Reece Cahill had been running his own op in Canada long before Circle Daybreak was revived. His team had been working together for years; they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses and their missions tended to run with the smooth grace of a dance. But here, he felt out of his element, leading a group of strangers who were each exceptional leaders in their own right.
Hell, this was not going to be easy.
Although their voices were hushed, the whispers and murmurs echoed from the cement walls of the tiny room, creating a din that sounded like a hurricane. They were hidden away in an old utility closet on a deserted floor of the compound that was undergoing renovations. The members of his new team sat in rickety wooden chairs in a semicircle around him, illuminated by a harsh yellow light from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Reece stood in front of a large, green chalkboard and he glanced at Beth, who was sitting to his right. She was now dressed in lightweight black clothing and shoes with spiked wooden heels. She looked proud and a little fierce. When she smiled slightly and nodded at him, he realized once again just how grateful he was for her presence.
“Okay, let’s get started,” he finally said. The room fell silent as everyone came to attention. “I know this is the first time we’ve all met together as a group, but it’s important that we function as a team. Although you’ve been briefed on the situation, I’m going to go over it again so you know where your focus is.”
He pointed at the first photograph taped on the chalkboard behind him. “Genevieve Harman, a Wild Power, has been living here in this compound for the past two years for protection. Five days ago at 2:47 AM, she was attacked. The assassin killed the guards outside her door and nearly strangled her to death.”
Reece stepped to his right and gestured to the next picture on the board. “The attacker was her soulmate, Aiden St. Helen.”
The black and white picture was a blown up version of a surveillance camera shot taken the night of Genevieve’s attack. Aiden had an aristocratic profile and seemed unnaturally calm for a person about to kill his soulmate. Reece wasn’t sure if he respected or pitied the vampire’s passivity.
“I still can’t believe it,” the vampire called Carden interjected. He was straddling the wooden chair and it creaked under his weight as he leaned forward. Although he was built like a football player with his broad shoulders and thick neck, the lamia could actually move with impressive speed. “Hellraiser? Man, I’ve heard of him. He’s been in Daybreak for years.”
“Yes, he has,” Reece said slowly. “And that’s why this situation is so precarious. During the attack, Genevieve was able to grasp a few details from St. Helen’s mind. It seems that he has been working for the local Night World leader, Angela Catellini. Now, if he could get in and pass as a Daybreaker for years, there’s no telling how many others Angie might have in here, or how high on the chain they’ve gotten. But the most important thing is that Genevieve is no longer safe here or with anyone from this compound. That’s why we were called; all of us work on the outskirts of Daybreak, have no connections to anyone who works in this area, and have obviously proven our abilities.
“So here we are,” he continued. “Let’s get to the introductions.”
“Ah, don’t tell me you’re going to make us play an icebreaker game,” a male witch with a lilting British accent interjected. “The last time I freelanced outside my Circle, the leader made us play that human knot game.”
“I guess it would be more of a vampire-witch-shapeshifter knot, in this case,” Beth pointed out with a grin.
“Weirdest fucking knot I ever heard of,” Carden grumbled.
Reece gave the group a wry smile. “Sorry to disappoint you, Nigel,” he said to the witch, “but I’m afraid we don’t have time for that. So I’ll just start: I work with Beth Cezanne and some others in Montreal.”
“We did a lot of fighting at first,” Beth added. “But now we mostly keep the peace. Try to keep the Night World races and humans from killing each other.”
Reece nodded towards the lamia next to him. “Jonas Carden,” he said as the vampire flashed a brilliant smile to the room, “has been working for Daybreak for eleven years, assassinating some of the worst Night World criminals as well as those who are beginning to rally forces against Daybreak.”
“Damn right,” the lamia said proudly.
“Assassination?” Nigel asked. “This is Circle Daybreak.”
“Hey, it’s a means to an end,” Carden replied with a shrug.
The witch frowned. “I was under the impression that Daybreak was about using peaceful means.”
“Give me a break,” the vampire groaned as he rolled his eyes. “What do you want us to do, witch? Hug a tree and politely ask the Night World to stop slaughtering innocent people? You think if we invite them to sit down with us and sing Kumbaya, they’ll give up their dreams of world domination?”
“That’s enough,” Reece snapped. “We’re not here to debate Daybreak’s methods. And I will not tolerate this kind of bickering on my team, is that clear?”
The room was silent as he coldly glanced at each member of his team. Goddess, this was going to be harder than he’d thought. When Thierry Descouedres picked out each Daybreaker for this mission, he had clearly chosen some of the strongest and most skilled members, but a more thorough background check would have been helpful.
After taking a breath, Reece gestured to the British witch, “Nigel Abforth works outside of London with a small circle of witches, searching for old texts, artifacts, and spells that may help Daybreak in the war.”
The witch bowed his head in acknowledgement. He was short, with a compact body, but he still had obvious strength—physical and spiritual. His cat green eyes flashed with power. “I’ve got a few interesting spells with me,” he added
Reece nodded. “Good, I’m sure we’ll need them. Lastly, and thankfully, we have our shapeshifter, Sumitra.”
The tall Asian girl smiled, her golden eyes gleaming. She had been so quiet during this meeting that Reece had almost forgotten her, but now that she had been recognized, he saw that she was a formidable presence when she wanted to be. “I’m a lynx to be exact,” she said. “I’ve been working with a shifter sensei in Thailand. Before that I was with something of a vigilante group. My sensei introduced me to Circle Daybreak.”
“Okay,” Reece said. “We’re all familiar with each other. Here’s the deal: we’re going to transport Genevieve to a safe location. There are some witches running a Daybreak safe house in the mountains of West Virginia that Thierry Descouedres trusts. It’s heavily guarded by non-violence spells and Gen will get the kind of protection she needs for the time being. But given the likelihood of Angie having more informants in this compound, we need to move her quickly and quietly. And we need to make sure that we’re not followed, physically or telepathically.”
“But she’s been kept here for the past five days?” Sumitra asked. “Wasn’t that risky on Daybreak’s part?”
“A certain temporary precaution was taken for her safety,” Reece replied softly. “Gen cut her forearm and did a spell to keep the wound open so that she could use the blue fire if she was attacked again.”
“Goddess,” Nigel gasped. “How could she keep that up?”
“She can’t. She hasn’t slept since it happened and her power is nearly drained…she won’t be able to keep the wound open much longer. That’s why it’s imperative that we get her out of here now.”
“Who knows about all of this?” Carden asked.
“All the Daybreakers in this compound know that Gen was attacked by her soulmate. Everyone knew about their relationship to begin with and they needed to be informed about the attack in the event that Aiden tried to get into the compound again. But as you’re all aware from our solitary confinement here the past few days, very few people know we’re here: just Gen, Thierry, and the Anton Parish, the vampire heading up this compound.”
“What do we know about Catellini?” Sumitra asked.
Reece sighed heavily. “Not much,” he replied. He nodded up to the third photograph on the blackboard. Angie’s photo was in full color and her red hair looked like a cloud of fire around her pale face. The shot was taken by a Daybreak surveillance team that had been staking out the vampire’s apartment building as Angie smoked. From the flirtatious wink the camera had captured, it was clear that Angie had known they were watching.
“She appears to be in her early twenties, but of course that means nothing. We assume that she’s lamia, but we can’t rule out the possibility that she’s a made vampire.”
“With enough make-up, someone in their late teens could probably pass for twenty-two, twenty-three,” Beth added.
Carden nodded, seeming unusually solemn. “Human girls do it all the time when they want to get into clubs.”
“Right,” Reece agreed. He wondered about the vampire’s sudden change in demeanor, but now wasn’t the time to ask. “And unfortunately, we don’t know where Angie came from, nor do we know of any relations. ‘Catellini’ appears to be a pseudonym. As you can tell from the picture, she has a flair for the dramatic. She’s vain and has a tendency to draw attention to herself wherever she goes. But she wasn’t even a blip on the Night World radar until around 1998. Washington was a Daybreak stronghold, then. Angie was running a small gang of vampires that gradually got bigger. Despite Daybreak efforts, the gang kept growing until it eventually got the attention of the Night World. Apparently the Elders were so impressed that they decided to make Angie the official leader of this area. She’s done well for herself.”
After a brief hesitation, Reece continued. “And there is one more thing of importance that we know. Angie is an extremely powerful telepath.”
Carden smirked as his wise-ass arrogance resurfaced. “Aren’t we all?” he drawled.
“She’s powerful, even for a vampire,” the witch explained. “The Daybreakers who have crossed paths with her—those that lived to tell the tale, that is—said that she can do more than read thoughts. She can read the person; the past, present, and subconscious. And the potential danger of this is that even if you block your thoughts from her, she can still glean a great deal of information from you.”
“Fucking A,” Carden replied.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Reece said with a wry smile.
“So what’s the plan, Cahill?” the lamia asked, his fangs glinting under the yellow light.
Reece smiled. He could feel the energy now filling the room as his team shifted gears, ready for some action after days of waiting. For the first time, this mission felt right. “I want two teams. Gen will come with Sumitra and me. Carden will head up the other team with Beth and Nigel.”
“Whoa, Cahill,” the vampire cut in, “I’m on the second team? I signed on for this to protect the Wild Power.”
Reece glanced at Beth and she shrugged noncommittally. She disagreed with him about putting Carden on the second team in order to keep the vampire away from Gen, but she would never argue with him in front of everyone else. “That’s what we all signed on for,” he said as he gestured for quiet. “And that’s what we’ll all be doing. I need a strong fighter to lead the second group. Your team will be handling a great deal of the risk. All that matters here is keeping Genevieve alive.”
The lamia frowned, but seemed less incensed.
“Nigel,” Reece addressed the witch, “can you work a spell on Beth that will make her look like Gen? And vice versa.”
“Are they the same build?” he asked.
“More or less,” Beth replied. “I’m a bit taller, but it should be negligible.”
“Yeah, I think I could do it for a couple of hours, at least. How long can Gen keep up the spell on her arm?”
Reece bit his lip. “I don’t know…not much longer.”
“Can you keep it going?” Nigel asked.
“Technically, yes,” he answered. “But we don’t know what is going to happen to us out there; I want to save as much of my power as I can. And I need you on the second team with Beth, so you can’t do it either.”
The witch nodded. “No room for mistakes, then.”
“To say the least,” Reece said dryly. “Carden’s team is going to leave first and take a more obvious route. I want you three to take the main elevators up and out; we want everyone to see you.”
“Normally Gen, being who she is, needs to sign out when she leaves the compound and take bodyguards with her,” Beth explained. “With the assassination attempt, she’s not allowed to leave here at all. So basically this will have to look like a kidnapping attempt or like Genevieve has gone renegade.”
“I vote for the renegade plan,” Nigel said. “The guards might be less likely to shoot to kill us if it doesn’t seem like Gen is going under duress.”
“You pussy,” Carden grumbled.
“We need to stay alive to protect her, genius,” the witch retorted.
“I agree with Nigel on this one,” Reece interrupted before the argument escalated. “I think the guards are far less prepared to handle that kind of scenario. It’ll be your best chance at getting out of here alive.”
“What about us?” Sumitra asked.
“Anton gave me the schematics for the compound. There is an evacuation tunnel that leads out from the fourth underground floor and hits the metro system close to the Silver Spring station. With the other team making a good diversion, we should be able to get out unnoticed.
“Once everyone is out, get as far away from the city as you can on foot and then we’ll meet at 10 p.m. on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and go from there. Are there any questions?”
“What if we can’t get out?” Nigel asked. “We’re going to have nearly every guard in the vicinity on us.”
“You have to get out,” Reece replied simply. “Use whatever resources you can. But if the situation is that dire, it would be better you go down than be captured…even you, Beth. We all knew the risks when we signed on for this. Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Sumitra said. “Can Genevieve fight? I mean, if it comes down to it, will she be able to hold her own?”
Reece hesitated, thinking of the pain in Gen’s eyes and the soft certainty in her voice as she confessed to him, I wish I would die. But then he replied steadily, “Yes, I think she will. But I’d really rather not put it to the test.”
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