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“You need a distraction.”

Both men finally lift their gazes toward me.

“We need to catch this snake before he strikes,” I continue. “And there’s only one way to draw a snake out of its hole. Live bait.”

* * *

“No. Bullshit.” Biceps bulging with the crossing of his arms, Titus shakes his head, while I tap the stick against the ground beside the diagram I’ve drawn out.

“It might work, though, Titus. It’s a good plan.” Lilith stands over me, one hand propped at her hip, the other rubbing her chin.

“Handing her over to them is never a good plan.” The growl in his voice conveys only a small fraction of the fury etched in his face. “We tried this plan once already.”

“It isn’t handing me over. Jack believes I trust him,” I argue, the fatigue of fighting this point taking its toll on my patience.

“Unless Remus told him otherwise.”

“True. But even so, he isn’t going to deny me passage. So long as he believes I’m alone.”

“You won’t be alone.”

“That’s right. I’ll have their prized doctor Levin with me.” I was briefed earlier that, after my surgery, Doctor Levin released all his patients from the underground lab, and they’ve been hiding out in Freya’s camp, along with Atticus. “Jack’ll think the two of us escaped together. We’ll get inside and open the doors. That’s when you work your magic. While you’re fighting off the Legion soldiers, I’ll go in search of Jack.”

“No. Not without me.”

“You have your role to play, Titus.”

“Atticus is perfectly capable of taking my part.”

“No.” Atticus strides forward, shaking his head. “No way. I’m not giving up the opportunity to kill this bastard.”

“I fucking love the smell of early morning testosterone. Such a delight,” Lilith says, tossing a stick aside.

As I understand, there’s something of a hate-hate relationship between her and Atticus. The two of them can’t seem to stand each other, which makes this mission all the more challenging.

“Then, it’s settled.” Titus kicks dirt over my diagram in his frustration. “This plan is a no-go.”

“Stop being stubborn, Titus. It’ll work!”

“Of course it will. At your expense. The man intended to kill you the first time. You lived. He won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“Then, what do you propose? You and the others going full force, while I sit here, twiddling my thumbs?”

“Yes.”

A growl of anger vibrates inside my chest as I glare back at him. “You’re no better than my father.”

His eye twitches at that, his tight lips sealing off whatever insult I imagine sits cocked at the back of his throat.

“Can I talk to you? Alone?” I break away from the small circle, and Titus follows after me, around the corner of the house. “What is this? Are you trying to belittle me in front of everyone?”

“How am I belittling you?”

“By making me sound like a weak little girl who can’t fend for herself.”

“You don’t understand.”

“What, exactly? That you’re a liar?”