“Sorry to disappoint,” began Jared as he slowly paced in front of us, “but there’ll be no paintballing tonight. This session will be a practice run for the upcoming battle. How can we do a practice run when we don’t know what we’ll be facing? It’s not really that difficult. We know the likelihood is that wherever Giles sends us will in fact be a trap. We know vampires will be waiting both inside and outside the building to attack and kill us. And we know our goal is to avoid being killed.”

Sam spoke then. “For the purpose of this exercise, we’re going to pretend that the ‘B and B’ is where our targets are waiting for us.”

The ‘B and B’ was the tallest of the buildings and situated in the centre of the tactical training field, which looked much like an abandoned village. From what I’d heard, the field had been a surprise Binding gift from Evan for Sam and Jared. Evan had designed it, and the entire legion had then come together to help him build it. The buildings were all constructed of plywood. Gas drums and piles of tyres were sporadically placed along every ‘street’. In addition, several vehicles – including a bus – lined the streets. There was also a base camp on either side of the field and a ‘dead zone’ for when squad members received what would have been fatal injuries in a real situation.

“As Jared said, we’ll be walking into a trap – and we’ll be doing it voluntarily simply because it’s the only way we can get to Diane.”

Chico cocked his head. “What makes you so sure Diane will be there, Coach?”

“Giles told us that she’s infuriated with me and Jared. We burned down her business, we’re losing her money, we’re picking off her employees, and we’re forcing her to go into hiding. One thing we know about her character is that she likes revenge. She won’t miss a chance at getting her hands on us. She’ll plan an attack, forcing her nest to participate, and she’ll coax Giles and his vampires into joining her. It won’t be difficult to get him involved, since she’s his vampire and he obviously wants to protect her.”

“We’re too powerful as a whole,” Jared pointed out. “It would be practically impossible to take us all out in one hit, and they’ll know that. If the situation was reversed, what would you do in such a situation?”

“Kill them one at a time,” I said without hesitation.

“Yes. They’ll attempt to pick us off – leaving only Sam and I alive, since it’s very likely that Diane will want to get up close and personal with us. First, they’ll lure us to a building of their choosing. I doubt it will be Giles’ club, since he won’t want his business being destroyed. But whatever it is, every entrance will be covered by guards who are ready and waiting to attack.

“In my opinion, though, the entrances won’t look covered. They’ll have vampires positioned close enough to pick us off but not close enough for us to easily sense them; they won’t want to tip us off that it’s a trap. So they’ll spread themselves around, but they’ll lurk nearby.”

“As such, objective number one will be eliminating their ‘marksmen’ – vampires like David who can kill from afar. Three other squads, including Evan’s, will take care of the marksmen.” Sam turned to Alora. “Evan’s going to find it hard being away from you in a battle. Likewise, you’ll find it hard being away from him. As much as I sympathise, I can’t send you with him.”

Alora nodded in understanding. “He needs to get used to the fact that I’m part of the legion now.”

“Yes. And you need to stick close to your partner, which is Maya. If it wasn’t for the fact that Ava doesn’t yet have a partner, I’d be having the same conversation with her and Salem.”

Beside me, arms folded, Salem just grunted. I giggled, which earned me a deep frown from him.

Jared stopped pacing. “While Evan and his squad are busy getting rid of the marksmen, Denny and Stuart will do their usual thing.”

“Search the perimeter, find out how many exits there are and how well they’re guarded,” muttered Denny.

“Correct. Once Evan contacts me” – Jared tapped his temple, indicating he would use his telepathy – “with news that he’s destroyed the marksmen, we’ll be going in. We’ll split up, enter through every door and pick off everyone inside one by one, until we’ve circled the main party – which will most likely consist of Diane, Giles, and their personal guards.”

“What will Evan and his squad be doing then?” Butch asked Jared.

“Guarding the perimeter with the other squad in case more vampires show up or anyone tries to leave. We don’t want any surprises; we need all bases covered.”

“Usually, there are two ways to get in or out of every building – windows not included,” said Sam. “But we need every side plus the roof covered, even if that means entering through windows. Every floor needs to be searched. As such, we’ll split up into six groups.”

Jared resumed his pacing. “As practice, your objective tonight is to enter the ‘B and B’ as quickly and silently as possible. It shouldn’t take more than three minutes at most to get inside.”

“Sounds simple enough,” said Damien with a shrug.

Jared smiled. “It would be…if the entrances weren’t currently being guarded, and if some people weren’t already waiting inside.”

Sam chuckled at our surprised expressions. “Yes, we’ve invited along two squads to participate in this session – both of which will be accompanying us on this assignment. One is on guard, the other is inside. Just like Diane and Giles will be on the night of the battle, the squads will be expecting us to show up any minute now. And they’ll be watching and listening, searching for any indication that we’re close by.”

“Now it’s time to split up. David and Butch will come with me – we’ll take out any guards on the roof before exploring the first floor. By the time we’ve made our way downstairs, you should all have taken care of the guards on the ground floor so we can circle our targets.”

“I’ll take Damien, Cassie, and Jude,” announced Sam. “We’ll enter through the front. Salem, Max, Stuart, and Ava will go through the back. Paige, Imani, Harvey, and Reuben will enter through the left side of the building, and Chico, Denny, Alora, and Maya will enter through the right side.”