“Now, could we use drones to map out this area? We know there are a lot of hostiles, but our flock drones might give us a better idea of where they are,” I asked Magnum as we were huddled in our war room for the 18 hours’ time.
“Nope, hummingbird, they had an infrared grid; see these tiny nubs in the trees? An infrared grid, and our drones will be exposed. ”
I furrowed my brow as I examined the satellite feed and a few surveillance photos.
“Fine. Let’s think about something else; how about we transform into animal forms, such as foxes and coyotes?”
Murdock replied, “No, unless you want to get caught in a trap; there are bear traps and smaller ones on the forest floor; they know what they’re doing, and there are no animals nearby.”
Whatever I was trying to think, it appeared that this damn place had counteracted it.
Fine.
“So, what do you suggest?” I asked, my voice tight and irritated; I wasn’t happy because this damn mission was full of complications, on top of everything else.
I know most of us shared my frustration because Damon had just given us short notice that their vacation would continue in the Azores.
No one here was particularly pleased with them.
Magnum rubbed his chin, his face scrunched up as he thought.
And he said, “We just have to go in there carefully and stealthily, and first we need to map out the best way to get inside. Now, there are these windows here, pretty nice height; surely they are reinforced, but that would make them cocky. Now, we could direct this camera just slightly off, creating a blind spot here, and our route would then be this, to this window, but the real issue is that once we get inside, we have no idea what we’re up against because we don’t have any way of seeing inside, because they have this damn protection grid here.”
All we had for now were problems, not solutions, and even they say that it is better to have two heads than one.
I got pissed off as everything here was working against us, telling me painstakingly clearly that this was one fucking important target and we would have to up our game in order to pull this off.
Okay, I was trying to think of something new, and one idea came to mind, but I had no idea if we had that type of information.
I began to leaf through the reports and diagrams.
“What is it, my unicorn? You have something; spit it out,” Wulfe said as he saw my expression.
I grunted, as nothing was certain yet.
“Sewers, as far as I can tell,” I began, “we’ve used them pretty damn rarely. I just need to see if I have a diagram here, if it’s even possible, or if there are old maintenance tunnels or something. ”
Magnum rubbed his jaw.
“Now, you have something? Let me see. I’m not sure if we have those maps.” He, too, started to go through the papers.
Meanwhile, Alaric took out his phone and texted a few people, asking if they could find anything and everything about the sewers and lines under the facility.
Since this was once again a repurposed old place, there might be an angle here, but we needed more information.
Still, there were a truckload of problems and things to check before we could use it.
First, the biggest issue would be: were they aware of those lines?
Had they blocked them or put surveillance on them?
Second, where did the lines run, and where could we get in?
How big were the pipes?
Did they have some kind of seismic alert so they would get notification of underground activity?
As stated, more problems than solutions, but at least we had one more thing to be checked out.
As the men moved to have a meal and perhaps bring something to me, I decided to take a shower.
I felt sweaty and irritated, and perhaps a shower would help.
We still needed to wait for those diagrams and reports, so there wasn’t much to be done until we got the data.
The warm water—well, it was actually hot, as we are hot creatures—cleaned me.
I used my doggy products as well as my gentle natural loofah, approved by Colin and Adam, as well as Charles, since they didn’t want me to scrub my skin off; I was sometimes a bit itchy.
By the time I was done and dried up and had put on some fresh clothes, the men were returning, bringing a cart full of thermoses as well as several plates for me.
I was in the middle of brushing my hair, just planning to wind it into a kind of bun.
I sat down at my seat, took some hairbands, and pulled my hair up into a ponytail.
Then, I divided it into two, looping each section to the opposite side.
I didn’t have time to loop it once, as Wulfe said to me, “And what are you planning, my unicorn? Now let me see.”
He walked behind me, snatching whole ideas right out of my mind.
Curiously, these snippets seemed to have no backup, or if they did, men often took them as well, leaving me with no recollection of the design.
I could feel Wulfe’s deft fingers looping and twisting my hair into a bun, almost a braided bun, before he finally secured the ends at the bottom.
He seemed happy that my hair was fixed.
My bun was quite large and a bit heavy due to the sheer volume of my hair, but I had grown accustomed to it.
Many of my hairstyles felt heavy at first, yet I adapted to them quickly.
Finding a suitable passage and checking it out seemed like the best plan; we could exit elsewhere later, but getting inside was the tricky part.
Of course, there was always the possibility of an enormous pile of unknown obstacles that we had no way of anticipating.
It was a gamble, but then again, innocent people were inside, suffering, being tortured, and exploited every moment.
This one thing drove me like a madwoman to get this done.
We would have to arm ourselves to the teeth.
I had planned to hide something under my skin, but Colin disliked the idea in general, fearing infection and other complications.
Adam and Charles had gathered more information about the sewer and underground lines, and it seemed that this would be our way in.
However, as it was a veritable maze, the route was crucial, and we needed to decide on and learn it well so that once the mission began, there would be no problem.
We had obtained something promising, yet I wasn’t entirely trusting it just yet, as something might arise, forcing us to ditch the idea.
Nevertheless, this was the most promising option so far.
This location was on dry land, so entry from the water was impossible.
The airspace was too heavily monitored for us to use our avian form, employ drones, or parachute in.
Direct infiltration was also not workable because their dogs, purebred Molossus types, were aggressive and trained to react to feline and other animal scents with extreme hostility.
They would bark and growl the moment they caught a whiff.
Furthermore, the guards followed specific routes, checking the wind to ensure the dogs received the best possible widespread scent of their surroundings.
This was by no means easy, and it only meant a significant prize, indicating hellishly important subjects inside.
Everything screamed to me that this was as much a must-do as one could ever be, but it was also one hell of a risky move; at least this time I would not be going alone in there, but my pack would go, well, most of my pack.
A few hours later, we were again waiting for more scans, reports, bills, and whatnot, and we were now making sure everyone had a role and everyone knew what they were going to take with them.
Colin was not going to come with us, and as there would be a lot of victims, we would get extra staff ready when we would contact him.
Magnum, ever grounded, had stipulated that there was no need to mobilize anyone until he heard from us, as there was, no matter what we were going to do, a big chance of getting caught, and getting free might take time; no rescue attempts would happen either, and no contact with the Salvatores, as they were not in the mood for working.
No need for them to barge in and blunder everything.
Our medical skills meant each of us had a medkit assembled by Colin.
These kits were small and practical, deliberately excluding substances like etorphine that could be harmful to us if we were captured.
While I’d need to manage my rage if injured, the kits were otherwise sterile, efficient, and designed for human victims, containing no materials that could give Sark an advantage, such as MacBurners.
Next, we moved on to firearms.
Magnum, Murdock, and Dexter were tasked with arming us.
This wasn’t about preference; it was about selecting the most effective weapon for each individual.
After assessing our range and providing a selection of guns, we would each receive our firearm.
Magnum would then be responsible for our complete gear, from our boots upwards.
We understood this process would take several more days, but it was necessary, especially since not all the data was available to us yet.
In the meantime, this preparation would be beneficial.
Each of us possessed a special tattoo containing teleportation crystals.
During my time in the pocket universe, my sedative organ had been modified.
It now collected and protected my neurochemicals, guarded not only by Wulfe’s spells but also by Salvatore’s magic and my bond with Damon.
Furthermore, my cunning had led me to establish a new connection within our hive during our recent reunion.
This formed a web, originating from me and extending to everyone in the hive, allowing me to control the distribution of my rage.
I had also created a failsafe, enabling me to channel my darkness, my vampiric nature, and my torturous side into others if they needed a boost, a capability even Wulfe was unaware of.
Let’s just say that if he had been less impressed, I might have done something drastic.
However, this was simply me, the alpha female, giving my utmost to my pack, everything I had, and then some more.
This included my rage and my powers.
I was hoarding neurochemicals, as Damon had taught me how to make my brain whir in specific ways, producing these chemicals.
He had adjusted my brain so that it would snatch one percent of these chemicals per hour, and I needed one hundred percent.
I had no idea how much I had already accumulated, so I continued collecting.
This meant allowing myself to become as pissed off as possible about everything, as I needed adrenaline, cortisol, certain endorphins, and hormones like testosterone. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
All of these would end up in reservoirs throughout my body, and no sark could access or even find them.
The more fucked up I could be, the better.
As we finished testing guns, Wulfe asked, “Why are you so pissed off?”
I replied, “I am hoarding my chemicals. One can never know what will be needed, so I am going to amp myself up. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Wulfe sighed, understanding my logic but also puncturing my bubble with sharp reality.
“You understand, my unicorn,” he said, “if we get caught, it’s unlikely they’ll let you be awake anytime soon. So, you might be in rough shape, just like us, and we have no backup.”
“Oh, was he fishing?” I wondered.
“Should I tell him?” Fine, I decided.
“Let’s show him. Maybe he can boost it or something.”
I then revealed, “Not exactly. I have made a web; it is intricate but strong. I can send my rage to others, as well as my darkness and even my vampire side. Also, my alpha powers.”
Wulfe rubbed his brow and sighed tiredly.
“Now you tell me. Fine, show me. We have limited time, and it would have been useful for me to know about this sooner. But I see what I can do. First, rage. Let it into the web, into me.”
I focused, feeling him latching onto whatever I was doing long before I had a chance to retrieve my special, colorful rages, which I had collected separately.
A sharp pain lanced my head, and my access to those rages was gone.
Wulfe tinkered with something in my mind, and I could feel my web come alive.
He infused my rage into it but let it thrum, not yet striking anyone but present and ready to be used.
Although it seemed like pure rage, it had no colors, as he had somehow again taken my emotions out of my rage and put them in their proper places.
The web seemed much more alive in my mind, and I grunted as I had to adjust my willpower in order to control it.
He sharply instructed, “Next, your willpower. Come on, we need it in case we have to channel your rage. Let it out.”
Taking a deep breath, I allowed my willpower to ooze into the web.
Wulfe snatched it again, yanking it so it flooded into the web.
He then said to me, “If only you had told me about your plan, we could have done this a bit more slowly, but it is what it is. Vampire power, come on, let it ooze in.”
I burst my vampire powers forth.
As I grew accustomed to this extra pressure, my fucked-upness towards the Salvatores provided me with immense motivation.
The mere knowledge that my greedy vampire king was not involved in this process made me incredibly smug, and so, I let my smugness ooze into the web as well.
One by one, Wulfe requested different feelings or powers from me, weaving them into the web.
Once it was finally ready, he told me, “This was the easy part. Now, I am part of this too, but we will incorporate each of you into our web one by one. It feels like we just need to keep it steady until whoever can get a grip. Now, we start with Lepard and Demon, Lepard first. I had told everyone about this, and yes, I am so smug that the Salvatores are not involved.”
As Lepard joined our web, it felt as though Wulfe and I were holding a sheet, and someone was approaching it, requiring us to support their weight.
It took Lepard a bit of time to get the hang of things.
Next up was Demon, and the strain was felt, despite Lepard’s significant support of the web.
One by one, pack members entered the web, each attempting to offer support and be a part of it.
However, some were less able to provide direct support, but could still boost it.
Adam, grunting, stated, “Despite how difficult this is, this is a web I can approve and uphold, not Mariella’s fucking grid.”
Whether it was my anger or something else that spread through our web, they all seemed to contribute their own unique energies and feelings.
As it was finally ready, it felt weird; it was a strain, but I was already getting used to it.
Once again, my inventive use of everything I had had given me ideas, so I had added a bit of my chaos into the mix, which, of course, Wulfe noticed and made sure got to everyone.
Now it was not the time to be selfish or not to share; this was literally sharing in its most powerful form.
I knew everyone could feel this and keep up our web, but as a creature of love, I let my love in too, as it was the most potent power.
What it did was bind us even more together and create this kind of feeling of pack.
It was wonderful.
Wulfe had made sure I could not undo it, nor could he; it was pretty much indestructible, as he had snatched this and that from everyone and made sure this was ours, so each of us was in the same line, and even if it was innate for me to manipulate and use this construct, others could feel what I was doing, learning and doing exactly the same.
And no fucking machine or Mariella would be part of this anytime soon.
It was soon time to get gear on and put this mission active.
Save those innocents.