But Azazel’s ears? Those slight pointy tips were sexy as hell. She’d always been a sucker for Vulcans and elves.
“Yes,” Azazel said, turning to Vaeloryx. “We can begin as soon as Toni is ready.”
“Begin what?” Toni slipped up beside him. She caught a flicker of heat from his eyes and she grinned. “Just fill me in on the plan.”
Vaeloryx waved a hand over the table, activating a holographic schematic of theNyrlith. “As we discussed earlier, we’ll start by disabling the Energy Crux, then you’ll disrupt the Nexus Core’s psychic network. Once we hit both fronts, it should force Baelon’s Elites to split in response.” He gestured toward the map.
Toni had no clue what she was looking at—schematics weren’t her thing—but she nodded and pretended to follow.
“There’s been a change of plans. Instead of the two of you attacking the Dimensional Rift, Kaelith and I will do so.” Vaeloryx continued. “That will give you the chance to find a ship to escape in.”
Kaelith grinned and rammed his knuckles into his open palm. “Been waiting forever to crush some of them Elites.”
He reminded her of The Thing from theFantastic Fourmovies. All about the clobberin’.
Vaeloryx expanded the projection to show a vast, cathedral-like room of mirrors and glass. In the center hovered a clear, multi-faceted crystal.
Toni leaned in for a better look. That was some high-tech doohickey they were hijacking. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought they were looking at the actual place.
“To help with that,” Saphirae added, “I’ll broadcast a temporary bypass to mask the Nexus Core’s defenses. And you—” She looked at Toni. “—can slip in with this while Azazel guards the entrance.” She handed over a strange, crystalline device glowing with soft blue light.
“This shard is a dampening rig,” Saphirae said, its rods casting dancing patterns across the room. “Don’t drop it.”
Toni turned it over, gasping as it pulsed faintly in her hands. “This thing feels… weird.”
“It’s grown, not built. That’s how it generates the signals we need to disrupt Baelon’s reach. It’ll sync with your suit—helping you focus on what you want it to do. But I warn you, if your thoughts scatter, so will the signal.”
Toni let out a shaky breath. “Okay. So, uh, where do I stick this thing?”
Saphirae pointed at a section of the holographic conduit stretching upward. “Here. Attach the rig using the magnetized clamps—once it locks on, it’ll emit an interference that will jam the Krystalii’s psychic signals.”
Oh sure. Like she’d done this a million times. She gave a resigned nod.
“The device acts like a magnet,” Saphirae added. “Stick it anywhere on your suit until you’re ready to use it.”
Toni nodded again, then slapped the shard to the small of her back. It clung comfortably in place. Lightweight. Barely noticeable. She glanced at Azazel, who watched her with a soft, unreadable smile.
JR14’s sky-blue eyes remained steady on her from his shoulder perch.
Azazel appeared so calm. So maddeningly composed. She narrowed her eyes. One day, she’d pull that look from him for real—that taut, ravenous expression etched with the kind of desire that haunted her from that dream. Yep, number one on her bucket list once this was all over.
“We’ll only have a limited amount of time to strike at the Dimensional Rift Epicenter once you two complete your task,” Vaeloryx said grimly. “In order to facilitate that and for you to do some real damage to the Nexus Core, your construct—” He nodded at JR14 sitting on Azazel’s shoulder. “—will infiltrate a back door we’ve downloaded specs into his system that will give him the directions he needs to plant decoys inside. Once that’s done, it’ll increase the chaos throughout the ship, giving us a better chance of hiding while we shut down that Dimensional Rift.” He looked around at the group. “Remember, that’s the key to ending this nightmare for good. If we don’t cut that off, nothing else we do matters.”
“Yeah, ‘cause…kablooey!” Tharion spread his hands in a cartoon explosion. “Lord Baelon will have no trouble turning us all into space molecules.”
Toni folded her arms. “Awesome. If we all get blasted into cosmic dust, someone better film it so we can get a heartfelt slow-mo scene when the image fades to black.”
After Tharion’s oh-so-encouraging description, Toni hung back while the rest of the group finished coordinating their plan.
Vaeloryx, along with Kaelith and Saphirae, would head to the Energy Crux, the ship’s energy room, while she and Azazel went to the nearby space dock to secure a ship.
Hopefully, the mass confusion would make it hard for Baelon to coordinate with his creepy, spark-throwing interdimensional minions and prevent him from getting any more replacements.
Vaeloryx designated which rebels would be left behind to coordinate the overall effort and monitor their progress through the Resonant and Sub-Resonant Nodes. Once the plan was finalized as much as it could be, there was a lull in the conversation.
“I think we should call this ‘Operation Twinkle Demolition’.” Toni jumped in. When she got a round of blank stares, she shrugged. “What? Every covert operation should have a name.” When the stares didn’t change, she put her hands on her hips. “Geez, even back in World War II, they had Operation Paperclip to recruit Germans for the Allies. Giving this crazy plan a name is the least we can do.”
The only one to offer a comment was JR14. “Statistical analysis indicates‘Operation Twinkle Demolition’ has a 52 percent success rate, which I have rounded up because of organic inconsistencies.”
