Mari made a sour face. “Jeane did escape the Emporium and run to Ropte, so you’re right that Stefan probably isn’t going to trust her.”
“That’s exactly why this plan is only going to work if Jeane takes Erin to their headquarters.” Ritter sighed and shook his head. “He’ll only feel secure at his own place. We need to stroke his confidence. Even then, it’s going to be suspicious. We’ll have to send Erin in with a fake offer from us. Something that sounds plausible. Because Stefan’s going to think we fooled Jeane into taking Erin captive for some reason. Keene’s right that the spin is what will sell it.”
Ava’s gaze settled on my face, and I felt her probing mentally, but I kept my shields tight. At my refusal to let her in, she pushed out the tiniest breath of frustration that only Dimitri and I were close enough to hear. Too bad for her. I wasn’t about to let my terror at facing Stefan stop us from trying to end this battle once and for all. “It’ll have to be there,” she finally agreed.
“Right. But there are a few other things we have to address.” I began ticking them off on my fingers. “First, they’ll have an electric grid over the entire building, and that puts me alone in there until we can cut the power. They’ll have primary and backup generators like we do here. Second, we have to worry about any prison cells they may have inside that they might throw me into regardless of any spin we dream up. That means we need a backup plan. Third, we have no idea how many personal guards I’ll have to deal with until you guys are able to shift in. Fourth, we need to find a way to get Ropte there.”
Ritter inclined his head, and I suspected he was already far ahead of me in working out the details of my list. “And we still don’t know what Ropte’s ability is.”
“I’ll question Jeane about it,” I said.
“So what happens if—when—this does succeed?” Jace asked. “Erin won’t pass their blood test.”
“We’ll have to get around that,” Keene said, “Obviously, Delia had something in mind to get around that since she planned to use Erin to take over Stefan’s place. It must be possible. But I’m not totally pleased with the idea of trusting that . . . that . . . Jeane.”
Mari snorted at his lack of words. “Snake? Traitor? Whore? I bet that’s what Bedřich called her.”
A smile tugged on the corners of Keene’s mouth. “Whatever she is, she can’t be trusted.”
“Erin shouldn’t go,” Jace insisted, looking more to Ritter than anyone else. Ritter, who felt the same but wouldn’t stop me because there was no other way.
“She won’t be alone,” Keene said. “Cort or I will be there too. One of us can go in separately for a reunion with dear old Dad.” His bottom lip curled on the last words.
“As long as we interrupt their electrical shield. I can get all of us right into any room where Erin is,” Mari added.
“But I’m the one you should send.” Jace sat forward, hands splayed on the table. “Stefan is my father, not Erin’s.”
Silence fell in the room, with Keene, Mari, Oliver, and Chris looking confused. “What are you saying?” Chris was the one to ask.
Jace glanced at our brother. “Just what it seems. You know the sperm they stole didn’t get to the fertility clinic in time to use for Erin—they saved it for me.”
“No,” Chris whispered. I knew he wanted to protect Jace from this as much as I wanted to, but there are some things from which you can’t protect even those you love.
“Yes, I’m Stefan Carrington’s son.” Jace stumbled over the man’s name. “I just found out today, but I think I’ve known all along.”
I wanted to cry out for Jace to shut up, because he was right that I wouldn’t pass the DNA tests, but sending my younger brother into that place . . . I’d rather die than let him face Stefan.
“Jace,” Ava said, her gray eyes liquid and softer than normal, “you’ve made a good point, and certainly, you’ll be there for the op, as we all will, but Stefan believes Erin is his daughter. We don’t want to take the chance of muddying the waters at this point. Her unique abilities make her the logical choice to infiltrate their headquarters. You’re right that for DNA, we’ll need you at some point. And I’m guessing you’ll be the successor who ultimately takes Stefan’s place and helps reform the Emporium.”
“Mari can find me inside, once you turn off the generators,” Jace protested. “Erin can come in then.”
Ritter shook his head. “I have no doubt that the Emporium learned a lesson after what we were able to do the last time, and I’m betting the generators will need to be shut off from the inside. Erin’s abilities will help us do that. The second she succeeds, Mari will shift you in.”
Jace slumped back in his chair. “Okay, you’re right.” He didn’t look angry, and I wondered if that meant he was as scared as I was at the idea of entering Stefan’s lair.
Next to me, Ritter took my hand under the table. Though he felt cool against the clamminess of my skin, I wasn’t going to let go in order to hide my apprehension from him. As our ops leader and experienced combat Unbounded, Ritter could shut down this plan at any moment, but he wouldn’t shut it down, I knew, no matter how much he hated it, because this was our best chance. Our only chance.
“So Erin will go in with Jeane,” Ritter said, the words heavily reluctant but determined. “Now that we’re not attacking all the locations, we can use the bulk of the ex-Emporium recruits from Mexico to form a blockade around the facility. That way no one inside can run for help and no reinforcements can enter. We’ll take down the electricity in much of the city, so the Emporium will only be left with generators, which, at some point, Erin will interrupt. And telephone service also needs to be taken down until we’ve secured the building.”
Heads nodded as Ritter continued. “After we subdue the Triad, we’ll shift in more of our people. Or before that, if we have to. I’m not going to trust that they will all just fall into line when we take over.”
Cort coughed gently before adding, “There’s bound to be some fighting. But if we can take them over completely, it’ll be that much easier to control any reaction from their other headquarters.”
“So how am I shutting down the generators?” I was working through it in my mind, and all I kept seeing was Stefan throwing me into a locked room. “After all the training, I know how to bypass them, but Stefan isn’t going to make it easy.” I’d have to somehow overcome the guards.
“Stefan will definitely have them secure,” Ritter said. “That’s where Cort comes in.” Everyone, including Cort, looked at Ritter blankly. “Cort hasn’t played double agent since Keene left the Emporium,” Ritter continued without missing a breath, “and it’s doubtful they’ll trust him now, but using that old cover, we should be able to get him inside. This time he’ll take a few prisoners to pad his homecoming. Namely, Mari and me.”
Ava’s soft gasp told me this wasn’t something she’d expected. Stella stopped paying attention to the holograph and started shaking her head so violently her neural headset threatened to fly off. “No. If they got their hands on a shifter . . .” she began.
“They don’t know what Mari looks like.” Ritter raised his voice to talk over Stella, his eyes locked on Ava, upon whom rested the ultimate decision. “Even if they’ve heard rumors that we have a shifter, they can’t know it’s Mari. She’ll go in disguise, of course.”
“No.” Keene sat up stiffly in his chair, looking murderous. “It’s one thing having her shift inside and taking backup, but going in like that . . . we have no idea what their reaction might be.”
Ritter held firm. “We need to move around freely inside their headquarters. Either Mari or Erin can use Mari’s ability to shift to the generators and disable them. That means getting Mari inside is the
only
way this plan has any chance of success.”
“It’s too dangerous!” Keene shouted, jumping to his feet. Volatile energy danced around him.
Ritter released my hand and also arose, leaning over the table on his fisted hands. “Would you rather have her storm the front doors as we planned before? I’ll protect her, Keene. You know I will!” The two men glared at each other from across the table, neither backing down.
“Keene, it’s my decision!” Mari tugged at Keene to sit in his chair.
He ignored her, but when he spoke again, his words were slightly calmer. “They’ll put her in a protected cell. She won’t be able to shift from there. After everything Erin and Delia have been able to do, they’d be stupid not to lock her up. If she goes in as a prisoner, no one will be able to use her ability.”
Silence for too long, and then Cort said calmly, “I probably should have spoken up sooner, but for the record, there’s no way my father will ever trust me again. In fact, he’s more likely to kill me on sight, even if he could be made to believe that I was still working undercover, which I really doubt.” He looked around at us, his mouth lifting in a sad smile. “I might as well tell you—it was me who killed my father’s successor. Yes, my own brother. I told my father he was in danger, but he never believed I did it to save his life.” He glanced at Keene as if willing him to understand. “I said before that my brother wasn’t the first sibling I saw die unnecessarily for a cause I no longer believed in, but he was the first family member
I
had to kill. That was when I realized I was working for the wrong side. I never wanted to do that again.”
Ritter froze, and something in his demeanor whispered of shame. “You’re right, we can’t send you in like that. But we still need Mari inside. Otherwise, it could take days before Erin gets to the generator.”
“I understand that,” Keene said, sorrow in his eyes. “But having one prisoner showing up will be hard enough for them to stomach without throwing in a second group.”
Ritter sat back down slowly, his face drawn in thought. “There might be a better way, but it means Cort and I won’t be there initially to help.” He paused, looking up in the direction of the wall, as if going through different scenarios in his mind.
Finally, he dragged his gaze back to Keene. “You’ll be the one to go in then. I think the best way is for you to contact your father and say you want to come home. Do it before Jeane calls so the two events don’t appear to be connected. Try to make him believe you’re coming back for good. You’ve been hidden pretty much in plain sight while under their noses in DC, so he might buy that you were only with us for a short time and regret leaving him.”
Keene nodded, his mouth tight as though he didn’t trust himself to speak.
“My father may hate me”—Cort didn’t sound too shaken up about it—“but Keene was always a favorite, or he wouldn’t have led so many hit teams. Once he knows Keene has Changed, and especially about his unique ability, he’ll be persuaded.”
Keene’s nostrils flared. “Oh, he’ll be willing to have me come home, if only to do experiments on me.”
“Exactly.” Regret oozed like defeat in Cort’s voice, and I knew he wanted Keene to do this as much as I wanted to walk through those doors.
“And Mari?” Keene asked, glancing at Mari, who nodded at Ritter encouragingly.
“I want to help,” she said.
Ritter blew out a sigh. “Mari still goes in—but as Keene’s girlfriend. She’ll help Erin disable the generators. Mari and Keene will be Erin’s backup and vice-versa.”
Keene stared at him blankly for a moment before he sank into his chair, his body relaxing. “Right. Okay. At least they’ll have a slight chance of believing Mari’s there because she wants to be with me. Since she’s an unknown, not someone related to Cort or the Renegades, they won’t have reason to watch her too closely.”
“That’s a great idea!” Mari said with her usual abandon. The tension seeped from the room. “I think I just might be able to get into that role.”
Jace snorted a laugh. “Yeah, tell us about it.”
“We could still go in,” Cort told Ritter, “or get ourselves caught somehow. I might be able to talk Stefan into not letting my father kill me.”
Ritter didn’t speak for a long moment of internal debate that had his hands clenched on the armrests of his chair. “No. Keene’s right that more of us would be too much of a coincidence. We’re stretching things as they are. We’ll wait until Mari and Erin can shift us inside to deal with the Triad.”
“Are there any more comments? Objections?” Ava asked, looking mostly at Dimitri, Chris, and Oliver, who had been silent during the exchange. All of them shook their heads. “Okay, then we’re in agreement,” Ava continued. “We still need to fine-tune the details, but before that we need to discuss the Emporium headquarters in San Francisco. They will likely be the first ones to offer aid if New York doesn’t go exactly as planned.”
“The black ops team the president offered could form a blockade there,” Ritter said. “They’re well-trained and should be able to capture small groups of Emporium agents as they leave. But they know nothing about Unbounded or how to deal with them, so one of us will need to be in charge.”
“I agree.” Ava’s attention roamed the room. Oliver sat a little taller, but her eyes landed on Chris. “You think you’re up for it, Chris? You can have George, Marco, and Charles on your team, but you’ll be calling the shots.”
Chris blinked in surprise at being chosen. “Yeah. I can do that.”
I wasn’t sure how to feel about his appointment, but Chris had been training as hard as the rest of us, and he was an excellent shot. Our mortal guards all looked up to him after he’d apparently saved George and Stella’s lives from an Emporium hit team when we were away on an op. At least he wouldn’t have to storm the building.
“I’m hoping you won’t have to take more than a dozen prisoners during the entire op,” Ritter told Chris. “But there could be a lot more if things don’t go smoothly. You’ll need to stop them from going to New York, even if you have to shoot them down in the street.”
“Without a sensing Unbounded, I’ll need air support,” Chris said. “I’ll work with Marco and the others to figure out coverage. Needless to say, we’ll try to capture them first.”
“We’ll get you a chopper.” Ava paused for a minute, tapping a finger lightly against the table as if eager to get started. “That only leaves the other headquarter locations. We’ll need to contact our other Renegade cells to see what they can do about blockades there.”