Page 77 of Fighting Furry

“Are you kidding me? Three humans shifted into werewolves and several vampires had their heads physically removed from their bodies. Is anyone actually buying that bullshit?”

“Some are,” she said. “But a lot of people aren't. The video wasn't doctored and it was supported by video and pictures from other people at the scene. Those council guys are probably freaking out about that mess right now.”

“Okay. How does that help us?”

“You never went into a fight without knowing your opponent's weakness, right? Those videos are obviously a weak point for the council. How can you hit them there?”

“I've got no idea, Shel. Do you think you could come here and help?”

“It's crazy here, Jules. Can't you conference me in or something?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We'll figure it out.”

“Okay…Wait…You need a whiteboard.”

“What?”

“No great plans were ever made without a whiteboard, baby.”

She hung up and I looked at Desiree. “Do you have a whiteboard and a computer by any chance?”

She smiled. “Baby doll, I've got it all.”

***

“Seriously?” I asked. “This is amazing.” Desiree had brought me to a room with a huge, oaken conference table, an entire wall that was white board and another that was all screens.

Desiree shrugged. “I think it should have everything we need.” She'd driven us to downtown Phoenix, to the twenty-third floor of a modern skyscraper. Her business took up two floors of the massive building and everything was state-of-the art and fancy, including her staff, all of whom walked around the place like they had things of earth-shattering importance to do.

It was the kind of room where a person could get things done. The kind of room where lives could be changed, the earth saved from imminent destruction. The kind of room where we could plot and plan and find an unstoppable way to rescue Axel. I felt fired up, ready to take on the world, just like I did before a big fight. I bounced on my toes, getting in the mindset to kick some ass and take some names.

I turned to Desiree. “What's the plan?”

She sighed and shook her head and, just like that, I deflated, because all the technology in the world wouldn't help if we couldn't come up with a plan. “The first step to any plan is figuring out what the other party wants.”

“And their weakness.”

Desiree smiled and nodded in approval. “Usually the two intersect, if they aren't simply one and the same. So.” She walked over to the white board, picked up a marker and wrote: What the council wants, with a line under it. “What does the council want?”

I paced, thinking. “Money, obviously. They don't want the public to know werewolves or witches or vampires exist.”

She nodded, scribbling. “And why don't they want the public to know werewolves and vampires exist?”

“Because humans might be frightened of us and kill us all.”

She pursed her lips. “That is the party line, yes, but I've always suspected it's more than that. If the world knows about werewolves and vampires and witches, the council would be in some way answerable to the world. If a wolf stepped out of line, they couldn't punish him or her without adhering to human law, without anticipating the opinion of humans.”

“They're able to act in the shadows,” I said. “So, another want is to maintain their power.”

She scribbled it on the list.

“So,” I said. “Their weakness is any threat to their power, the primary one being exposure.”

She scribbled those under weakness. And added a third, disagreement.

“What's that about?”

She shrugged. “The council is composed of a disparate group of people with different opinions on every issue that comes up. They fight often.”

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