Page 11 of Dark Gambit Reliance

"Let's hear it," Onegus said.

"Given the intel we have, spiders are not an option," Turner started. "The ones that would go unnoticed by the Kra-ell guards are too small to carry a charge that will allow them to traverse the distance from the first tunnel all the way to the compound and then roam around the compound itself. We can't drop them from the air either because they are too fragile for that. So as far as using them for spying, it's not going to work. Personally, I don't like them, and I never use them on missions. They are good for urban settings when you can drop one in a hallway and have it crawl under a door to eavesdrop on a meeting. They are useless in rough terrain."

"What about drones?" Kian asked.

"Drones are better. We can use the same tactic we used on the Doomers' island. A small drone will piggyback on a larger one and get dropped directly over the compound, but that will do us no good, either. I asked Sofia to tell me the precise wording of Igor's routine compulsion, and it turns out that everyone in there is compelled to report anything suspicious to security. What it means is that delivering a message or a pair of earpieces is out of the question as well. The only way we can collect information is by capturing a pureblood, breaking Igor's compulsion, getting the pureblood to reveal the compound's military setup and anything else that we need intel on, and then thralling and compelling him to forget that he'd been captured."

Kian groaned. "That means sending Toven to Karelia along with Mia, and that's not going to happen."

"Why not?" Toven asked. "I'm willing to go, and so is Mia."

Kian gaped at him. "Are you willing to take your fragile mate into enemy territory?"

"I can protect her." Toven affected a haughty expression. "You keep forgetting that I am a god. I can freeze the minds of any would-be attackers in a five-mile radius. No one would be able to get close enough to do Mia any harm."

"Can you really do that?" Onegus asked. "Five-mile radius is a damn big area."

Toven shrugged. "I might have exaggerated a little. In any case, though, no one will get within shooting range of my mate."

"Provided that you are aware of them," Kian pointed out. "What if they sneak up on you?"

"We can mitigate that," Onegus said. "A team of Guardians can form a shield around Toven and Mia."

"Hold on." Turner lifted his hand. "I'm not done explaining my plan."

8

TOVEN

Toven nodded. "Go ahead, Turner."

"Thank you. My plan is basically going back to what we talked about before the ideas about spiders and drones muddied the water, but with the inclusion of Jade. The first step will be to drive the cat around with Sofia in the car. Eleanor could pose as Sofia, but that would only work from a distance, and I wouldn't risk it. Sofia should be in the car, and a team of Guardians should follow her in another vehicle. Hopefully, she will have a tail, and we will catch it. And hopefully, it will be a pureblood. If not, we will start from stage two of my plan, but let me finish with stage one first. Since only Toven can break Igor's compulsion, and since he needs Mia to fortify his power, he needs to be on standby in the area." He turned to Toven. "If you liked the house I secured for you before, I can arrange the same one again."

"Mia loved the house overlooking the ocean, and she loved being needed." Toven drummed his fingers on the dining table. "But the truth is that I might not need Mia to break the compulsion on a pureblood. I was careful with Sofia because she is human and fragile. When I pushed too hard, it had an adverse effect on her. I won't be as gentle with a Kra-ell pureblood."

"That would be a great way to test it," Turner said. "If you can break through the compulsion without Mia's help, you might not need her for the second stage of the plan, and that would make Kian happy." Turner looked at Kian. "Right?"

Kian groaned. "Nothing about this is making me happy. Please, go on."

"I believe that we need to act as swiftly as possible." Turner looked at Toven. "You will need to fly out tonight. I want to deploy the cat tomorrow morning."

"That's not a problem."

Mia's grandparents might be upset about her leaving again, especially after she had told them what the previous trip had been all about, but they wouldn't put up too much of a fuss. They were proud of their granddaughter's unique ability to enhance other paranormal talents.

"Thank you." Turner dipped his head. "It's a real pleasure working with you, Toven. Kian will send additional Guardians along, and they will have tranq guns with them." He looked at Bridget. "You need to calibrate those darts to knock out pureblood Kra-ell."

"No problem. I'll use the recommended dose for gorillas." When he gave her a perplexed look, she laughed. "I'm just joking. I'll use the recommended dose for male tigers. They weigh about the same as the average adult human. The Kra-ell are taller, but they are slimmer, so they should weigh about the same."

"The Guardians need titanium chains to secure a pureblood," Onegus said. "For the interrogation."

Toven chuckled. "As long as the Guardians keep the Kra-ell asleep until they bring them to me, no chains will be needed. I can paralyze them without uttering a single word."

"Right." Turner nodded respectfully. "But let me remind you that a pureblood is the equivalent of a god, not an immortal, and you might not be able to seize his mind. I'd rather err on the side of caution, and so would Kian."

Turner was right. Toven had been thinking about the Kra-ell as he would about immortals, but that only applied to the hybrid Kra-ell. The purebloods might not be as powerful as the gods, but they might be more resistant to thralling than immortals. Most gods couldn't control each other's minds, and he was no exception. Mortdh and Ahn had possessed the ability to some extent, but since it was illegal to use thralling on another god, Toven hadn't witnessed either of them breaking that law. He'd only suspected they could do that based on rumors.

"I agree. Chains are needed."

---