For the first time in a long time, I woke up feeling refreshed and well rested. Jace’s strong arms were still wrapped around me and his warm breath felt comforting on the back of my neck. I pressed myself against him and felt his arms tighten their grip on me. From the slow and steady rhythm of his breath, I could tell that he was still asleep. And I didn’t want to wake him just yet. Not when I was feeling so contented.

Love with Henry had been an exciting but fumbling event. We were both so young. I hadn’t known my body very well yet, and Henry had been too new and nervous to the whole act to really focus much on me. But spending the night with Jace had been a completely different experience. It felt like we had meshed together to become one, and touching Jace felt like exploring parts of my own body that I hadn’t previously known.

There was hardly any nervousness or hesitancy in how Jace and I had approached each other the night before. We had fit together so perfectly, and I was still adrift in the tidal wave of passion and excitement we’d shared.

I had been afraid of letting down my guard around him. I knew that now. I was so afraid of losing more people that I was subconsciously putting up walls to avoid getting too close to anyone. And now Jace and I had knocked those walls down together. But the fear didn’t go away. And the feeling of safety I got from being in his arms couldn’t last forever. Today was the departure day for our new mission. Kory and I were about to be thrust into unknown territory, walking directly into the custody of an organization that was working very closely with the government. We would be unarmed, unarmored, and without access to comms or any other communication channels. We’d be using stolen identities and disguises. And we’d only have five hours to gather as much information as possible before some sort of diversion was going to be created, hopefully allowing us enough cover for a safe escape.

And if anything went wrong, Kory and I would be at the mercy of people who had branded us terrorists and had plans for our executions if and when we were ever caught.

Even lying so close to Jace couldn’t quell all of those fears.

I moved slowly to grab my phone from the nightstand, trying not to wake him from his peaceful slumber. There was no message from Nathan yet. But the sun was beginning to rise and shine through the window, and I knew that Nelson would be returning soon. I reluctantly rose from the bed and slipped away to shower.

As I lathered my hair and savored the hot water and the heavy, wet air in the bathroom, I thought about the mission ahead. I didn’t know Kory exceptionally well. I knew that he was a part of Jace’s inner circle, that they had grown up together out in their secluded tribe, and that he was a goofy and good-natured guy. But I didn’t know much else about him. I had always thought of him as a capable member of the group. But what would it be like to work with him while Jace wasn’t there? I wondered what it would be like for us to go on a dangerous mission alone. Would he be as strong and capable then?

I stepped out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, and then walked back out of the bathroom. Jace was still in bed but had propped himself up on one elbow and was rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

I instinctively clutched the towel closer to myself before relaxing in remembrance of our shared experiences the night before.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Jace said in a voice as smooth and heavy as maple syrup.

“Good morning to you, too,” I replied. In spite of the mission and all of the other stressors from the past few days, I felt calm and safe in his presence, filled with a love that was still new, but so strong. I tried to enjoy the feelings while they lasted.

But then Jace’s eyes clouded over as if he had been hit suddenly with concern.

“Have you heard from Nathan?” he asked.

“Not yet,” I replied.

His countenance remained dark and troubled, and I could tell he was worried. Even if he hadn’t opened up to me the night before, the look on his face was clear as day. He was worried about losing yet another person he cared about. And if he felt the way I did, he was also worried about losing a person he actually loved.

I moved to sit beside him on the bed and leaned forward until our heads were touching. Jace reached up and tucked damp strands of my hair behind my ear.

“It’ll be okay,” I said softly. But I knew I couldn’t promise that, and it made me feel like the sentiment itself was hollow.

Jace smiled gently and then pressed his lips against my temple.

I toyed with the notion of dropping my towel and slipping back into bed with him. I wanted to feel warm and secure in his arms again, to forget about all of the uncertainties that were looming over us. But before I could act on that, my phone buzzed.

It was Nathan.

Hangar in ten.

“What does it say?” Jace asked nervously. Then his phone buzzed. He grabbed it roughly and read the message.

“Hangar,” he repeated. “I guess that means we’re about to take off.”

“Do you think we’re all going together?” I asked.

The thought provided me with some solace. I was anxious about being alone among the townspeople and Helping Hands volunteers. And I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Jace yet. But if they were going with us, perhaps to drop us off, it meant I’d have more time with him and the rest of the team.

“It seems like we’re about to find out,” Jace said.

He popped out of bed and began pulling his shirt down over his head. I watched him dress, longing to stop him and tell him to stay with me in that room forever. I didn’t want to move past our night together yet. But I had volunteered for this, and knew we needed to move quickly. I sighed quietly and picked up my heavy boots and jeans. We were dressed and stepping out into the hallway within five minutes. We bumped into Alexy on our way out, and she cocked an eyebrow at our simultaneous appearance.

“I see you guys got some quality time in before the mission,” she said teasingly.

“Did you get the same message to report to the hangar?” I asked, cutting through the innuendo.

“Yeah, we got the orders yesterday when the flight team met. Big mission. Lots of airships leaving today,” she replied.

Lots of airships? I knew we were getting dropped off via airship, but how many other ships were going? And why? It seemed like a bad idea to have too many Edgewood ships so close to Dry River right before our mission was supposed to commence.

“Won’t that be conspicuous? A bunch of privately owned airships in the air around a poor factory town right before a planned evacuation?” Jace asked as we walked together.

“I think just one ship is going to the drop-off place,” she replied. “The rest are supposed to be in the area on standby.”

“Is that for the diversion plan?” I asked.

Nathan had mentioned that a diversion was supposed to be our way out of the compound after our five hours were up. I still didn’t know how that was going to work, but if all the airships were going to be in the area…

She shrugged. “I don’t know the exact plan there,” she replied. “But I know that the airships are loaded with explosives. So it’s a safe assumption.”

We stepped out of the dorm building together to head toward the airship hangar. Behind us, multiple people were exiting the dorm as well, some alone and some in small groups. They were all walking in the same direction that we were. This did look like a big mission.

As we approached the hangar I could see that multiple airships were already out on the tarmac, while a dozen or so people walked to and fro between them. My heart began to beat faster. Nathan was putting a lot of people and resources into this mission. But it felt like it all came down to what Kory and I could find in those woods, and we didn’t even know what we were looking for. A lot was riding on whether or not Kory and I could get into—and then back out of—Helping Hands custody at all.

Rio greeted us at the side entrance to the hangar.

“Perfect flying conditions today,” he said with a slight smile.

I smiled in return, but my anxieties quadrupled as soon as we entered the hangar. There were more than fifty people inside, mostly separated into teams that were either listening to orders from their team leaders or talking quietly amongst themselves. Zion was standing and talking to a large combat group that included Cloyd. I spotted Gabby and Nelson sitting down and listening to Sy with the other techs.

“Hey, mission buddy,” said a jovial voice to my right.

I looked over to see Kory standing nearby, a relaxed grin on his face.

Jace and I walked up to him, waving a quick goodbye to Alexy and Rio as they turned to gather with their flight crew.

“I hope you guys got more sleep last night than I did,” Kory said casually.

I wanted to feel amused by how off base his assumption was, but the pain of leaving Jace and the relationship that we were building together was too raw to ignore.

“Have you seen Nathan?” I asked Kory.

“Not yet,” Kory replied. “But it looks like he has almost all of his teams here. So he can’t be far behind.”

The tech team started dispersing to our left, and I made eye contact with Gabby, who was waving at me excitedly. Then she and Nelson walked over to us.

“Sorry I stole your bunkmate last night,” Gabby said.

But Nelson was looking knowingly between Jace and me. I blushed.

“Are you guys ready for today?” she asked Kory and me.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Kory replied.

I was surprised by how calm and collected he was acting, given how soon we’d be taking off for a mission that might cost us our lives. I felt like a nervous wreck by comparison. Was he not aware of how dangerous this mission was going to be? Maybe he wasn’t taking it seriously at all. Maybe he had always relied on Jace to get him through a tight spot and hadn’t taken into account that he wasn’t going to have that this time.

But that felt too dismissive of Kory. After all, Jace trusted him. And I trusted Jace. So maybe Kory was just trying to put me at ease. Either way, his happy-go-lucky attitude wasn’t making me feel any better.

“Robin?” Nelson asked when I didn’t respond.

“A little nervous,” I replied. It was a humongous understatement.

Kory clapped me on the back, the force making me take an involuntary step forward.

“Good thing I’ll be there to look out for you,” he said.

“Robin will probably be the one looking out for Kory,” Ant said as he walked up with Abe and Jackie.

I was glad to see them. I wanted to see as many of my friends as I could before we set off.

“How are you feeling this morning?” Jackie asked me, having just missed my answer to Nelson.

I shrugged. “We’ll do our best,” I replied.

It was trite, but I didn’t want to get into all of the emotions that I was actually feeling about the mission. Not only was this an incredibly dangerous mission involving a lot of separate Edgewood teams, with no guarantee that we’d make it out alive, but I was also heading into a space within which my mother might be hidden. That thought was almost the scariest of them all.

The hangar suddenly grew quiet. I turned around to determine what was causing the sudden lull in activity, and quickly found the source. Nathan was striding in from the side entrance of the hangar toward the middle of the cavernous room. All eyes were on him.

The rest of the team members began walking toward him to form a circle around him, and I took a few nervous steps forward with Team Hood to hear what he had to say. This was it.

Nathan stopped and began to turn and look at the people around him in turn. We were a large group, all drawn together by our various talents and our desire to make the nation better. Nathan was the charismatic leader who had brought us here. And on the brink of this dangerous mission, I felt suddenly that there was no one else I would rather have as leader. I trusted Nathan. I trusted Little John. And I trusted the people who were surrounding us, brought together to support Kory and me.

“This is the big day, teams,” Nathan began in his warm and carrying voice. “And I couldn’t be prouder or more confident in our abilities. For those of you who don’t know them, I’d like to introduce two very brave people.”

He gestured to Kory and me, and the entire hangar turned to look at us. My heart leapt into my throat.

“Robin and Kory have volunteered to chart unknown territory for us. We know that the area they will be entering is heavily guarded, and also of utmost concern to the government right now. What we don’t know is why, but hopefully Robin and Kory will be able to supply us with that information. We are here to support them and bring them home safely. The success of this mission rides on getting them in and out of custody safely. So, let’s do the best that we can.”

I scanned the large crowd in front of us. Then, briefly, my gaze met Cloyd’s. I was expecting the usual glare or coldness, but instead his eyes seemed pained and concerned. The moment didn’t last, and before I knew it Nathan was speaking again.

“By this point, you should have all been briefed individually on your team’s responsibilities. But as a general overview, we’re going to run through the plan now.”

I looked over at Kory, but he was staring straight ahead. Jace gently leaned his weight against me to steady me.

“The airships will take off with staggered timing. The first airship will carry our mission team and 3-D printer to the outskirts of Dry River, far enough away to avoid detection. Helping Hands is already on the ground there, and we’re expecting the town to be evacuated by tonight. The other airships will meet on the designated landing grounds outside of the Helping Hands compound. Tech, combat, and medic teams will set up. At the first sight of cargo trucks, we will print the disguises and begin our timer: four and a half hours exactly until the diversion once the masks are printed. Mission team will walk into Dry River and allow themselves to be rounded up. Our government operative has assured us that our mission team will have working identities and be registered in Dry River for roundup.”

I thought briefly of Aurora. How many people here knew her name? How tightly guarded was Nathan when it came to her? She was risking almost as much as Kory and I were, and if we lost her it would hurt the entire Little John operation.

“The mission team will have GPS implants that we can track them by. At countdown time, we will head swiftly to their location to provide cover on the opposite end of the facility. One collection team will assist the mission team with escape on their side. Then we get out of there as quickly as possible. Make sure you’re following your designated flight paths; we need to make sure we’re not being followed when we head back to Edgewood.”

I kept my mouth shut, trying to absorb all of this information as Nathan spoke. Implants?

“Let’s get to the airships and ready ourselves for takeoff. Good luck, teams. I have the utmost faith in you,” Nathan finished.

The crowd began to disperse as teams walked to the airships on the tarmac, but Team Hood remained still. Nathan strode quickly toward us.

“The 3-D printer is on my ship with the rest of the tech team. We’ll all head out together for the drop-off,” he said.

I exhaled slowly at this new wave of information, my shoulders dropping slightly. It was nice to know that Kory and I would be setting off with a team that we knew well. It made me feel less alone in the interim.

“And the tracking implants?” Kory asked hesitantly.

Nathan smiled mischievously.

“I hope neither of you has a fear of needles,” he replied.