The question is, what lies on the other side?
Aiden pulls out a scope and zooms in on the concrete barrier. “One hundred,” he mutters, setting the scope back down. “Give or take a few feet. That’s not taking into account the voltage barrier.”
“Shit,” Lucas hisses. “That’s enough leverage to keep us out for good.”
The last time he blew through a wall, Cassian’s thugs nearly shredded them with the counterattack. With the gunpowder they have, he could probably figure out a way inside, but taking on an entire brigade of alphas doesn’t sound too appealing.
“What’s the matter? Too tired to fight?” Aiden asks.
Lucas squints his eyes. Despite the cold of snow, thick beads of sweat have formed on his forehead. “Not tired,” he says, eyeing his partner. “Concerned.”
Aiden reaches for his leather drink pouch, the third refill of the night. His plan must be to drink himself to the Iron Eye. “Concerned?” he asks. “What in Alpha are you concerned about?”
Lucas stares at him as Aiden spills liquid all over the front of his shirt. “Seriously?”
“Oh, come on. You’re safe with me,” he mutters and wipes the excess drink off his chin.
Taking the scope into his own hands, Lucas zooms in and focuses on the wall. An alpha tribe has taken over the city. There're groups of men stationed in every quadrant, and they don’t look too friendly.
“There’s no way in,” Lucas mutters. He desperately tries to find a weak point of entry, but the city is too well-protected.
Lucas turns and eyes the mountains to the southwest. Without a map, it would be hard to traverse across such rough terrain.
Nature was never Lucas’ thing. In fact, he detests it. He’s a bomb maker. That’s what he’s good at. Not fucking camping.
Aiden shrugs. “Good luck getting through the mountains with no wearable tech. Weather’s getting colder. We’ll ge
t snowed in come nightfall,” he says. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan. I will not lead you into the lion’s den without a little bait.”
Lucas sighs and dips into the grass. “Okay,” Lucas says. “So tell me. What’s the bait?”
Aiden laughs and stands, stretching his arms out real wide. He’s too smug, and the drink he has downed has officially activated. If the alpha tribesmen were to see him, they could have his head on a plate in no time.
“Our plan is to walk right through the border,” he says. “The bait is me.”
And before Lucas can offer any coherent argument against his recklessness, his partner jumps onto the rover and drives down the hill, screaming at the alphas on guard.
The alarms go off. He slows when the alphas ready their weapons.
Lucas bites the side of his tongue until he tastes blood’s metallic flavor. “Fool,” he sneers.
The alphas surround Aiden, but his plan seems to stall any violence for the time being. Though Lucas can’t make out the words spoken, he sees Aiden point in his general direction. A few alphas catch sight of him.
Red lasers from snipers hidden outside of the city dart around his face and body.
Slowly, Lucas stands with his hands locked over his head. “Okay, okay. You got us.”
He knew partnering up with Aiden was a bad idea, but the impulse to find Rae was too strong. They were caught within two days. Two days! How pathetic.
“Bring us to Calvin,” Aiden demands.
A group of alpha thugs surround him. The voltage barrier’s power is momentarily suspended. They drag Lucas and Aiden inside the gates, throwing them at the foot of a round clay building.
Lucas runs his hands against his back and stands. The alphas push him forward to the first step of the hut.
The door is half open, so they enter, penetrating the room’s darkness with a thick block of light. Dust clings to the brightness.
An alpha kneels in the room's corner. Locked in silent prayer, he keeps his forehead against the floor. He is shirtless, and his body is one solid tattoo of a snake.