Chapter Eleven

 

A little less than an hour later, Kate stood outside one of the back doors to the Arena with three other shifters. Two of the shifters wore large backpacks that contained half a tree’s worth of paper—the fake replacement for the meeting minutes they were planning to steal. Kate shivered, more from nerves than from the cold. She tried to look brave as she looked around at the other shifters.

“Okay,” she said in a low voice. “This mission is a go. Everyone is in place, and the first of the extra-long matches should be beginning right about now. Once we start walking over, I need everyone to be on their game, and on full alert. If any of you want to back out, now is the time. No hard feelings. I know this mission is dangerous. But if you continue on with me from here, I need to know that you’re committed to seeing things through. We all have to stick to the plan for this to work.”

“We’re with you!” Kellen said in a voice heavy with emotion. “All of us. We’re ready to stick it to those bastards.”

The other shifters echoed their agreement, and Kate nodded, a small, determined smile on her face. She hadn’t expected anyone to back out at this point, but she’d felt like she needed to give them one last chance. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

The shifters all pulled out black ski masks and donned them. Even with the masks on, it would be obvious to anyone who saw them that they were shifters. But at least no one would know which shifters. That would make them slightly safer. But only slightly. Knowing the way things worked in Gilt Hollow, the Seversons would probably have no problem killing off every shifter in town in an effort to find out who had broken into their vault. Which was why Kate and her fellow bandits needed to do everything possible to make sure the Seversons didn’t realize that the vault had been broken into.

With her heart racing in her chest much faster than she cared to admit, she slipped into the forest behind the Arena. There were no paths this way, but that was better. Odds were good no one would be back here. And the thick trees would provide good cover for the small group that was stealing toward the Severson estate.

Little did Kate know, the trees also provided good cover for one very tall, very muscular wolf shifter. She never saw Otto’s keen green eyes staring out at her from between the pine trees as she made her way away from the Arena. And perhaps it was a good thing she didn’t. Her nerves were already on edge, and having to think about Otto in a moment like that might have destroyed her focus.

The group moved quietly but quickly through the woods. They had some time, but not an unlimited amount. The longer they were gone, the more chances there were for someone to realize they were missing. No one regularly checked up on the shifter competitors during a Games’ event. The trainers were all too busy gambling and getting drunk to care about keeping the competitors in one room. But if anyone did happen to come looking, and then noticed that several shifters were missing at once…things could go downhill quickly.

So far, things were going well. Kate and the other shifters reached the Severson estate in record time. But now, one of the most dangerous parts of the mission began: getting into the house without the outside guards seeing them. Guards were posted at every door, and two guards continuously circled the large estate. Kate and her comrades would need to sneak in a side window that was far away from any doors, and they would need to do it quietly and quickly. They had to make sure they weren’t seen or heard by anyone, especially not the patrolling guards.

Kate watched from the forest for several minutes, trying to get a feel for how spaced out the patrolling guards were, and how much time the shifters would have. She didn’t want to burn too much time, but she could not rush this. A mistake here would be fatal to the whole mission. The other shifters with her understood this as well. They waited patiently, watching and counting the seconds with her.

The estate was eerily quiet for the middle of the morning. Normally, by this time of day there would have been a flurry of activity. Servants going in and out, gardeners bustling about in the expansive yard, and the occasional noble or visitor moving about. But now, the only movement came from the patrolling guards. Kate guessed that a full ninety-five percent of the city, perhaps more, was inside the Arena right now. Occasionally, she heard a distant roar from the crowd in the Arena, and the noise made her stomach turn. She had not enjoyed her first Games’ experience, and she dreaded having to go back to fight another match. But she reminded herself that she was doing all of this for a reason. She was doing all of this so that she could change the destiny of the Bear Hollow shifters. She would endure the temporary pain for the eventual reward.

When she had watched long enough to feel confident that they had enough time, she looked at her fellow shifters and nodded. “Now!”

They raced across the lawn, Kate’s heart pounding in her chest as they crossed the open expanse. She felt naked and exposed and she wondered if anyone was watching from any of the dozens of windows looking down on them. Time seemed to slow down to almost a standstill as she ran. Every second felt like an eternity, and Kate wondered if she was ever going to make it safely into the house. Her feet felt heavy, like they were made of lead and she was running through molasses. Her breath sounded abnormally loud in her own ears, and she was sure that the guards must be able to hear it clear on the other side of the house.

But somehow, miraculously, she finally made it into the house. Thankfully, the first window she tried was unlocked, and easily slipped upwards. They had been prepared to break a window as a last resort, but Kate felt a rush of relief knowing that would not be necessary. Any evidence of vandalism or a break-in left behind could have caused quite a bit of trouble for them.

Once she made it into the house, things moved quickly. Adrenaline had taken over once again, and she followed the plan as if on autopilot. She and the other three shifters split up into two groups. Each would go up a separate side of the house, so that if one of them got caught not everyone would get caught. They would meet up again just outside the vault, and then make a rush to overpower the guards. The hope was to be able to knock the vault guards out from behind before they even knew what hit them. That was the most important part. If the guards didn’t see anyone, they wouldn’t be able to name any names. Things would go even better if the shifters could be in and out of the vault before the guards came to. The most ideal situation would be for it to look like the vault had not been touched at all.

Of course, Kate knew that things usually didn’t work out completely ideally. But a girl could still hope, right?

The inside of the house, as expected, was as deserted as the outside. Despite her attempts to move as quietly as possible, Kate felt like her footsteps sounded like thunder. She gritted her teeth and kept moving. Odds were good that there was no one in the house to hear anyway, other than the vault guards.

And indeed, Kate and her partner did not meet anyone on the staircase as they climbed upward. In no time at all they had reached the meeting spot. Less than a minute after they arrived, the other two shifters joined them.

“Did anyone see any guards or other household servants?” Kate whispered. To her relief, everyone else shook their heads. Kate smiled. “Good. Everything is going perfectly so far. Now comes the big moment when we attack the guards. Does everyone know what they’re doing?”

The others all nodded. Kate took a deep breath, and nodded back.

“Good. No sense in delaying any further. On three, we move. One, two, three!”

Kate felt a rush of adrenaline unlike anything she’d ever felt before as she moved forward—and that was saying something, since the last several hours had been quite adrenaline filled. She tried to shut off every emotion and just move, keeping her mind focused on the plan. There were four guards standing by the vault, which was more than Kate had hoped for. She’d been crossing her fingers that there would only be three at the most. But at least there were four shifters. If each shifter took down a guard, everything would be fine.

The guards were also playing some sort of card game and drinking wine, which bode well for Kate and the shifters. They didn’t look like they were actually drunk. Not even close. This must be their first wine bottle of the day. But still. They weren’t paying close attention.

We can do this, Kate told herself. We can really do this.

And they did. The four shifters were nearly on the guards before the guards even looked up.

“What the…” one startled guard said. It was all he managed to get out before Kellen took him down. Two more guards fell quickly, instantly knocked out by the hard blows the shifters gave them. Kate struggled a bit to pull her guard down, and she felt fear rising in her chest. Was she going to be the weak link in this operation? She might be a girl, but she knew how to fight. She knew how to take a man out, even a big burly man like this guard.

Luckily, it only took another second before she managed to wrestle her guard into unconsciousness as well. Her nerves felt shattered after that, but she did her best not to let it show in her eyes. She was thankful for the ski mask that covered most of her face. She was pretty sure she was blushing red from embarrassment. She didn’t want these guys to think she was weak.

But no one commented on her fighting skills, or lack thereof. Instead, Kellen stepped forward toward the vault door. He’d been tasked with stealing the combination to the giant lock, and he assured Kate that he had the right numbers. She hoped with all her heart that his confidence was well-placed. If they could do this without smashing the giant vault lock to bits, then they could make the Seversons and their guards believe that no one had been able to actually get into the vault.

Time once again felt like it was standing still as Kate and the others watched Kellen work, his brow furrowed in concentration. His hands shook slightly, which made Kate feel oddly better. At least she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt a little nervous right now.

Kellen finished the combination and attempted to open the lock, but nothing happened.

“Shit,” Kate said, her heart sinking down to her feet.

Kellen wasn’t giving up yet, though. “I’m sure the combination I have is right. I must have mis-entered something. Let me try again.”

Kate once again held her breath as she watched him spin the numbers on the lock. She glanced nervously down at the guards, who were still unconscious, and hopefully would remain that way long enough for Kate and the others to get inside the vault, get the minutes, and flee.

Kellen pulled on the lock again, and this time, it opened. Kate exhaled, and she could see the smiles in the eyes of the other shifters around her.

“Let’s move,” Kate said. The shifters with the backpacks went into the vault first, heading straight for the pile of paper minutes, which was easy to find. They made quick work of switching out the fake minutes for the real ones, but the seconds still felt like centuries to Kate. She was ready to be out of here.

She glanced around the vault, shaking her head in amazement at the piles of jewels and gold. The whole giant room seemed to glitter, and Kate couldn’t help but wonder what the point of it all was. So much wealth piled up in here, but none of it was doing anyone any good. She shouldn’t have been surprised, she knew. But still she gawked. And then she felt the rage hit her in waves. Who did these people think they were, hoarding treasures while the shifters across the river starved? Kate would never understand how anyone could be so cold and uncaring, and she told herself that coming to Gilt Hollow to join the resistance had been more than worth it. These people must be stopped.

Kate nervously glanced out toward the guards, but they were still out cold. The shifters with the bags were just finishing loading up the last of the minutes, and then they could get out of here. So far, their plan was working out perfectly.

And then, everything went to shit.

Kate heard footsteps in the hallway, followed by shouts of distress. Someone was coming, and they were not pleased with what they saw: the vault door open, and guards passed out on the floor.

Worse, the shouts seemed to rouse the guards. Whether it was a coincidence and the guards just happened to be waking up, or whether the noise of the shouts was what woke them didn’t really matter. All Kate knew was that all of a sudden she was looking out into the hallway at several very angry guards and a couple of very angry servants whom Kate recognized as two of the kitchen workers. The kitchen servants each held several bottles of wine, presumably for the guards. For a moment, everyone froze, unsure of what was happening or what to do. And then, the kitchen servants reacted. With a scream, they threw the wine bottles at the group of shifters. Kate yelped and ducked, but not quickly enough. One of the bottles struck her in the side of the head, causing her to see stars and leaving a sudden, nasty throbbing sensation in its wake. Kate tried to steady herself, but she stepped on a pile of gold and lost her balance completely.

By this time, the guards were on their feet, raising their guns and yelling at the shifters. The kitchen servants were in hysterics, yelling obscenities at the guards. Kate had the odd sensation of watching her life flash before her eyes. That vision angered her.

“No!” she screamed, and rose to her feet. She would not let things end like this. She had not come this far to be gunned down at the last second. With a strength from deep within that she hadn’t known she possessed, she charged toward the guards, screaming like a madwoman. She felt no fear as she looked down the barrels of their guns. Only rage.

Kate wasn’t exactly sure what happened next. A gunshot fired, then another, then another. She heard screams, more gunshots, and then cries of pain. She ignored all of it as best she could, and pounded her fists against the chest of one of the guards. More wine bottles flew through the hair, shattering into thousands of pieces. Dimly, Kate registered pain in her body, and the warmth of blood trickling down the side of her face. But she didn’t stop beating at the guard. He had lost his gun somehow, but he pulled out a dagger. Kate saw the flashing steel coming toward her heart, and violently twisted out of the way on pure instinct. The dagger met her shoulder instead of her heart. She had avoided death, but the pain that raged in her body now might have been worse than death.

Kate couldn’t tell what was going on, and she wasn’t sure what to do. She kept fighting, figuring that as long as she could still keep casting blows, she should do that. She felt more slashes of the dagger, and she began to feel lightheaded. She must be losing quite a bit of blood.

It’s all over. They have us, and our plan failed. My plan failed. Otto was right. The thought of Otto brought a small smile to her lips, and an image of Otto’s face was the last thing that played across her mind’s eye before everything went black.