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“It’s a trap,” Greyson muttered, arms crossed over his chest. “No doubt about it.”
Felix nodded, adjusting his glasses nervously. “For him to have gone dark like that and then suddenly pop up…someone’s baiting us.”
We exchanged glances, each of us processing the possibilities. Given the trail of bodies we’d left trying to protect Kennedy, there should have been fewer pieces left on the chess board.
But I didn’t trust any of Greyson’s Jackals.
Any of them but us, I guessed, though I didn’t like thinking of myself as a Jackal…or Greyson’s.
We knew the risks, but we also knew what was at stake. Kennedy—our Kennedy—needed us. The thought ignited a burning need to act, to protect her at all costs. It was a struggle to keep myself under control.
But we had to be smart.
“Alright, so it’s a trap,” I said. “Let’s figure out how to turn their trap into our advantage.”
Greyson nodded curtly, his eyes sharp and calculating as he turned towards the door. “I’ll send Hawk and his team out for recon. They’re discreet, they won’t raise any alarms.”
With a few swift strides, Greyson was out of the room, barking orders.
“I’ll get you the building’s layout, just give me a minute.” Felix gave us a sympathetic look and rushed after him.
The air crackled with barely suppressed energy, like the moments just before a storm. Carter stood stock still, the goalie ready and waiting, while Sebastian paced impatiently.
“They’ll be expecting recon,” I pointed out, running a hand through my hair in frustration. “They’re waiting for us to make a move.”
Greyson re-entered, his expression unreadable. “I’m aware,” he admitted, his jaw tight.
He leaned back against the heavy oak table that dominated the space and crossed his arms. “And frankly, I don’t know who I can trust within the Jackals anymore.”
I wouldn’t have expected him to acknowledge that to us. Greyson always had to be in control. It must have killed him that he couldn’t trust his Jackals, but he didn’t show it.
“What are we going to do, then?” Sebastian asked, his tone cautious.
“I've called in some other help,” Greyson replied, his gaze meeting mine for a moment.
Someone outside my usual circle.”
Carter nodded, but I had a bad feeling when Greyson started calling in favors.
I couldn’t shake a vision of Kennedy with her eyes wide, and her face tense with terror.
I moved to the smartboard on the wall, bringing up the schematic showing the layout of the factory. “Where do you think she is?”
“We can’t trust the layout. That’s from when the building was built,” Greyson said. “But I would hold her deep inside the factory. Make my enemies fight their way through it.”
“Maybe one of the offices,” I said, tapping the schematic of the second floor layout, which was narrower than the first floor.
“Maybe. We’ll find out.” Greyson’s voice was grim.
The thought of her trapped in that factory, her heart hammering with fear, tightened something in my chest until I could barely breathe. Each second we spent planning wasanother second she was alone, possibly terrified, and full of... No, I couldn’t let myself think about the fact she was pregnant.
The heavy door to the war room swung open with a decisive thud that echoed off the walls.
We needed to be focused. Still, I couldn’t help saying, “Let’s make sure this outside help understands what’s at stake.”
“I promise we do.” The hulking figure in the doorway said. Inked skin stretched over corded muscles, and his eyes were an intense shade of green.
Behind him, a tall dark haired man sauntered in, his frame tall and leanly muscled beneath a fitted black shirt. He carried a leather bag that seemed heavy with equipment.
