Page 109 of Prey

“While recording it for educational purposes,” Dominic finishes.

Jenna looks around the table at these eight lethal, damaged men who’ve become my family, and her smile is pure appreciation. “You’re all insane.”

“Says the woman who spent three months hunting traffickers with a kitchen knife,” Raphael points out.

“Fair point.”

Ezra brings up tactical schematics. “Facility overview. Two main buildings, underground connecting tunnels, perimeter security that’s significantly upgraded from previous sites.”

“They’re expecting us,” I observe.

“Good,” Lucien says. “I was getting bored with easy targets.”

“Approach vectors,” Ezra continues, highlighting entry points. “North access through the industrial zone, south through farmland, east and west routes are compromised by open ground.”

“What about underground?” Jenna asks, studying the display.

Eight pairs of eyes turn to her with new respect.

“Existing infrastructure?” she clarifies. “Maintenance tunnels, old mining operations, natural cave systems?”

Ezra’s fingers fly across his tablet. “Checking… yes. Old coal mine system extends approximately four hundred meters from the southeast corner.”

“Collapsed?” Darius asks.

“Partially. But several main tunnels appear intact.”

Marcus nods approvingly at Jenna. “Good eye. Underground approach wasn’t in the original assessment.”

“Because you were thinking like predators,” she explains. “Sometimes you need to think like prey that’s learned to hunt back.”

“Teams?” I ask Raphael.

“Three units. Extraction, elimination, and containment. Nikolai leads elimination; I’ll handle extraction with Marcus and Theon. Darius and Damon on containment with Ezra providing overwatch.”

“Where do I fit?” Jenna asks.

Another silence. Then Damon grins. “Depends. Can you kill child abusers without hesitation?”

“Try me.”

“She’s with elimination,” I decide. “If she can handle it.”

Raphael raises an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

I look at Jenna—at her sharp focus, her steady hands, the cold calculation in her eyes as she studies the facility schematics. “She killed five traffickers in three months alone. She’s earned her place at this table. Timeline for operation?” I ask.

“Forty-Eight hours,” Raphael decides. “Gives us time for reconnaissance, equipment prep, and coordination with extraction teams.”

“Children’s safety is priority one,” I state clearly.

“Always,” Marcus agrees. “Everything else is secondary.”

“Including our own safety,” Darius adds.

Jenna squeezes my hand again, understanding what that means. We’d all die before letting those children suffer what we suffered.

Ezra shuts down the display. “Equipment requests to Theon by 1400 hours. Reconnaissance teams deploy the day after tomorrow at 0600.”