We’re out in the middle of the forest, still several miles from the headquarters we’re taking on. Posing as tourist hikers. I have my security sensors running full time while I spend the last remaining time I have with Varos before this whole thing starts.

Everyone is trying to play this off as a done deal, ending successfully. With the sheer numbers we have, I can see where it’s possible.

But it’s not guaranteed. That’s what bugs me.

Even with all the preparation in the world, too much can still go wrong. What happens if?

Varos squeezes my hand.

We’re stuffed into the backseat of my car, staring at the blinking lights of my computer rig. His body warmth presses against me and gives me some measure of calm. I turn to press my ear against his chest and pick up the soft beating of his heart.

He kisses the top of my head. “Stop worrying, Ronnie. Everything will go fine. This has been planned down to the last detail.”

I blow out a nervous breath. “But what if we overlooked something? I can’t help it, Varos. There’s something we’re missing. I can just feel it.”

“Then we improvise. I have full trust in you. You’ll be out here, like a mastermind, keeping an eye on us. You have our backs. I couldn’t possibly feel safer. I wouldn’t do this at all if you weren’t involved.”

I sit up and wipe at my eyes. I won’t cry over this. Not now. I want Varos to continue to have full confidence in me. “You didn’t want me to go at first. Remember?”

“Well, I was a dumbass, okay?”

“Okay.”

“So get back over here.” He pulls me down again and we get comfortable, or as comfortable as we can be in the back seat of a car. “I’ve never made out in a car before. This has possibilities.”

“Oh gods, don’t start. I’ll never be able to concentrate.”

Varos chuckles and wraps around me tightly. “Can’t have that. I need you in top form to be our guardian angel. Well, the guardian part, anyway.”

I elbow him playfully. His chuckle deepens to a full laugh.

It’s good to laugh. It helps loosen me up, shed some of the tension that claws at me like a relentless beast.

“Varos, I need to tell you something. This morning, I—”

A sharp rap on the window interrupts me and makes us both jump. “Wrap it up, you two, we’re moving out in ten.”

It’s a little clumsy to straighten in the seat before we get out, but we manage without spraining anything.

I’m standing there in front of him, my fingers clutching tightly to his shirt. I don’t want him to go. I have something important to say but now it’s not the time. It’s not something I can drop on him and then send him out for a fight where we have no idea what to expect. He needs to be able to concentrate.

I lift to my toes and press my mouth against his, breathing in his scent, memorizing how he feels when he wraps his arms around me again. The cold seems to disappear when I’m in his arms and the whole world just melts into the background.

There’s no stopping the tears now. They well up in my eyes, blurring my vision. He frowns, wiping the falling tears with his thumb. His mouth opens to say something but he’s interrupted when Nyve passes behind him, squeezing at his shoulder. “Come on, lover boy. Time enough for that later.”

Varos looks conflicted, staring at me with concern. He forces a smile and pulls me in for one final kiss. “I’ll be back before you know it and you can tell me whatever it is you need to tell me while I’m claiming you as mine officially.”

I choke on a laugh, holding onto his hand until the last minute. When he joins the other shifters, I wipe at my eyes with my sleeves. If there are any gods out there, I hope they listen when I pray that he makes it back.

I have to tell him that he’s going to be a father.

Maybe it’s best he doesn’t know now so he can concentrate.

It’s up to me to make sure he comes back alive. Me and Junior.

I climb in my car and pull up the GPS for my vantage point to watch everything as it goes down.

A few of the fox shifters hitch a ride with me, cramming into the backseat in fox form, and we head off for the showdown.

I can hear the radio chatter as I get set up. Sitting on a hilltop, the spot I picked out is clear of obstructions so I can patch into a satellite to piggy back into the back door of their network.

Once I gain control of their security feeds, I have every video camera live on the site. What these bozos see, I see.

There are days it feels good to be king. Or king-ish.

It takes some time to get everyone in place.

“What does it look like up there?” Lars’ voice breaks in over the background chatter.

I adjust my headset. “Everything’s set and looks green. Go when you’re ready.”

Stuff like this always looks cooler on the shows. All the convenient camera cuts, showing the heroes being all stealthy and badass. Sitting in my car, watching everything as all hell starts to break loose?

Well, it’s still cool. It’s a coordinated effort that was weeks in the planning and when the last pieces fall into place, it’s going off without a hitch.

At least from my perspective.

The big cats started their frontal assault and the guys at the front gate were not ready for it. I make a mental note not to piss any large feline off. I thought the dragons were big in human form. The arms on the tigers? Wow.

I love Varos and I am very secure in my relationship with him.

I’m not dead, either.

The foxes keep a steady stream of updates on the movement of the armed security as they go through their routines. The moment the word comes in there’s trouble at the southern gate, they spring into motion.

On another video, I watch as the wolves and dragons overpower the now sparse security detail at the eastern gate.

“The path is still clear,” I announce over the comm.

It seems like it’s forever as we all wait for the signal. The plan is for this to be as quiet as possible.

But, as it’s said, a plan never survives contact with the enemy.

I watch on the video feeds as the infiltration team splits, each with specific assigned tasks to achieve. As much as I want to keep my eyes solely on Varos, I know that’s not an option I have.

Things rock on for a while. As we can see things heating up in the compound itself, and there’s too much movement to make any of us comfortable.

The cats are demanding the go-ahead to proceed.

Carson finally gives it.

In the background, I hear gunshots. Some screaming. A lot of shouting as pandemonium has set in. I didn’t get much detailed intel on most of the security but I know they’re mostly human. Honestly, even with their guns, they don’t stand much of a chance.

Thankfully, I’m not watching a massacre. Carson and Lars were very specific that loss of life for the bad guys was to be kept to a minimum. That’s humane and I appreciate it. These bad guys have been targeting mythical shifters and that’s not good.

But I agree that they don’t deserve to die. Carson says he has enough information to bring down the entire organization on all levels and the reason they are doing this is because they need to make sure Matthews doesn’t get away.

It’s a little disorienting to be stuck watching all this happen on the monitors. Isolated in my car, the sounds I hear coming only from the ear buds, it’s almost as if it’s not real.

Just images and sound.

The adrenaline is very real, though.

A couple of times I catch sight of Varos with the main group. Considering they have not trained together, or even worked together with the wolves, they move as an organized unit. Lars gives the direction and keeps them moving forward. Carson takes the lead on making sure the cleanup happens quickly to hide their passing.

I itch to be there with them, even though I’m of the best use here in the car. It’s a bit lonely. Now I wish one of my fox kin were here to talk. They’re out there providing the necessary support for the cats and griffins. Kind of makes me feel good that we were allowed to be a part of this.

I always thought wolves were a little stuck up, and Lars is a bit of a hard character, but they’re all right.

In the sky, I see the ravens and griffins circling high above the compound. I can hear their squawks and screeches. Thankfully, a couple of their kind are on the ground relaying the translation.

Barracks personnel on the move.

The lights of the barracks come on and it’s a few keystrokes for me to gain control of their automatic security doors. I slam the doors shut, every one, and lock them down, along with the windows. My anti-hacking routine kicks in to thwart their computer techs from trying to back hack me.

Oh no, fellas. I’m ever so much better than that.

A flash of light catches my attention. It’s so bright it almost fills up the sky. I block the blinding light with my hand.

What the hell was that?

It happens again, swamping my outside video feeds for a few seconds as the auto focus on the cameras scrambles to catch up.

I touch at my headset. “Can anyone get a bead on who’s firing those flares?”

“Negative.”

“I don’t see—”

“No one here—”

If no one can see who’s setting those off, then what is it?

I scramble to pull up the National Observatory information to see if there was a meteor shower due tonight. It’s a long shot. I’ve sat outside and watched a few of them when they come around. They’re usually not that bright.

I have seen one bolide that was that blinding.

Maybe that was it?

Another one goes off, filling the sky with that same blinding light.

I scramble out of the car and look down at the compound with my binocs.

Getting a closer look at the activity in the sky above the compound, I swear it looks like someone set a crow on fire as it circles high in the sky. But the raven doesn’t look like it’s in pain.

Is that some raven thing they can do?

A fast count proves that to be wrong. It looks like all the ravens are accounted for.

So… what?

Another flash of light streaks by and I’m able to track it this time.

It’s not a raven on fire.

In fact, it’s not like any bird I’ve ever seen. On fire or not.

Surely… that’s not what I think it is.

No one’s ever seen one before. They’re just bedtime stories shifters tell their children. They’re the most mythical of the mythics.

Many don’t believe they even exist.

Yet there they are, two of them circling high above the ravens. Then, suddenly, one upends and dives straight for the ground and the blinding light forces me to pull the binocs away.

I’ll be damned.