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problem. Shane went silent four days ago after he missed an agreed-upon meetup with Shadow Force. At this point, we don't know if he’s dead or alive. His trail ended in a small village in the Bolivian jungle."

Dan gave Gil the side eye. For whatever reason, he couldn't let go of his brood’s inclusion. "All right, Morty. I get why you couldn't have done this over the phone or even waited to arrange a meeting because time is clearly of the essence. But I still don't understand why bunny boy is here. Clearly, this is a job for trackers, where our pumas shine."

Gil shot Dan a scathing glare. "Use your brain, kitty cat. Or did you miss the part where they have a lot of people in their organization? Obviously, you're going to need backup and quite a bit of it. That's where my brood comes into play." He huffed and muttered under his breath, "Dumbass."

Giving Dan another dirty look, Dear patted the back of Gil's hand. "Welp, this is gonna be a lot of fun, I can already tell."

Morty glanced around our group with a serious "dad" frown. "Figure it out, guys. The Shadow Force can't spare any more time traipsing around Bolivia. They were called back yesterday morning after the new director nearly died in a car bombing. We don't know if it's related to OPEN EYES or not, but unfortunately, it takes precedence, and Shadow Force is only an eight-man unit. Shane's sole hope is for you guys to slip in and pull him out, if he is even still alive."

I studied Morty, then shook my head. "There’s more to it. Come on, Mortimer. Why us? Tell me the real reason COME can't leave some of the Shadow Force on the case while the others investigate the assassination attempt on the director. Also, I highly doubt you solely have eight operatives at the disposal of the lone policing agency for magical entities. Hell, the witch and mage fights alone would need more agents who can move in and stop things before shit gets real or the humans start to notice."

Cheeks reddening for a few telling seconds, Morty cleared his throat and looked off to the side. He didn't glance back until he had control. "Okay… fine. It is true I sent all the agents to Toronto where the director and his family are located. But if Shane's cover was blown like I expect, the first thing they'll search for are representatives from COME. They've been able to avoid Shadow Force's every move for the past four days, which tells me Shane might not have been the lone double agent."

Clay rubbed a hand against the back of his head, humming. "Please tell me you've checked all your Shadow Force operatives’ financials—even including the ones they might keep hidden? If you have a mole, you'll want to flush them out as soon as possible. Otherwise, we won't have a shot at rescuing Shane or stopping OPEN EYES. If they were ready to go public this time, they will try again."

I took a deep breath and held up a palm. "Time to vote with a show of hands. Lift them high if you're in. I'm giving my own reluctant ‘yes’ vote because if Shane is still alive, he might have information to help us keep the big secret."

My brothers all slowly raised their hands after Gil followed my lead. As Gil made eye contact, he gave me a short nod. "I speak on behalf of the brood. We will do our part to help however we can because there is no other choice. The existence of shifters needs to be kept secret at all costs." When Dan snorted, Gil didn't so much as peek in his direction while a slow smirk lifted one corner of his mouth. "Someone should probably pack a leash, though. Certain kitty cats might need to be restrained."

Dan got up and kicked his chair back, heading inside without a backward glance. Dear and I shared a "what the fuck" expression, and Morty looked over his shoulder with a speculative frown.

As I stood, I sighed heavily. "Don't worry, Morty. I'll make sure my hotheaded brother doesn't make things difficult for the Blythe brood while we're working together. You can count on it. The mission will only be a success if we can all play nice long enough to pull it off."

Gil had the grace to blush as he shrugged. "It's possible I could maybe hold back on