“Yeah.” Peter shrugged. “But I’m gonna beat the crap out of him, so he won’t be recognizable.”
“He’s eventually going to heal though. You can’t beat him up that badly,” Kallon said.
Peter just grinned. “I won’t have to. After I re-lock Sie’s cage, I’ll shift into a bear, and then with her invisibility,” he gestured toward Dovelyn, “I’ll tear open the bottom of the cage, sending the fake Sie into the pit below, making it look like the crate gave out.”
“That’s barbaric,” I gasped. Even if the reasoning made sense, we couldn’t kill a guard just for working there, and the way Peter described the lower level… there was no way he was going to survive, and what they’d have to do to him to pull it off… “You said everyone dies that goes into the pit, how can you send a guard in there?”
“Scottie, if you met this guard, you’d want him dead. Trust me.”
I crossed my arms, not bothering to reply. I trusted Peter’s judgment, but it still felt wrong.
“That’s risking that no one stops and questions you,” Tezya said. “You could blow your cover. If someone stops you, you’ll basically be exchanging Sie’s spot in the prison for yourself. And,” he added, “what happens if someone is at this location? Dove might not be able to put Sie under her invisibility, and you’d be forced to go through with the torture room.” Tezya gestured toward the spot on the map Peter still had his finger on.
“I’ll stall.” Peter shrugged. “I’ll tie my shoe or something.”
“And if you can’t?” Tezya asked. “What happens if you have to bring Sie into it? Are you prepared to torture him?”
Peter shifted on the bed. “I’ll manage.”
“And you’re comfortable with that?” Tezya pressed. “Becausethis plan hasyouat risk more than anyone else. If you get caught, Dovelyn can’t save you.”
“I know the risk,” Peter replied harshly. “The plan will work, but we’ll have to time everything perfectly. The prison entrance only opens once a day. It’s the reason it took me so long to come back. Once we enter, we’ll be stuck there for exactly twenty-four hours. We’ll have to plan to break Sie out in perfect timing with the prison opening for the change of shift.”
No one commented on what that would mean. Dovelyn and Peter wouldn’t be able to hold their abilities for another day. If they didn’t make it out during the next change, they were never coming back. Their reserves would drain, and they’d be captured along with Sie.
I looked over at my friend lounging on the bed. He looked nowhere near ready to maintain his ability for an entire day, nonetheless, with multiple shifts this plan would require him to make.
He needed me. This plan needed me. I could use my enhancement to make sure their powers lasted long enough. I could do it.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go?” Tezya asked. “I could be useful if you get into trouble.”
“No offense, Fire Boy, but your flames won’t have any effect on the water, and if you burn the prison down, we’re all dead. It’s best if you sit this one out,” Peter interjected.
I knew Tezya wasn’t talking about his flames. He was talking about his Dark ability, his Tennebrisian power—his compulsion. But Peter was unconscious when he saved us, so he still had no idea what Tezya was capable of.
“No, Tez,” Dove answered. “It’s not worth the risk to bring you. One, I don’t want you using your powers, and two, I can’t cast that much of my own power to make you invisible too. My reserves wouldn’t last with you there.”
“Then bring me too,” I said. I was planning on goingwhether or not they agreed with me, but it would be a lot easier if they’d just say yes. “I’ll use my enhancement on you so you can use more of your air power to shield us.”
“No,” Tezya and Dove both said at the same time, before Dovelyn went on. “You haven’t trained with your enhancement at all. What if you can only use it for fifteen minutes? There’s no guarantee you’d be able to maintain that kind of power, and if you fail, you and Tezya will be seen, and we’ll all be dead. You’re too risky to bring along. You and Tezya will wait for us here. The plan is fine without you two.”
“I used my enhancement for a week straight when your father had me—”
“One week,” Dovelyn interrupted, her voice an icy rage. “You want to use that for your argument? That you trained forone week? I have a century over you.”
I crossed my arms as I slumped back against the wall. I’d never been more pissed off about my lack of training than I was right now. If I’d grown up in Lux and got to use my powers during school, if I’d trained my entire life with my abilities like everyone else had, they wouldn’t be questioning me. I knew I could do it. I knew I was capable. It’d be taxing and take everything out of me, but I could feel it in my bones that I would manage.
Peter looked between Tezya and me and smiled. “Oh, I would love to be a fly on the wall while you two are in here alone.”
Kallon gave Peter a knowing look, and he threw his hands up as he corrected, “Yuck. Not like thatbumblebee. They’re fighting not sleeping with each other. I just meant this should be interesting.”
“Bumblebee?” Kallon arched a thin brow.
He pointed to her hair. “Yeah cause black and yellow, get it? And I’m pretty confident you’ve got a stinger on you somewhere too.”
Tezya looked like he was about ready to murder Peter, and I wasn’t far off from doing it myself too.
Kallon looked him up and down before saying, “You’re odd.”
