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Ian pathed, How soon do you think you can create the remaining counter-spells?
Very quickly. A matter of only seconds per layer. What we’ve done over the past few minutes has provided a signature base from which to work. It’s ingrained within my consciousness now.
~ ~ ~
Ian knew exactly what needed to be done.
We’re going to fly.
He turned to her, holding out his arm. She quickly climbed up on his foot, and he drew her tight against him.
He rose into the air straight up, rocket fast, then turned to head east to the plain.
His head whirred with a very specific idea. He almost contacted Stone, but something held him back. Same with Ben. What needed to be done had to be kept secret.
As he passed the rim cliffs, he slowed because he had to think. He had an opportunity to change the course of the war right now, but his instincts shouted at him that he needed to be smart about it, maybe even deceptive.
If Margetta’s fortress had existed between Camberlaune and Tannisford all this time, then Margetta no doubt had a spy network in place. After battling Braden, Ian had finally been forced to accept the possibility that his Vampire Guard and even his Shifter Brigade had been compromised.
Ian, what’s going on? You’ve slowed.
I’m thinking.
Can I help?
He paused in flight and levitated midair. They were high above a small village, no doubt invi
sible to anyone who would be looking up.
He held her loosely as she pushed back to gain enough distance to meet his gaze. Though Regan could levitate and fly on her own, Ian was much faster. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Something’s bugging you. I can feel it.”
“I’ve just realized I don’t know who to trust in my combined forces. If Braden could be turned, who I’d always believed had my back despite his ambitions, then others could as well. If I order a full out assault and even one of my vampires or shifters is a spy, the whole operation would be lost.”
“And you want to attack now?”
He nodded. “Tonight. We might not be able to destroy the army, but we could do some serious damage. If you peel back the mist as quickly as you say you can, we’ll have the element of surprise. And everything you’ve related about Margetta’s attitude tells me an assault is the last thing she would expect.”
Her eyes widened, glittering. “So what can I do?”
“Hear me out and give me some feedback. I want to go around the realm over the next few hours and coordinate an attack for three in the morning, well before dawn but with plenty of time for the shifters to get up the mountain.
“I’ll deliver orders personally to each squad out in the field with the understanding that I’m sending their group on a secret reconnaissance mission. Using geographical coordinates, each team will be placed at careful intervals at the edge of the mist. The squads won’t be able to see the camp, the fortress, or the mist, not until your counter-spell goes into effect.”
Regan’s brows rose. “So you’re saying not even Stone or Ben would know your plans?” She appeared shocked. “But you trust each implicitly.”
“I have one goal here. I want to reduce to an absolute minimum the possibility Margetta could ever learn about my plans. Both Stone and Ben have men in the Vampire Guard and the Shifter Brigade they trust. But if any of these have been compromised, I could have a disaster on my hands.”
“Okay. I see your thinking. I get it now.”
“Tell me what you think, since the plan depends on your ability to roll back the mist at a specific hour. Do you see any holes? Should I include at least Ben who’s been my right hand all these centuries?”
She appeared to consider, her brow furrowing for a long moment. Finally, she drew a deep breath. “I say you go with your instincts. Seeing Braden as part of a wraith-pair has changed my view of things as well. Margetta could have recruited a lot of dissatisfied Realm-folk over the years.”
The one thing Ian knew was he trusted Regan in this situation, despite the past. “And you’re sure about paring back the mist?”
“I have no doubt it can be done and very quickly.”
“Is there a chance Margetta will have already realized you’ve removed a portion of the first layer?”
