Page 41 of When We Lost The Moon

There was a long pause after the Luke’s ominous summary, but no one contradicted him. If things went well, all this preparation would be unnecessary. But if it didn’t, it wasn’t nearly enough.

“She’s infamous,” Camina said finally. “Someone will recognize her.”

“I’ll get them in,” Tobias said. “Stragglers from Algrave, who were hiding out and didn’t get evacuated.”

He held up his hand for a moment, his face tensing. April gasped and pointed to the window, where I could see a reflection of two older women who looked nothing like us. Tobias dropped his hand and the illusion faded.

“Holy fuck,” Steve said, rubbing his eyes.

“That’s some trick,” Jacob said.

“Most elites have some degree of compulsion,” Tobias said. “A way to use their will to get what they want. Mine is just a little more intrusive.”

“We know,” Jacob said. “That’s why we had mirrors at Havoc. But I’ve never actually seen it. Not like that.”

“Most elite can’t get into your minds like that,” I said. “The king was the most powerful, but now… I don’t think there’s an elite stronger than Tobias.”

“Another advantage,” Jacob nodded, looking pleased.

“Garth is inside, and curate Marcus,” Penelope said. “I’ll make contact with them, so we can communicate. Maybe we can set some of the fake Iklebot soldiers on guard duty, just in case anything goes wrong.”

“We’d have to go soon,” I said. “While it’s still dark. Will you be safe inside the citadel after sunrise?”

“I live there, remember?” Tobias smiled. “Penelope will be trickier, but I trust my staff and am sure we’ll be secure during the day.”

“I’ll be useless until sunset,” Penelope said. “Better if I stay here, so we have someone covering our retreat.”

“Are there mirrors in the citadel?” April asked. “At the gates, I mean?”

“Why would there be?” Luke asked. “The elite don’t guard aginst their own.”

“We’ll get April set up in the lab,” I said. “Then I’ll see what connections I can make. Tobias and Garth will quietly alert sympathetic elite to our cause. We’ll find and rescue Damien.”

“And your siblings,” Trevor added.

“Spike as much blood as we can,” I continued, “and hope most of the elites consume it. Then after the sun sets, we attack. There shouldn’t be any fighting before then, because the three of us can’t take on the whole kingdom ourselves.”

There was one more thing; Trevor’s new ability and the other men from the strip who’d volunteered to become brutes. But that felt like a secret, after the quasi-religious initiation ceremony, and it wasn’t mine to share. I hated keeping things from our allies. I wondered how much they were keeping from us.

“The light will hold them in for the day,” Jacob said. “The slagpaw will hold them in for the night. After that it’s anyone’s guess, but we’ve got about 24 hours to make our move.”

“We’ll go in at first light,” I agreed. “Just before sunrise.”

“Sneak in at dawn, attack at dusk,” Luke said.

What could go wrong?

11

Ileft the others to discuss their roles, while Tobias sketched out four rough maps of the citadel. Half of them had never even been inside, but they marked out positions and a plan of attack. I tuned them out. They could argue over the details. I had my own mission to prepare for.

Outside the crisp evening air settled my nerves. Despite all the destruction, Algrave still smelled like home. Trevor had lit his forge during the day, and now the heat smoldered around him as he sharpened weapons on his grindstone. It looked good to see him working again. A small crowd grew around him, with a few men assisting him, and then an assembly line of arsenal managed by Camina and Steve. The metal weapons reflected the yellow light of a hanging lantern.

April stood behind a table, in front of the antique chest, which had been refitted with soft velvet shelves that held a few dozen syringes. It wasn’t much, but we could make more in the citadel. She seemed reluctant to part with her hard work, but distributed them equally among the group leaders.

I found a spot by myself at the base of a tree, and helped wrap and sharpen arrows. Some of the others had done a sweep of the town and found a handful of bows in need of repair. I could find weapons inside, once I made it to the training center. Until then I couldn’t afford getting in a fight anyway. We had to go in unarmed, apart from a small basket of supplies that April would need to produce more antidote.

“What if I squirt some of this on me, like cologne?” Luke asked, holding up one of the extra vials.

---