Then, every damn person in the room started nodding as if that made perfect sense. Hell, even Mackenna was bobbing her head.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Luca recited. “It could work.”
“And we what?” Cade demanded. “We just stroll into town and ask for their help?”
Flipping her golden hair over her shoulder, Abby smirked. “We persuade them.”
She still wasn’t making any damn sense. “How do you suppose we do that?”
“By sending in a distressed Gemini who just escaped a group of Hunters.” She flicked her wrist dismissively. “We’ll work out a script before then. The point is, we get the Coalition to take out the bad guys while we save the good guys.”
“All the prisoners are Gemini,” Roux said, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “Why don’t we just tip off the Coalition and let them take it from there?”
She made a damn good point. The ARC guards wouldn’t hurt their own. Since none of the captives were human, they wouldn’t have anything to fear. Maybe the Revenant didn’t need to be involved at all.
But Abby was already shaking her head. “We run into the same problem we’d face if we tried to do it on our own. The Coalition can fight the Hunters or save the captives. They can’t do both.”
“It’s likely the prisoners would be executed as soon as the fighting started,” Luca elaborated. “Hunters wouldn’t risk them being freed and turning against them.”
“He’s right.” Mackenna sank deeper into Cade’s embrace when everyone turned to look at her. “There are vents in the basement they used to pump in sedatives. I heard one of the guards explaining to a new recruit that they could also be used to fill the room with poisonous gas in case the compound was ever attacked or infiltrated.”
“We’ll need to check out these service roads.” Luca carded his fingers through his hair as he surveyed the map once more. “Make sure they’re accessible by vehicle and that there aren’t any security patrols that far out.”
Deidra nodded. “I’ll take my team tonight.”
“I’ll take a team to check out the situation in Aspen.” Luca pushed to his feet and leaned forward to rest his palms on the table. “We have nine days until the full moon. Let’s figure out how to make this work.”
There was a lot of mumbled conversation as everyone filed out of the room, but none of it seemed to be in protest of the plan. Cade didn’t like the idea of involving the Coalition, but even he had to admit—albeit grudgingly—that it might actually work.
“Cade?” Outside the double doors that led to the makeshift living quarters, Mackenna took his hand and pulled him to a stop. “Can I talk to you?”
“Don’t worry, Mack.” He tugged the end of her braid and tried to project confidence. “It’s a good plan.”
“I think it is, too.” She didn’t smile. “I wanted to talk to you about something else, actually.”
Only three times in his life had a woman told him they needed to talk, and not once had it ended well. Something told him he wasn’t going to enjoy this conversation, either.
“Yeah, of course. Let’s take a walk.”
Holding her hand, he led her back down the corridor, through the rec room, and out the glass doors of the front entrance. The sun had just started to peek over the mountains in the distance, illuminating the sky in a kaleidoscope of colors. The wind had settled to a light breeze, but the morning was still cold and damp, leaving a thick frost over the ground.
The grass crunched beneath their boots as they rounded the side of the hospital toward a path that led into a small wooded area to the east. A thick layer of fog rolled across the forest floor and coiled around their legs, dampening the fabric of his cargo pants.
He’d be glad to finally get the hell out of Colorado. It was a beautiful state, no doubt, but he was not built for the cold.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“I grew up in Nevada, in a little town about eight hours from here.”
Not where he’d thought the discussion was headed, but she didn’t sound angry, which he took as a good sign. “Okay.”
“I was on my way there when the Hunters took me.”
“Right. You told me the first day we met.”
She stared out toward the mountains, her eyes glazed and unfocused. “I never knew my dad. He bailed before I was born, so it was just me and my mom.”
Cade remained quiet, watching her as she watched the sunrise.
“She died when I was thirteen.” She shivered visibly and finally turned to meet his gaze. “A stupid rock climbing accident. Wolves can heal from a lot, but…”
When she didn’t continue, he wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her close. “I’m so sorry, Mack.”
“I didn’t have anyone else, no other family, so my best friend and her mom took me in. They became my family.”
He finally gave up and had to ask, “What are you trying to tell me?”
“I was on the phone with Jess right before my tire blew. That was the last time I spoke to her. I don’t even know if she’s alive, but I need to find out.”
Resting his chin on top of her head, he squeezed his eyes closed for just a moment, then wiped all emotion from his expression. He wished to hell she would have asked anything else of him.
“That’s really not a good idea.”
“I know, but I have to do it. I have to know.”
“Mack—”
“I can go on my own, but I’ll need a vehicle.”
Like hell she could. “Not going to happen.” She’d lost her fucking mind if she thought
