I arch a brow at the Keeper, considering his input. “The pigs would be a good way to get rid of every single piece of him without leaving a trace.”
Xerxes waves his hand. “If we chop him, Slash could eat him. The gym springs aren’t that far. Shift and easy peasy… no parts.”
My best friend shudders. “While I will eat those who force me to, I would prefer not to ingest someone who has been… a difficulty in my life. It would be like eating my pain.”
I have no idea what the fuckthatmeans, but I can guess where the theory came from.
Growling in annoyance, I look over to the changing area impatiently before turning back to them. “What else, then? The pigs and Wastes are too far, Slash is unwilling…. We need a solution quickly.”
Salem coughs, giving me a confused look. “Why the fuck don’t you just burn him, Jas? Youarea goddamn dragon.”
I suck in a breath, telling myself not to lash out simply because he asked a question that assumes I’m not very bright. “Because it will leave a magical signature that we cannot fully erase, Salem. We can do our best, and it might foolmostdemons, but if the court sends the powerful trackers, they will eventually untangle the hexes and enchantments. That puts us back at square one, only with bigger problems.”
He looks chagrined, rubbing his hand through his hair. “Sorry, Jasper. I didn’t know that. It just seemed like an easy fix, man.”
“The Prince is right—both about the magic and losing time.” The Keeper looks around before he whistles so loudly that we all wince. His bird comes rocketing through the air to his side, making that noise that irritates the hell out of me. “Arces will scout for us. That will give us time to scramble if someone is coming towards the arena.”
As soon as he finishes his sentence, the bird takes off again, soaring into the sky on its mission. I frown, considering the familiar for a moment before I ask, “Where is the rodent?”
Slash glares at me again and rumbles, “Dottie is with the doctor and Kit. She followed behind me, and I let her in before I returned.”
“Geez, I didn’t even—now I feel bad,” Oriel mutters. “Poor girl is probably losing her fucking mind.”
The Keeper grins at him. “Don’t worry. Familiars are so in tune with their companions that they can sense when injuries are serious. If the lad had been gravely harmed, the little lady would have been making a fuss the likes you’ve not seen before. Size doesn’t matter when a familiar is truly determined.”
Also, something good to keep in mind as it explains why the damn thing had the stones to shove a fruit in my nostril.
“Now that we’ve established that, back to the topic at hand,” I say, getting their attention once more. “This fucking corpse has to go, and we still don’t have a viable plan.”
“We sure as hell can’tWeekend at Bernie’sit,” Zav mutters, and Salem snorts at a joke I don’t understand. Oriel is still chuckling while my brainy mate walks around the inside of the circle, his tails swishing, as he thinks. “Our inability to use magic without being caught at some point is really limiting us.”
“No shit.”
Zavida whips his head around and gives me a stink eye that would wilt a garden full of flora. “Sarcasm is not useful at the moment, I believe. Creativity is better used to help us brainstorm.”
Ouch. He’s definitely not letting me off the hook for being frustrated.
“We have to be missing something. We’ve thought about magic, physical labor, weapons, gag movie plots, and consumption.” Anton stands next to Zav as they both gaze at the body. “He’s huge, so anything we do has to be geared towards removingsomething of his mass.”
“I still think we can move him at night.” Oriel gives them a stubborn look, his feathers ruffling. “I’m the one who operates in the dark here all the time. I know where the security is, where there are guards and where there are holes… I could easily guide us around them.”
Before I can correct him, Slash jumps in. “You can guide us around them in thesky, old friend. You do not sneak around Discordia in this form. You fly as the crow, and transform when you are safe. Your methods will not apply directly to this situation.”
The dark-haired demon frowns, then looks thoughtful. He holds up a finger and then puts it down as he sighs. “Okay, the big man is right. While I know the routes and shit airborne, I haven’t studied the ground specifics as closely. I might be able to guide you, but I don’t feel one hundred percent now. Though, you bet your sweet asses that I’m going to correct that over the next week or so.”
Everyone falls quiet when he admits that, and Anton grins. “I would have had a much tougher time admitting that, O. KK would be proud of you.”
The last thing I need is them falling into a wankfest over their emotional growth and how happy it would make the absent member of our caliphate—at least, right now.
“Enough of that,” I bark as I rake my hand over my hair. My tail twitches as I pace back and forth, angry that we don’t seem to be able to figure out something that should be so simple. “Focus! If we can’t do this without losing the thread, we cannot function on the Games field. Not being able to think quickly as a unit will get us killed in that forum.”
“He’s right,” Slash says reluctantly. “Our lack of cohesion now is a bad omen for our performance there. We will deal with that after we resolve our current issue.”
“Maybe a different point of view would be helpful?”
We all whip around to see the very distraction I was fighting against dressed in someone’s oversized sweats with a cloaked demon and a pissy-looking kinkajou in tow. Rolling my eyes up to the sky, I push all my emotions back into the box again before they take over. I was hoping we’d figure this out before Kit emerged from the bathroom, but as usual, the universe cares not a whit for how its timing will affect the people walking around in it.
“KK!” Salem cries as he abandons his spot in the circle to walk over and pick the kid up and spin around. “You’re okay. I was worried, little dude.”
