It was two a.m. when Phair found himself awake next to his new mates.

Most of the candles in the room had burned down to flickering embers, and the Blue Room felt still and peaceful. Hard to believe in this moment that it had served for so long as a prison, when a few hours ago this chamber had been such a blissful oasis away from the world.

For a moment he allowed himself the pleasure of lying still, listening to Mir’s quiet breaths. He was all too aware of how much their lives had changed, and all too aware that the day and night ahead would prove a challenge. Best to allow himself a moment of calm before the storm.

But if they could make it through—if they could succeed at their task, he and Cad would take Mir away from this place once and for all. Barton would be punished for his transgressions, and all would be well.

An outcome, unfortunately, that relied on a lot of ifs.

He pulled himself up to a sitting position and swung his legs off the bed, taking care not to disturb Mir. Much as he wanted to, it probably wasn’t a great idea to spend the entire night in the Blue Room. If Barton got the impression that he and Cad had gotten too close to her—if he knew that she’d told the men she loved them—he might take measures to punish her. Knowing Barton, that could mean locking her away in some secret place.

“Cad!” he hissed across the bed at his companion.

“Mmm?” Cad hummed from his side. He was only half-covered, his right leg hanging over his side of the bed.

“We should go,” Phair said. “Big day coming up.”

By now, Mir was stirring too. When she saw the men getting up, she stretched her arms over her head and asked, “What? Are you leaving so soon?”

“We have to,” Cad replied. “The poker game is tomorrow night—rather, tonight. We need to figure out how we’re going to get ourselves into Barton’s office. It’s time to end his reign of terror.”

“I can help,” said Mir, her voice suddenly alert as she pulled herself to a seated position and tugged the covers around her. “Tell me what you need.”

Phair slipped back onto the bed when he’d pulled on his boxers and shirt. He reached a long arm over and cupped her cheek, drawing something close to a purr out of her. “We want you to stay out of it,” he said softly. “Barton can’t hurt us. He can hurt you, though.”

“His men have guns,” she protested. “Surely bullets can hurt you.”

Phair could see the concern in her eyes. She was genuinely afraid that something bad would happen to them. He told himself that he should heed her warnings—the Ritual might have brought out instincts in her; it was possible that she sensed danger before he even did. Even if she was no shifter, she would feel herself growing more attuned to the world around her. Her senses heightened, her understanding of human nature honed.

“It won’t come to that,” he replied. “We’ll be clever, I promise. At least we’ll try.”

“If we can access his computer while he’s in his poker game, the whole process should take all of three minutes,” Cad said. “I just need to get in, hack his system and get out. Knowing Barton, he’s too cocky and foolish to have a particularly clever password protecting his business. He doesn’t expect anyone to infiltrate his private world, because in his arrogant mind, they’re afraid to. But he hasn’t dealt with our kind enough to know how little we fear him.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Mir. “I really do. Still, I wish you’d let me help…”

Phair shook his head, leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Listen, we’ll be here at seven. The plan is to come see you in this room, then when the poker game’s begun, one of us will move to his office while the other stands guard. In the meantime, you still have the phone, yes?”

Mir nodded. “I’ll make sure it’s charged—just in case.”

“Good. Now, get some rest. The Ritual will change you, Mir. You may find yourself feeling out of sorts for a few hours at least. It can have funny effects on people.”

“And after those few hours are over?” she asked.

“After a few hours are over, I hope you feel very, very good.” He pressed forward and kissed her lips. “When I received the injections that brought out the Béorn inside me, I felt very strong. Surprisingly so. Perhaps you’ll find yourself similarly gifted.”

“At the very least, you’ll likely find your eyes and nose very keen,” Cad added. “It can be a little overwhelming, I hear.”

“If it means I can smell you two better, then it’s all good,” Mir said, smiling. She reached a hand out to Cad and he took it and squeezed gently.

“You and your sister will be free soon,” he said. “Free of all of this.”

“I really hope you’re right. But I can’t help but think it would be better if your Alpha was on board—and the Dragons. I wish they weren’t so opposed to our relationship.”

“In a strange way,” said Phair, “It’s probably better like this. If a whole army of shifters descended on this place tonight, it would immediately alert them to what we’re doing. Our plan is to access Barton’s files quietly, acquire the information we need and high-tail it out of here. Whether our Alpha is happy with us or not, we’ll give the information to the Guild and the Pack to ensure the safety of everyone on Barton’s hit list.”

“And if anything goes wrong?”

“Nothing will go wrong.”

“Phair…” said Mir, throwing him a stern look.

“Fine. If anything goes wrong,” he said, “call Bert. Tell her what’s happened. But the important thing is to keep yourself safe. That’s all that matters to us in this world.”