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“Step one is complete,” Drayce whispered with a bounce of enthusiasm in his voice.
“Just a shame that wasn’t the hard part,” Rayne muttered.
“Quiet,” Eno snapped sharply. “Everyone knows the plan. Set your timers now. We’ve got three minutes.”
Caelan’s heart stumbled as he hit the timer on his watch and saw the numbers start speeding toward zero. Three minutes didn’t seem like nearly enough time, and somehow he and Eno had an extra thirty seconds on Drayce and Rayne.
With a jaunty salute, Drayce darted away, instantly swallowed by the shadows as he silently moved toward the tower in the northwest corner. It was his job to set the charge there to a key structural support. He needed to not only topple the tower, but to also blow a hole in the fencing.
Rayne hesitated, staring at him for a long time, before Eno finally clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shake.
“Nothing is going to happen to him,” Eno growled.
“Right. Of course,” Rayne muttered as he darted off in the opposite direction. His job was to set a pair of charges along the barracks that lined the eastern wall. Both the tower and barracks were slated to blow at the same time, making it look like the base was being attacked from two sides.
The hope was that everyone would be pouring out of the remaining two barracks just as the majority of explosives went off at the command center and warehouse in the center of the base. Of course, being in the center of the base meant that they were also greatly exposed and most likely to be spotted by the guards patrolling the grounds.
Eno had refused to allow Caelan off on his own, but teaming up meant that Caelan was on command center duty with Eno.
“Ready?” Eno asked.
His stomach churned and his heart pounded in his ears, but Caelan nodded. “Definitely.”
Keeping bent and low, they darted forward, moving along the side of the barracks near the southern wall. Caelan straightened enough to peer into one of the windows. It was nearly pitch-black inside, the darkness broken only by a pair of tiny nightlights. There were three rows of metal bunk beds cast in shadow, sending a tremor of horror through him. So many soldiers. Why were they staying on the base? It certainly wasn’t due to the Caspagir army of a couple hundred outside the gates.
What the hell were those Rosanthe bastards up to?
He couldn’t think about that now. His main focus needed to be setting the charges and getting away before Rayne and Drayce blew theirs. Otherwise, he and Eno were going to be stuck right in the middle of the flood of soldiers coming out of those barracks and their own charges.
Eno leaned around the corner of the barracks, scanning the area for guards and watching the sweep of the search light as it reached the midpoint and headed back toward the Ordas. With any luck, the guards in the towers would be more focused on the Ordas and what was happening outside the base rather than worrying about who was sneaking about on the inside.
With a low grunt, Eno pushed away from the building as the light began its path toward the west, and Caelan hurried on his heels. They moved like ghosts across the pavement, careful to not make a sound.
He and Eno split when they reached the building. Caelan dug into his bag, ignoring the tremble in his fingers as he grabbed the first explosive charge. Okay, so maybe Katie’s demolitions guy had done more than hand over a bunch of dynamite. He might have already bundled it up into predetermined explosive strengths and showed them all how to set a charge as well as cancel it again. Really, they had no explosives training, and the gods knew that Drayce couldn’t be trusted with dynamite on his own.
Prepping the sticky glue, he attached it to the side of the building about halfway up and tapped in the time. He glanced at his watch to confirm that he wasn’t running behind. Sucking in a deep breath, he pushed the activation button. His heart stopped as he waited for the bomb to go off. But it didn’t. The countdown started.
Oh, thank fuck.
Snatching up his bag, he moved to his right. Eno was placing charges in the center of the warehouse, which was connected to the command center, and on the far end of the warehouse. Caelan’s job was to place his final explosive near the western corner of the warehouse.
The second charge went up with a little less fear this time, and he turned toward Eno to find the man struggling to keep a guard silent. Slinging his bag on his shoulder, Caelan raced to help his companion. He started to draw a knife, but Eno shook his head.
