Really?
“What can we do for you?” Kat asked
“Obviously money’s not an issue,” I added drily.
Luc’s lips twitched. “Money isn’t needed.” He brushed his fingers off on his jeans. “Power isn’t either. Honestly, the only thing I need is a favor.”
Blake snapped off the wall. “Luc—”
The young boy’s eyes narrowed in warning. “A favor is all I want—one that I can collect at any time. That’s all I want in return, and I’ll give you all you want to know.”
Kat frowned. “O—”
“Wait,” I cut her off, not liking this. “You want us to agree to a favor without knowing what that favor is?”
Luc nodded. “Where’s the risk if you know everything?”
“Where’s the intelligence if we don’t?” I shot back.
The kid laughed. “I like you. A lot. But my help doesn’t come without its own peril for exchange.”
“God, you’re like the preteen mafia,” Kat muttered.
“Something like that.” He flashed a bright smile, and it was clear he was enjoying himself. “What you—all of you—don’t understand is there are things much, much bigger than a brother’s girlfriend or a friend…or even ending up under the Man’s thumb. There’s change brewing behind the winds, and the winds are going to be fierce.” He looked at me. “The government fears the Luxen, because they represent mankind’s fall from the top of the food chain. To fix that, they’ve created something much stronger than a Luxen. And I’m not talking about ordinary little baby hybrids.”
“What are you talking about?” Kat asked.
Luc didn’t answer.
Paris folded his arms. “Not to be rude, but if you’re not willing to deal, there’s the door.”
I looked over at Kat, seeing she shared my concerns. She’d nailed it. It was like we were making the deal with the mafia, the hybrid mafia, and we didn’t have all the necessary info.
“Guys,” Blake said. “He’s our only chance.”
“Christ,” I muttered, but he was right. “Fine. We owe you a favor.”
Luc’s eyes gleamed. “And you?”
She sighed. “Sure. Why not.”
“Awesome! Paris?” He held out his hand. Paris bent over, grabbed a small MacBook Air, and handed it over. “Give me a sec.”
I watched him punch away at the keyboard, his brows drawn in concentration. A door behind the desk opened and a young girl peeked in.
Luc’s head jerked up sharply. “Not now.”
The girl frowned, and for a moment I thought she was going to refuse, but she closed the door.
Kat’s eyes widened. “She’s the—”
“Don’t finish that sentence if you want me to continue,” Luc said, eyes fastened on the screen again. “All deals will be off.”
Okay then.
After a few moments, Luc placed the laptop on the desk, facing us. The screen was split into four sections, black and white, also grainy, like security film. One image contained woods. Another was of a tall fence and gate, another was of a security booth, and the final one showed a man in uniform patrolling another section of fence.
“Say hello to Mount Weather—owned by FEMA, secured by Homeland Security. Nestled away in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, it’s used as a training facility and hideaway for all the pretty officials in case someone bombs us,” Luc said, snickering. “Also known as a complete front for the DOD and Daedalus, because underground, there are six-hundred-thousand-mother-effin’ square feet of training and torture.”
Blake stared at the screen. “You hacked into their security systems?”
He shrugged. “Like I said, star pupil and all. See this section here.” He pointed to the screen where a guard patrolled the fence, almost blending into the grainy background. “This is the ‘secret’ entrance that doesn’t exist. Very few people are aware of it—Blakey-boy is.” Pausing, he tapped the space bar, and the camera inched over to the right until a gate came into view. “Here’s the dealo: Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m. is going to be your best bet—it’s a shift change and staffing is at the minimal—only two guards will be patrolling this gate. ’Cuz, you know, Sunday is kind of down day.”
Paris pulled out a pad and a pen.
“This gate is your first obstacle of choice. You’ll need to take out the guards, but that’s a duh. I’ll make sure the cameras are down between nine and nine fifteen—you know, pull a Jurassic Park moment. You’ll have fifteen minutes to get in, get your buddies, and get the hell out. So don’t let a spitting dragon take you down.”
I choked on a laugh. Kind of liked this kid.
“Fifteen minutes,” Blake murmured, nodding. “Doable. Once inside the compound, the entrance leads to elevators. We can take them down to the sixth floor, go right up to the cell.”
“Great.” Luc tapped his finger off the screen, over the gate. “The code to this gate is Icarus. See a trend?” He laughed. “You get inside the compound; you’ll see three doors side by side.”