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“I know,” she answered. “Once we secure the area, though, it won’t matter. We’ll seal off the exits to the park so nobody can go in or out, so she won’t be going anywhere. Everyone will have orders not to harm her, and to take her into custody if possible. When you get there, we’ll hand her off to you, and we’ll consider your obligation fulfilled. If you succeed at your mission, they'll have much bigger problems than stopping the removal of her tracker.” She paused and avoided my eyes. “Then it’s up to you to stay or go.”

Home had never sounded so good to me. I was sick of this place, sick of being separated from my wife, and sick of feeling helpless. The sooner this place was behind us, the better.

But I was pretty sure Ayanna being broken up about us leaving wasn’t about me so much as it was about Kimmy. I could tell she genuinely liked her, even if they were just fuckbuddies. I felt a pang for my sister, who’d confided in me how lonely she was. It was hard enough for her to date, and it was a shame we’d be leaving before she could really see if there was something there with Ayanna. I had my doubts about the White Rose and even Ayanna herself, but I wanted Kimmy to be happy.

It explained why I then said, “You could visit her, you know.”

Ayanna frowned, and the guys around us looked confused.

“She said you guys don’t welcome guests where you’re from,” she replied slowly, chewing her lip. “She was pretty emphatic on that point. That I wouldn’t be allowed. That this was a temporary thing.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, we don’t. That doesn’t mean she can’t meet you somewhere. If you know the Post, she goes there sometimes. Ask her about it. That’s all I’m saying.”

A ghost of a smile passed over Ayanna’s face. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” I said, then gestured around at the other soldiers. “If we’re done here, then I have something else I thought you’d be interested in.”

As it turned out, Ayanna wasn’t as keen on my plan to visit Holly as I was.

“This is a terrible plan,” she said, pacing back and forth in her office as Kimmy and I sat in her office. “You’re going to get yourselves killed.”

I shrugged. “We’re already risking that every minute we’re inside this compound. What’s the difference? This might get us some real answers.”

“You said her sister hates you,” Ayanna shot back. “According to you, she’s the secret lovechild of Jim J himself. How do you know she’s not going to just shoot you both, or worse, turn you over to her dad for some family bonding?”

“She helped me rescue Claire,” I said, a little impatiently. “Without her, I wouldn’t have made it. Claire told me she was wavering in her loyalty to the Order, and this note she left proves it.” I was glad that I sounded more confident than I felt. I had doubts of my own, but this wasn’t the time for them.

Ayanna crossed her arms. “But she’s expecting Claire, not you.”

“True,” I replied. “But she’ll recognize me. She knows Claire and I are together, and that there’s no damn reason I’d be here otherwise. She’s nuts, but she’s not stupid.”

“And what if daddy dearest is there?”

“He won’t be,” I said—and at least of that, I was sure. “She wouldn’t invite Claire if he was.”

Ayanna still didn’t seem convinced. She gave Kimmy a meaningful look, as though expecting Kimmy to come to her defence. If she’d been counting on that, though, she was sadly mistaken. My sister was many things, but she wasn’t a coward.

“This is the only chance we’ve got to really learn about the Order,” Kimmy said. “If we don’t take it, then we’re missing a big piece of the puzzle. If what Holly wrote is true—that the Sire knows what makes Jim J immortal—then we should know, too.”

Ayanna sighed. I knew she still didn’t totally believe what we’d told her about Jim J being immortal. At first, I didn’t blame her, but I was getting impatient with her lack of faith. Lives were on the line—most importantly, Claire’s—and I wasn’t gonna wait for her permission.

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Ayanna said to Kimmy, her voice softening. “I know things aren’t…settled between us, but—”

“No fucking way,” I snapped, shaking my head. “You don’t get to put a protective cage around Kimmy when my wife is stuck inside the wolves’ den, risking everything to give us this lead. Whatever’s going on between you two, it doesn’t give you the right.”

She shot me a dirty look, but I didn’t care. To her credit, Kimmy cleared her throat and said, “He’s right. Our priority is Claire. I’m sorry if that steps on your toes, but we’re going anyway. You can help us or not.”

Ayanna’s mouth thinned into a line of disapproval, but after a moment, she simply said, “Fine. Let’s get to work.”

The next night was Friday. Since the Delta’s curfew was now only suspended on Friday nights, it’d be even busier than usual at The Onyx, which would make it easier for Kimmy and I to blend into the crowd. Ayanna also got us new clothes to wear.

According to her, most of the customers would be wearing something she called rave wear. She gave me an ugly sleeveless shirt in fluorescent green, which could’ve been a fucking beacon in the dark. I’d never seen a shirt so bright in my entire life.

“I can’t wear that,” I said immediately. “You’ll see me from a mile away.”

She gave me an impatient look. “Everyone is going to be wearing this. You’d stand out far more wearing your usual clothes. Trust me.”

I sighed and hoped to hell that this wasn’t going to get me killed as I changed. With the shirt came black pants with multi-coloured chains hanging off them that seemed to have zero practical use, and a weird, glow-in-the-dark hooded sweater. I couldn’t bring my rifle, but I wasn’t going in unarmed. Luckily, the shirt was so long that it let me conceal my pistol and knife at my belt.