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The west wall faced the tunnels. I just hoped this wasn’t the one the guards spotted first.
Grimm’s face seemed to lighten with a ray of hope. He strode away to give the orders to three of his men, who left with haste. Tension gripped the rest of the group as we huddled in a clump of bushes, waiting for the incendiaries to return. Once they got back, we’d all enter the camp.
The first man returned shortly. “Done,” he told Grimm.
Grimm patted the man on the shoulder then nodded for him to settle in beside the rest of us.
Sometime later, the second resistance member returned, giving us the thumbs-up.
One more to go, then it would be time to make our move.
It took man in charge of lighting the east-facing fence the longest due to the distance he had to travel to complete his task. That side of the camp was the most dangerous, too. The entrance was located over there, and all the pirates unloaded their fresh batches of shifters on that side. If the guy who’d volunteered to light the east-facing fence was caught, our whole mission might be given away.
I bit the tips of my nails as we waited, squeezing the hilt of my dagger with my other hand.Sea God,it was the longest wait in my life. For a moment, I thought the man might have been killed. But when he hurried back to the group, I finally sighed with relief.
Grimm made a motion with his hand, and the dwarves scurried to the fence and crawled under. Phantom and Flare disappeared under the fence, and my heart started. Shadow paused, as if waiting for me, and I streaked over to the fence, wriggled under it, and slid out the other side. Shortly afterward, Shadow and Grimm joined us.
Everything inside the fence looked the way it had when I’d first visited Shadow’s plantation. Field after field of tea plants, and rows of different fruits, which Shadow used to create flavors. The only visible difference was a cleared pasture with two rows of wooden huts guarded by two soldiers per cabin. A group of about twenty soldiers congregated to the north, drinking and burning wood in a bonfire. Four of them roughed up two prisoners behind one of the buildings.
Angry heat coursed off Shadow, and his entire body twitched. A growl rumbled in his chest. Green replaced the gray in his eyes. I laid a hand on his forearm, and he glanced down at me, his face warped with rage.
“We’ll find your family and all your workers,” I promised him.
The creases in his face softened. He placed a hand over mine then pulled away—too soon for my liking—and drew his blade.
Grimm gathered everyone around in a huddle. “If we can get to the two southern bunkers and free the shifters, they can help us bring down the rest of the guards before they set off any alarms. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Shadow snarled.
Flare, Phantom, and the rest of the group nodded.
Grimm led the group as we attacked from the south, sneaking behind two of the cabins, staying clear of the windows in case there were guards inside. When Grimm gave the signal, raising two forefingers, we pounced.
Shadow went first, rushing around the front of the first cabin, grabbing one guard from behind, and slamming a hand over the man’s mouth before he could scream. Yanik the tiger shifter seized the second guard in the same manner, snapping his neck.
I was right behind them, while Shadow picked at the lock on the door. Moments later, I turned the knob. Before entering, I checked on the opposite hut, finding Phantom, Flare, Hunter, and Axe taking care of the guards and then dragging their limp bodies inside the building to hide the evidence.
Smart.
“Hide them,” I told Shadow, pointing toward the opposite hut to show him what the others were doing.
He nodded and hooked his arms under a guard’s armpits.
I yanked open the door to the tune of frightened whimpers and rustles. My eyes adjusted to the darkness inside. Fifty people were crammed into the hut, many sharing the same beds, all rake-thin, like I’d been when I’d been held captive. It was a wonder they managed to perform any work at all when they were underfed and terrified.
“Come with us now,” I whispered. “We’re here to rescue you.”
One woman cradled her teenage children to her.
One older man shook his head, holding a blanket tight to his chest. “They have weapons.”
Shadow and Yanik dragged the dead guards inside, shoving their bodies behind the door and kicking them.
“We need you to shift now, and help us kill the guards,” Shadow said. “Prevent them from raising the alarm.”
“We can’t,” said a small teen of about eighteen sun cycles old. “They put sigils everywhere—on the fences, in the ground—so we can’t fight back.”
“Shit,” Shadow said. “Can any of you fight?”
