Forever (Fallen 3)

“Excellent,” Gabriel’s eyes brightened. “Our odds are looking a bit better.”

“A bit?” Mason snorted. “A bit isn’t a lot.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Gabriel countered, pacing again. “Before we get anyone else involved though, we need a plan of attack. That way, everyone knows what’s going to happen, and we don’t have others chiming in on a plan of action.”

“You’re the one that knows that layout of the castle—” Jonathon started but Gabriel interrupted him.

“They don’t live in the castle anymore,” Gabriel glared at Jonathon.

“They don’t?” Danny asked.

Gabriel shook his head. “They’re still in Romania, but not the castle. They’re underground, and that’s where things get difficult. There’s only one way in and one way out. Both are heavily guarded.” He stopped, looking at each of us closely. “I can tell you right now, some of us will die. If you’re not prepared to have eternity cut short, then leave now.”

Jonathon’s hand twined with mine. No one moved.

“I should’ve known,” Gabriel smiled. “Patrick, when you speak with the shifters, you need to tell them that as well. After all, they are mortal, their chances of death are higher than ours.”

“Of course,” Patrick nodded.

“Is there any paper? And a pen?” Gabriel asked.

Amelia disappeared and seconds later flitted back into the room with the items he had requested.

Gabriel sat on the floor, placing the piece of paper on the coffee table. He began to sketch, his hand blurring in the process.

He held it up. Pointing, he said, “This is where we enter the compound. We won’t be able to leave that way. If we manage to get in, this entranc

e will close in around us. This is the part where we have to hurry. Alarms will go off and we will be attacked. The only other exit is here,” he pointed to another spot on the map he had drawn, “which is in the room where the Originals stay. This exit is impossible to see from the outside. Therefore, we are forced to wind through the compound, and hope we get to the Originals wing before they get out. I hate to say this…” he paused, “but if they get out before we reach them, chances are we’ll never find them.”

“So, basically you’re saying, we have to move fast?” Danny asked.

“It’s more than that, though. The compound is designed to confuse you. It’s easy to get lost. And chances are, at least for mortals, if you get lost you’ll wander until you die.”

“Doesn’t that sound exciting,” Mason snorted.

Gabriel continued like Mason had said nothing. “We should be prepared for anything.”

Well, that sounded ominous.

“Can you give us an example of what we should expect?” Amelia asked.

Gabriel frowned, tapping a finger against his lips. “Sorry, but no. I know enough to expect something, but that’s it. The Originals…they always have tricks up their sleeves.”

Mason rubbed his hands together. “We can handle them.”

“Don’t get cocky,” Gabriel warned. “Cockiness leads to mistakes.”

Mason rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

“Now,” Gabriel said, “We’ll need to park our cars several miles from the exit we’ll take from the compound, and then come in by foot. We’ll be making a large loop around the compound. Since it’s underground, we’re not going to see it. But I assume there will be guards patrolling the land. Don’t let yourselves get distracted. We’ll need to stay quiet. Our ears are our greatest asset, so we should hear any disturbance before they attack us.” Rubbing his jaw, he said, “Our goal is to get in the entrance without setting off any alarms. There will be nothing we can do to keep our presence unnoticed beyond that point. But if we’re discovered before we’re in the compound…game over.”

A heavy rock settled in my stomach.

How were we going to pull this off?

* * *

There was a knock at the door and we all stiffened. We’d been so absorbed in everything that Gabriel was telling us, that we hadn’t been paying attention.