“Why so soon?” Marcus asked.
“Because that’s when my father is hosting his annual gala, the Blood Moon Ball,” Ivy explained. “It’s a big party he holds every year in the ballroom on the top floor of The Devil’s City. Vampires never sleep, so the party goes on from one night and into the next. It gives him and his business partners a chance to mingle and make deals.”
“He just had his annual convention in New York, and now he’s throwing a ball?” Kallie asked.
“He’s a very busy man. Or, to put it bluntly, he throws a lot of fucking parties to keep his morons entertained so they don’t get into trouble,” Ivy replied. “Most of the vampires bring…extra guests. Guests who never leave. My father pays a price for them, so all guests need to be properly vetted. Security is going to be diverted toward the gala.”
Ava gave a shudder beside me, and she spoke in a disgusted tone. “You’re talking about blood slaves. It’s a gala to getvaluable people into the building and trade them amongst top mobsters.”
“Yes,” Ivy said regrettably. “I know what you’re thinking, Ava, and it’s not going to happen. We can’t break these people out. We can slip out with the vampire key while my father is distracted with the gala, but we’re never going to get those blood slaves past him.”
“If we get the vampire key and win this war, we can free those blood slaves when the time comes,” I added. “It’s imperative that the key is our one and only focus, because we can’t afford any distractions. We need the vampire key so we can open the Elven Gate and save the afterlife, or no amount of rescuing people will bring them salvation.”
“All right,” Ava agreed, though I could tell she didn’t like it. “We go in for the key and the key alone.”
“We can’t cross paths with my father,” Ivy added. “That’s a hard, fast rule we all need to play by. If he gets you in his sights, he willnothesitate to kill you by any means necessary. You already got past him once, and Salvatore Bianchineverlets anyone escape. The fact that you did once is already a miracle, and you can bet your pretty little asses you won’t get away a second time. He’ll either take you into custody to do with you as he pleases, or he’ll kill you on the spot.”
“Which is why we won’t be crossing his path,” I continued. “We’ll be accessing the building from the bottom up, to avoid the gala.”
“How exactly do we do that?” Kallie asked. “We can’t just walk through the front doors. Surely they have alarm systems that will detect us immediately, even if we use illusions to disguise ourselves.”
I smirked. “We don’t have to go through the front doors, because we have our own way in. Listen carefully, because everything must go according to plan.”
The room went silent as everyone leaned in to listen.
“Our home base will be at the Scarlet Grand Hotel eight blocks from The Devil’s City,” I explained. “The hotel is owned by an Elvish-vampire hybrid who is a rival of Salvatore Bianchi’s. He’s worked with the Majestica family before, and he’s an ally of ours that Max is already in touch with. The hotel is heavily warded, so we’ll be protected from being tracked by Salvatore’s people. We’ll set up at the penthouse suite, which has a clear view of The Devil’s City’s tower. Asa and Aries will be on the ground, going undercover as security officers who will hack into The Devil’s City security feed and sending that information back to Max and Gavyn at the Scarlet Grand. The Elvish Associates will cover our tracks on the cameras, as well as use them to help us navigate the tower. We’ll all have earpieces to stay in contact. Elyx will be stationed on the hotel roof. He’ll be standing by to take out any potential threats on the target floor via sniper rifle.”
“I should stay with the Elvish Associates at the Scarlet Grand,” Ava offered. “We need a back-up plan in case communication goes down. I’ll be able to telepathically communicate with Charlie. Plus, I’m clever, and I can piece stuff together quickly without getting distracted. I’ll be able to watch the cameras and know what you need to do if something goes wrong. You need someone who can make hard decisions on the fly, and I’ll be able to do that.”
I nodded firmly. “I was thinking the exact same thing, pidge. As for the rest of you, you’ll be on my team, infiltrating The Devil’s City. I expect this to be a clean job, but I’m also planning ahead for any and all potential mishaps. Which means Oberi will be coming with me in case anyone needs to be healed. Let’s hope we don’t need her.”
Ooh, yay!Oberi exclaimed.I was hoping to be in on the action.
I began pacing around the room. “We will strike during the daytime, beginning at ten in the morning. Vampires have a hard time moving around in daylight, and it will be difficult for them to follow us outside if we run into any snags. By then, the Blood Moon Ball will have been going on for several hours, and security will have lowered their guard. The gala will continue throughout the day and into the night, so we’ll have time to pull this off while Salvatore is distracted. We can’t portal into the building, because we’ve never been there before, so our portals won’t be precise enough. We could end up anywhere in the casino, and we can’t take such a risk, though we can portal out once the mission is complete.”
I’d circled the whole table and stopped at my spot in the front of the room again. “Ivy’s our guide to get us inside and to the right place. We’ll start at the storm sewers. The same network that runs beneath the Scarlet Grand also runs under The Devil’s City. There isn’t direct access to The Devil’s City through these tunnels, but all we need is to get under the building, and I can use my Earth powers to dig our way upward. Since we won’t be entering the building through any known access points, it shouldn’t trip the wards or alarms. For added security, Marcus will brew a potion that will ward us from tipping off the vampires. I’ll dig a tunnel up through the boiler room in the basement, which Ivy has outlined in their blueprints. From there, we’ll access the service elevator shaft and climb our way to the target floor. That way, we’ll avoid all cameras and security.”
“What about once we reach the target floor?” Kallie wondered. “That place is going to be crawling with security.”
“That’s Marcus’ and Eddie’s job,” I said. “They’ll be several steps ahead of us, acting as spies so we can circumvent any obstacles in our path. Marcus can use his Seer powers to read minds and detect if anyone is coming our way, as well as break any wards we might encounter. We have to be careful, though,because that will raise alarms, and we want to do this without altering anyone. Eddie can phase people through walls, like he did in Celestial City, as well as get us out of danger quickly if something goes wrong. Rishi will be on site with Marcus, as an extra pair of eyes and ears. Once we get to the target floor, we’ll have to move quickly, because we want to get in and out without raising any alarms. That’s where you come in, Kallie.”
I drew a breath, because this is where weneededthe plan to work to stay undetected. Otherwise, it was going to turn into a bloodbath. “Once we’re out of the elevator shaft, Kallie will need to stop time for as long as she can, so we can get to the target room and break in before Salvatore’s people can come after us. If wedorun into any vampires, Chancey will be along as our muscle, holding off any guards so Kallie and I can keep moving. Once Kallie and I reach the target room, we’ll take out the final security guards and input the door code we retrieved from Salvatore’s men. Kallie will crack the safe, and I’ll have a mirror along so I can portal us all out.”
“You really think we can pull this off without Salvatore knowing we’re there?” Marcus asked.
“Yes, but we’ll have to work quickly,” I said. “Once we arrive in Chicago, we risk Salvatore finding out, even if we’re warded from tracking. He has eyes and ears everywhere. We can’t lose this key again, so we have to get to the key before Salvatore is alerted of a threat.”
“We can give ourselves twenty-four hours,” Ivy added. “That’s it. Otherwise, we risk the key being moved again.”
“Who’s to say the key hasn’t already been moved?” Kallie asked. “We already had a run-in with your father once.”
“It’s dangerous for my father to move the key unless he knows it’s safe to do so, or unless he detects an immediate threat,” Ivy replied. “He wouldn’t trust anyone else to move it but himself, and once he does, he has to set up a whole nothersystem to keep it safe again, and dismantle the one he’s already got set up. There are multiple people after the key, including the Warden. It’s safer in The Devil’s City than it is anywhere else, even if he suspects someone’s coming for it, because as long as it’s there, he can defend it.”
“What if something goes wrong?” Marcus questioned. “Someone could get hurt.”
“That’s why we’ve got multiple people on each job,” I said. “If something happens to you, for example, Eddie can clear a path for us. Last time, things didn’t work out because we didn’t account for potential hiccups. We need to expect thatanythingcan happen, and be able to pivot in any situation. During the bank robbery, Kallie couldn’t portal us out, so I’ll have a pocket mirror so we’ve got two portal makers. If Kallie can’t stop time, Chancey’s along to buy us time to fight our way out. If we run into wards, you can break them, and if you can’t, I can siphon the magic and break them anyway. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, because an Elf breaking a ward is going to be worse than a witch, and it’ll draw a lot of attention. But it’s something we need to consider if things go sideways. Furthermore, if something happens to Ivy and they can’t guide us, Ava will be back at the Scarlet Grand monitoring the cameras and telling us where to go.”
I crossed my arms. “But this only works if everyone follows orders, no questions asked. With Ava watching the cameras, she’s going to see things we won’t, and we won’t have time to hesitate. We need to trust each other on this.”
