Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of The One #2)(79)

“Warning you. They know you’re coming. They set a trap.”

Will stepped forward. “Hold on, Eddie. And how do you know?” he asked Fallon.

“You’re the leader?”

“Will Anderson.”

“Your father’s Bill, and he was with Eddie and the ones with him. They left you signs to follow, to New Hope. And you did. My mother told me about you, all of you. But I know about the trap because … I’m the daughter of Max Fallon and Lana Bingham. I am a child of the Tuatha de Danann. The man you found is a true believer. He let you capture him so he could give you false information, to lead you into a trap.”

“He was half-dead.” Duncan moved in.

He felt a pull, warm, slow, deep. He knew her. Knew her from dreams. But he’d been in on the capture, he’d seen the condition of the prisoner.

“A true believer,” Fallon repeated. Her eyes latched on to his. “You’re Duncan, and your twin with you is Antonia. Your gift is like mine, and you know—you know I’m telling you the truth. The prisoner’s name is Patrick. Nigel Patrick, and he volunteered, to be shot, to be beaten, to be left where they knew you’d come to scout.”

It rang like truth inside him, and still … “How did they know where we’d scout?”

“I can’t tell you. I haven’t been shown. But they’re waiting for you. Five miles more. Twenty-five of their soldiers, armed. They’ve fortified the walls of their base with more. One of the men in charge is Lou Mercer. His brother was killed in the attack on New Hope, the attack that killed my birth father. Mercer wants your blood, even more than White and his circle want mine. For Mercer, this is personal.”

“This is Max’s kid,” Eddie said. “She wouldn’t lie.”

“Trap or no trap, we can’t leave those people in there,” Duncan began.

“I’m here to help you.” She took out a map, illuminated it with a brush of her hand. “Patrick told you the prison’s here, but it’s not. It’s here. The armory’s here. And they have fuel tanks. Here. He told you about the main gate, but he didn’t tell you about the one on the west side. It’s guarded, but they expect you to come here. Their first line, here, twenty-five armed with automatic weapons, stationed on both sides of the road leading in. They’ll catch you in cross fire, while a squad moves to your rear to cut off retreat. They’ve been stockpiling ammo for weeks now to prepare for this. Those who survived that first wave would be bottled in. Kill or capture. They want some of you alive, if possible.”

“To torture, and execute.”

She nodded at Will.

“They want most to capture either Duncan or Antonia. Both, if possible.”

“Yeah?” Duncan cocked his head. “How do we rate?”

“Mercer hates all Uncannys, but he hates witches most. He hopes to use you, especially if he can use one of you to torment the other, as a way of getting through the security and taking New Hope as they failed to do before.”

“Good luck with that.”

“He doesn’t know or understand you,” Fallon said simply. “We have to move quickly now, otherwise they’ll send scouts. You’ll send some on foot from here, to get behind the first lines, break them. Then you pick them up as you hit the gates, one team to the main, one to the west.”

“You’re not in charge,” Duncan pointed out.

The look she sent him now was as cool as the air. “I was born for this, or I wouldn’t be here. I have a very strict teacher, and only this window of time to help you. You’ll need to set up for your attack, and have your foot soldiers in place. I’ll blow the fuel tanks.”

“All by yourself?”

She sent Duncan a smile that edged toward a smirk. “I’ll have Laoch.” And laid a hand on her horse’s cheek. “You know what I am,” she said to Eddie. “You know why my mother ran that day with my father’s blood on her, her heart broken.”

“Yeah, to protect you, and us. They wanted you dead. The wanted to kill The One.”

“You’re her friend. You’re my friend.”

“That’s real nice,” Duncan commented. “But how do you expect to get through? Just ride your horse up to the gate and knock?”

“No. When I blow the fuel tanks, when they’re distracted, running around trying to deal with the explosions, can you do the rest?” she asked Will.

“Yeah. Yeah. We’ll coordinate. Flynn, elves, and shifters on foot, to flank the first line.”

“Good.” Fallon approved. “Faster, quieter. You know my mother,” she said to Flynn.

“And Max. We’ve waited a long time for you.”

“The wait’s almost over.”

She listened as Will planned out the new attack, formed teams. And tried to keep her face impassive while her heart pounded, her blood ran hot and fast under her skin.

“You’re sure about the locations?” Will asked. “Prison, armory, slave quarters?”

“I’m sure. Trust me.”

“Looks like we’re going to.”

“Okay, I’m all for it, but this still hinges on one girl and a horse blowing up the fuel. How?” Duncan demanded.