There were no windows in the bedroom, so I had no concept of time when I woke up. I was lying on my side facing the wall, and I could feel a hand on my hip. The sheer size of the hand indicated to me that it belonged to Henri. I gently moved him and slid down to the end of the bed. I went in search of Erik, but I didn’t have to go far. I found him in the command center watching surveillance of the perimeter surrounding the safe house. He was sitting in one chair with his feet propped up on a second. He was eating something from a bag that looked disturbingly like dehydrated meat.

“Hey. What time is it? Why didn’t you wake me?”

“It’s not that late. I was going to let you sleep for another couple hours.” He looked over his shoulder at me. The light pouring in the window caught his eyes, causing the turquoise color to look even more unnatural, and gorgeous, than normal.

“You don’t have to coddle me,” I retorted, snappier than I meant. My awareness of him when we were in close proximity irritated me, and I irrationally blamed him, as if he could help being ridiculously good-looking.

“I’m not coddling you. You’re expending a lot more energy than either Henri or me, and it’s your mental powers that we are counting on to keep us connected when we go inside that house. You have to be at your strongest.” His reasonable response irked me further.

“I’m not really tired anymore. I’m really hungry, though,” I said, changing the subject.

“There’s some stuff in the kitchen cabinets. None of it’s expired or anything but a lot of it is less than appetizing. It’s smart to conserve the stuff in your pack, in case we have to hide in the woods somewhere.”

I made my way downstairs and rummaged through the kitchen cabinets. Erik was right—nothing in there looked edible. I finally settled on mixed nuts and canned peaches. Taking my meal back upstairs, I sat with Erik and let him explain how all the buttons and switches on the panel worked.

“Did you guys get enough sleep?” Henri asked when he finally wandered in a couple of hours later. Erik and I both nodded. “Good. I want to scout out the city, so go get dressed—no suits, just regular clothes.”

I nodded and headed to the bathroom to do as I was told. I chose tight-fitting jeans and strapped a knife to each of my calves, covering them with knee-high black boots. I secured the knife belt around my waist and covered it with a loose-fitting white cotton shirt. I strapped on my backpack and wrapped myself in a jacket to hide the pack from view. When I was ready, I walked downstairs to find Henri and Erik both dressed in dark jeans and black shirts with their jackets covering their packs, as well.

We piled into the road-car and followed a decidedly roundabout set of dirt roads that eventually led us to the outskirts of Mexico City. There were several blocks of white stone buildings, none more than four or five stories tall. All of the structures were completely open-air—there were no doors or windows. I wondered how they kept the rain out. One look at the cloudless sky had me doubting there was much precipitation here. The streets running through the city were narrow, barely wide enough for one vehicle. The walkways were the same white stone as the buildings and the streets were a mix of gray, black and white stones. I assumed the white buildings and walkways were to keep the city as cool as possible in light of the extreme temperatures.

I’d noticed the heat and humidity the day before but neither had affected me—save my hair—because of my suit. Today, wearing normal clothing, the heat was nearly unbearable. I found myself wishing that I had packed shorts. Both Elite Headquarters and the School were in moderate climates, so the temperatures never came close to the heat in Mexico City. My hometown of Capri was on the water, so despite being closer to the equator, there was always a nice breeze that made the temperature bearable.

Henri parked the car just outside of the city, and we walked the short distance on foot. I could feel the sweat dampening my shirt. My knife belt began to chafe against the slick skin of my hips and stomach. I stole glances at both boys and found them oddly unaffected by the soaring temperatures.

Henri had told me to stay close to him, just in case there was trouble, but nobody gave us a second look as we wandered through the crowded streets.

I was unsure what Henri expected to find out by spending the day roaming the outskirts of town, so I concentrated on my surroundings. It was apparent that this neighborhood was poor. Most of the shops sold fabrics or meats and cheeses. I saw one store that sold beautiful metal plates, bowls, and jewelry with each piece individually crafted—no mass manufacturing here. Most of the road vehicles I observed looked much like ours on the outside, but I doubted that any of them contained the interior comforts our vehicle offered. I only glimpsed a few hover vehicles all day, and those I did see didn’t glide silently through the air. They created a great deal of racket, making them stand out.

After scouring every inch of the small neighborhood for something only known to Henri, we walked about half a mile to the house we’d scouted the night before. We kept our distance for fear of being seen.

“Erik, I want you to go check out the surveillance system. Talia and I will stay down here and keep watch,” Henri instructed.

Erik nodded and began to undress. I turned around, my cheeks flushing, even though he didn’t appear to be modest. I felt Erik morphing behind me, and I turned around just as he completed his change into a small black bird. I tried to follow the bird’s movements through the treetops, but he moved so quickly that it was impossible to keep up. I opened my mind and tried to get a feel for how many people were in the house—approximately a handful but I couldn’t determine an exact number. Henri busied himself with snapping images of the surrounding areas. In the daylight, the house looked almost inviting. I stored the mental image away for later, hoping that it would comfort me that night.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Erik was only gone for a few minutes. After landing, he quickly morphed back into his human form and got dressed.

“I found all of the cameras that our intel suspected. I looked around for additional ones, but didn’t find anything,” Erik reported.

“Let’s head back and go over the heat images from last night and the photos that I just took. We can finalize the plan and hopefully take action tonight. That way, we can be out of here by tomorrow,” Henri replied, satisfied. With that, we returned to the vehicle, and Henri drove us a different roundabout way back to the safe house.

Henri insisted that I get more rest before the evening. I hated to admit how exhausted I was from spending the day in the hot sun. After a cold shower, I climbed back into the bed and fell instantly to sleep.

Henri shook me awake long before I was ready.

“What time is it?” I groaned.

“Time to get dressed. I want to do some more recon tonight.” He stood to leave. “You have ten minutes,” he called over his shoulder as he exited.

Still half asleep, I rolled out of bed and dressed on autopilot. Using the remaining eight of my ten minutes, I splashed cold water on my face. By the time I joined Erik and Henri, I was awake, alert, and amped for another stakeout.

We hid in the woods, using the trees as cover, for most of the night. Henri took images of all the men coming and going. We observed the guards posted outside to determine when the least number of people would be awake and alert. We left with just enough time to make it to the safe house before dawn.

When we got back, Henri confirmed that tomorrow night would be the night. I was still wired from the night’s activities, so I offered to take the first watch. I diligently monitored the surveillance feeds and munched on dried fruit and hard chunks of cheese while Henri and Erik slept. I promised myself that the first thing I’d do when we returned to Headquarters was eat a hot meal, consisting of only fresh foods.

Around midday, Henri woke up, and I gratefully climbed into bed with Erik. He didn’t move when I flopped down next to him. The night before, I’d been so spent that being so close to Erik—sharing a bed with him—hadn’t fazed me. I was tired today, but my body hadn’t been subjected to the same mental rigors and therefore, today’s exhaustion didn’t prevent my awareness of Erik’s warm presence. I wedged myself close to the wall, as far from Erik as I could manage. Still, I could feel his body just inches from mine, making it hard to sleep. I needed something else to focus on, anything else.

The intel. I would concentrate on the intel. If I mentally reviewed all of the tedious details from the reports, maybe I could bore myself to sleep. It must’ve worked because I was soon dreaming about eating dehydrated chicken strips on a pebbled beach while I watched Erik play in the frothy waves. Oops… I tried replacing him with Donavon.

***

When I woke up several hours later, I was anxious and jittery. Just thinking about what the night entailed made me twitch. I was on a rollercoaster ride of emotion. Part of me couldn’t wait a minute longer to put my skills into action but the saner part of me was near hysteria. A myriad of “what-ifs” materialized in my head like a grocery list. Imminent death was shelved right next to horrendous bodily harm.

I took a cold shower, hoping to drown my fears. My hands shook as I pulled on my adapti-suit. My fingers fumbled while I wound my hair into a tight bun at the base of my neck and covered my head with a black bandana. I knew that I should eat something, but the butterflies in my stomach made me reconsider. When I finally joined Henri and Erik in the control room, I was vibrating like a too-tight guitar string fraught with tension.

“Ready?” Henri asked.

I nodded, unable to unclench my teeth.

My mind was so consumed with the upcoming task that the jog to the house seemed to take less time than it had the previous two nights. We weren’t running particularly fast, but my heart was pounding loudly in my chest. I assumed that Henri and Erik could hear it with their heightened senses, but neither said anything.

Erik wore an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. Henri’s expression was grim. I could feel Henri’s confidence in my abilities, but I also felt his uneasiness about how I’d react if there were trouble. It didn’t help with my nerves. I wanted—needed—to prove my worth. And not just to Henri, but to everybody who’d said that I didn’t belong in the Hunters and to myself.

Once we reached the spot in the woods just outside of the area the cameras surveyed, we settled in to wait. I lay down in the leaves on my stomach and tried to even out my breathing. The three of us sat motionless, not speaking, for hours. I filtered their thoughts from my own while still holding the connection, both boys’ apprehension weighing heavily on my already overburdened mind.

“It’s time,” Henri announced finally. “Erik, you’re on.”

“See you guys shortly.”

I caught a hint of a smile and felt Erik’s trepidation turn to giddy anticipation as he rose to his feet. I clung to that emotion, letting it overtake my fear.

Erik silently morphed into the same small black bird as last night. He took off towards the treetops, and while I couldn’t see or hear him, I knew that he was taking out the security cameras. Several minutes later, he flitted down. Instead of morphing back into a human, he morphed into the large wolf-like dog. He scurried off in the direction of the house to create a distraction that would, hopefully, cause the guard to leave his post. Then, Erik would take him out. The next guard wasn’t scheduled to come on duty until morning, so no one was likely to find the incapacitated guard until that time.

There was only one door to the house, so once the guard was gone, Henri and I would be clear to slip inside. Henri had determined that the laboratory was located on the second floor of the house. Our job was to get inside and take images of all the research. If all went well, Henri and I would be able to go up the stairs, collect the data, and leave the house undetected. From there, the plan was to return to the safe house briefly to collect our belongings and then be out of the region before sunrise.

I heard Erik start barking in the woods, far to the right of where Henri and I stood. The guard hesitated at first. Erik moved into the clearing and barked louder. The guard finally went to chase him off.

“Now, Talia,” Henri said. His anxiety was gone, a calm reassurance taking its place.

“Right behind you,” I responded, thankful that my voice mirrored his calm tone. A coil of thrill unwound in my stomach, invigorating my limbs. I was ready. I could do this. I would do this.

I followed right on Henri’s heels. I was vaguely aware that Erik had ceased barking as we entered the house. There were no lights on inside, but my sensory training, combined with the fact I’d memorized the layout of the house, made finding the staircase easy.

Sweat stung my eyes. I wiped it with the back of my gloved hand. Henri and I crept up the stairs and to the end of the hallway.

“Stand guard,” Henri instructed, once we’d reached the laboratory.

I stationed myself outside the door while Henri entered the lab to photograph the research. My breathing was even as I slowly scanned the corridor for signs of mental activity.

Henri had been in the room for several minutes when I heard a scuffle downstairs.

“Trouble downstairs,” Erik grunted, cutting into my thoughts. My mouth went dry. A clammy sheen covered my face. This was not part of the plan.