Page 63 of Tamed

She obliged, not stopping until her nose was pressed against his flat belly.

Kendra quickly shifted her attention to the guards stationed inside the apartment. Wasn’t it overkill to have guards on both sides of the door? One of them was Ciket, so she lightly nudged his mind.

Ciket’s eyes widened and he looked around. Luckily, he didn’t speak and didn’t seem afraid.

Soro sent me. She pushed the thought into his mind. Can you leave long enough for us to speak?

He leaned toward his partner and whispered, “I need to use the utility room.”

The other guard nodded, his expression unchanging.

Ciket slipped out of the apartment and hustled down the hallway then let himself into one of the suites with a palm scan. “Who are you? How did you find me?”

I’m Zevon’s mate. We’re planning an attack, but we need specific information badly. I’m sure you can’t be gone long, so tell me everything you know, everything that has changed since Verbet took over.

Forty minutes later Zevon was back in his office repeating everything he’d just learned for Movu and Soro. “Luckily for us, very little has changed. The guards are still armed with handguns. Only the perimeter guards carry rifles. All the security protocols are the same. Verbet is lazy by nature and saw no reason to change anything. No one has challenged his authority, and he has allowed it to lull him into a false sense of security. Ciket insists that all the guards are so sick of this family that many are likely to stand by while we go after Verbet.”

“That would be amazing, but I’m not counting on it,” Soro said.

Zevon went on to detail the number and position of the palace guards. He explained their scheduled rotation and several weaknesses that they could exploit.

“How’s that for recon?” Zevon grinned as his report ended.

“I must admit I’m impressed,” Soro granted. “I’m also out of excuses. Gather your triads and head this way. We’ll attack first thing in the morning.”

Thrilled with the outcome of the meeting, Zevon ended the comm and did his best to focus on the impending attack. Everything was ready, everyone who would be involved was prepared. Most of them had been for months. The alliance members had been about to take down Jevara when Verbet beat them to it. Now it was time for Verbet’s tyrannical rule to end and all Zevon could think about was Kendra.

Her surrender the night before had been surprising and wonderful. Becoming part of a power triad made him feel balanced and secure. Still, the soul bond had barely formed. He wanted to lock himself in his quarters with the rest of his triad and explore all the possibilities open to them now.

Instead, Zevon ate a quick dinner with Arcon and Kendra and then went back to planning. The attack had many moving parts and all of them had to be executed flawlessly or the entire mission could collapse. Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, it was agreed that the rebel army would wait to overrun Hanoto until the captives had been rescued and Verbet neutralized. But as soon as those objectives had been met, Soro would unleash the full force of the rebels on the Torretian capital.

Arcon was chosen to lead the team assigned to rescue the captives and then take out Verbet. Bonding with Kendra had intensified his psychic abilities. He now had premonitions that would warn the team of danger. Kendra argued that her powers were even more accurate than Arcon’s, but Zevon and Arcon refused to even consider her direct participation.

“You can come with us,” Zevon told her as they prepared for bed. “But you stay on the Anolox with me.”

“Is that a spaceship?”

He nodded. “A short-range fighter. I’ll be directing all the teams from there. The Agitarri will be nearby, but I’m honestly hoping we won’t need a massive warship.”

“The comm system in my armor records everything around me and transmits it to the ships,” Arcon told her. “It will be as if you’re standing right beside me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and stubbornly lifted her chin. “Which is your way of saying I’ll just stand there and watch.”

“You’re not a soldier,” Zevon insisted. “You’re an oracle. You provide information to the soldiers. It would be foolish and reckless to send you into battle.”

She wasn’t happy about the decision, but she didn’t argue with him. They crawled into bed together. Kendra and Arcon soon fell asleep, but Zevon spent a restless night trying to anticipate every possible complication.

In the morning, they boarded the Anolox and headed for Torret at top speed. Arcon had chosen two relatively new triads to assist him, but each had unique abilities. The first was Raina and her mates, Kern and Cylex. She was a second-level conduit, which meant her abilities had been enhanced while she was an infant. Both of her mates were hybrids, so the triad could combine the elements in unusual ways.

The other triad Arcon had chosen was Eden and her mates, Kyrex and Neloff. She too was a second-level conduit and both of her mates had unusual backgrounds. Kyrex’s father was a Pyronese Wraith and his mentor was Movu. Neloff had spent much of his youth with his father’s Houkdi tribe, so his perspective and training had been unconventional as well. Eden, Raina, and Kendra were close friends, so Arcon hoped for a smooth and successful mission.

Kendra watched her friends depart with an envious expression. She stood beside Zevon on the command deck of the Anolox. Zevon could sense her frustration, but there was no help for it.

“You’re just as important to this mission as they are,” he told her firmly. “Your role is just different. As is mine.”

She took a deep breath as she turned her head and met his gaze. “I’ll get used to this, but it feels punitive right now.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze then moved to stand next to the ship’s commander. Zevon’s role was to supervise and coordinate the entire mission, so he’d chosen not to command the ship. “Are the Wraiths in position?”

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