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"We’ll get his blood somehow," I said Even if I have to stor out at noon the next day That didn’t leave a lot of tie of individuals with dubious pasts I foundout ideas and either writing the them

There were so many variables What if Jeremiah Conroy or my sister ith the transport? Then we’d have a boss fight on our hands The routing documents indicated the convoy would consist, at minimum, of two escorts, one in front, the other in back That didn’tmore We had to hope they were confident in the secrecy of their mission and the invulnerability of the transport truck

Slowly but surely, a plan for circumstances and unforeseen variables

I called Thoh not in the way I’d first envisioned He agreed, even going so far as to say it was a very sound decision I almost blushed

"What did he say?" Elyssa said

"He’s in"

"Sweet," Adaht actually work"

"Even I think it ht work," Shelton said "We make a damned fine team, if I do say sofor weaknesses The ones we found had no easy solutions, only contingencies we’d have to rely on By the tiave the stamp of approval to the final product, I wanted to crawl under the table and sleep

"How do you feel about the plan?" I asked Elyssa as alked upstairs to bed

She offered ood chance to work, especially if we don’t have to worry about the Conroys"

Later, I lay in bed, but of course I couldn’t sleep So much had happened today We’d been to the Grand Nexus, crossed into another realm, possibly seen the arch builders, and disrupted one ht If Mr Gray didn’t knoho the builders were, the logical conclusion I dreas that the Seraphis represent a future threat or were they just explorers?

I thought about hten at the thought of Kassus and his ht back to the time Shelton, Stacey, Elyssa, and I had infiltrated Maximus’s Atlanta lair and rescued my father I’d been so new to my abilities then Elyssa had almost died in my arms Every time we found ourselves in another situation like this, it made ht lose Elyssa or a friend

Accepting theI hadn’t done easily Thomas Borathen’s words about my natural ability to lead made me feel reasonably better But it seemed different to lead personal friends into a deadly conflict as opposed to leading a large ar arms wrap around me Felt her soft lips kiss ainst her "Everything will be all right"

I squeezed her back, relishing the feel of her curves against ripped a handful of her hair I felt her lips smile as we kissed

"I think I kno to help us sleep," I said in what I hoped was a seductive voice

She nibbled my ear "Just what the doctor ordered"

It wasn’t hard to sleep after that, even knowing toht die

Chapter 25

"The mailman cometh," Ryland told me on the phone

"Does he have co"

Shelton must have seen the tension on my face as I disconnected the call "Confirmed?" he said

"Yes" My body treers in front of my face "Hey, set your timer"

I jerked, and flicked on the tiroup text Confirmed and en route

We were thirty miles north of Atlanta near a wealthy subdivision in an area filled with farms, rednecks, and pockets of steep terrain The road wound through a heavily wooded area, up a steep hill On the left of the road, a steep slope descended into a cow pasture On the right, a rock face climbed thirty feet to a small plateau