Page 68 of Heir of Blood and Moonlight

“Hmmm,” Gavin murmured, drawing my attention back to him and the map on the low table. He sat in the armchair atthe opposite end of the coffee table, with Ash seated on the sofa arranged along the length of the table. Gavin stared at the pin stuck through the map and into the table, marking the location of the Sun Keep in the northern part of a massive rainforest on the Olympic peninsula.

According to Bastian, the Sun Keep was a mostly underground facility, which was why human hikers never stumbled across it, and apparently why Gavin and the rest of my people could not launch a successful assault on the stronghold.

“What about Sequim?” Ash suggested, pointing to the peninsula’s northern coast.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Bastian shaking his head.

“Aberdeen?” Gavin asked, and I was still looking at Bastian when he again shook his head.

“Olympia?” Ash said, only to receive another head shake. The names of a few more western Washington towns were offered, all met with a headshake.

“Then we’re looking at Eastern Washington or Oregon. That’s six hours in a car, minimum,” Gavin said, lifting his stare from the map to glance at me. “I don’t like the idea of having Sophie out in the open and unwarded for so long.”

“Well, if that’s our primary concern, why don’t we portal straight into the gate in the Sun Keep?” Bastian suggested.

I turned in my chair, pulling one leg up onto the seat.

“That’s suicide,” Ash grumbled.

“Assuming you’re still holding Silasalive, you can get the ward code for the gate from him,” Bastian said.

A dip of Gavin’s chin confirmed that Silas, whoeverthatwas, was still alive.

“We’ll still have to deal with the guards at the gate,” Bastian continued, “but at least we won’t be incinerated by the ward when we pass through the portal.”

I frowned, considering his words. Silas had to be the shifter who had just made it through the portal to the Moon Sanctuary right before the magical gateway closed.

“Why would he give us the ward code?” I asked, looking from Bastian to Gavin to Ash, then back at Bastian. “Torture?”

“No, Soph,” Bastian said, uncrossing his arms and gripping the corners of my chairback, his lips curving into a slow, wolfish grin. “Silas will give up the ward code becauseyouare going to make him.”

I blinked, then widened my eyes, my lips parting. “Oh,” I said, realizing what he meant. He was talking about me using mywillon Silas. “I don’t know how.” I shook my head. “What if I can’t do it?”

“You can,” Bastian assured me. “You used yourwillon me.” He looked past me to Gavin. “And on him.”

“Yeah, but I was mad at you,” I countered, glancing at Gavin. “At both of you. It just sort ofhappened.”

“Well, then,” Bastian started. When I looked at him again, there was a wicked glint in his eyes. “I guess we’ll have to get you riled up.”

I scoffed, turning back toward Gavin and the map, planting both feet on the floor and crossing my arms over my chest. I hated being the linchpin in a plan. “And then what?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “I’m assuming you have some way to incapacitate the guards once we’re through the portal?” Maybe we could toss grenades through ahead of us or something like that.

Gavin nodded once.

“Okay, so we get through the portal and into the Sun Keep, then we take out the guards,” I said. “What’s next?”

“There are four dungeons down in the deepest level of the keep, one at each cardinal direction and each only accessible from the top level,” Gavin explained, his focus shifting pastme to confirm his intel with Bastian. “According to your shifter, the Sun Watch keeps all of their prisoners in one dungeon. They rotate which dungeon is in use every month for ward maintenance and as an added protection measure. The new dungeon is chosen at random. The rotation would have happened yesterday, which means Silas won’t know where the prisoners are being held.” He paused, letting that info sink in. “We needyouto guide us to the correct dungeon.”

I opened my mouth to respond but closed it again without saying anything. I had demanded to be involved in the rescue mission after all. No backing out now.

“How many shifters are stationed in the keep at any given time?” Gavin asked Bastian.

“And are there families?” I asked, glancing back at Bastian. “Or is it just warriors?”

Bastian shrugged one shoulder. “Two hundred . . . ish. All warriors, no kids,” he said. “The gate is on level one—that’s the first underground level. Most of the Sun Watch will be stationed up there since the only way to the lower levels is through them. The next most occupied level is three—the barracks. It’s going to be hard to get through level one on the way in, but it’s going to be nearly impossible to get back to the gate on the way out.”

Gavin smirked. “We’re not portaling out.”

Bastian narrowed his eyes, angling his head to the side. “Then how . . .?”

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