Page 98 of Green Ravens

“Target secured,” Valor informed their team.

“Exceptional work, masters,” Jo said. “Transport is on the way for Woyashi.”

“Lion and Omega?” Valor questioned.

“Threat is neutralized,” Jo answered.

One battle was won, but the war was far from over.

Chief Aiken Oakley

Valor

The safehouse in Poppenbüttel was unlike any safehouse he’d imagined. It was a five-bedroom sprawling log cabin in the middle of a dense forest.

Thanks to Glitch, it had been reinforced with a firewall, wide-range satellites, and new-age technology, yet it blended seamlessly with the wilderness.

Jo and her team interrogated Zelmir, their voices clipped, demanding, while the young physicist sat with his head in his hands, threading his fingers through his disheveled brown hair.

He was distraught and mumbling incoherent words about needing his family.

Valor tilted his head and observed him harder.

Zelmir was probably a very handsome man when he wasn’t plagued by stress and grief.

His eyes were a more radiant green than his cherished’s, and now that he’d washed the grime and soot from his skin, his complexion had the depth of golden sandstone. His cheeks were peppered with dark freckles.

“If you want my guys to go in and rescue them, you need to tell me more about the secured area of the Ravens facility that only the director can access,” Jo demanded. “You also said you saw more men being trained as assassins. Start there.”

“Okay, I will tell you all I know or can remember.” Zelmir sniffled. “There’s…there’s a secured panel in the director’s office that leads to another area…”

Valor paid no attention to the interrogation.

Zorion sat beside him, silent but watchful, occasionally shifting his sharp eyes from Jo to Zelmir.

But as for Valor…all he cared about was when they would be given the order to go after the director.

He flexed his fingers, feeling the relentless energy pulsing beneath his skin, his enhanced strength and mastery seeking another release.

The door burst open, and all heads snapped toward the entrance.

Lion and Omega strode in, their clothes torn and smeared with dirt and blood. They moved with the weariness of battle, and Valor could smell it on them. The unmistakable scent of sweat, adrenaline, the reek of war.

Omega exhaled sharply. “The Black and the Brown Ravens. We were about to kill them.”

“That wasn’t the plan.” Jo stood, her mouth set in a grim line. “We don’t know if they’re dirty. I told you I needed to do more recon. I have people on the inside reporting on the hour. But if the Blacks are corrupt, then we will—”

“No, we won’t.” Lion’s expression was unreadable. “Meridian used a name of clemency.”

A ripple went through the room, and Jo’s grimace morphed into a curious frown. “Who?”

Omega lifted his head. “Alpha. Meridian knew his name, Jo. And his face.”

A heavy silence saturated the room.

Valor let out a sharp exhale of impatience.

“And what the hell does that mean for our mission?”

---