Page 99 of Gift from the Tree

“Ready?” I ask her as we approach the group of guys. They all form a barrier around us as we step up to Corentin.

“Yeah. Corentin, I’ll just need you to deposit some of your blood in the center of my palm.” She holds her hand out flat as Corentin withdrawals a blade from his side.

I watch in amazement as Oakly closes her eyes and Corentin’s blood begins to dissolve in her hand. When she opens her eyes, she gives a nod, letting us know she has it.

Grabbing my hand, she orders, “You’ll come with me. It’s very different to transport following an imprint and they’ll need to focus. With me, it’ll be like a normal transport.”

“Are you sure?” Corentin asks, stepping closer to me.

“I’m positive. You’ll all be a millisecond behind us,” she tells him with a stern look.

“Let’s go,” I order, having absolutely no right to, but we haven’t even left, and he’s already freaking out, but he agrees, barking out across the field.

“Move out.”

Oakly’s right. It was like a normal transport with her. We’re the first to step out and not even a moment later, everyone else shows up, but they look around a little confused about where they showed up, whereas with Oakly, the transport didn’t dictate where we went. She knew exactly where we’d go.

“Where are we?” Corentin asks, coming to stand by me with Draken, Ry and his Nexus in tow.

“The woodlands outside of Dreville. There’s a thousand acres of forest spreading out. We’re about a quarter mile from the structure they’re being held in,” Oakly tells him, pointing toward the direction we’ll go.

“Ry, take a team to go scout and get heat signatures,” Corentin commands in a hushed voice.

Okay, so we need to whisper, got it. See, I’m learning on the job.

If Tillman were here, he’d laugh at my internal nonsense.

That thought sends a pang through my chest. I can’t think of that right now or I’ll lose what little composure I have. I watch as Ry and the rest of his Nexus, other than Jamie, who’s standing a few steps behind Oakly, takes off, sprinting silently through the woods.

Looking back at Jamie, I take stock of him since he’s standing so damn close to my best friend. His tall, muscular build and face of a model wouldn’t lead me to believe that he’s a scientist.

According to Draken, he’s not an E.F. member, and technically his gift is a healer, but he does a lot of work for the academy. Draken wouldn’t go into detail with me about much on him. I don’t know if it was jealousy that I was asking about another guy or that he isn’t allowed to go into detail about what all he can do.

Stepping closer to Oakly and keeping my voice low, I ask, “What does he mean heat signatures? Is it like how Gaster can see magical signatures?”

“I believe so, but he picks up body heat rather than magical,” Oakly whispers back.

“Yes, he’ll be able to see the heat signatures of the individuals in the structure. He’ll be able to tell approximately how many are in the building, where they are, and if they’re moving or stationary. It’ll give him a better understanding of who could possibly be guards, who may be hostages.” Jamie steps close to me and Oakly to explain. I didn’t expect him to say anything, so he startles me with his low, smooth voice. When I jump a little, I feel Oakly shiver. Glancing at her, she’s still facing forward, not acknowledging him, but her face tints pink.

Interesting.

“Well, that’s a pretty nifty gift in this line of work,” I tease, attempting to lighten the mood a little. It’s my coping mechanism when I’m freaking out, but it isn’t working on these two.

A few moments later, Ry and the others appear, wearing grim faces. “There’re approximately fifty individuals in the structure that I can see. Thirty-plus I believe are guards and other personnel working in the structure, and they’re scattered across all levels. Five guards manning what I believe to be ten hostages. They’re huddled together close on the middle level, not moving around much. Another five walking the halls of the bottom level, one individual not moving. That must be one of the guys. The structure goes into the ground, so my readings aren’t clear. I could pick up at least twelve signatures there, but I have no intel on what they’re doing. Remainder is on the top floor, doing various things.”

Fuck, that’s a lot of people. Only twelve out of the fifty are who we need to make sure are safe, but that still leaves thirty-eight threats, possibly more depending on if there are more underground that Ry didn’t pick up. We have six teams of eight with us, so technically, we have them outnumbered, not counting me, Oakly, and Jamie, who have no fucking clue what to do. Well, me and Oakly don’t.

“Entry and exit points?” Corentin asks.

“Just one. It’s going to be a tight squeeze going in. There are only two bodies at the door. They’re either very confident in their ability to guard this place or they believe no one would find somewhere so secluded. There aren’t even wards around the structure.”

“What if this is just a middle point? Like they plan on moving them again?” I ask out loud.

“You don’t think this is where they are staying?” Draken asks me curiously.

“No, I don’t. I think they’ll keep moving them around to make it harder for someone to find them before they get to their final destination. I think that’s what they’ve been doing,” I tell him. I can only assume that because I was eavesdropping on Tillman and Corentin complaining about not being able to locate any hostages the other day.

“Then we need to get a move on. Ry, take your team and clear the bottom level. Academy team two, palace team three, middle level. Secure the hostages, take prisoners, if possible, but don’t risk any lives. Do what’s necessary to protect the hostages. Palace Team one and two, clear the door and head to the top floor. Restrain as many of the personnel as possible, then move to the middle level to help with hostages. Palace team four, on me, we’ll head underground. One of the guys must be there,” Corentin commands, and everyone begins grouping together.

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