Page 74 of Broken

Ireland said, “The Bright Fae destroyed everything Thanatos cared about. Do you think he wants revenge?”

Sugar said, “I don’t know what he wants. But try to keep him from destroying himself on this mission, would you?”

Someone in the back muttered, “Fuck.”

Sugar took them up to the study, and Thanatos joined them a few minutes later.

“Sugar says you have something to tell me, besides the fact that Mr. Hunter the elder and Ms. Ireland are now mates.”

Of course he already knew. He did not offer congratulations. Cole wondered how he felt about a Bright Fae joining his pack.

Everyone looked to Cole, so he started the briefing. “Okay. I have news that’s going to piss you off, and other news that, well, won’t so much. The news that’s going to piss you off is that I’ve been holding something back.”

“I’m shocked, Mr. Hunter.”

Boomer murmured, “We should never have taught him to use sarcasm.”

Cole snorted, but plowed on. “Okay. The bad news—remember how I tried to kill Riker twice, and he didn’t die?”

Thanatos kept the hood fixed on him without speaking. Cole continued, “Well, turns out it’s not just me. He didn’t die when the Retrievers tried to kill him, either. At least, not all the way. He’s a ghost.” He tapped the bracelet around his wrist. “And he’s in here.”

This was one of those times that he really wished he could see Thanatos’ face. The hood gave nothing away.

“Indeed,” Thanatos said. “And why is it you did not mention this before?”

“At first I didn’t think it was real—I thought I was just dreaming about him. And by the time I knew it was, the shit had hit the fan. But last night, I realized what he was really after. So as soon as I got the chance, I had a little chat with him, to find out what he found out when he worked for Maximilian.”

He faced Thanatos. “He knows about Illyria and the Book of Twilight. More important, he knows where she is: a place called the Door to the Mountain. They built it after you… um. Left the Fae territory. But Riker knows where it is.”

He gestured to the group. “And we’re going to go in there, get her out, and get the key to removing these bracelets so the Bright Fae will leave Ireland alone once and for all.” He paused. “Oh, wait. There’s other bad news. Sorry. The Door to the Mountain is in a sacred valley, right smack in the middle of Bright Fae territory.”

There was a deep silence in the study. Then Thanatos leaned forward in his chair, his elbows on the desk. “Tell me.”

They all gathered around, and Cole opened the dispatch bag and gave Thanatos everything he’d gotten from Riker. Maps, coordinates, magical and military defenses.

“Are you sure this is accurate?” Thanatos said. “Riker is not precisely a trustworthy source.”

“As sure as I can be,” Cole said. “He had some of the intel in a bank safe deposit box. DB was kind enough to go get it in the wee hours of the morning.”

DB smirked.

Cole leaned forward. “Look. I admit I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. But he has a thing for Ireland. He wants her to go free. And he thinks maybe if he can do a good thing before he crosses over, he might even get into heaven.”

There were snorts of disbelief around the table, but that wasn’t Cole’s problem.

“This is all we have,” he said. “And the best we’re going to get. I say we go with it.”

Gradually, the plan came together. After much discussion and studying of maps, DB said, “Okay. We know the Door to the Mountain is in this sacred place called the Valley of Silence, here.” He pointed to the map.

“Since having a powerfully magical Dark creature like a dragon suddenly appear inside the Fae world will likely set off all kinds of alarms, Plan A is that I worldwalk Ireland and Cole as close to the edge of the Valley as I can, outside its wards, and they use her Bright Fae magic as a cloak to sneak down there like brave little hobbits before the Council senses them or knows what they’re up to. Then they plant an anchor so I can bypass the wards and gate myself and Thanatos straight into the Valley.”

“Right,” Gunn said. “But because no plan survives contact with the enemy, we also prep Plan B. Where, before they sneak into the Valley, they anchor two separate gates for the Outlaw Ridge troops to come in as backup. We’ll have devices that can open the gates even when DB isn’t there.”

“Exactly,” DB said. “Best case, we use Ireland and Cole’s magic to get us through the Door, pull Illyria out, and disappear before the Bright Fae know what hit them.”

Cole said, “And if the best case doesn’t happen?” Because it never did.

“Then I throw down some supersonic shields to keep the Bright Fae off us until we have Illyria. Worst case is that Thanatos and I and you two will have to fight our way out, with the Ridge soldiers to back us up. I’m hoping that because the Bright Fae haven’t dealt with dragons for so long, they won’t have adequate countermeasures against my magic.”