Page 36

W atching Wes walk in through the door caused the tangled jumble of confusing emotions—the ones I had worked so hard to shove into my imaginary Not Right Now Shitshow box—to come tumbling out, sending my stomach diving.

Giza stood once again, greeting the new arrivals. “Hello, everyone. Mr. Calvernon, good of you to join us as well.”

“Thank you for including me, Sergeant Major.” Wes tipped his head in acknowledgement before turning to face me. And face me he did—his expression was classically stoic, but his eyes were ablaze as they captured mine. My jaw dropped as I felt the intensity.

I didn’t get it. Why was he here? Was he always invited, and I didn’t know?

But if that was the case, how come he acted so surprised this morning when I mentioned I was meeting with Giza?

Maybe he didn’t know I was coming, and we were both equally surprised to see each other?

Whatever the situation was, I didn’t get much of an opportunity to contemplate it.

“Please,” Giza began as he motioned to the empty chairs, “have a seat.”

I swallowed hard, my eyes still held by Wes, who hadn’t shifted a single muscle.

But at Giza’s invitation, he took definitive steps toward me, pulled out the chair right next to me, and sat.

His eyes never wavered. And I watched him, feeling the intensity burn hotter and hotter until I thought I was going to burn alive from the inside out.

A wicked smirk flashed across his lips, causing my chest to tighten, my heart to quicken, and the burn to settle low within my body.

And then…it was over. He turned away from me, facing Giza across the table, leaving me to finally breathe.

Oh my ever-loving god.

I felt like running my fingers through my hair, like panting, like pacing, like doing anything but remaining seated and acting like that was the most normal exchange in the world.

Chill the hell out, Mara!

I didn’t know what was going on with me or with Wes, or how the hell it—whatever it was—was happening so fast. But I didn’t have the capacity for it right now. I shook my head quickly, trying to clear the cacophony of thoughts buzzing in my mind, and set my sights on Giza.

“Allow me to make quick introductions here,” he began.

“I’m Sergeant Major Giza for the Dissenters.

” He motioned over to the woman, “This is General Cassia Bynes of the North.” The woman tipped her head in acknowledgement before Giza shifted his body to indicate the man.

“Lieutenant General Michael Krous of the North.” The man gazed at us quickly before shifting his attention back to Giza.

“Miss Mara de la Puente, First Daughter of Telvia,” Giza said as he motioned toward me, all eyes following, making me feel uncomfortable under their critical stares.

I tried my best to keep from squirming and felt immense relief when Giza spoke again.

“And Mr. Wes Calvernon, First Son of the North.” Wes tipped his head, barely noticeable as he slouched back in his chair, making himself comfortable and giving off a very I don’t give an eff vibe.

Giza cleared his throat and then sat. With the push of a button, a projector screen came down from the ceiling.

“We’re here to discuss mission parameters for Operation Silent Night,” Giza continued.

“As you know, this operation will be a joint effort between Dissenter forces and the Northern military. Our objective is to sneak into the Bellfire Tower and rescue Jacob de la Puente, First Son of Telvia.” Giza picked up a remote, and with the push of a few buttons, the lights went out and the projector turned on.

Suddenly, Jacob’s picture was projected on the screen, and my heart skipped a beat as I saw his sweet face on display.

It was a professional headshot of him. He was wearing a dark blue suit that caused his blue eyes to pop like glaciers against the peach hues of skin and blond locks of his shortly trimmed hair.

He really was a handsome guy. He looked nothing like me.

In fact, it never occurred to me before how different we really looked.

My mahogany-colored hair, deep brown eyes, and tanned skin were a sharp contrast to him.

Light and dark, boy and girl, favored son and despised daughter.

He didn’t look like Raúl either, but he did look exactly like his mother.

Belinda … I shivered. As much as I was not a fan of Raúl, I downright loathed Belinda with all my heart.

And if I were to be completely honest with myself, I didn’t hate her as much as I feared her.

That woman evoked the most primal of survival responses out of me.

I could face my father, but facing Belinda felt like facing the devil in the flesh.

The image shifted, snapping my attention back into the room. An aerial photo of a single building located on a plot of land surrounded by a lot of something dark blue popped onto the screen.

“This is the Bellfire Tower,” Giza said.

“Thanks to the hard work of Miss de la Puente and Mr. Calvernon, the Admin Job was a success, and, for the first time in our history, we have photos and building schematics of the prison. This data is what will make Operation Silent Night a possibility, something that would never have been conceivable for the Dissenters or Northern Forces before.”

I shifted in my chair and couldn’t help the urge to cast a quick glance at Wes. But when I did, I instantly regretted it. Because, as it turned out, he wasn’t staring at the screen at all. He was watching me. My cheeks burned, and I quickly looked away from him and back at the aerial photo.

“As you can see, we’ve discovered the tower is located on a peninsula off the western coast. Sheer cliffs, as well as the Pacific Ocean, surround the building on the northern, western, and southern ends.

The only access is via this land bridge here on the east side, connecting the prison to the mainland. ”

Now they had my attention. The Pacific Ocean…

I had never seen the ocean before. The most water I had seen in my whole life was the river on my first day at the rebel camp.

Matias spoke to me of the ocean, but I really had no idea what it was or that it was something that existed.

Raúl worked pretty hard to keep the fear of drought in all Telvians, which I guessed included me too.

“I presume,” General Bynes interjected, “that the land bridge is heavily guarded?”

Giza nodded. “That is correct, General. Telvian army and REG officers appear to be concentrated on the mainland here, at a checkpoint for anyone attempting to cross the bridge. As well as here, where the bridge ends just before entering the prison. Furthermore, it appears that a fence encases the entire prison right at the edge before the land drops off into the ocean.”

Krous spoke up this time. “What about an aerial assault?”

“Too obvious,” Bynes scoffed.

“Although we don’t have confirmation, we assume the skies are monitored by radar,” Giza confirmed.

Bynes cleared her throat, a tart tone in her voice as she spoke.

“Clearly, the skies are of no use. The tower is surrounded by water, high on a cliff, creating natural defenses on all sides of her. The land bridge is a deathtrap. Even if we managed to get through the security checkpoint at the entrance, our team will never escape the bridge. From this imagery, there is no cover at all. They would be exposed to aerial attack or easily trapped on the overpass by Telvian forces on either side of the bridge.” She leaned back into her chair, the disdain etched across the lines of her face.

“It would seem to me, Sergeant Major, that this prison is impregnable. Any team you put together and send on this mission is signing up for their own deaths.”

My stomach twisted as my morning muffin started swirling in my stomach in the worst way. As much as I didn’t want to believe her, I wasn’t stupid. She was right. The little hope I had of saving my brother was slowly beginning to fade, to dissolve into a puddle of despair.

Giza cleared his throat as he rolled his shoulders back, standing a little taller. “That is why, General, we will avoid the skies and the land bridge altogether.”

“Oh?” Bynes’s nasty tone was still in place.

“And how do you propose to conduct this rescue operation?” Lifting a finger, she interjected with a side note, “Which, might I add, I don’t consider that Telvian scumbag to be in any need of rescuing.

As far as I’m concerned, whatever his awful father gives him is more than well deserved. ”

I clenched my jaw as I leaned forward to say something.

Because no one—and I mean no one—was going to talk about my brother that way.

I opened my mouth, ready to tell this woman off when firm pressure was placed on my forearm, and my voice caught as I noticed Wes’s hand holding me in place.

I looked up at him, seeing eyes that conveyed warmth and silently told me to wait, to hold my tongue, to calm down.

I stared back, my breath still caught in my throat.

He held me there as his thumb rubbed slowly across my skin, back and forth, stoking a new flame which had begun to burn deep within me.

And all the while, he maintained the easy pressure on my arm.

I shivered, exhaling as the anger slowly dissipated from my body, replaced by the familiar sensations and confusing emotions from before.

Sensing my posture relax, the corner of his lips tipped upwards, giving me a gentle and playful smile before he slowly released my arm and let me go. He shifted in his seat, and then returned his attention back to the room as I took a deep breath.

“So tell me, Giza ,” the woman pushed back, purposely dropping Giza’s title as a show of total disrespect.

“How do you intend to break into an impregnable prison with subpar information? Tell me, because I’m dying to report back to our president how you plan to waste Northern resources to rescue a criminal. ”

Giza’s face grew cold, brows pinched, and lips set in a thin line.

The silent fuck yous were loud and created thick tension in the room.

Giza held his head up higher as he stared this woman down.

“Excellent question, General . Our sources believe the prison has one weakness, and we plan to exploit it. It’s true that the land bridge is of no use to us.

The Telvians were smart in using the natural landscape of the area to maximize the security of the tower. But that is their weakness.”

“Meaning?” Krous asked.

Giza shifted his attention to the Lieutenant. “We’re going to take a water approach. We’re going to approach the prison from the sea.”

“That’s insane,” Bynes said through gritted teeth. “And who the hell are you going to find to lead this ridiculous suicide mission?”

Giza stiffened, ready to respond, but this time, I didn’t stay silent.

I cleared my throat loud and hard and became hyperaware as all eyes turned to me.

I stood up as straight and as tall as I could.

“Me,” I asserted loud and clear. “I’m going to lead the suicide mission, Ms. Bynes,” channeling my inner Chelsea as I purposefully extended her the same courtesy she extended to Giza.

“And I’m going to need you to be less of a bitch about it. ”

Boom! Mic drop!

And also…that didn’t go over as well as I’d hoped.