Destined (War of the Covens 2)

The spies watching the houses were to contact du Bois as soon as the MacLachlans were off the street. Caia would be listening in on du Bois, and once the spies had done this, she would send in the paired lykan and magik to take out the spy. She’d given each team the description of the car the spy would be in and a description of the spy themselves and the element they used. The magik was to open the car door for the transformed lykan and cloak the vehicle while the lykan turned the Midnight into a chew toy. This way, there would be no human witnesses wandering around.

Once this was done, four teams of two, consisting of one vampyre and one lykan, would take out each guard around the forest perimeter quickly and silently. Caia, Lucien, Rose, Phoebe, and Anders would head in, in wolf form, along with Michael, Marita, and Mordecai. Each had been given a magik to take out—they were situated toward the north end of the forest where the pack met in a clearing and changed before the run. Du Bois had decided to outflank the MacLachlans by encircling the clearing, ensuring his magiks could attack from all sides.

Caia knew exactly what position each would take. To Caia’s chagrin, Marita had ordered that Mordecai take out du Bois. She’d wanted Pierre for herself, mostly because he was an extremely powerful water magik and she was afraid for the person who would be attempting to attack him.

Even if that person was a treacherous man-whore.

Speaking of which …

She was sure she’d caught a glimpse of familiar jet-black hair on top of brawny shoulders. Squinting, she pressed gently against Marion to get the magik to budge a bit so she could see around one of the reception’s steel pillars.

Her heart literally stopped.

Rose was pressed against Lucien, who had his arms around her waist, and they were kissing … quite passionately.

She felt sick to her stomach.

Trembling, she pulled back so she didn’t have to look anymore. Gaia, how had her life gotten here? She flexed her hands, trying to force the trembling to subside.

“Caia, you have to forget what you just saw and focus. You have a long night ahead of you,” Marion whispered in her ear.

“I’m fine,” she assured her mentor.

“No, you’re not. But you will be.”

Surprised at her cryptic comment, she turned to look at the witch only to see her glaring at Lucien and Rose as they came into view. It almost made her smile. It was nice having friends who cared.

Blowing out a troubling breath between her lips, Caia focused beyond the couple and watched as Phoebe appeared behind them.

That was everyone, then.

“We’re all here.” Marion nodded around at the tactical team. “We’re all aware of our parts in this?”

A lot of murmuring and nodding offered confirmation.

“We all have a set of comms?”

Caia nodded with the rest, hardly noticing the small earpiece that would allow her to communicate with the others.

“Remember, the portals that have been opened transport us out very close to the Midnights, so stealth is of the utmost importance. Unit One.” Marion turned to the magiks and lykans who were teamed together. “You’ll each take a portal to the street your target is on. It will open in a secure location where you are hidden from Midnight view. You all remember which team you are? Caia, do you?”

She nodded, trying to ignore the sickening butterflies in her stomach.

“Caia will prompt you when your Midnight has made the call to du Bois, and you go in, quick and quiet.” Marion stared at them a few intimidating moments at a time before turning to the teams of lykans and vampyres. “Unit Two, you’ll go through the portal with us. You’ll take position near your Midnight and after the spies are out, Caia will send you in to take out the guards.” She smiled dryly and turned to Anders, Mordecai, and the others. “Unit Three, you’re with me. We’ll head in once Unit Two confirms the guards are down. Everyone clear?”

The back of the reception area had been sealed off. Shimmering against the wall were six portals. The colors and shapes they made up were merely a warped version of reality; it was the wall, but it swirled and glittered and pulsed invitingly.

Caia looked on, barely listening as Marion directed each Unit One team to the correct portal; then they began following the witch to the portal reserved for Units Two and Three. The others strode ahead and through, the vampyres holding their weapons high just in case they encountered any Midnights on the other side. She could’ve told them they wouldn’t; she knew where every single one of them was, and they had no idea a battalion of Daylights was on their way to ruin their night.