“Then it’s great that we’re already as good as dead.” Raziel’s smile was sharp enough to draw blood.
Nadi ignored the dark humor, focusing on the practical details. “How do we get there?”
“I have transport arranged. It won’t be luxurious, but it’ll get us there fast. If we’re lucky and the tide’s in our favor, we’ll get there just after the party starts.” Ivan pulled a folded paper from his pocket and slid it across the table. “I got the guards’ schedule from a contact in the Rosov household staff. Cost me, but it’s accurate as of yesterday. They’re already locking down the perimeter of the estate, boss.”
Raziel grunted. “Entry points?”
“Broken wall on the east side is your best bet. Kitchen staff comes and goes all night during big events. Two guards, usually bored, usually distracted.” Ivan’s jaw tightened. “But that’s assuming you can get past the outer security in the first place. Which you can’t. Not without a distraction. They’ll be watching.”
Raziel and Nadi exchanged a glance.
“About that.” Raziel straightened, uncrossing his arms. “Ivan. The message I asked you to deliver. Was it?”
Ivan’s expression shifted—something complicated moving behind his eyes. “Yeah. I found the contact point you described. Left the message exactly as you wrote it.”
“And?”
A pause. Heavy. Weighted with meaning Nadi couldn’t quite parse.
“Nothing.”
Nadi watched Raziel’s face carefully, but he gave nothing away. Just a slight tightening around his eyes, a nearly imperceptible tension in his shoulders. Whatever the message had been, whoever it had been meant for—he’d been hoping for something. And he hadn’t gotten it.
“I see,” was all he said.
“Raziel—” Ivan started.
“You going to tell me what that’s about?” Nadi arched a brow.
“It doesn’t matter.” Raziel’s voice was brisk, businesslike. The mask snapping back into place. “We proceed as planned. The distraction will come from another source.”
Azazel pushed off from the window, frowning. “What other source? You haven’t told us?—”
“And I’m not going to.” Raziel met the other vampire’s gaze steadily. “The less you know, the less you can reveal if things go wrong. Trust me.”
“Trust you.” Azazel let out a humorless laugh. “Famous last words.”
“Might be.” Raziel turned his attention back to the map, dismissing the argument with practiced ease. “So, what’s this transportation?”
“Fishing boat they upsized the motors on to run drugs. I’ve…eh…called in a few favors to borrow it. I can get you close,”Ivan said. “Quarter mile from the estate, I’ll drop you there on the coast and wait. When you’re done…” He trailed off, the unspokenifhanging in the air between them.
“When we’re done,” Raziel said firmly, “we’ll signal. Three flashes from the eastern tree line. You’ll have the motor running.”
“And if the signal doesn’t come?”
Raziel’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then you turn the boat around and don’t look back. Find somewhere Mael can’t reach. Start a new life. Forget you ever knew us. Or go into the Wild. Ask for a fae named Kalo. Tell him we sent you.”
The silence that followed was thick enough to choke on.
Nadi pushed back from the table, suddenly unable to look at any of them. This was real. This was happening. In a few hours, she and Raziel would walk back into the abandoned Nostrom estate with nothing but stolen uniforms and a prayer—and there was a very good chance they wouldn’t walk out again.
“We should go,” she said quietly. It was best if this didn’t linger. “If we’re going to walk into this stupid trap—if we’re going to do this—we need to leave now.”
Raziel nodded, rolling up the map with practiced efficiency. “Get the car ready, Ivan. We leave in ten minutes.”
Ivan didn’t move. He stood there, his massive frame somehow looking smaller than Nadi had ever seen it, his face creased with an emotion she couldn’t name.
“Boss.” The word came out rough. Cracked. “I?—”
