Page 85 of Caelum

Dre slapped me on the back and I grinned at him, both of us pleased that we’d figured out what the fuck was going down. We’d spent the past three weeks trying to paint a picture on what was going to happen in Aboh. The council had received information that a Nigerian river town was going to be hit at some point in the near future, and we’d had to figure out which one it was from the chatter we’d been given access to.

“From our intel, we’ve ascertained the nest is led by Juliet McAllister.”

I shot Dre a look and saw he was equally as pleased with that news.

“The bitch is a slippery motherfucker and she’s personally escaped my form of redemption three times.” That had us wincing because Merry had a reputation that was hard-earned.

Juliet, if she only knew, had a target on her head with Merry’s signature beside it.

“Anyone know anything about her?” she tossed out to the units.

Frazer’s tone was grim as he stated, “She likes to surround herself with grunts, has a small council that she usually distrusts, and handles most things like an autocracy.

“If her intention is to go in there and take over the local council, it wouldn’t be the first time she’s done it. But, from what Iremember, her nests have always been on the smaller side. To capture a city the size of Aboh, she must have been on a recruiting drive.”

Caelum only saved so many. Even though the instructors and Nicholas’s team tried, there were a lot of creatures who slipped through the net.

Without the support and training found at the Academy, seven out of ten kids turned Ghoul. Those statistics were not in our favor.

Merry nodded. “The last time we clashed, Juliet had around eight hundred Ghouls, and she’s stayed under the radar for long enough that she’s maintained that nest. Nigeria tends to produce a lot of creatures. For the exact reason Caelum is close by… it’s something to do with the Romanche Gap in the oceanic trenches.” She shrugged but pointed to one of the churches Nestor still had on the screen up ahead. “We think this Mission is one of the ways she’s recruiting as well as listening to low-level chatter. What people will confess can be worth a lot of money if you have a Ghoul as a priest.”

“She’s high-functioning then,” Jason said grimly.

Merry’s upper lip curled in a sneer. “As high-functioning as these fuckups can be.” Her gaze cut to me. “What’s the plan, Alpha Unit?”

“Intel shows that the oil company execs are due to arrive within the next three days. The title of king is actually more than just a useless name holder. He holds full sway over the local political sphere. But his mother has been at the local hospital in Onitsha. She had a heart attack and has been there for the past three weeks.”

“Let me guess,” Merry inserted. “She came home today?”

I nodded. “Exactly. If the nest was waiting to strike, I know I’d strike tonight.”

“Good work,” Merry told us.

“Thanks.” I grinned at her, then with a nod at Nestor, he switched the screen to a map again. “There are arterial roads, mountain passes as well, but they’re difficult to get through. Especially with the numbers required to overtake a city this size.”

“The river?”

“Yeah. It’s unlikely they’re going to try to get in another way.” I pointed to the docks. “Low security docks, we figure that’s their entry point.”

Merry clapped me on the back. “Then that’s where our central team will be. You okay with me handling the rest?”

That alone told me we’d aced our fucking assignment. Wide-eyed, I just said, “Of course.” It wasn’t like we didn’t know this was our bike withtraining wheels on, and that she had already figured this out before handing it over to us, but it still felt great to know we’d been on the right track.

She smiled at me, which was pretty spooky coming from her, then turned to the rest of the plane. “We have a hundred soldiers on board and four hundred already infiltrating the town.

“To be frank, we’re outnumbered so expect a bloodbath. Not just on the Ghouls’ side. To our gain, most of her army will be low-level grunts. They shouldn’t be anything we can’t handle.” She pointed to a few areas on the map. “We have teams on lookout along the river. Alpha, Beta, and Omega Units will be scattered there, waiting for the initial landing, but expect to be withdrawn if the Ghouls decide to come in by road.

“We go bigandwe go home, you hear me? Units work together to incapacitate and capture as many as we can.” She shot Jason, Frazer, and myself a dirty look. “If, like last time, I see anyone trying to kill as they go, there won’t be a next time, do you hear me?”

The three of us winced because we’d each been guilty of that.

“We’ll be landing in twenty minutes. The sun will set in an hour. Are we ready?”

A hundred voices hollered that we were, and for the first time since take off, Eve was nowhere in my thoughts.

TWENTY-FIVE

NESTOR

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