Predatory

DRAKE POV

Mina’s ‘Turbo Frog’ looks nothing like a frog. At first glance, it looks more or less like a long, aerodynamic tank, or maybe a submarine with wheels. Whatever else it may be, it’s certainly big enough to accommodate all of us comfortably—Logan’s stealth corps, the healers and other support staff Dad’s assigned to us, Xander, Callum, Mina, and me.

As soon as we step on board, Mina’s all business, sending Logan and his troops to the main passenger bay and our support staff to other assorted locations. She knows the Turbo Frog like the back of her hand. I’m super proud of her, but also worried; I don’t want my baby sister anywhere near any kind of battlefield, in any capacity.

“You guys will be in the cockpit, with me,” Mina directs. “Callum, I want you on navigation. Xander, take first gunner, next to him there.”

“YES!” Xander exults, and Callum seems only slightly less pleased with his assignment.

“Drake, take the other gunner position, here next to me,” Mina continues as she straps herself into the driver’s seat.

“You expecting to run into trouble on the way in?” I ask.

“It’s WASP HQ. Gotta prepare for everything. Can you use that tablet to communicate with your friends on the inside?”

“Yeah, I can do that.” I reluctantly shrink the window that’s letting me keep tabs on Sasha down to half my screen and use the other half to ping Rika.

“Good. Get the tech wizard who’s supposed to help us get in there and tell her we’ll be there in a couple hours.”

“A couple hours?!” Callum repeats. “How fast this thing go?”

Mina’s lips curve in a wicked grin. “I don’t call it ‘Turbo Frog’ for no reason. Better buckle up. Soon as Logan and Dad give me the all clear, we move out, and I know we’ve got something of a time crunch, so I’m not holding back on the throttle.”

One of the screens in front of Mina lights up, and then Dad’s face appears on it. “Mina. How long?” he rumbles.

“Probably no more than—”

Ping! Another screen lights up, this one with text: Ready to roll—Logan

“We’re ready whenever you give the signal,” Mina amends.

“This is your signal. You’re leading the charge,” Dad orders.

“Yes, sir!” Mina fires up the engine, and I barely keep my grip on my tablet as she launches the Turbo Frog out of its parking bay and straight into the inky oceanic waters beyond.

“Holy shit!” Xander yells. He’s clearly loving every second of this.

“You rang?” Rika’s voice demands from the tablet.

“Wanted to let you know that we’re headed your way. Driver says we’ll be a couple hours.”

“Noted. I’ll initiate proceedings with the security systems, then.”

“Thank you. Can you send Callum directions, maps, all that—”

“Already in progress. Tell your driver if there’s any way to shave time off your trip, do it.”

“You got it!” Mina agrees gleefully, and the engine roars with new fervor.

“We all make it through this, and your driver’s gotta meet Zoe,” Rika mutters. “They’d hit it off right away, sounds like.”

“Probably.” Zoe and Mina probably would have a lot in common, but that’s the least of my worries right now. “What’s going on up there that’s got you worried? It looks like Sasha’s fine—”

“For now she is. For as long as she can stall them, keep them looking for information. But one of the top brass is fae, and his favorite abilities are mind control and persuasion.”

My blood freezes in my veins.

“The fuck?!” Xander snaps, as good a voicing as any for everything I’m feeling.

“You mean to tell me we sent a suicidal assassin into a high-pressure interrogation and one of the bastards interrogating her has mind control powers?!” Callum demands.

“Does she know—” I begin.

“No. And it’s better that way. Ariadne and Tempest are both more familiar with his abilities than I am. His power feeds on fear and doubt. Right now, she’s too angry and determined to give him any fuel, any openings. We just don’t know how long that’ll last.”

“Noted,” Mina answers, punching a few buttons on her control panel. We seem to be cutting through the dark Atlantic waters outside the Turbo Frog at an impossible pace.

“Got the coordinates and everything programmed in, best I can tell,” Callum tells her.

“Good. I’ll keep you updated. Once you’re inside HQ, routes might have to change at a moment’s notice, depending on what I have to do with the security system. Make sure you’re all wearing those earpieces I gave you,” Rika tells us. “And try not to worry about Sasha. If anyone can do this, she can.”

And then she’s gone, leaving me to watch Sasha stand before the four top brass, new fears for her gnawing at my insides.

I guess this is why everyone was so adamant that I couldn’t go in there with her.

“Well. That’s a whole mess,” Xander mutters. “No one told us there was a possibility she could be turned against us in there.”

“Logan’s probably got something to help with that. Or the healers. Drake, send a memo about that to “all” with that screen to your right, please,” Mina orders.

“What, just say, ‘hey, there’s a possibility the woman we’re rescuing might be mind controlled, and oh by the way she’s the best assassin in WASP and we might have to incapacitate her to get her out’?” I answer. “We can’t fight her—”

“Maybe you can’t,” Xander argues. “I’d be happy to knock that bitch on her ass—”

“What did you just call my—”

“Xander, she wiped the floor with you before you had a chance to do anything last time you tried sparring with her,” Callum interjects irritably, which is just as well, because if we weren’t going so fast—

“Stop that. No fighting on the Turbo Frog,” Mina commands. “Yes, Drake, tell them exactly that. Mom and Dad already told us about your Sasha, her reputation and what she’s been in WASP. We’ve been making our plans with that information.”

“Shit, Mina. When did you get so confident?” I wonder aloud. I can’t help it, even as I start typing the message she’s demanded. This isn’t the baby sister I remember.

“Dad’s kind of obsessed with mortality right now. Wants any of us in the pack to be able to take over as an Elder, or help keep us all alive and keep things running, at the drop of a hat. Logan and I have both gotten to sit in on the Elders’ meetings, along with some others, and we’ve been helping run committees and perimeter checks and stuff. It’s been really great.”

“Damn. Wish we’d had chances like that, when we was your age,” Callum remarks with a low whistle.

“It’s kind of your fault we’ve had those chances. It’s all cuz you three went away—well, that and what happened to Uncle Stephen—that Dad’s been so worried.”

A fat, cold knot of guilt settles in my stomach. I never wanted Dad to worry about me like that. I thought his fears of WASP were overblown, and I just wanted room to breathe, to be my own person, outside of his shadow.

And now, because I didn’t listen to him—

“Drake. Stop spiraling,” Xander snaps. “No changing things now.”

“Not a bad thing to realize the mess we’s in and how much of it might be his fault,” Callum grumbles.

“No one forced any of us to commit to this mission,” Mina informs us. “Sure, you and Samson asked Dad, but he definitely considered saying no. He just wants to take WASP down, more than anything. And Dad gave all of us, every single lycan in the pack, a choice with no strings attached. Every single one of us on the Turbo Frog volunteered.”

“Why?” I ask. If I had a chance to redo things, knowing what I know now—

“We all have our own reasons. Logan wants a chance to prove himself in the field, and to fight alongside you, see who’s better.” Mina laughs and rolls her eyes.

“And you?”

“Honestly?” Mina’s usual bubbly cheer fades out of her eyes, leaving earnest fire. “I just want to have you home, and you and Dad and Mom all happy and relaxed once in a while. No one’s really been happy since Uncle Stephen died, and this seems as good a chance as any to try and fix that.”

She takes a deep breath, and just like that her bright cheerful self returns, tempered by steely resolve. “And so we’re gonna take this Turbo Frog into the heart of WASP, steal your mate from them, and turn the whole system upside-down, and there’ll be no more pessimistic bullshit in my cockpit. You guys got that?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I agree with a mock salute, which Xander and Callum copy.

“Good. We’ve still got a bit of a drive, so Drake, why don’t you tell me how you got mixed up with a WASP assassin in the first place?”