Page 66 of When Monsters Fight
“It doesn’t matter,” Gabriel said. “As long as we can get into the central chamber, to Lucifer.”
I had her sword, Soul Reaper. I had a feeling she was going to need it. The damn thing was formidable, able to cut a doorway in the fabric of a world and transport us home. It was a mighty weapon, and I was sure Lucifer would need it in her fight against the Dominion once we freed her.
“We need to organize teams,” Bastian said. “Decoy team for the outside, and extraction team.”
Just two? “What about you? You need a team to get into the security room.”
“Not a team, maybe one or two people to keep watch. We need to be low-key.”
“I’ll come with you,” Bee said.
“And me,” Tumiel added.
He’d healed, but he still looked pale. I wasn’t sure he was up to this mission, and from the look on Bee’s face, neither was she. But I knew better than to question his fitness. Knew that he wasn’t so arrogant as to come along if he felt he might end up being a liability.
Bastian must have surmised the same because he didn’t protest. But Bee looked less than pleased, and even though she didn’t question him openly now, I was certain they’d have words later.
“The extraction team should be small too,” Gabriel said. “Grab Lucifer and head straight to the exit point.”
“I’ll lead the decoy team,” Kabiel said.
Gabriel dropped him a nod. “I’ll lead the extraction team. I’ll take Rue with me. She has a connection to the Morningstar power, and we might be able to locate the relics along the way.”
“Zaq and I will come with you,” Sarq said.
“The diversion will draw some fire, but not all,” Gabriel said. “They may even send more security toward their asset as protocol. We won’t know until it happens. So we need a few more watchers with us to act as defense on the corridors closest to the holding chamber.” He pointed at the two spots on the map.
“Four of my watchers,” Kabiel said. “Two for each corridor. It’s all we can offer without making the decoy team look like less of a threat.” His silver eyes narrowed. “We have to hope they don’t call in reinforcements from the Golden City.”
“How far is the hub from the city?” Bee asked.
“Thirty miles,” Erelim said. “But that’s not far by air. Two decoy teams would have been better. One at the city and one at the hub. But our numbers are too low as it is. If we split them, we won’t pose a threat.”
“It’s a shame I won’t get to use my tunnel,” Gabriel said. “It was guarded when we broke out, but the Dominion will have tripled the security, maybe even collapsed it by now. We still have allies in the city. We could have shaken the celestials to the core by attacking from the inside.”
But Michael had put paid to that idea. The focus had to be on Lucifer anyway. “We can do this. We may not have the numbers, but we have the skill and the determination. We have a plan. We strike in the dead of night, and we take back the power.”
“Get some rest,” Gabriel said to everyone. “Find a bunk and sleep. Fuel up tomorrow and be ready to move at sunset.”
The next few hours would either fly by or drag. Either way, I doubted I’d be getting any sleep.
Chapter 34
Hot food was bliss, and we all ate in silence, huddled in small groups. Bee and I were joined by Sarq, Tumiel, Zaq, and Mira. The reapers joined Baraqel and his watchers, while Kabiel and his watchers took their food and retreated to the lower level. Gabriel and Bastian were still poring over the plans, but I’d set aside some food for them both.
The stew was meaty, which meant they had access to cattle. Probably a farm close by, or even below ground. From what Gabriel told me about the base on our journey here, it was built to be fully equipped to sustain life for many decades to come.
“Shem would be so proud to see you now,” Sarq said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “He always knew you were a survivor.”
“We had our doubts to start with,” Tumiel said. “But you proved us wrong a long time ago.”
“Having you with us is like having a part of him with us,” Zaq said.
I’d held thoughts of Shem at bay to keep myself fromcrumbling, but memories, soft and tender, filled my head now, and my heart bloomed with the sweet ache of loss.
I blinked back tears. “Nothing feels the same without him. This mission…this purpose, it’s all that keeps me going, and once we do this…once we fix this, then what? You’ll be gone. All of you.” My vision blurred. “And Bastian…” I looked across the room at him leaning over the table, his face a map of concentration. “I don’t know how long I’ll get to keep him.” I dropped my gaze and took a breath. “I don’t want to lose you guys. You’re all I have left. You’re my family.”
Bee took my hand and squeezed, and I saw my fears reflected in her eyes. What if she didn’t make it either? In that case, I didn’t want to survive. If everyone I loved was gone, then what was the point?
