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Kaden found me in the kitchen, grabbing a quick tea with Luisca, when he walked in.

“Ready to go to the lake?” he asked.

It was still too early to have any privacy, and Luisca giggled. “What are you up to?”

“Come and see,” he said, walking out of the house.

I followed, and Luisca came with me. Kaden was at the lake with several other people. They’d walked up to the small portion where ice was floating in the water.

I looked at Kaden. “You’re doing this just to screw with me.”

He smiled. “You’re the one who wants to go, remember? Well, this is what the plan calls for, the one you helped develop. I’m doing it. If you want to back out…”

I wished I could call him a liar but knew this might be useful. If Iwasgoing to be tortured, it was by my own design. I kicked off my boots, leaving the rest of my clothes on, and then walked to the edge, dipping my toe in.

That hadn’t been a good move. Now I really didn’t want to do this.

“You two babies jumping in or what?” Tiber was laughing farther up the bank.

He wasn’t the only one there watching. Everyone seemed to want to lighten their day by watching us torture ourselves.

“You know, you should be doing this too. If I need a fill-in, you’re it,” I yelled to Tiber.

“Hey, you people want me to stay home,” he said, laughing some more.

“We don’t have all day,” Farrow said. He was the only one without a smile, like a curmudgeon principal who should’ve retired a decade ago.

Everything I’d said about Farrow not being annoying? Wrong. Utterly wrong.

I took a couple of breaths and jumped in. It was instant pain, with the cold making my muscles seize and my breathing falter.

“You’re going to have to go under,” Kaden said, his head already wet.

He was so trying to get me to quit, but a little water wasn’t going to do it. I dunked my head, stayed in for a few seconds, and then climbed up onto the bank.

“You want to lead this attack? You’re going to have to do better than that,” Kaden yelled from the water.

There was no way Iwasn’tleading it. I jumped back in—this time making it twenty seconds or so. Even the guys on the bank were shaking their heads, as if that were never going to cut it.

I took a couple-minute reprieve before I tortured myself some more.

I was lying on the bank after a couple more minutes of torture. Tiber and Luisca were standing around me, looking down.

“When it counts, it’ll make it easier,” Luisca said. “You’ll be prepared for the discomfort and be able to function easier through it.”

“Are you going to be up to recon tomorrow? You could always stay back here and I’ll go,” Tiber said, smirking. Then they looked at each other and started laughing again.

I got to my feet, heading back into the water.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Instead of dinner inside, Tiber and Luisca had suggested barbecuing. Then other people came out and joined. Remy, who played the guitar, started strumming a tune. Tiber rolled out a cask of wine, and somehow the night turned into an impromptu party.

“Does this happen a lot?” I asked Luisca, who was sitting beside me, sipping on her wine.

“Not usually, but these aren’t usual times,” she said, watching as some people began to couple up and dance.

Tiber walked over and wrapped an arm around Luisca’s shoulders.