We’d settled on the cave’s black floor, in front of a chalk-drawn map of Ta’Zan’s archipelago. We always had chalk in our bags, in case we needed it for spells, just like we carried lighters in our pockets, in case our fae needed the extra fire.
My stomach ached, and I had trouble breathing as I thought about Mom. Ta’Zan was perfectly capable of killing her, unless we found a way to stop him without giving up on everything we’d done so far. Thankfully, our new friends and allies had helped me see clearly, when all I wanted was to curl up in a ball and never get up.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Elonora replied, wearing a bitter smile.
Maybe we would’ve found the courage to keep going with our initial plan, if Ta’Zan’s next kill weren’t going to be my mother. But, then again, it could be Hunter’s mother next. Or his dad. Or Jovi. Or Jax. Whoever Ta’Zan picked to kill in order to get us to surrender—it was bound to be someone we loved or were close to. We’d bonded with so many worlds, so many different kingdoms, already.
But Raphael led the way toward a brighter path, despite Ta’Zan’s ultimatum.
“We’re going to get ourselves killed,” Ridan muttered, still uneasy about the Perfect’s plan. “It’s beyond crazy. It’s potentially suicidal.”
“Hey, Sparky, it’s either this, or Sofia dies. And I’m pretty sure none of us want to concede right now,” Raphael said.
We’d spent the past hour discussing Raphael’s suggestion. The plan we hatched made sense, but it was insanely risky. It bought us the time we needed, and it gave us the opportunity to use the aces up our sleeves. This wasn’t the end. On the contrary, to me, it felt like the very beginning of what would eventually become Ta’Zan’s downfall.
But to get there, we had to be smart, cunning, and ruthless, just like him.
I let out an audible sigh. “Are we ready to share the plan with the others?” I asked. “Dad is broiling by now, and for good reason. We need Calliope on the line, too, like we agreed.”
Everyone around me nodded in agreement. We were all on the same page.
“Okay, so, we’re doing this,” I murmured, then pressed the call button on my earpiece. “Dad? Harper? Are you there?”
I stared at my brother as I waited for a reply. Ben had been through enough already. He deserved some peace and quiet, not running around on a foreign planet, trying to save our parents and the others in our extended family. Hell, I looked forward to an actual holiday with Caleb, once this was all over. Provided we made it out alive.
“Rose, honey?” My dad’s voice came through.
“I’m here, Grandma,” Harper answered. “We’ve got the executive council, Sherus and Nuriya, Ash and Ruby, and the Perfects here, too. Talk to us!”
I looked at my mixed crew again. Those of us with earpieces could hear them as well, since this conversation was taking place on the common channel. It was time to lay out the plan—the only way in which we could save my mother without forfeiting our mission, or the universe.
“We’ve got a plan,” I said. “Some of you might not like it, but it has to be done. Sorry, Caleb...”
“Babe, I trust you. Whatever you do,” my husband replied gently.
“Good. So, we’re going to surrender.” I sighed.
I heard gasps somewhere in the background, most likely from my side of the family. Voices broke through, but Harper was quick to shush them. “Hold on!” she snapped. “Let her speak!”
“We’ll try to keep it to the original crew, Ben’s and mine, to be specific,” I added. “It’ll be me, Ben, Ridan, Dmitri, Varga, Zeriel and Vesta, Hunter and Kailani, and Nevis and Elonora. To stop Ta’Zan from further threats or malicious acts, Douma, Raphael, and Amane will surrender, too. Amal will come with us, under the guise of being our prisoner. Ta’Zan has no idea that she’s been on our side this whole time.”
My dad coughed. “Yeah, we had no idea either.”
Amal gave me an apologetic shrug and mouthed an “I’m sorry.”
“You know it’s complicated with these people, Dad. Besides, according to Amal, Ta’Zan is nearly impossible to kill.”
“We know that. Well, we have an inkling,” he replied. “Theories, at best, about how he could’ve fortified his own position in this society and against us.”
“I have something more concrete, actually. Amal recently told us about genetic materials he’s been injecting into himself since he created the Perfects. He also reverse-engineered a shock collar and modified it into a small implant in the back of his head. It can read people’s intentions on a twenty-yard radius, which is why it’s so difficult to even get close enough to kill him. The only weapon that will work on him is the pulverizer, but we need specific conditions to take him down,” I explained, going over what I’d already discussed with Amal.
Amane had suspected that Ta’Zan would look for ways to make himself invincible like the Perfects, mainly because he didn’t like to be inferior to his own creations, at least where the ability to survive was concerned.
“That explains a lot,” Harper replied, her voice shaking. “Ta’Zan is more complicated than we expected.”
“But not invincible,” I said. “The original crew will surrender, because we’re the ones that Ta’Zan wants the most. If needed, and if we can’t convince him that they escaped or something, Draven and Serena’s group will come forward, too. It won’t matter much because we won’t be in there for too long. You see, Ta’Zan thinks Araquiel is dead. He thinks we killed him with a pulverizer weapon, like Abaddon, Oriphiel, Elyon, and the others. Araquiel will infiltrate the colosseum and blow it up.”
“Whoa, whoa… Rose, what are you saying?” Dad replied, clearly taken aback. “What about the prisoners? Your mother?”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “Dad, listen to me—and please don’t mention it to the others, yet, for security reasons. We’re looking to keep it on a need-to-know basis. You know the protocols. We don’t want to risk Ta’Zan or any of the Perfects getting wind of this.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Thanks. Now, Harper, we need the four Perfects down here. They’ll meet with Araquiel and help him. Amal, Amane, and Lumi are working on the explosive charges. They won’t tear the entire structure down, but they’ll be loud and flashy and devastating enough to draw all the Perfects in the archipelago to home base. We need them distracted up there, while the seven hundred and forty-two fae come to Strava.”
“Amal set us up with all the codes for the shock collars,” Ben continued. “We won’t be subdued while we play the prisoner part. We’ll evacuate the dome prisoners before Araquiel activates the explosive charges. No matter what happens, we’ve got everybody covered. Don’t worry.”
A few seconds went by in silence as our people processed the information.
“So, surrender and infiltrate the colosseum. Evacuate everyone. Blow the place up to draw the Perfects in, while the fae come to Strava,” Harper said. “That’s it in a nutshell, right?”
“Exactly,” I said. “We need another angle to get close enough to kill Ta’Zan. Amal will be in there, back by his side. If she gets an opportunity, she’ll take it. But once the fae land on Strava, the Hermessi will be activated. The forces of nature itself will stifle the Perfects, while we go in for the kill. It seems pretty straightforward, no matter what comes up.”
“Are we prepared for worst-case scenarios, too?” My dad asked, his voice lower than usual.
Ben and I looked at each other. We’d talked about it, yes, and it involved our collective sacrifice. “Whatever it takes to get the Hermessi activated on Strava,” I said. “We’re ready to give it everything, Dad. All of us.”
“Good. So are we, though we’d rather not,” he replied. “Your mother and I still have an eternity ahead of us. We’d like to keep it.”
