Page 65 of Dark Rebel's Mystery

"That's regrettable." Yamanu opened his eyes. "What did you invest in?"

"Stocks."

"You should follow Kian's recommendations. Shai posts them on the clan's bulletin board every weekend."

"I didn't know that." Max felt dumb. "I'll look into it."

"The plan seems easy enough," Yamanu said. "But I keep thinking about worst-case scenarios, like a squadron of Doomers. How many immortals can Drova compel at once?"

"We don't know," Max said. "But we are not relying just on her. We have Jade's squad, and we have Ell-rom."

Yamanu snorted. "We don't know the full scope of his talent yet or if he can function under fire."

Max glanced a couple of rows up. Jasmine and Ell-rom sat side by side, their heads close together, conversing quietly.

"I guess we are going to find out." Max pushed off the headrest and headed back to his seat.

After take-off, he adjusted the recline so he wasn't fully upright, but he wasn't ready to fall asleep yet.

Ell-rom seemed to have the same problem because he got up and walked over, resting a hand on the plush seat across from Max. "Do you mind if I sit with you? Jasmine fell asleep."

"Not at all." Max gestured to the seat next to him.

"It feels like the calm before the storm."

The man had zero combat experience and was obviously nervous, possibly because he was worried about Jasmine's safety.

"It's all going to be okay. We have it covered. It's a grab-and-go. We thrall or neutralize the guards. Drova compels any immortals we encounter, find Kyra, and get her out. We will vanish long before reinforcements arrive."

Ell-rom gave a slow exhale. "I know. Now I need to believe it."

"We've got a long flight ahead, Ell-rom. Try to get some rest."

44

KYRA

Kyra paused at the edge of the camp and adjusted her headscarf. Tents' canvases rustled behind her as Soran and Zara caught up, probably planning another attempt to dissuade her from going.

"This is insane, Kyra," Soran said, his voice low enough that no one else might overhear. "Wait a week until the dust settles. In the meantime, Parisa will collect intel for us like she has done for months."

Zara caught her elbow. "They'll be checking everyone now. They will order you to take your face covering off and realize that you are not Parisa. You'll get caught, and they will put you in a cell and abuse you the same way they are doing to that woman you are so obsessed with. And who is going to help her then?"

Kyra pulled her elbow out of Zara's grip. "They had me remove the face covering the first day I went, but the guard didn't notice anything. I'll be fine."

Her grip tightened on the small cloth bag at her hip. Inside it, she'd stashed Parisa's doctored ID, which had served her well until now and hopefully would serve her again.

She was tempting fate, but the pull inside her was too strong to ignore. She couldn't leave behind the woman in cell number twelve.

"Please," Zara pleaded. "Don't go."

They'd argued for hours the previous evening, but in the end, no one could sway her. No one else understood how crucial it was for her to check that Twelve was still there and see if there was a chance to free her.

"I have to do this. We need information, and Parisa is not good enough to collect it. Not the kind of information I need. You have your assignments. Go."

Soran shook his head but exhaled in resignation. "Just...be careful. At the first sign of trouble?—"

"I know." She forced a tight smile. "I'll get what we need and slip out."

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