“So, you’re just dragging random people into this now, Jacob? Isn’t much point in us having these groups meetings if you’re just going to drag hunters in off the streets to be a part of it.”

Shaun rolled his eyes as the sardonic tone of the hunter’s voice rumbled over the phone speaker placed in the middle of the dining room table. Matt Masters was one of the few hunters his parents had managed to wrangle into this plan of theirs, and every time he spoke, he seemed to make it a point to showcase how much he hated the idea. Shaun was pretty sure the man could have spoken about his favorite meal and still somehow made it sound distasteful and unwanted.

His parents looked worn out, having been involved in the group discussion since it had started a couple of days before. His father simply looked tired, but his mom looked as irritable and anxious as she had since the first discussion of the Fae with Nic. Lucas had periodically disappeared, probably to ponder over what he had heard and to think of something new to bring to the discussion. The latest new idea hadn’t come from him though, yet he had dragged Nic in behind him to present a new plan, nonetheless.

“Matt, do us all a favor and let the man finish before you start complaining,” said a fellow hunter. That one was Andrea. The hunter ran a sanctuary much like his parents, but out on the West Coast somewhere. Shaun had always had it in mind that that part of the country was soft and even in the hunter’s world, it was more liberal than it had any business being. Her ideas had been more moderate than some of the others, sure, but she was just as tough and willing to butt heads in the talks as anyone else.

“It’s not complaining. It’s very convenient that after two days of coming up with nothing, suddenly he has someone else coming into the discussion. If we can’t come to a decision on our own, then what’s the point of bringing a stranger in?” Matt asked, sounding grumpier than before.

Lucas leaned forward toward the speakers so he could be heard more clearly. “That is exactly why we need new ideas. None of us are making any progress, meanwhile the war is still going on. We’ve all heard about the attacks in Florida and Colorado. The war is still killing hunters, and all we’re doing is arguing over how to stop it.”

The attacks had happened while they were sitting at a table arguing instead of doing anything helpful. It drove Shaun crazy to be sitting around while others were out fighting a war that he and his partner had inadvertently caused. He wasn’t exactly thrilled to have Nic at the table, but he would swallow his pride if it meant the man could help bring this days long argument to a close.

Masters grunted. “And does everyone else think it’s a good idea?”

The other speakers crackled to life with the sound of support, ranging from enthusiastic to begrudging. Hunters didn’t live their life by committee, and it was wearing on all their nerves to be sitting around talking while a war was being waged. It had only officially started a few days before, but it was already claiming dozens of hunters’ lives. With the number of hunters that had not checked into a sanctuary, it was hard to tell just how many of them were being killed. The number crunching alone was gut wrenching, but the fact that they were doing nothing but talking about it wasn’t doing much for morale.

“Please, Nicolai, or Nic, whichever one you prefer. What’s your idea?” Andrea asked as the rest of them went silent.

Nic sat up straighter, glancing around the table as he tried to gauge the mood of the room. He hadn’t said a word since Lucas had brought him in and announced there was another idea they could try. Shaun couldn’t see past the customary look of confidence and amusement Nic always seemed to wear. It was impossible to gauge where Nic’s head was at, or if they were still going to have a problem with one another. Shaun was willing to let their current issues take a backseat if it meant Nic would do something useful.

“I’m not going to waste time by trying to greet each of you and make nice. Everyone has been sitting around chatting while the war continues, and it’s only going to get worse as time goes on. I don’t think I have to point out that the Fae are just going to get bolder with every sanctuary they attack. The Winter Court aren’t the type to wait for their enemy to regroup, and they see themselves as having hunters on the ropes with their surprise attacks.” Nic began to explain, but Masters cut across him as he took a breath.

“Which is exactly why we need to hit them now, and hit them hard. Show them we’re not to be taken lightly!” He vehemently protested, for what Shaun felt sure was the hundredth time.

“We’ve been down this road several times, Matt. We’re not nearly organized enough for a concentrated attack. All you’re doing is trying to get even more hunters killed, and all for the sake of your stubborn pride. Now let the man speak,” Andrea told him fiercely, exasperated at having to cover the same ground repeatedly.

“I’m not calling a bunch of hunters together to die because you can’t think of anything but kill, kill, kill, Masters,” Aaron, a hunter who ran a sanctuary from New York, if Shaun remembered correctly, added in, just as irritably.

Nic only smiled. “Our aggressive friend has a good point that plays exactly into what I was preparing to say. The Winter Court wins wars by intelligence. They fight by knowing their enemy and forming strategies that counter their foe.”

“Hunters haven’t fought a war with the Fae in who knows how long. How do you know all of this?” Andrea asked.

Nic shrugged. “They’ve been in wars with other supernatural creatures over the centuries. And some of those creatures really like recording everything that happens. If you read between the lines, you can see a common theme running between the stories. The Winter Court was exceptionally good at predicting their foe and hitting them precisely where it would hurt the most. Take this war, for example. They haven’t taken the field directly, where hunters might just have the advantage. They’ve been striking at the places where hunters are at their most relaxed, their most vulnerable. The Fae attack suddenly, and with a large amount of force to overwhelm any resistance that might form. Then, they retreat before the targets can recover or reinforcements can be called.”

“We know all that,” Masters snapped. “What’s your point?”

“They’ll expect hunters to start getting more watchful for that sort of thing. They know hunters aren’t exactly stupid and will start researching ways to stop the war before it gets even worse. They’ve been living amongst people long enough to know that humans can be really clever when they need to be. Yet they understand hunters only know how to do one thing: to fight, head-on, and with all the force they can muster,” Nic was beginning to grin, looking pleased with himself.

“Which means they’re ready for Masters’ idea, and will crush us the moment we try,” Aaron added with a degree of smugness that Shaun found annoying.

“Oh God yeah, they’re ready for hunters to get their shit together and go for the throat. They’ll have the throat protected, but they’re going to make it look like it’s not. You ask me, they’re trying to incite all of you into doing something predictable, and with the Winter Fae, predictable means stupid,” Nic told him, looking positively gleeful.

Shaun rapped on the table sharply with his knuckles. “Nic, stop playin’ around already. Tell us what your idea is.”

Nic sighed in disappointment. “You lack any sense of presentation, you know that? Look, they expect you to go straight for where their strength is. To leap forward with all your strength and try to crush them before the worst of it begins. They expect it, so I say, give it to them.”

Andrea snorted. “You want us to follow through on that ridiculous head-on attack? The one you just finished saying would be stupid?”

“Partly. They’re going to expect you to attack, or that enough of you will do it to count. I say, you do just that, give them what you want. Then, while they’re gloating over how stupid you all are, you strike from behind,” Nic continued, gesturing as he spoke.

It was Anne who responded, frowning at Nic. “Strike from behind? Have another force at the ready to hit their flank?”

Nic shook his head. “No. Any large force they’re going to find in a heartbeat. Doesn’t matter how secretive you are, any other group of hunters you have waiting to flank them will be found. They’ll figure it out, and they’ll be ready for it. It’ll be the same result either way: Fae win, hunters lose.”

Masters huffed. “You’re talking about a much smaller group coming in from behind.”

Nic pointed at Masters’ speaker in glee. “Bingo. A small group, just a few people, aren’t going to be noticed. While they’re paying too much attention to the hammer in front of them, they’re not going to notice the knife coming for their back. That group can get in, get the king, bring him down, and then it’s all over, just like that.”

“We already talked about this, killin’ the king ain’t gonna be easy. How’s a few hunters gonna manage that?” Jacob asked.

“Oh I never said it was going to be easy. The king is the king for a reason, he’s going to be wicked smart and dangerous. Thing is, if you put enough pressure on their front, most of the Fae he would normally surround himself with are going to be out on the frontline. Without all the guards around him, he’s going to be a lot less dangerous, especially if he’s not prepared for one-on-one battle. It’s still dangerous as hell, but it’s a lot better than trying to push an army through theirs to get to him,” Nic said with a shrug.

“And how do we know that would even work? Who’s to say that the next bastard won’t take the throne and continue on with what his father was doing?” Masters asked.

Aaron sighed. “If you bothered to read, you would know that’s how the Fae work. At least, that’s how it’s worked before. Which is the problem: this whole idea works off information taken from old stories about old wars. How do we even know it will work in the first place?”

Rico, a hunter from the Southwest finally decided to speak. “Because the Fae are as bad as the bloodsuckers when it comes to change. I mean, c’mon, those pendejos haven’t changed the way they do shit in the slightest, in like...forever. I like the little smartass’ idea. I say we do that. Better than running into the middle of death like a pack of idiotas.”

Nic grinned at Rico’s speaker. “I like that one.”

Shaun rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine, so ya got a new nifty plan that might work. Who’s gonna be the ones who hit ‘em from the back?”

Before he had even finished his question, he felt Lucas’ stare from across the table. One glance at his partner gave him the answer. When his parents and Nic all stared at him as the speaker assemblage began to argue once more, he knew it was already decided. Of course, it would have to be them. They had started this, brought this war about, and it only make sense that they were the ones who brought it to a close. Hell, they might end up giving their lives to fix this mess after all.

Lucas interrupted the bickering by raising his voice. “If it’s agreed, then Shaun, Nic, and I will be the ones to slip in from the back.”

“Don’t want to be in the thick of things?” Masters asked with grating derision.

Nic laughed aloud. “Really? Lucas just volunteered us to go into the middle of a Fae camp to try and kill the best Fae they have right now. You really think that’s the safe option?”

“Why you three?” Andrea asked, sounding wary.

“Kinda makes sense to me, since it was my idea after all,” Nic replied casually.

“True, but we don’t know what you’re capable of,” Andrea countered.

Shaun stirred himself to answer that. “But you know what me and Lucas can do. If Nic is with us, that means he ain’t bad, either. We can do this.”

“Oh Shaun, you’re still there? I thought you wandered off already,” Masters quipped.

“Dios mio Matt, are you able to not be a prick for five minutes?” Rico asked, losing his jovial tone.

“Lord, give me patience. The lot of you are the most pigheaded creatures. Can y’all stop your childish arguing and think about the idea?” Anne barked, glaring at the collection of speakers.

“If they’re still operating as they were in the past, it’s not a terrible idea. Certainly better than the original plans we had,” Aaron replied.

“I’m not fond of the idea of using hunters’ lives as a distraction,” Andrea added.

“We’re already losing them, Andrea. At least this way, we give them something they want to be doing, while also accomplishing the end of the war, should we prove successful,” Lucas told her quietly.

“And I still don’t see why you three get to be the ones in the small group,” Masters grumbled.

Shaun so desperately wanted to reach through the speaker and throttle the difficult man. None of them had done well at agreeing on anything, but Matt Masters’ tendency to make everything several times harder was testing Shaun’s patience. It was only a warning glance from his father that stopped him from chewing the hunter out. Instead, he took a deep breath, giving a second thought to what he was about to say.

“Because we need ya to be the one leadin’ the charge to their front,” he heard himself saying, sounding far calmer than he felt.

His mother continued, having picked up on where he was heading. “That would make a great deal of sense. Matt, you are the most qualified for that, considering your military background. If we were able to muster enough force to form an army, you would be our first choice as General.”

Nic grinned widely as they all heard the grumbling hunter’s tone shift to something considerably more agreeable. The others had grown silent as well, probably listening to Masters warm quickly to the idea, now that he was being given not only what he wanted in the first place, but the prime position for it. Lucas winked at him as Shaun realized he had just managed to bring the most stubborn person at the table onboard with their plan.

Andrea sighed. “I’m still not fond of the idea, but perhaps Lucas has a point. It might just be better to lose a few dozen of our own in a straight-up fight than to lose that and more with their ambushes. If you three believe you can truly be the ones to bring down the king, then yes, I agree with it.”

“We’ll need to know where to stage this in the first place,” Aaron said, sounding less hesitant than he had before.

“If we can collect our resources together to form a makeshift army, I’m sure we can pool our resources and find out where we need to go,” Lucas told him, raising a brow as he waited to see what the prudent man would say.

There was a pause before Aaron grunted. “Very well. Let’s find out where we need to be before we start drawing up battle plans.”

A throaty chuckle bubbled up from Rico’s speaker. “Now we can argue about how we’re gonna do it. Fun fun.”

Jacob steepled his fingers before him. “We all need to agree on it. If we’re gonna do this, we need everyone onboard. We gotta start workin’ together and makin’ this count. We got one chance at this.”

There were a chorus of voices from the speakers, all voicing their agreement to the plan. With the main problem of figuring out what to do out of the way, everyone began chatting immediately. Plans and tactics were being devised and discussed within minutes. Shaun said nothing, watching Lucas and Nic. Lucas appeared distant, and Nic seemed to be immune to the tension in the room. All the others might be perfectly happy now that they had a plan, but everyone in the room with him was looking nervous. He, Lucas, and Nic had just volunteered to slip into enemy territory and try to kill a Fae king.

Now the only question was how much of a suicide mission this was going to turn out to be.