thoughts on the idea of Alex saying no—or at least that was his take on the gesture. And really, if Jefferson was willing to take on that responsibility, what difference did it make to Alex or the others?
“I want to be part of the assault, but I understand I would be a burden more than anything else. I still want to be close by when my son is rescued.”
“And so you shall.” Jefferson smiled indulgently at the man. It reminded Alex of his own interactions with Quinn. That was that.
“Speaking of Merlin,” Val interjected, “I had an email message from him on my secure account. I must confess that I’m surprised he managed it.”
“Oh, I’m not, Mr. Val,” Annika offered cheerfully. “I had every confidence in his succeeding.”
Alex smiled at her. “Of course you did.” To Val, he practically growled, “Why are telling us only now?”
“Because it came in around five this morning. I picked it up right before we came down for breakfast. I was going to lead with it once we all had our food, but someone—and I’m not pointing any fingers here—dropped a fucking H-bomb into the room before I had a chance.”
Alex bared his teeth, mindful that they were all on edge. “Well, the fallout has dissipated now. What’s the good word?”
“The kid has sent exact coordinates of where they are, which we already had. He has also included a schematic of the lair, complete with the locations of the security cameras around the perimeter. And,” he breathed out, “he says everyone is hanging on in there.”
Christos let out a grunt. “Thank fuck.”
“Madre de Dios, gracias.” Paz, who had remained quiet during all of the planning he’d attended, bowed his head. A shudder ran through him. Lucien went over and put his arms around the man.
“He’s given a head count of twenty-five mercenaries, plus Dracul is there with Petru’s former changeling.”
Relief coursed through him. “That makes for excellent odds.”
“Yeah, it should be practically a cake-walk, if it’s true. He wants to know when we’re coming in so he can try to disable the alarms.” Val paused. “That’s assuming this isn’t a trap and that we can trust the info.”
“We can,” Annika assured everyone. Her focus appeared to be solely on her dog and her meal, and yet she was clearly listening to every word.
“We trust in your judgment, my Queen.” Alex meant that…sort of. His DNA told him she was only ever going to do what was best for the hive. The man who’d been fighting to survive on an alien planet was more jaded. He couldn’t quite shake the feeling that the Queen had an agenda that was opaque to them all. As there was nothing he could do about it, if that were true, he put his worries aside and concentrated on what he could control.
“It’s time, then.” With a pat on Quinn’s knee, he said, “Finish your meal, everyone. Val and I will send a response to Merlin. We’ll finalize our plans, kit up and leave tonight. We fly to Greece, pick up the helos there and continue to our destination. As we’ll have to wait for darkness to launch the attack, we should be fully engaged in about thirty-six hours.”
“Can they hold on until then?” Christos asked, his face a mask of worry.
“They’ll have to,” Alun replied before Alex could form reassuring words. “Trust Merlin to make sure they do.”
Trust Merlin. That hadn’t seemed likely a mere few days ago. But it was all they had, and Alex had to take what comfort he could from Annika’s and Alun’s certainty that the hybrid would come through for them. He was, for all intents and purposes, a man at this point. Alex only hoped he was a good one.
Chapter Seven
Alun didn’t know where he got the balls to speak up in a group of warriors. His insistence on going, his assurances that Merlin would be successful and loyal to the people in the room… Those were not things he would have dared express only a few weeks ago. It was madness to do so. It was also due to Craig. There was something about that man’s presence—not overwhelming, yet entirely there and reliable—that gave him the strength to say his piece. He hadn’t missed, either, the way Alex’s gaze had homed in on Craig when Alun had spoken. The leader of the warriors was taking his cue from the human, as if Craig had somehow gained the final say in what Alun did