Page 51 of A Dawn Of Blood

He swallows visibly. Then he seems to think of something, turning dead serious. “But that means the entire plan is shot. It’s not like I can walk up to Cain and tell him, hey, man, why don’t you let the four of us go for a stroll by the lake. You know, for no reason whatsoever.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Nuala agrees.

Nodding thoughtfully, I try to find a way out of the sudden mess. “Alright,” I finally say, lifting a hand to start listing, “there are three problems we need answers to. How do we get to the lake without raising suspicion, how do we stay underwater long enough to find the metal, and what do we do about the mermaids?”

“Fuck,” Dryden curses, “the mermaids.”

I choose not to linger on that for now, because there’s an idea forming in my head. “For problem number one, we can still use the original plan.”

Alaric shakes his head. “I guess I haven’t made myself clear enough.With some luck, that will get us inside, sure. But the original plan was to go straight back to Graf Hill, which is exactly what these soldiers are supposed to do in the first place. Yournew plan impliesdisobeying direct orders, Anna, and if there’s one thing that can be said about Cain, it’s that he runs a tight bloody ship.”

“Bear with me, please.” I turn to Dryden. “Once we’re at the lake, Dryden, could you use Tension Magic to allow me to breathe underwater?”

He takes a second to mull it over. “Itwouldrequire a tremendous amount of energy, so you’d have to be real quick about finding the metal. But yes.”

All the while, Jaeger has stayed disapproving but silent. Now she cuts in with worry in her voice, “That doesn’t solve the problem of us getting made and murdered before we even get to the lake.”

“It does if we anger the mermaids,” I say, my idea finally becoming clear to me. “We’ll need to be sneaky about it, but if we succeed, we’ll only need to tell the other four soldiers we’re going to the lake to see what’s going on.And, as an added benefit, not evenCainwill dare approach singing mermaids without giving the whole thing a second thought, will he?”

I see surprise on everyone’s faces, and terror on Alaric’s. “Pissing the mermaids off and then diving straight into their murderous claws?” he demands with an incredulous look on his face. Then he grits his teeth. “That’s your brilliant plan?”

“Anyone have any better ones?” I ask, looking around.

The others think for a moment, then Dryden looks me in the eye with sheer determination in his gaze. “I think we can do this.”

Nuala gives me a sharp nod, and to my surprise, even Jaeger makes it clear she’s on board.

I turn to Alaric, watching the terror in his eyes get switched out for cold, hard resolution. “Alright,” he says in a low, firm voice, “then let’s do it.”

My heart swelling with pride, I give him a quiet clap on the back just as my wolf’s ears prick up.

The soldiers. They’re returning from the supply run.

Chapter 38

The moment we follow the soldiers through the giant main door is a moment of both triumph and great anxiousness.

Thanks to Jaeger’s Mind Magic, we’ve managed to switch the places with four of the eight soldiers and make the other four believe it’susthey ventured out with in the first place, but it’s now that things will getreallytricky.

I almost instantly start on my part of the job. As we march straight for Graf Hill, I start flexing the fingers of the hand I keep hanging, summoning subtle sparks of electricity.

Subtle, but powerful enough that I send them into the ground below my feet. There, I work on growing them, forming them into a whip and leading them straight into the lake, all without being noticed by either the soldiers we’re following or those we’re passing by.

As soon as I feel the whips get under the water, I send out the first shock.

Then another one.

And another one.

Just as I start doubting this thing will even work, I hear them.

The distant but piercing sound that’s somehow angry and plaintive at the same time.

My lips tugging into a smile, I watch the soldiers in front of us come to a stop, their heads whipping in the direction of the lake.

“Is that the mermaids?” one of them asks.

“Bloody hell,” another mutters.

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