"That's why we need a distraction," Jax said. "Something loud. Something messy."
"I can do loud," Ivy volunteered.
"I can do messy," Rook added.
"And I can lead the distraction team," Jax said, flashing his fangs. "The Night District owes me a favor. I can bring a vampire riot to the front gates."
"And I," Stone sighed, "will coordinate the Enforcer response to ensure they are... delayed. Traffic jams. Paperwork errors. The usual bureaucracy."
"You'd do that?" Ivy looked at him, surprised. "You'd break the rules?"
Stone looked at her. Really looked at her. "There are rules," he said gruffly. "And there is right. I know the difference."
"Okay," I said, feeling the adrenaline spike. "So that's the plan. We build the shield. We starve the beast. We riot."
"Operation Starvation," Kai said. "I like it."
"One problem," Arthur said, raising his hand. "To cover the whole campus, Lina needs a central focal point. Somewhere that connects to all the ley lines."
"The Bell Tower," Amelia said instantly. "It's the highest point. And it sits directly on the convergence."
"The Bell Tower is in the Dean's office," Rhett pointed out. "We have to break into his lair."
"He invited me," I reminded them. "Five PM tomorrow. I'm supposed to give him my answer."
"So you go in," Lucien said. "Trojan Horse style. You distract him. And we sneak in through the maintenance hatch."
"I can get you the codes," Amelia said tapping the file. "And Arthur knows the ventilation system."
"I spend a lot of time in the ducts," Arthur admitted. "It's quiet."
I looked around the room. The disparate, chaotic, wonderful group of misfits.
A Wolf Triad.
A Chaos Witch.
A Vampire Barista.
A Rogue Enforcer.
A Fae Professor.
A Fallen Princess.
And a Human Archivist.
"We have twenty-four hours," I said. "Let's get to work."
Ivy grabbed a slice of pizza and raised it in a toast.
"To the Resistance," she cheered.
"To the Resistance," we echoed.
And for the first time, I actually believed we might win.
13
