Just like that, her smile faded. Grandpa held her close, and I felt the urge to wrap my arms around her and never let her go. She’d been locked up in this place for long enough. It was time for her to get out.
“We do have a plan, you know,” I said, raising an eyebrow. Grandma didn’t respond to coddling. She preferred facts, with a dash of humor. “We’re busting everyone out of here.”
That got me her full attention. “Hold on. All of us?”
I nodded. “We’re waiting for Amal to give us the green light so we can bypass the shock collars, and for Araquiel and the others to plant the explosives and detonate them as a diversion.”
“Whoa. Honey, I knew about that, but I had no idea the plan was designed with everyone in mind,” Grandma replied.
“How will you get so many out?” Grandpa Yuri asked. “There are hundreds of us here, and plenty of Perfects keeping an eye on the diamond dome.”
“Also, diamond dome! This is a solid structure! You can’t just crack it open like an egg,” Grandma added.
Kailani joined us, sitting next to me. “I’ll be helping,” she said, giving me a soft smile. “I overheard you talking about the plan. I figured I’d clear some things up.”
“Do your grandparents know?” Grandma asked her.
“Yeah, and we’re not happy about it!” Corrine shot back from the neighboring cluster, approximately ten feet away. “But it’s the only way for us to succeed, so… you know, we’ll do it,” she added, rolling her eyes.
“What’s the plan?” Grandpa asked.
One by one, the rest of the founders and our crew turned to face us. Ben and Rose had already talked to Derek, Sofia, and the others, but some things had to be clarified—specifically, who would get to escape from the colosseum.
“It won’t be just us getting out of here,” I said. “We had to analyze every possible scenario and go with the most reasonable strategy. And, as crazy as it may sound, getting everyone out of here is our best option.”
“Okay. But how will we accomplish such a feat?” Grandma replied.
“There’s a swamp witch spell called bilocation. It’s powerful, but I can pull it off with additional magic energy from other witches,” Kailani explained. “It needs great power to work for so many prisoners. It creates palpable, visible, and audible copies of all of us, set on a kind of movement loop. They’re dummies, basically, that look and sound exactly like us.”
Lumi stood up, resting her hands on her hips. “We need four magically capable individuals to fuel the spell, one for each cardinal point, as per the Word’s instructions. Kale and I will take the north and south, and Corrine and Ibrahim can handle the east and the west. Once we start the spell, and the dummies materialize, we’ll sneak out of the dome and leave them behind. Without us, the bilocation spell can stand on its own for about twenty, maybe thirty minutes before it all fades away.”
My grandparents looked at each other, then nodded slowly.
“So, where’d you learn that spell from, Kale?” Grandma asked. “I thought your apprenticeship wasn’t over, and it sounds pretty complex.”
“I know of it,” Lumi replied with a shrug. “It normally shouldn’t be cast without four full swamp witches, but, given our circumstances, we have to take our chance with what we have.”
“Hold on, so it’s risky?” Grandpa asked, somewhat alarmed. I couldn’t blame him. We all loved Corrine and Ibrahim, Kailani, and even Lumi, with her previously undisclosed pixie nature.
Kailani let a heavy sigh roll out, her shoulders dropping. “Without four full swamp witches to power the spell, we’re not entirely sure of the end result. But I, along with my grandparents, have naturally magical genes. That has to count for something.”
“If you ask me, it might actually help,” Lumi said. “More than four full swamp witches. Anyway, we have to try it.”
“Will it kill you or hurt you if it fails?” I replied.
Lumi shook her head. “The bilocation spell won’t last. Worst-case scenario, it won’t even be cast. But we’re rooting for a successful attempt here, so let’s not think of the possible failure. We don’t want the universe slapping us with its law of attraction. The last thing we want is to screw ourselves out of a perfectly functional bilocation trick.”
I had to admit, I found Lumi extremely fascinating. She wasn’t one to adhere to a certain religion or pray to specific gods, but she did worship the universe, calling it the child of the Word itself. She believed that thinking of the worst usually invited failure through the door, but she also refused to call herself an optimist.
Granted, she was anything but that. Her biting realism had irked me more than once, but it was fascinating to hear her talk like this. Then again, in a way, she kind of had a point. Jinxing was the worst, given where we were and what we were about to do.
“We’ll use our fae to manipulate the diamond floor,” Rose added, sitting next to Corrine and Ibrahim. “The more of them that are connected to the earthly element, the better.”
“I imagine we can pray to the Hermessi for some assistance when the time is right, too,” Bogdana interjected.
I turned my head to look at her, as she’d made herself comfortable behind Derek and Sofia, her head occasionally popping up during our conversations. She’d been quiet until now, but I couldn’t forget the look on her face upon meeting Ta’Zan outside. The connection between them was undeniable, though Ta’Zan had no idea who she was.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her.
“I honestly don’t know. Pained, I suppose. I gave birth to that monster, but my heart still aches when I think about him. Worst of all, I felt a strange warmth in my chest when I first laid eyes on him,” she replied, surprisingly honest.
“You carried him in your womb for nine months. Surely a bond was formed,” Grandma said. “He didn’t have to be related to you for you to feel the need to nurture and protect him. It’s a mother’s instinct, especially since his embryo switched your body into motherhood. You can’t control that.”
“But we can’t let you get too close to him, unless it helps us,” Lumi replied, narrowing her eyes at Bogdana. “I’m sure you mean well, but I don’t trust you with Ta’Zan. I’m sure you understand why.”
Bogdana nodded slowly, the sadness in her amber eyes impossible to ignore. From what I could tell, she, too, was uncomfortable with her own weakness toward Ta’Zan. I could see the threads of yellow and gold still glimmering in her aura—fear and love.
Ben cleared his throat, as if to change the subject to something less uncomfortable.
“Let’s focus on this bilocation spell,” he said, then looked at Lumi. “Do you need us to help you with anything?”
“I don’t think so,” Lumi replied. “I know how to perform the spell, though I haven’t cast one since my swamp witch sisters were still alive. We’ll just need everyone to be ready to run, and one of you to give the signal to Araquiel. As soon as we’re all out, they can detonate the explosives.”
It sounded pretty cut and dry. Timing was obviously essential here. Amal and Amane were tasked with covertly gathering the items they needed for their mass memory wiper device, while pretending to do Ta’Zan’s bidding. Given the recent developments regarding Douma and Raphael, they had to make sure they got them out, too, before the explosives were set.
Araquiel, Herakles, and the four Calliope Perfects were due to infiltrate the colosseum and place the explosive charges in every node of the diamond structure. Their chemical formula was powerful enough to break the diamond, provided they were set against a thin surface. The bombs had been devised as a chain reaction, until crucial parts of the colosseum came down. There was a specific focus on all the laboratories and storage units. The harder we crippled Ta’Zan, the better.
“Once we’re out, and the colosseum is crashing down on Ta’Zan, the seven hundred and forty-two fae will have the go-ahead to enter Strava’s atmosphere,” Rose continued.
