"I'd like to know what his people are doing with the cherubs," Adam said.

I wanted to know the answers to a lot of things, but right then, nothing else mattered but blood. "Let's get these Templars here," I said, trying to ignore Elyssa's baleful glare. "If we set up a trap and nail them with Lancers all at once, maybe we can do this thing."

I dismissed the meeting. Elyssa stormed from the room. I followed her up to the bedroom, and shut the door. "Why are you so mad?" I asked.

"My father hasn't helped?" she said in a rhetorical tone. "Really? After providing a pilot and a slider to retrieve the trailer? After providing a place to keep your mother? After providing the car you and I used in the operation? After leaving the decision for his intervention in your hands?"

"I didn't mean it like that," I said. "He just wouldn't get involved—"

"And he had a very good reason for not showing his hand," Elyssa said. "You can't just plow into everything, heedless of consequences, Justin. Sometimes you have to use tact and tactics."

"Fine," I said, throwing up my hands. "I'm sorry I insulted your father. That wasn't my intention."

She sank onto the bed, tears welling in her eyes. I looked at her, completely confused. Why was she having such an overreaction? I thought back to what I'd said, but aside from some whining, I couldn't think of anything to bring Elyssa to tears. As usual, seeing her cry made me feel like a complete villain. I sat beside her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and hugging her.

"I'm sorry, baby. I was a complete ass. Please forgive me."

She turned and buried her face in my shoulder. "It's not you," she said. "It's everything going on with the Synod and the Templars." Elyssa looked up at me, her face beautiful despite the red blotches from crying. "They tried to murder my father, Justin. They tried to kill you and everyone in a leadership position. What are they going to do next? How can we stop them if they try?" She drew in a shuddering breath. "I don't know what to do."

Her reaction suddenly made sense. I knew exactly where she was coming from. She felt powerless to stop the Synod from killing her father and other people she cared about. It was one thing to fight an army, but another thing entirely to stop one man or a group of them on a suicide mission. If Ivy hadn't warned us, there would have been so much blood spilled that day, including my own.

I kissed her on the forehead. "I understand. If we can get my mom out of that box, she'll be one more layer of protection." I hated referring to my mom like that, but it was true.

"Then that's what we have to do," Elyssa said. "Save your mom so we can save everyone else."

"How do you think we should do it?" I asked.

She wiped tears from her face. "I think your plan could work. It's simple, straightforward, and not as complicated as most of the stuff you come up with."

"It's just stupid simple," I said, offering her a grin. "You can say it."

She laughed, her hands absentmindedly picking a piece of lint from my shirt and flicking it away. "Those plans are usually the best." She surprised me with a kiss. "You always know how to cheer me up."

I wished I knew exactly what I'd said to clear the air, but just smiled as if I had everything covered. "I like seeing you smile."

She took out her phone and dialed. "Let's get this party started."

Chapter 30

Twenty-five Templars outfitted with Lancers and bearing satchels full of other crowd-control items stepped through the portal and into the main cavern outside the El Dorado control room. Thanks to our omniarch, they'd arrived a little over an hour after Elyssa's request.

I'd called ahead and spoken with Cinder to make sure the coast remained clear before coming, even though we opened the portal farther back into the main cave for easy insertion and escape should that become necessary.

"We'll set up the perimeter," said the leader of the elite Templar squad, a man named Hutchins.

The group of dark-clad Templars dispersed, placing what looked like rocks in a loose circle around the area where the Darkwater people had stood the last time.

"Those are stun mines," Elyssa explained. "We can trigger them to blind and disorient a group. Once they go off, we'll knock them out with Lancer darts and secure them."

"This is the kind of equipment I'm talking about," I said, feeling immeasurably better about our success. We spent the next thirty minutes watching the men set up. Shelton and the others remained on standby, but I didn't think we'd need their help with the pros on our team. Once everything was set up, Hutchins and his men hid behind other boulders and debris they'd moved into strategic positions and waited. Elyssa and I picked our own hiding spot with a good view. We both had Lancers equipped and ready. I figured with this many people firing darts, we stood a good chance of hitting most of the people Kassus brought through.

The dragons, for their part, merely watched, their huge heads swiveling around the cavern as the men worked, apparently unconcerned so long as nobody tried to violate the boundary of their giant coiled bodies.

The wait dragged on and on.

"What's taking Kassus so long?" I asked Elyssa.

She leaned back against the rock. "Tackling two leviathan dragons isn't an easy task. I'm sure he's taking his time with preparations."

I sighed and sat down, trying to calm my anxiety. My mind kept playing through scenarios, each one ending with me drawing Kassus's blood with a small brass-enclosed vial Meghan had given me. It didn't have a needle. All I had to do was put it against the man's bare skin, activate it with a button, and it would draw and store blood.

Time slogged forward. I thought about my mom and how weak she was becoming. I thought about letting her feed off me the minute I burst inside and rescued her. I wondered how Kassus planned to get past the dragons. Would he use brute force, or try something sneaky like the camouflaged man earlier? He seemed like a violent person, but I knew he wasn't stupid. Nobody earned a reputation like his by being a fool.

Finally, I heard a faint hum from the control room. A light flashed three times from a position near the door.

They're here.

My stomach twisted. My shoulder muscles pinched. This was it.

Go time.

The Darkwater people filed in, each one bearing large satchels. I strained my eyes to pick out the features of each one, but didn't see Kassus's bald head in the mix. The black-robed people unpacked machine guns and began setting them up on tripods in a line across the front. I noted they all stood within the perimeter of stun mines.

"Are those nom weapons?" I asked Elyssa.

She peered out at them, her eyes darting from one weapon to the next. "Looks like it," she whispered back.

"What do they expect to accomplish with those?"

"I need to see the ammo, but even I can't make out the details from here." She took out a pair of black binoculars and gazed through them for a moment. When she slid back behind the barrier, she looked concerned. "Those bullets are tipped with diamond fiber," she said. "I don't think I've seen anything like it before."

"What does that mean?"

Her eyes looked lost in concentration for a moment, and snapped wide. "The dragons are magic resistant, but if you think about what they are, they're like aether sponges. Maybe it has to do with their relationship to aether. But diamond fiber repels magic, and ordinary bullets use scientific properties to work. Kassus must think this ammo will penetrate their scales."

"But the bullets are so small," I said. "Even if they do punch through scales, how could they hurt something that size?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know. It'd be like mosquito bites. But if enough mosquitos bite you, it's seriously annoying and painful."

"So their brilliant plan is to piss the giant dragons off," I said. "We won't need to do anything. They're gonna get themselves killed."

"There's something we're missing," she said. "Even if they provoke the dragons, what do they hope to gain?"

"I still don't see Kassus," I said, using her binoculars to survey the invaders. "What if he doesn't show?"

Her forehead pinched. "We can't let them go through with their plan."

"But we'll give away our advantage." I dropped back behind cover. "Kassus will know that someone else is aware of this place."

We both watched in silence as the men finished setting up. A dark figure appeared from the shadows, nearly giving me a heart attack.

"Target is not present," Hutchins said. "What are your orders?"

Elyssa looked from me and back to the man. "We apprehend them as planned."

"No," I said. "Just wait. Maybe Kassus will show up. Maybe he's on the way right now."

Hutchins's eyes narrowed. "We need to act now before they start firing."

"Please, wait," I said, gripping Elyssa's hand. "Just a little longer."

Hutchins turned to me. "I respect what you've done, Slade. I saw you in action the day the Synod tried to assassinate Commander Borathen and the others. You're quick, decisive, and from what I've heard, you've earned the respect of those you work with." His lips pressed together for an instant. "But this is a tightly controlled operation. Cadet Borathen and I have the experience and the knowledge necessary for success. I understand the primary target isn't here, and if Elyssa tells us to stand down, we will. But given what's at stake"—he nodded his head toward the nursery—"I don't see it as an option to let these people potentially destroy what could be a valuable asset to us in the future."

"There might not be a future if we don't capture Kassus," I said. "My mother can help us now when we need it the most."