As Magnus glanced at Anandur, he thought his partner didn’t seem battle ready at all. Instead of being all pumped up with pre-mission adrenaline, the guy sat slumped in the passenger seat with his eyelids drooping like he was about to fall asleep. “You look tired.”

“It’s after three in the morning, and I didn’t sleep much the night before.”

Magnus shook his head. “I’m not going to ask what has kept you awake.”

“Much appreciated.” Anandur crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.

“You need to wake up, buddy. We are on at exactly four a.m.”

“That means that I have half an hour of shuteye. Bug off.”

If it were up to him, Magnus would have preferred the Doomers to know that he was coming, not only because taking them by surprise in their beds wasn’t the Guardian way, but because he would’ve loved a decent fight.

But that’s how Kian and Onegus wanted it to play out.

Assigning one Guardian per Doomer was overkill too, but the idea was to take them out simultaneously so no one could sound the alarm and bring reinforcements. In fact, the plan was to make it look as if the Doomers defected. Meaning that any signs of struggle had to be cleared up before the mission was considered completed.

According to the ex-Doomer, Dalhu, that would put the top man of the entire drug-dealing operation in a very bad light. Maybe even cost him his head.

But that wasn’t the main reason for it. The overriding consideration was to keep the raid quiet and not alert the humans living in the nearby apartment buildings that something was going on. It was also important not to leave a trail to follow for the human authorities, as well as the higher-ups in the Doomer organization.

Except, with Yamanu—the ultimate thrall master—shrouding the area, no human would have heard or seen anything anyway. Luckily, the apartment building the Doomers used for their quarters was so close to the warehouse that Yamanu could cover both, which allowed for a simultaneous attack.

Arwel, who was with the team going for the warehouse, could’ve done a decent shroud too, but he didn’t come close to Yamanu’s powers.

At a quarter to four, Magnus nudged Anandur’s shoulder. “It’s time. We need to get into position.”

“I’m up.” Anandur stretched his arms as much as the rental vehicle allowed. “Do you still have any coffee left in that thermos?”

“Plenty, here you go.”

“Much obliged.”

Anandur gulped the thing as if it were water, then handed the empty container back. “I’m afraid there is not much left. I’ll buy you coffee after we’re done.”

“You got it.”

Taking out the Sig Sauer from its holster, Magnus checked the safety. Next, he screwed the silencer on and put it back.

Lastly, he tapped his earpiece. “Testing.”

A moment later Onegus’s voice came in. “Test complete. Carry on, Magnus.”

Next to him, Anandur went through the same sequence.

Magnus reached behind to the back seat and grabbed his Kevlar vest and the jacket to go over it.

“We’re going to be cooked with all of that on.”

Securing his vest, Anandur reached for his jacket. “I wish William would invent a cooling jacket.”

Shaking his head, Magnus opened the door and closed it as quietly as he could. “When did we become so spoiled?” he whispered as Anandur did the same.

“Yeah, this is nothing compared to the full body one. That thing is awesome, but it's cumbersome and hot as hell.”

They didn’t bother locking the car. Even though they were parked two blocks away from the apartment building, sound carried in the quiet of the night. A small thing like a car door closing or the beep of the lock engaging could alert the Doomers.

The good thing was that the Doomers’ commander hadn’t thought to post guards in their living quarters. The warehouse, on the other hand, was guarded at all times.

The Doomers had no reason to expect a clan attack, but they had plenty of reasons to expect one from the gangs they’d disenfranchised, or other thugs who were after the drugs and the money.

Anandur covered his nose. “I didn’t expect it to stink that bad.”

“The stinkier, the better. Turner is a genius.”

Magnus had to hand it to the operative. Turner’s idea to have a pretend crew work on the sewer near the apartment building and leave it open overnight was brilliant. The stench was going to mask the Guardians’ immortal scent, so the Doomers wouldn’t smell them coming.

The warehouse, even though it was nearby, was too far for the stench to reach, but then the night watchmen guarding the drugs wouldn’t be sleeping like the Doomers in the apartment building. Those two would have to be overtaken by force.

Magnus sighed. The guys assigned to the warehouse unit were going to have fun. He wished he were one of them. But unfortunately, he hadn’t been that lucky, or maybe the chief didn’t think he was ready for action, which was ridiculous. He was ready and then some. Besides, he knew how to unlock a safe, which he was certain the Doomers had to have in there.

“Do you think they keep the money in the warehouse?” he asked.

Anandur shrugged. “I don’t know. Onegus didn’t say anything about it. He only said to destroy the drugs.”

“If there is any money, it should go toward taking care of the humans the Doomers turned into zombies, but some of it needs to go to the old couple whose bank account Grud cleaned out.”

Anandur’s face twisted in a grimace. “If I were lucky, I would’ve been assigned to the apartment the piece of shit sleeps in. He would not have gotten away with stasis. I would’ve finished him off.”

“That’s not allowed, mate.”

“I can miscalculate, right? Putting an immortal into stasis requires precision, and I’m known for being deficient in that respect.”

That was true. Where Brundar was like a sharp blade, Anandur was like a battering ram. But it was beside the point. Turner’s team had supplied the numbers, not who slept in which room.

They’d taken photos with a long-range camera, so the Guardians could recognize the faces, but they hadn’t collected names. The only room they had differentiated from the others was the one belonging to the commander and his second. That was the one he and Anandur had been assigned to.

For all Magnus knew, Grud could be in the warehouse. The last update Turner’s team had provided was yesterday morning. Later in the day, they had been dismissed to make room for the Guardians. What was about to go down was not for human consumption.

Naturally, Turner’s people hadn’t known that they had been keeping tabs on immortals, and even if one of them had noticed something strange, they weren’t the kind of humans who talked. Ex-commandos knew to keep their mouths shut.

Just before the raid, their own Guardian team was going to do the last check. Using electromagnetic radar equipment, they were going to count bodies and make sure that all the Doomers were accounted for.

A block away from the apartment building, Magnus and Anandur stopped where several Guardians were already waiting.

No one talked.

A few minutes later, when everyone was in place, the chief’s voice came through Magnus’s earpiece as well as everyone else’s. “One last test before we go in. Tap your earpiece if you can hear me.”