Page 49

Chief Aiken Oakley

Valor

The safehouse in Poppenbüttel was unlike any safehouse he’d imagined. It was a five-bedroom sprawling log cabin in the middle of a dense forest.

Thanks to Glitch, it had been reinforced with a firewall, wide-range satellites, and new-age technology, yet it blended seamlessly with the wilderness.

Jo and her team interrogated Zelmir, their voices clipped, demanding, while the young physicist sat with his head in his hands, threading his fingers through his disheveled brown hair.

He was distraught and mumbling incoherent words about needing his family.

Valor tilted his head and observed him harder.

Zelmir was probably a very handsome man when he wasn’t plagued by stress and grief.

His eyes were a more radiant green than his cherished’s, and now that he’d washed the grime and soot from his skin, his complexion had the depth of golden sandstone. His cheeks were peppered with dark freckles.

“If you want my guys to go in and rescue them, you need to tell me more about the secured area of the Ravens facility that only the director can access,” Jo demanded. “You also said you saw more men being trained as assassins. Start there.”

“Okay, I will tell you all I know or can remember.” Zelmir sniffled. “There’s…there’s a secured panel in the director’s office that leads to another area…”

Valor paid no attention to the interrogation.

Zorion sat beside him, silent but watchful, occasionally shifting his sharp eyes from Jo to Zelmir.

But as for Valor…all he cared about was when they would be given the order to go after the director.

He flexed his fingers, feeling the relentless energy pulsing beneath his skin, his enhanced strength and mastery seeking another release.

The door burst open, and all heads snapped toward the entrance.

Lion and Omega strode in, their clothes torn and smeared with dirt and blood. They moved with the weariness of battle, and Valor could smell it on them. The unmistakable scent of sweat, adrenaline, the reek of war.

Omega exhaled sharply. “The Black and the Brown Ravens. We were about to kill them.”

“That wasn’t the plan.” Jo stood, her mouth set in a grim line. “We don’t know if they’re dirty. I told you I needed to do more recon. I have people on the inside reporting on the hour. But if the Blacks are corrupt, then we will—”

“No, we won’t.” Lion’s expression was unreadable. “Meridian used a name of clemency.”

A ripple went through the room, and Jo’s grimace morphed into a curious frown. “Who?”

Omega lifted his head. “Alpha. Meridian knew his name, Jo. And his face.”

A heavy silence saturated the room.

Valor let out a sharp exhale of impatience.

“And what the hell does that mean for our mission?”

“It means,” Lion gritted, “that Alpha prophesied this moment. He said Meridian would meet his end. The end is Omega. And that Meridian was to use his name to save his life.”

Omega came toward him. “Valor, like it or not, Meridian is righteous in the eyes of the Order. Alpha trusted him enough to reveal his face to him—the only men who’ve seen Alpha’s face are me and Lion, his cherished Call, and his Beastmasters. Anyone else who’s gazed on him met their death soon after. Therefore, we are bound by the law of the Order to honor Meridian’s clemency.”

“Dammit!” Valor spat. “All of them are full of deceit. The Blacks were about to kill Zelmir. How do we know they won’t accept another order to move against us now?”

Lion’s gaze hardened in a way that told Valor to be quiet.

And he did. Lion was his grandmaster. He wouldn’t dishonor his title by continuing to argue against him. But he’d also sworn to his cherished that he’d never allow another scratch to mar him.

“Nothing,” Lion answered. “But you know the laws of the Order, Valor. And I saw Meridian’s face when we told him of the corruption. It was vengeful.”

“And Grace, the man of silence, appeared surprised at the information we told them,” Omega said solemnly. “Though he didn’t outwardly show it—he’s been engineered not to—but I could tell it bent his spirit. I’ve been on the side of a broken soul. I know that feeling, and it was rolling off him and Mirage in waves.”

“All right, I am a spy for the Order, and my allegiance is to them,” Jo cut in as if she’d heard enough. “We have work to do. Virginia, see if you can get information on the Blacks’ and the Browns’ whereabouts from their handlers. Glitch, get into the facilities mainframe and see who the director is talking to about the failure of his mission to kill Woyashi and Zelmir.”

Jo’s team began to scramble.

“Glitch, destroy all modules, blueprints, all that Zelmir’s done so far to rebuild that bomb. I’m going back in. I’m the Browns’ administrative director. I’ll be permitted to sit in on their debriefing,” she said. “I’m gonna figure out a way for you to meet with them. I believe it’s time the six of you have a conversation.”

Valor bristled, his blood running hot. He wanted to act, to lash out, but that was the puma in him. He was too disciplined to react rashly.

He gave a stiff bow to Lion and Omega when they walked by before retiring to their room for the evening.

Sable called Zorion over, where she had a spread of different arrows on a wide table. She hefted his compound bow and began to give him the tutorial she’d promised as if she knew he’d be back in battle again soon.

Valor found himself standing rigidly in the corner. Jo and her team glanced at him every now and then but kept working.

Zorion hefted his bow, as he listened to Sable’s lesson, not needing to be told an instruction twice.

Valor went to his cherished, crowded behind him, and pressed his mouth against the back of his ear.

“You know where to find me when you’re done.”

Zorion stilled only a moment before nocking another arrow, his answer unspoken but understood.