Lightning Destroyer: (Lighting Seeker Book 3)

The Plan for Retrieval

"No," Midnight said for what must have been the eighth time, dismissing another idea without so much as looking in Mortem's direction. 

Mortem, who had been tracing a line across a worn map glared at Midnight from where he stood on the other side of a warped metal table shoved into the cockpit of the airship. "I am gettin' tired of yer dismissals. What is wrong with this plan?" Mortem growled. 

Mortem plucked her glasses from her sharp nose, wiping them down with a cloth before popping them back on. "It requires you to be seen," she said simply. 

"And?" Mortem replied, exasperated. 

Midnight who sat in the corner of the bridge, sat among a pile of memory boards, wires, and screws, assessing the pile. "You are the most wanted man on Kebar's hit list." She glanced up at Mortem, looking utterly bored. "If you step one foot inside that building you will be dead before you could even take a breath." 

She peeled back the material surrounding a wire, eyes focused on her task. "You are too high profile." 

Mortem opened his mouth but Midnight continued. "Dash is out too. Kebar wants him by his side, willingly or not." When Dash stiffened, Midnight offered him a passing glance. "You need to accept that your bloodline will always work against you. Kebar is a believer in family rule. And with Sky out of his reach, he will do anything to get to you. Even use Vale. You need to prepare for her to come after you. And she won't be the same girl anymore." 

A chill ran down Dash's spine at the thought. Vale had always been fierce. A strong fighter. Clever and determined. Will Kebar break that?  Will we be able to get to her before he destroys her?

 "Dash," Midnight said, pulling him from his thoughts. "Kebar will use her against you. You need to let go of your affections. They will lead to your capture." 

Dash looked away, ignoring the way the thought of Vale made him both scared and full of want. It won't come to that, he promised himself.

"So what do ye suggest?" Mortem asked in a growl, staring down Midnight, saving Dash from any more observations about his affections. "All yev done is shoot down ideas. Care to show us 'ow it's done?"

Midnight was back to work, adding a wire into the back of a memory board. "It has to be someone that will be noticed but not at first. Someone who will lure. We need to pique curiosity, not set off every alarm." She shot Mortem a pointed look. 

"So you?" Kriss asked with a raised brow. 

Midnight smiled, her white teeth bright across her face, glinting in the low lighting. "No. You. I am basically unknown."

Kriss raised a brow. "I am an unknown as well unless we are talking about the black market underworld fighting rings." 

Midnight went back to work, but the smile remained. "You underestimate the stir you could cause. The mother of the Lightning Bringer... The lover of Mortem, the most notorious leader of the rebellion." 

Kriss turned away, hiding her reaction while Mortem turned pink, far more flustered than Dash had ever seen. It was apparent that Mortem was madly in love with Vale's mother, but Dash still wasn't sure how deep Kriss' affections were. Something that Vale herself seemed to get from her mother. 

Midnight continued, like she hadn't just chucked a weapon of awkward reaction into the center of the bridge. "You would cause quite a stir. Something no one would expect. You've hidden yourself from the higher classes for a long time. No one expects you and that's what we need. It's hard to surprise Kebar, or his right hand, the father of your child." 

Kriss winced at the mention of him. The man in charge of war. The hand of power. The one who had taken her when she was alone one night. 

"The plan is simple. You walk inside, find Vale's father, and deliver the message. We will do the rest."