Page 38 of Before the Bond Breaks
Winter captured the layout, marking enemy positions in yellow. She logged every pattern, timing the rotation of the guards. Quil monitored magical defenses, calling out the shimmer of a tripwire we might’ve missed on the blueprints.
I glanced at Larc’s feed just as he peered around a corner, giving us a good view of the far end of the warehouse.
Balder stood at a makeshift altar. Next to him, Bryna worked in silence, laying out relics and tools. The Severing Stone sat at the center, its surface crawling with green veins. The runes etched around the altar pulsed, already primed for the ritual. Balder wore black, his posture loose, his hands steady as he positionedthe artifact. Bryna’s eyes flickered, but her focus never left the setup.
Winter froze the frame and enhanced it. The stone was real. So was the intent in the way Balder’s hand hovered above the ritual implements. Every hair on my arms stood up. He was doing the ritual to break the soudbond.
Nicky and Larc ghosted back the way they came, logging every detail. Nicky’s limp worsened on the return, but she powered through, gritting her teeth and never slowing her pace. Larc shadowed her, ready to catch her if she collapsed, but she didn’t give him the satisfaction.
Winter and Quil pulled up the feeds, replaying the key moments. Nicky and Larc slipped through the side door.
Winter flicked the screen to the group view, then brought up the digital map. “Seven Eitrborn on patrol, minimum. The main chamber is the focal point.”
Quil added, “Entry front and back only. Roof access is blocked by fresh sigils, nasty stuff. We’ll need to time the breach perfectly and take out the guards one by one.”
Nicky sprawled on the sectional, catching her breath, but her eyes never left the display. Larc stood behind her, arms folded, gaze fixed on me and Talon.
I took the floor. “Talon and I go through the front to draw their attention. Nicky and Larc hit the rear, synchronized with our movement. Winter and Quil run over watch. If the pattern shifts, we adjust on the fly.”
Winter nodded, already setting up the comm protocols. “I’ll let you know if the guards rotate out of sequence.”
Talon moved to the weapons rack, selecting a blade with more weight than usual. He checked the balance, then handed me a custom dagger with blue protection runes etched along the hilt.
Nicky buckled a brace over her bad leg, then holstered two sidearms and a tactical baton. She checked her comm band. Larc slid extra blades into his vest, the black metal vanishing against his skin.
Winter completed the escape protocols. “If anything goes sideways, the portal will open two blocks north, behind the dry cleaner. Quil and I will monitor from here, but if you need backup, we’re portal ready. The rest of the clans are on standby. Shaw and Candra will lead the others and can be here in under sixty seconds.”
After choosing my own weapons, I studied every line of the warehouse schematic. I memorized zones of cover, soft points in the wall, blind spots in the eitrborn’s rotation. I filed every detail away, building the assault in my head before I had to call the play out loud.
Winter handed out the last of the gear—extra comm bands, ammo, two vials of anti-eitr salve Jenson had created in case the guards used poison. She spoke to the team again. “Warehouse is a trap. Balder’s betting you’ll walk in head-on. Use that. He won’t expect you to split the attack.”
Nicky flexed her fingers, voice sharp. “He’ll try to use the stone to break our bond. Or worse—turn it against us. We don’t give him the chance.”
“Ready to roll?” I asked.
“Let’s end this fucker,” Nicky said with a wicked smirk. Her brown eyes flashed gold for a beat as she called her magic to the surface.
“Go kick some ass.” Winter opened a portal, and we walked through.
21
TALON
The warehouse satat the end of the lot, concrete walls scarred with old graffiti, the windows painted black to hide what waited inside. Larc’s magic cloaked our group as we crossed the open stretch. The evening air held a slight chill with the tang of dark magic. When we reached the building, Larc and Nicky split off toward the back entrance.
Maze cut a glance my way, narrowing her blue eyes. The stink of eitrborn filled my senses. They were close, somewhere past the loading dock. At the corner of the building close to the front entrance, I held a hand up and closed my fist, signaling her to halt.
Two guards stood on either side of a dented steel door. Neither blinked. Their focus locked on the perimeter, movements too coordinated to pass for human. As I studied the beasts, I noted they were too controlled. But not in the sense that they were in control.
“Do you think Balder is controlling them?” I asked Maze.
She nodded. “He’d have to in order to keep them in line. Corrupted magic is worse than a feral shifter.”
“What’s the plan?”
She snapped her gaze to me as if not expecting me to give her the lead. Why wouldn’t I? She was my mate, and I trusted her with my life. Besides, she’d been tracking Balder for the last two hundred years. She knew his patterns better than I did.
After a moment, she smiled. “Let’s have some fun.”
