“Thank you,” Reyna said, hugging Meghan. “For everything.”
“Of course.” She ran a hand over her face. “What a night.”
“Becks said there’s a meeting.”
She nodded. “I should check in with Jodie first. She’s been cagey lately.”
“Yeah. I know. Let me know how she is.” Meghan stumbled forward a step and Reyna caught her. “Hey, maybe you should get some sleep. You’re no use to anyone if you’re dead on your feet.”
“Everyone else is still awake. I can make it.”
“When did you last sleep?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re not a vampire. Leave patients to Washington, okay?”
“Maybe just a few hours,” she said reluctantly before departing.
Reyna walked into the room. She played with Drew’s hair where he slept on a cot in the corner. She kissed his forehead. “We’re going to get Brian back, Drew. We’re going to kill the monster who did this. We’re going to fix everything. I promise.”
Vengeance filled her cold heart. Savage and wild. Eager to devour anything that got in her way.
Beckham saw the look on her face and offered her his hand. She took it, drinking in his strength as a beacon to ground her. The anger and Beckham were the only things keeping her afloat right now. If she gave up either, she didn’t know where she’d be.
They returned to the conference room where this had all started. Sydney remained at the head of the table. Tony had his computer up in front of him, typing away frantically still. Gabe had returned and Tye sat with a bandaged ankle next to him.
To Reyna’s surprise and distaste, Penelope was also in attendance. Her eyes drifted down to where Beckham still held Reyna’s hand. She pursed her lips, then looked away.
Washington followed Beckham and Reyna into the room.
“As many of you know,” Sydney began, “early this evening we sent a scouting team to look into the reported farming camp. That all went wrong. It was an ambush. They knew we were coming. They planted the information for us to find. Which means we are no closer to locating the actual farming camps, we don’t know what the plans are to utilize these camps, and we have no idea how it will be implemented.”
“What do we know?” Penelope asked curtly.
Sydney shot furious eyes at her. “That nearly a dozen of our top soldiers were either taken or killed at this decoy camp. They are MIA. And they clearly wanted us to know about this. They sent Everett to us knowing he would reveal the information.”
“Then how do we know that there actually is a feeding camp?” Penelope asked. “Perhaps it was all just a lie to make us look a fool.”
“It’s not,” Beckham said. “I found correspondence at Visage with coded information about it. Once I knew what I was looking for, I could find it. They’re doing this. I don’t know when or where.”
“Which means Harrington no longer trusts you,” Sydney said. “Which means you’re out.”
Everyone was silent at the realization that their top double agent was out of the game. But it didn’t faze Reyna.
She stood and slapped her hands on the table. “Then there’s only thing we can do. Only one thing we must do. We must stop the farms any way that we can. We cannot let them happen.”
“And what do you propose?” Penelope asked with a sneer.
“We create chaos. We kill Harrington.”
Chapter 34
Sydney nodded. “I agree.”
“What?” Penelope asked in shock. “How would we even do that?”
“I’ll draw him out,” Reyna said.
“No,” Beckham said at once.
Reyna continued as if she hadn’t heard him. It was so simple. So very simple. “I think it’s time we test that blood theory you have, Becks.”
His eyes narrowed. “Absolutely not.”
“If Harrington can sense me, he’ll come to me. I’ll lure him out into the open. You finish the job.”
“There are a million things wrong with that scenario.”
“Where would we do it?” Sydney asked.
Beckham snarled at her. “You can’t be considering this.”
“I consider every option. Reyna is willing. She made the suggestion. I’d be a fool not to consider it.”
“She’d be bait.”
“Yes,” Reyna said. “I’ll be bait. We just need to find a time when Harrington will be out in public. Somewhere not as guarded as Visage or wherever the hell that monster lives.”
“No,” Beckham repeated.
“You will not change my mind,” she told him with all the fires of a thousand suns.
“I’m throwing a New Year’s Eve masquerade party for all the elite,” Penelope said. “Harrington was invited.”
“That’s only five days away,” Gabe interjected. “Not much time.”
“Then he’ll never see it coming,” Reyna said.
“We could have access to the event?” Sydney asked Penelope, who nodded.
Beckham flew out of his chair. “Have you all lost your mind? We are not sending Reyna out against Harrington.”
“I’m going, Becks,” she told him. “And I need you there to finish it off.”
“If Harrington is out of the way, then you have a play for president of Visage,” Sydney said. “Imagine what we could do, the changes we could implement, with you at the helm.”