Fantine

The cold rain was hammering against the stone entrance of the underground nursery wing, and my fingers were tightly wrapped around the handles of my twin daggers while I kept my back pressed against the freezing concrete wall, my eyes staring straight through the dark downpour toward the western treeline where the high security fence had just been snipped apart with heavy wire cutters.

Jayden was crouching right next to me on the narrow landing of the stairs, his tactical rifle aimed directly at the gap in the bushes while his breathing came in short, nervous bursts, and the heavy weight of the mate bond in my mind was...