Jason and I fell into step behind the wolves as we headed toward the center of camp. To my surprise, Hank hung back.
“That charm still on your bracelet?” he asked, shooting a glance at my wrist.
I nodded and pushed up my sleeve. “Yeah.”
“Good. As long as you keep it on, I’ll know where you are.”
“I . . . umm . . . okay . . .” It didn’t seem like the kind of statement that should require a “thank-you,” but I felt like I had to say something. Maybe other daughters could take that sort of quasi-caring sentiment for granted—maybe Eve could take it for granted—but I wasn’t used to it and I wasn’t sure how to respond.
Hank seemed just as uncomfortable. He nodded once, and then returned to his place at the front of the group.
We left the fields and walked past the woods, then came to a stop as the camp loomed before us.
I took a deep breath and went to stand beside Eve.
We shared a brief glance—a second of perfect understanding—and then both looked ahead.
The last time we had entered Thornhill, we had been scared, helpless.
This time, we were coming to tear it down.
25
“SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT.” I STOPPED IN THE SHADOWS next to a dormitory. “It’s too quiet.”
Jason glanced back at me. He had donned an olive uniform—the male equivalent of the outfits Eve and I had slipped into—and for all intents and purposes, he looked just like a Thornhill werewolf. “It’s after curfew,” he said, as if that explained everything.
It didn’t.
“There should still be something. Voices coming from open windows. Toilets flushing. Guards on patrol. There should still be some noise.”
But around us, the camp was as silent as a tomb.
Eve tilted her head to the side and frowned. “Mac’s right. It’s too quiet.”
“We’re wasting time.” The wolf Hank had sent with us—a man with a gray handlebar mustache and the faint trace of an unidentifiable accent—eased around us. “Curtis gave us a job and we have to get it done.”
We had split into two groups. The first—led by Hank—had headed for the sanatorium to take down Thornhill’s communications system. That would keep anyone from contacting the LSRB and make it harder for the guards inside the camp to coordinate a response once they realized they were under attack. After the communications system was down, they would blow the gates, providing a way in for the dozens of wolves who were lying in wait outside.
Once they accomplished those two things, Hank’s team would hit the detention block.
I hated that Serena, Kyle, and Dex came third, but I understood the reasoning: Without taking care of the communications system and the gates, we’d never be able to get them out of the camp. There was no way any of us would get out.
I had wanted to go with them, but I had convinced Hank he needed me to help combat the HFDs and he was holding me to that. The other team—my team—had been tasked with neutralizing the handheld versions of the device.
The HFDs were signed in and out at the beginning and end of each counselor’s shift. Any not in use—including extras in the event they were needed by guards—were stored in the vault, a room in the basement of the staff quarters, which also housed the traditional weapons like Tasers and guns.
Most of the counselors would be off duty by this time of night, so most of the HFDs should be signed in. All we had to do was get into the staff quarters without anyone raising the alarm, get down to the vault, destroy every HFD we could find, get back out without getting shot, and then rejoin Hank’s group.
Easy.
No problem at all.
Definitely not any sort of suicide mission.
The male wolf paused at the corner of the dorm. “Well?” he asked, shooting Eve an impatient look before rounding the building and disappearing from sight.
Eve hesitated, then shrugged. “He’s right. No matter what’s going on, the others are counting on us to hit the vault.” She headed after him.
I glanced at Jason. “We haven’t so much as seen a guard. Don’t you think that’s a little strange?”
He scanned the area around the dorm and frowned. He didn’t tell me I was wrong. “C’mon,” he said, after a moment. “If something is going on, we should stick close to the wolves.”
Knowing he was probably right and unsure what else we could do, I followed him around the building.
Eve and the other wolf had already darted over an expanse of grass and were waiting in the shadowy gulf between two classrooms.
No sooner had Jason and I taken a step toward them than a voice split the night. “Stay where you are!”
I whirled. Two guards were racing toward us, their Tasers drawn.
They slowed to a walk when they were still a few feet away. One pulled a radio from his belt. “We’ve got a couple more stragglers near the dorms.”
Wherever Hank’s team was, it was safe to say they hadn’t taken out the communications system yet.
I glanced over at the classrooms. Eve and the other wolf had disappeared. I couldn’t blame them. There wasn’t anything they could do. The guards had already radioed in. Knocking them out and running would just alert the rest of the camp to the fact that something was going on.
Next to me, Jason kept his head down and his eyes on the ground, trying to give the guards as little opportunity to recognize him as possible.
“Auditorium,” snapped the one with the radio. “Now.”
I saw Jason’s fingers twitch out of the corner of my eye. I held my breath, praying he wouldn’t do something stupid like go for the gun at his back.
I shouldn’t have worried.
Jason was reckless, but smart. The guards hadn’t hurt or threatened us. He left the gun where it was and started walking.
Stomach in knots, I fell into step next to him. First the trouble at the fence and now this—I fought back the thought that our plan had been cursed from the start.
The guards walked behind us. Neither holstered their Taser.
Why the auditorium? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to say or do anything that would make the guards suspicious.
I tugged my sleeves down as far as they would go, making sure my wrists were completely covered. The last thing I needed was for either guard to realize I wasn’t wearing a wrist cuff.
Amy’s bracelet, though hidden, was a reassuring weight. As long as you keep it on, I’ll know where you are. Hank’s words echoed back to me.
The irony of counting on my father after warning Eve not to do the same was not lost on me.
We rounded a bend in the path and the auditorium came into view.
I stopped so suddenly that Jason’s shoulder collided with mine.
I barely noticed. I was too busy trying to make sense of the scene in front of us.
Large spotlights blazed on each corner of the roof; they flooded the immediate area with light, obliterating any shadows someone might use to hide—but that wasn’t the bad part.
A circle of guards—what looked like almost every guard in Thornhill—surrounded the auditorium like a living net. They faced the building, their backs to the camp and their weapons drawn. A few held Tasers but most held guns.
All of the air rushed out of my lungs with a single thought: Sinclair knows we’re here.
I didn’t know how—maybe someone had gone to investigate the fence and slipped past Hank’s wolves—but why else would she gather every guard in one place?
One of the men behind us cleared his throat as a guard with a shaved head and a ridiculously thick neck strode up the path. “These are the two we found near the dorms.”