Page 74 of Lahaina Noon

You like it,she replied before shifting around again and smiling at Jorrie.

Her friend studied her with a knowing smile, asking with studied innocence. “Everything okay? You seem a little antsy.”

It was finally time to make their plan. Everyone was all in to wipe out the Shadow Claw. They discussed the whereabouts of the Shadow King, having narrowed it down to a heavily guarded compound in Hawaii on the island of Maui. It was a large windowless base with escape tunnels, its own utilities, and lots of patrols.

They’d discovered this because Baltrus was a traitor. He had been secretly siding with the Shadow King for years. His treason was uncovered, and information extracted before he was put to death by the remaining members of the Council. He was complicit in the plot that had resulted in Brian’s murder. Bridget’s only complaint was she hadn’t been there to witness the execution.

“Great,” huffed Jack.

Bridget gave him a questioning glance.

“This guy’s living it up in paradise while we are slogging halfway around the world trying to find him and end him. Doesn’t seem veryfair. I’m stuck in rush hour traffic every morning and he’s relaxing on a tropical island sipping Mai Tais.”

She tried not to laugh; it wasn’t time for jokes, but it was pretty funny.

Jorrie held no such compunction and burst out with her usual bright laughter.

Bridget noticed several male heads turned towards Jorrie in appreciation, including Shepard, who grinned at her.

Liam noticed, too, and she heard a faint growl coming from him. She needed to give him some advice before some of the other dragons moved in on what he clearly wanted.

Davis did not need any encouragement and had his hand on Jack’s knee.

Bridget heard some whispers about Mai Tais, and they were smiling at each other. She shook her head; she knew they’d started sharing a room. She laughed at their obvious delight in each other, it was adorable. Vaughn absently laid a hand on her leg, and she blushed, remembering her own activities earlier.

“Okay so that covers most of it. We know where, and we know our approach.” Vaughn recapped for everyone. He looked around and saw nods of agreement. “We need a large squad to infiltrate and subdue the guards. My team back in Dallas has been running drills for this type of scenario, and I’m confident they can handle it if any of you want to join that group. As soon as we adjourn, I will update Marco and have them begin preparations immediately. We just need to finalize how we will actually take out the King. The prisoner we interrogated seems to feelhis King has no weaknesses and believe me, he has told us everything he can, but I disagree. He’s not immortal.”

Bridget nodded vigorously; she wanted revenge and justice as well.

Hilde spoke up, “This is all good and well, my friend.”

Bridget glared at her for daring to call him friend.

Hilde continued, “But it doesn’t answer how the prophecy will be put into motion.”

Circe giggled, and Hilde shot her a look full of daggers.

“Oh, dear sister,” Circe trilled in a singsong voice and stood. She began to spin around in slow circles, dancing about the room. She hauled Shepard up from his chair and spun around with him, dropping him next to Jorrie, where they grinned at each other. She continued to dance and spin, picking someone up, dancing them around and dropping them in different chairs. She moved Gabe next to a lady with blue hair and several rings in her nose. They laughed at each other before she was spun off and then deposited in Jorrie’s chair, while Jorrie was deposited in Liam’s lap, where Circe stopped spinning.

“You see, dear sister, the prophecy is already in motion, bringing all of these fine people together. The circles brought our Drake and his Bridget together. Then it brought Ivan to Drake and Drake to us. It brought Jack and Davis to us, and it brought these two together.” She motioned at Jorrie and Liam, who were staring into each other’s eyes.

They really need that pep talk,Bridget thought, turning her attention back to Circe.

“The circles create ripples, which create more circles, which make waves, waves become larger and large waves can topple buildings.Buildings fall and topple empires untilboom!” she clapped, making everyone jump. “The circles start anew.”

There was absolute silence in the private room, only the quiet hum of conversation and clinking forks from diners in the outer areas of the restaurant filtered through. Hilde stood, walking to Circe where she was swaying, petting Liam like some small animal.

He looked very confused and was making faces at Jorrie, who had decided now was a good time to find a chair of her own.

Hilde sighed, “Sister, as usual, you speak in riddles and insanity, but I understand.” She looked at Vaughn, “You know how to take down Azrael don’t you.”

Everyone in the room gasped as she used the Shadow King’s name. Bridget looked at her friends, who were as confused as she was.Is using his name like some taboo thing, like He Who Must Not Be Named,she sent to Vaughn.

He snorted and tried to cover it up by drinking wine.The old ones believe names have power, so in a way I guess you are right. They fear that saying his name anywhere there are shadows can draw his attention to the speaker. Many avoid saying it. I don’t care. I want the bastard dead.

Bridget held his hand under the table.

Vaughn realized everyone was staring at him, waiting for his answer. He squeezed Bridget’s hand and stood up, pulling her with him. “I do,” he said.

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