Sheela and Niki were both standing impatiently in front of the northern gate, brows furrowed and faces in matching expressions. Their expressions synchronized a lot, Aiden realized with a shudder. It was creepy. Mini and Brynne marched next to him, determination lining their young faces. They looked so much older than they were. He quickly tallied everything they had packed, glancing at his phone. Only a few more minutes until they left. Blood bags; check. Spare clothes; check. First aid; check. Rudy's spare set of rocks; check. Food; check.

"Is everyone here?" Nikita asked. When they all nodded, she let out a strained breath. "Alright. I managed to talk to Aru, letting her know that we were coming for her. She told us to be careful of the girl guarding her. I think she said her name was Kara?  Bit taller than Aru, highlights in her hair, looks a bit like Aru's mom."

"Kara..." Mini muttered, turning to Brynne. "You don't think—?"

"I do. But there's not much we can do about it. We're here to get Aru back, not some random reincarnation we never knew about."

"Hold on, hold on," Rudy interrupted, holding his hands up. "Random reincarnation? What are you two talking about?"

Mini sighed, unlocking the gate. "I'll explain as we travel."

Their stand-in team and squadron gave them a noisy salute, which they managed to return without looking too somber. The gate clicked shut. Aiden's stomach lurched at the sound, but he shook off the impending feeling of doom. They were going to get Aru back, and by the gods would they do it right.

"The journey is about an hour," Mini said, starting up the car. "Remember to review our infiltration strategies and contingency plans."

"Yes, ma'am. Now can you please explain what you meant before?" Rudy whined.

Aiden rolled his eyes, pulling out the tentative map they had drawn of the Sleeper's headquarters. It was a messy sketch, put together with whatever information their intelligence agents and Aru had been able to provide them with, but it would have to work. Brynne glanced over at the map, tracing out a smooth line with her finger that Aiden followed. In through the northwest passage, crawl through the vents, drop into the main hall. From there, Mini would set up a defensive shield and Rudy would blast an offensive sound wave shield. Brynne would clear a path and Aiden and the twins would storm the bedrooms to find where Aru was stashed. It wasn't their cleanest plan at all, and it was a risky one, but it was the best they could conjure at such short notice. Besides, if the worst came down to worst, well... Brynne and Mini weren't vampires for nothing.

They spent the rest of the car ride revising the plan, making minor adjustments where needed and developing escape and contingency plans. Mini and Rudy switched back and forth from planning to talking about Kara. Aiden had to admit, he was intrigued. He had managed to finagle  some information from Aru about her father (by some, he meant one detail), and that detail was that she looked like him, but had her mother's eyes and lips. If Kara looked like Aru's mother, then...

"Guys," he suddenly said, halting the conversation. "What if Kara and Aru are sisters?"

"Well, yeah. That's kinda how this reincarnation thing works, dummy," Brynne snarked.

He rolled his eyes. "No, I mean biologically. Blood sisters."

On his left, Nikita frowned. "Biologically? How?"

"I—" he hesitated, "I just have a feeling. Aru said she looks like her dad, you said Kara looks like Aru's mom. I don't think it's a coincidence."

"Nothing is a coincidence, Aiden," Sheela said softly. "You should know this. It's not a coincidence that you're Draupadi and it's not a coincidence that you're here with us right now. You're probably right, but we'll have to confirm for ourselves. How much longer, Mini?"

"Ten minutes. Everyone ready?"

At the chorus of yes's, the car fell into silence, the gravity of the situation finally weighing down on them. Somewhere in his heart, Aiden knew that this was their one try to get things right. Their one try to get Aru out, their one try to demolish the Sleeper's headquarters, and their one try to find information about this mysterious "Kara" girl. He closed his eyes.