Chapter 30

“Are you ready?” Caleb asked me, watching as I climbed into the passenger’s seat of his car.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I said, twisting around to pull the seat belt over my lap. I adjusted the sleeves of my black gear, and made sure the breastpiece was zipped fully to the top.

It was just past midnight, and it was time to put our plans into action to catch Killback. I couldn’t stop myself from yawning as Caleb pulled his car out of the driveway and took us to the castle. We had been working out the details of this plan all day, and now that it was finally time, I was worried I might doze off before our criminal arrived.

“You and Joseph are sure about this?” Caleb said over the wind, glancing quickly at me.

I nodded solemnly, “I remember him, I wouldn’t forget a detail like this. This is someone Lucas chose to ruin your chances of succeeding at the Alpha Ball.”

Caleb’s jaw tensed, and we rode the rest of the way in silence.

Joseph and a pair of other guards were already at the castle when we arrived, all of them dressed completely in black. Joseph’s glasses glinted slightly in the glow from the yellow streetlights.

“You’re late,” he said, mostly directed at Caleb.

Caleb shrugged as he put the car into park, “I got here exactly when I meant to.”

Joseph rolled his eyes and gestured for us to follow him. The entrance to the kitchens was in the far back of the palace, somewhat hidden behind a line of tall shrubs. They were planted partially to make the less ornate half of the palace appear prettier, and partially to keep any unwanted guests from wandering into the building.

Unfortunately, it seems they hadn’t worked very well here.

I knelt down in the shadow of one of the larger trees, looking at the three men crouching beside me. “Here’s the plan,” I said, pulling out a small notebook from my jacket pocket. “Preston and Jack, you two will stand guard outside the door in the shadow of the bushes so no one can see you.”

The two men nodded.

“You’re waiting for two things, the delivery to be made, and for Killback, or Grey, to arrive to collect it. He’ll probably be coming from inside, but we aren’t completely sure, so keep your eyes open in all directions.”

I pointed to a low balcony built into the wall on the right. “Caleb and I will be waiting there to make sure everything goes to plan and there are no rogue agents we’re not expecting.” I then gestured to a watch tower on the left, “Joseph will be up there managing the radios for all of us.”

“Do we have permission to harm?” Jack asked, with no hesitation. I was surprised at how easily he asked that question, like violence was something he was so accustomed to.

So am I, I thought. I remembered all the horrors I had seen in my past life at Lucas’s hands, the war he had started and all the people I loved who he had hurt. Tonight, we were making a stand to stop it.

“Harm, but not kill.” I said, “We need him to be apprehended so he can’t continue channeling poisons into the palace, but if he has any more information on Lucas’s plans we need those too.”

“Understood,” said Preston, clapping Jack on the back. After giving them the okay signal, they took their positions, their black uniforms blending them perfectly into the darkness.

Caleb and I climbed up the wall using the vines spiraling across the brick, and when I had nearly reached the top Caleb pulled me over the final ledge.

It was easy enough to see everything that was happening from this vantage point, so we ducked down and waited.

“That was pretty impressive, I have to say.” Caleb told me without taking his eyes off of the door.

“What was impressive?” I asked, furrowing my brow. “The climbing? I grew up around trees, you know, I can climb–”

“No, the debriefing you gave just before the mission.” He said, sneaking a quick peek at me before he leaned back against the wall. “I haven’t met many people, much less many women, who could give orders to soldiers like that.”

I smirked, “You must not interact with many intelligent women. I can’t imagine the models you hang around with are exactly mathematicians.”

He stifled a laugh, covering his mouth with his palm. “It depends why they’re there. If they want to fuck me, they’re not much to worry about. If they want to fuck someone with power, those are the types of women who could destroy you.”

I considered his expression in the low light, just barely illuminated by the moon. His eyes sparkled like the stars, and I thought for a moment that if I reached out to touch them my hand would slip right through like I was falling into a pool.

What would it be like to swim in eyes like those, in an emerald sea? I thought of ships, of passing clouds, of sea breezes blowing through my hair. Those were the last things floating through my mind before I dozed off.

“Ruby! Wake up,” Caleb said, nudging my knee with his.

“What?” I mumbled, disoriented, blinking away the sleep. My head had fallen onto his shoulder and his arm was draped gently around my back. I shook my head and crept away quietly, looking through the railings to see.

A single figure carrying a leather sack slung across his body approached the kitchen entrance. As if on cue, a second figure, this one taller and much more broad chested, emerged out of the entryway. His face was covered with a deep green hood, but I could tell from the posture instantly this was Killback.

“It’s him!” I whispered to Caleb. “Give the signal.”

I watched anxiously as Jack and Preston waited for exactly the right moment. The seller retrieved a pouch from his sack, and just as he placed it in Killback’s hands, our guards leapt.

I could barely keep track of the blows being exchanged in the dark, but soon the seller was down and handcuffed, leaving Preston and Jack only Killback to worry about. He managed to dodge their blows with superhuman speed, landing winding punches wherever he struck.

“I’m going in,” Caleb finally said, and jumped off the balcony before I could stop him. He landed directly on Killback’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground before delivering a final blow to his face. A streak of blood smeared across his cheeks, and he coughed violently as Preston tied his hands behind his back.

Caleb rubbed his knuckles, and looked back up at me with a grin on his face. I hadn’t seen him like this before, with so much excitement and energy. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back, knowing we were one step closer to defeating Lucas. We had just caught his number one agent, and I had been the one to figure it out.