper-story room.
The scent of Logan’s blood and his pain through the link decided me on our first objective. Alisha didn’t seem to be in distress. Logan first.
Mike and Manny stood, their work done. Now that we were inside the well-lighted courtyard, Manny stripped off his night-vision goggles and stashed them. We hoped their Saudi Electricity uniforms would provide a moment’s hesitation in any guards that spied us. A moment was all I would need.
“I’ve got point,” I said. “Follow me closely. I’ll stop at the edge of the sensor’s range.”
Manny opened his mouth to object, but Mike gave him a quick hand sign and he shut up and followed.
A few feet into the compound, I encountered the pentagram shield spell. Placing it closer to the iron-reinforced concrete and the stainless-steel concertina wire would have negated the spell. It pulsed with foreign magic—some kind of instant-stroke curse combined with bad luck.
I stopped and sniffed. The taste of this magic was familiar, reminding me of the genie we had left buried in the desert. The same genie or a close cousin? I couldn’t tell. They weren’t mortal enough to have the markers I used to identify individuals. Maybe if I met a few more…
That thought sent a shiver down my spine. No, I’d be happy never seeing one again.
The powerful curse slid over me, impotent as a bad smell, as I stepped forward. I turned and held a palm up to halt Mike and Manny. From this side, the shape of the curse was clear. With a gesture, I opened a doorway in the perimeter and gestured my team through. As they passed, I touched each man’s shoulder, placing a protective hex on them.
Another pause as I worked the cameras that continuously scanned the inner courtyard. Instead of burning the cameras out, I froze the motors in place when they were faced away from us, creating a blind-spot corridor that reached the house. Any guard looking out a window would see us, but these guards were either sleeping or depending on the automatic defenses and alarms.
“Follow me,” I whispered, “precisely. Don’t take any shortcuts or the cameras and sensors will see you.”
Mike and Manny obediently trailed me on my zig-zag path through the open area. The way I wended our path, what would have been about two hundred meters in a straight line took us over twice that distance.
At the door, I magically bypassed the sensors and alarms. I used my magical lock-pick to open the door quicker than a human could have opened it with a key.
Once inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I inhaled and scented a human, barely a second before she appeared at the end of the hallway. She was a grandmotherly type in a shapeless floor-length black housedress. She jerked at the sight of us, and her eyes grew wide. I gave her my most sincere smile and put a finger to my lips to shush her.
No good. She opened her mouth to scream.
Then the ball of nitrogen I had formed around her head took effect. Her eyes rolled up and she collapsed to the floor.
“Good thing she fainted,” murmured Manny.
Mike and I swapped a look as he used flex-cuffs to bind her hands and feet. Manny opened a door, revealing a closet, and Mike placed her inside as gently as possible while I fretted at the delay. He was sometimes too nice for this kind of work.
There was no one else up at this hour, so we quickly made our way to Logan’s location. A door opened onto a downward-running stairwell that led to another door. We waited on the stairwell for several moments as I probed the area beyond the door. No scent of anyone other than Logan.
I opened the door to a well-lit garage and stepped through.
There were no cars here.
Logan, in wolf form, was held by a collar made from two half-circles of solid silver, welded together to encircle his neck. A length of braided silver cable, about three meters long and thicker than my thumb, ended in an eyelet at the collar. The other end of the cable was looped around the pillar and through the eyelet at that end.
I raced to Logan and stroked his head, avoiding contact with his restraints. The tight collar was coated with Logan’s blood, which burned and smoked at the touch of silver.
“Don’t worry, Logan,” I whispered, “your alpha’s here now. We’re going to get you out of here.”
I channeled moonlight magic through my touch and joy leaped in my heart as Logan’s eyes flickered open.
From the other side of the room, Manny said loudly, “Are you crazy? You brought us on a hostage rescue mission for a fucking dog?”
17
Logan and I both stared at Manny and growled, my blue eyes expanding to match Logan’s deep amber.
Manny backed to the door, palms up and sweating profusely.
Mike stepped forward to block Manny’s view, and said, “Hey, Logan. Let’s get you out of here.”
He froze at Logan’s growl. I erected my soundproof bubble around us to prevent Logan’s growls from waking everyone in the building.
“He’s been stuck as a wolf for too long,” I said. “Don’t move. Even with my scent on you he might attack.”
I forced my eyes and fangs to shift back to human. Manny was shaking his head back and forth, rejecting what he was seeing.
I crooned in Fae to Logan, using the sleep-inducing lullaby I had used on the twins and Mike. His enraged eyes dimmed, and he blinked slowly several times. Each blink took a bit longer than the previous one.
Finally, despite the pain caused by the silver, he slept. I eased his massive head to the ground and stepped away. I pulled my glove
s on, grabbed the cable, and gave it a tug. The loop tightened against the pillar and the cable groaned, but everything was solid. Maybe the cable was a mixture of metals? If it had steel strands interwoven with the silver, it would be much stronger than pure silver.
“We need to break this cable so we can get him out of here,” I said.
“You don’t have any tricks to get him free? Can’t you unsnap that collar?”
“That’s not a dog,” Manny muttered behind us. “That’s a goddamn wolf.”
“No. It’s welded and so tight it’s embedded in his flesh. My lock-pick won’t work, it’s too strong to break, and the construction makes it impossible for me to freeze.”
“Freeze?” muttered Manny.
“Yeah. I once froze a link in a silver chain to liquid nitrogen temperature to make it brittle enough to break like glass. I was able to isolate that link from the next, and I still almost lost an arm. If I try that with this cable, it will freeze Logan before I can break it.”
“Why not use those fancy hydraulic snips you used on the concertina wire?” asked Manny.
Because my claws won’t work on silver.
Mike stepped in with, “They broke after she cut the last wire.” Turning to me, he asked, “Can’t you force him to shift to human? The collar is tight, but his neck is a lot smaller when he’s human.”
“Not as long as he’s touching silver.”
“There’s got to be something we can do,” said Mike. “Maybe use some C-4 to break the cable?”
I balanced the efficiency of my sound dampening field against the force needed to blow the cable. The explosion would either kill us or bring down the roof on our heads.
“That won’t work. Maybe if both of you put your hands under the collar around his neck to isolate—”
“Hell, no!” Manny jerked his head around like he was searching for a way to escape. “I’m not getting within ten feet of those jaws.”
Lycan Legacy - 4 - 5 - 6: Princess - Progeny - Paladin: Book 4 - 5 - 6 in the Lycan Legacy Series Page 66