A large desk with a single computer sat in the center of the room, and Mist quickly shut the inner window blinds before turning to us. “Here,” she said, tossing Riley a phone. “Call your friend. I figure we have a couple minutes before night security comes by, so make it quick.”
I carefully pulled down the blinds a crack and peered into the darkened hall, watching for moving shadows or flashlight beams, while Riley spoke urgently into his phone.
“Wes.” His voice was a raspy whisper. “It’s me...No, I’m not dead, obviously...Yeah, we were caught by Talon.” He winced. “Ow. Dammit, will you calm down? We’re fine, no one is dead yet.” He frowned, and his voice became a growl. “Look, just shut up and listen, all right? I don’t have a lot of time.”
A thin white beam flashed down the hall before a shadow turned a corner and came toward our room. I motioned to the others to be silent and pressed back against the door. Riley and Mist ducked behind the desk, Riley hiding the phone in his jacket to snuff out the light, and we held our breath as a human passed in front of the windows. His shadow slid over the blinds, and his footsteps knocked against the tile floor as he went by, not slowing, and faded away into the dark.
I slumped in relief as the other two popped out from behind the desk, Riley snarling quietly into his phone again.
“That’s what I said. I need you to hack into Talon’s computers and...” He paused, frowning. “Dammit, Wes. What do you want me to... Hang on.” He pressed a button on the phone and placed it on the desk. “All right,” he whispered, sliding into the desk chair. “What do you need on our end?”
“Bloody hell, Riley,” came Wes’s voice over the speakerphone, sounding harried. “All right, listen. First, you’ll have to open the browser and go to this IP address. That will download an exploit that will grant me access to—”
“On a time limit, Wesley,” Riley growled. “Don’t need an explanation, just give me the damn address.”
“Right. Hang on, then.” He rattled off a list of numbers, and for a moment, the sound of tapping keys filled the silence of the room. I turned back to the window and peered through the blinds, searching for the guard. On the phone, Wes and Riley muttered back and forth for a few tense moments before Wes gave a triumphant grunt.
“I’m in. Found the file.” He paused a moment, his next words begrudgingly impressed and eager at the same time. “Well, that is a nasty encryption, isn’t it? I’ve just the thing for you.”
A flashlight beam cut through the hall again, and I motioned everyone to get down. We dove behind cover and held our breath as the guard passed by once more, but this time stopped to shine his flashlight through the cracks in the blinds. I flattened myself to the wall, holding my breath, until the light dropped from the window and the guard moved on once more.
Riley sat up, hissing into the phone. “Wes!”
“Hold your bloody horses. These things take time.”
“We’re sitting in the middle of a Talon office building, surrounded by people who want to beat the crap out of us, then kill us. We don’t have time.”
“Got it!” Wes’s voice rang with triumph. “I’m in. There, your damn file is unlocked. So, what’s so bloody important that you had to...oh...”
His words trailed off. Riley scrambled upright and slid into the chair with Mist right behind him, leaning over his shoulder. Both peered at the screen for a moment, their faces glowing blue-white in the darkness.
“Holy shit.” The rogue’s voice sent shivers down my back, and I turned from the window. Riley leaned back in the seat, shaking his head, his face full of horror. “St. George, you need to see this, now.”
I hurried around the desk and bent next to Riley to peer at the screen. After a few seconds of scanning the words on the computer, a chill crept up my spine as I realized what I was looking at.
It was a list...of Order chapterhouses around the world. The main headquarters in London was at the top, but below it were several more chapters throughout the United Kingdom, France, the United States and several other countries. Even more troubling, it listed the amount of security the bases had, the approximate number of soldiers, the exit and entry points and the time zone of every chapterhouse around the world.
And at the very top of the list, a timer, counting down the hours.
I looked at Riley, who drew in a long breath. “Do you know what this is, St. George?” he asked, his voice subdued.
I nodded. There were other things it could be, harmless, less sinister things. Talon could simply be keeping an eye on the Order, making sure their enemies would not attack and take them by surprise. There were other reasons this file would exist. But I was a soldier, and I knew where the signs were pointing. Talon had an army now. And St. George had always stood in their way.
“It’s a battle plan,” I said.
“My God,” Mist breathed, her blue eyes wide as she scanned the list. “The Night of Fang and Fire...they’re planning to attack the Order. All the chapterhouses, in one night.” She looked up at me, horrified and amazed. “They’re planning to destroy the Order of St. George in one fell swoop.”
Riley made a strangled noise. “Not only the Order,” he whispered in a voice of quiet rage. “Look at this.”
Below the St. George chapterhouses was another list of locations, all through the United States. These I didn’t recognize, but Riley swore heavily and shook his head. “Those are my safe houses,” he growled. “Most of them, anyway. Some aren’t in use anymore, but still.” He ran a hand down his face and snatched the phone from where it sat on the desk. “Wes,” he growled, shoving away from the computer. “Did you hear all that? Recall the safe houses right now, all of them...Yes, all of them! Get everyone out of the open before this goes down...Don’t worry about us, we’ll be there as soon as we can...Dammit, Wes, don’t argue with me, just do it!” He yanked the phone from his ear and glanced back at me. “When is this supposed to happen?” he snapped.
I looked at the top of the screen. “In three days,” I said numbly. Three days before Talon unleashed destruction upon St. George and the rogues. Three days to try to find a way to stop it. If they could be stopped.
But first...
I looked at Mist. “Get us to Ember,” I told her. “Right now.”
RILEY