Page 48 of Gods' Battleground

“How so?” asked Zane. “With all those guests wandering around, security here in the castle will be tighter than ever before.”

“With all those guests wandering around, the guards will be stretched thinner than ever before,”I countered.

“I don’t know, Leda,” Calli said. “I think I have to agree with Zane.”

“But I’vealreadyfigured out our way into the Vault,”I told her. “I’m eavesdropping on two of the gossiping guards as we speak. And they say the Night Prince is eager to show off his trophies to one of the princes—oh, wait, that prince is actually ashe, so I guess that makes her a princess. In any case, the Night Prince plans to personally give her a tour of the Vault during the Final Contest.”

“That’s our chance to get the grimoire!” Tessa said in an excited whisper.

“Right,” I replied. “When the Night Prince escorts his girlfriend into the Vault, you guys—” I indicated Calli, Gin, and Tessa. “—create a big distraction to keep the guards busy. Meanwhile, Zane and I sneak into the Vault and grab the grimoire. Then I teleport us to Bella, and we all escape together.” I nodded in approval of my awesome plan. “So, what do you guys think?”

Everyone looked at Calli.

“It’s a risky plan,”she said.

“It’s a great plan,” I told her. “And since the door to the Vault will be open, I won’t even have to cut off the Night Prince’s hand to test whether it needs to be attached to his body in order to operate the scanner.”

“Gods, Leda!” Gin exclaimed in shock. “You weren’t actually thinking of doing that, were you?”

“It had crossed my mind,” I admitted.

“And what if the severed hand didn’t work?” Zane asked me.

I shrugged. He still has another hand. “I’d have to coerce him into using that one to open the Vault.”

Gin turned a tad green. “You are so…”

“Pragmatic?” I suggested.

Gin winced. “No, gruesome.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore anyway,” I told her, “because now we have a new plan that doesn’t involve cutting off hands.”

“Thank goodness for that,” declared Tessa.

“So we’re all agreed?” I asked. “Zane and I wait for the Night Prince to escort his ‘princess’ to the Vault, then we follow them. Meanwhile, Bella will put on a big performance in the Final Contest, which will keep the guests distracted. Meanwhile, Gin, Tessa, and Calli will keep the guards distracted.”

Everyone nodded. Except Bella. She was still frozen in shock.

“Can you play your part?” I asked her.

Bella looked down at the Beast’s scary picture. The Night Prince had left it here. How nice of him.

“Bella?” I asked. “Are you ready for the fight?”

“Well, you know what they say,” she said with a shaky laugh. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

She sounded very scared. She was going in alone. There wouldn’t be anyone there to watch her back. I wanted to give her some words of comfort, but I couldn’t think of any. I was way better at being snarky than at being comforting.

Luckily, Calli came to the rescue. “Bella, just remember that wherever you are, wherever you go, we are all right there beside you.” Then she added, smiling, “And Leda will keep our minds connected, so we can watch over you the whole time.”

Bella took Calli’s hands. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep us linked during the match,” I said, nodding. “And what a great idea, Calli. I know Bella’s really excited to havemy awesome commentary inside her head. I can even help with the battle banter—just in case you need it, sis.”

I zipped my mouth shut after that because one of the guards was marching up to us.

“Here,” he said to me. “Put this on.” He tossed me a gem-studded bikini and a pair of see-through harem pants.

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