Zoe let out a bitter laugh. “And Valkyries are supposed to be these great, amazing, superstrong fighters, right? Well, guess what? That particular magic skipped right over me.”
She waved her hand, causing more blue sparks to streak out of her fingertips. “I’m not any stronger than you are, Rory. In fact, I’m probably not as strong, given how short I am. I’m not a great fighter either. Not like you are. The only reason I’m here is to watch Ian’s and Mateo’s backs.”
She sighed and waggled her fingers again, watching the shower of sparks. Zoe glared at the flashing lights, then snapped her hand into a tight fist, snuffing them all out.
“Anyway, we need to get going. The others are probably waiting on us.”
She gave me a grim smile, then left the armory. But I stayed where I was, thinking about everything she’d said.
My hand crept to my charm bracelet, and I opened the heart locket, staring at the photo of me with my parents. That was the last happy moment I remembered having with them before they were killed. I wondered what Ian’s last happy moment with his brother had been.
Sympathy surged through me, softening my anger and annoyance at the Viking. Ian didn’t hate me because my parents had been Reapers—he hated himself for what he’d been forced to do to his brother. Because Drake had died and he had lived. I was a reminder of his own guilt, grief, and heartache.
Still, just because I felt sorry for the Viking didn’t mean I was going to let him take his emotions out on me. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and tonight I was going to show him that. I was going to show Ian and the others that I could be a part of the team and help them stop the Reapers—for good.
Chapter Twelve
I left the armory and went back to the briefing room, where the others were waiting. Takeda nodded at me, while Zoe and Mateo both gave me encouraging smiles. Ian ignored me, and I did the same to him.
“Let’s move,” Takeda said. “We need to get to the party before the Reapers show up.”
Takeda led us to the back of the Bunker to the door marked Stairs that I’d noticed on my tour earlier. But instead of opening the door and climbing up the stairs, he went over to a bookcase along the wall and pressed a button on the side of it. A green light flashed, scanning his thumb, and the wooden case creaked back, revealing a stone passageway.
“Another secret entrance? One that’s really a secret tunnel that leads to yet another secret entrance on the other end?” I brightened. “Awesome!”
Gwen had her comic books, but there was nothing I loved more than a good mystery. Agatha Christie, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes. I devoured those kinds of books, along with all the movies and TV shows. And you couldn’t have a proper mystery without secret passageways, hidden compartments, and the like.
Mateo grinned, picking up on my excitement. “No spy lair is complete without one, right?”
I grinned back at him. “Right.”
We stepped into the tunnel, and the bookcase swung shut behind us. Lights clicked on in the stone ceiling, and then we started walking, walking, walking.
About fifty feet in, a tunnel branched off to our right. Then, fifty feet later, another tunnel branched off to our left. Given their placement, I was guessing that those tunnels led to the student dorms and some of the other outbuildings.
Eventually, we reached what looked like the heart of the underground labyrinth, with tunnels branching off in five different directions. Unless I was mistaken, these passageways led to the other buildings on the main quad. I eagerly peered down each of them, trying to figure out which one went where, but the other corridors remained dark. I would have to come back down here one day and explore all the secret entrances and exits for myself.
We kept going. We weren’t in the tunnel for more than a few minutes, but it seemed much longer than that before we reached another door at the far end. Takeda opened it with his thumbprint, and we stepped into a basement office crammed full of free weights, exercise balls, yoga mats, and other fitness equipment. Coach Takeda glimmered on a gold nameplate on the desk in the corner.
“No wonder you’re the new gym coach,” I said.
Takeda gave me a small smile and led us through his office, up some steps, and out a side door that opened up into the parking lot on the back side of the gym. A single van was sitting in the lot, with the words Pork Pit Catering on the side. Not very incognito as far as spy vehicles went, but I supposed it was a little less conspicuous than something that had Property of the Protectorate painted on it. Takeda slid into the driver’s seat, while Ian, Zoe, Mateo, and I climbed into the back.
This wasn’t any old van. A large desk was bolted to one wall, along with several monitors, laptops, and other computer equipment. A shelf clung to the opposite wall, crammed full of swords, staffs, hammers, pliers, walkie-talkies, and other odds and ends. Mateo plopped down in a chair in front of the desk. Zoe sat in the chair next to him, and Ian and I took seats across from each other in the very back of the van.
No one spoke on the ride over to Lance Fuller’s house, although Takeda tuned the radio to a classical station and started humming along with the music. Thirty minutes later, he steered the van into a ritzy subdivision and pulled over to the curb.
“We’re down the street from the Fuller mansion.” Takeda twisted around in his seat. “Mateo, you’re up.”
Mateo rubbed his hands together in anticipation, then grinned, leaned over one of the laptops, and got to work. “Come to Papa.”
Mateo had impressive speed, even for a Roman, and his fingers flew over the keyboard in a quick, staccato rhythm, as though he were playing an elaborate piano concerto. Less than a minute later, images popped up on the monitors, showing different views of the mansion. The party was already going strong, with dozens of kids talking, laughing, drinking, and dancing inside the mansion and around one of the heated outdoor pools.
Mateo kept typing, his gaze locked on the monitors. “I’m in the security system. I can see and track you guys through most of the mansion, although it looks like several rooms don’t have cameras covering them.”
Takeda nodded. “Zoe, time for comms.”
Zoe pulled the glass case out of her purse and passed out an earbud to everyone. We all wiggled the devices into our ears. Mateo hit some more buttons on his laptop, then leaned forward and spoke into a microphone on the desk.
“Wakey-wakey, guys.” His voice echoed in my ear, along with his gleeful snicker.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re awake,” Zoe muttered. “Why do you have to say the same stupid thing every single time we use comms?”
Mateo grinned at her. “Just to drive you crazy.”
She rolled her eyes, leaned over, and punched him in the arm, causing blue sparks to flicker around both of them. Mateo snickered again.
“Everyone good on weapons?” Takeda asked.
Zoe patted her blue bag. “Electrodagger in my purse.”
“I’ve got a dagger tucked into the side of my boot,” Ian said.