“What do you want?” I asked flatly.
There was a pause. Then Daniel’s voice came back, mild and edged with something sharper underneath. “Is that how you should be speaking to me?”
My grip tightened around the phone. For a split second, defiance flared.
Then another image rose up uninvited. Kai. I pictured him tired, hurt and locked somewhere I couldn’t reach. My spine straightened. The fight drained out of me like water.
“No,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“Good.” Daniel didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t have to. He never did.
There was a faint rustling sound on his end, like he was shifting in his seat.
“This is what I need you to do for me,” he told me.
My stomach dropped. He used the word need, not want. This was serious. Was he and his group finally making their move?
“I hear there’s an upcoming festival in Pecan Pines,” Daniel continued. His tone turned almost conversational, like we were discussing the weather. “Most of the pack should be in attendance, won’t they?”
My heartbeat started to pick up. I didn’t answer, because I didn’t trust my voice.
“I heard the pack attends every town fest,” he went on, a faint scoff threading through his words, “to better integrate with humans.”
There was something in that scoff that made my skin crawl. I didn’t miss the contempt and mockery there, as well as the hatred, which Daniel never bothered concealing.
My fingers curled tighter around the phone. I knew where this was going. I knew, and I didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t want the words to become real.
“Mason.” Daniel’s voice sharpened slightly. “I asked you a question.”
“Yes,” I said, forcing the word out. “They do.”
“Good.” That single word made my stomach twist.
“I want you to open the south compound gate,” Daniel said.
Everything inside me went still.
For a second I thought I’d misheard him.
“…What?”
“You mentioned in our last call you thought that was the weakest gate in the compound,” Daniel said smoothly.
The world tilted. I’d said that. God, I’d said that.
It was a lie of course. A desperate, scrambling lie because he’d been demanding information and I hadn’t known what else to give him. Now though, Daniel was using that information.
“Daniel, wait,” My voice came out rough. “You want to strike so soon?”
My mind raced. This had suddenly turned messy and complicated fast.
This wasn’t supposed to happen yet. I needed more time, but Daniel had already heard too many of my excuses.
“I need more information,” I pushed quickly. “The security rotations for one. if I don’t know the exact timing, it could go wrong.”
“The decision’s been made.” The words cut clean through mine, sharp and final.
My breath hitched. “I?—”
