“It’s yours,” Bette said.
Etta raised her hand. “I don’t suppose anyone has a sword?”
Bette pursed her lips and nodded. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Excellent, and while I’m not verycunning,” I inwardly groaned, instantly regretting my wordplay. “I think I have a plan. Something that should throw William for a loop.”
“We’re listening,” Doc said.
“Let’s Scrooge the asshole and give him a taste of the ghost of vernal equinox past.” They all looked at me as if I’d gone a bit sideways in the brain. “Betteisthe ghost,” I explained to a collective sound of “Ah.”
Bette nodded. “I’ll do it. I’ve been hiding myself away for far too long. I’ve missed so much.” She gave Doc a meaningful glance. “I don’t want to miss any more of my life because of that bastard.”
Doc’s eyes softened around the edges, and at some point, the light gray had replaced his wolf. “Thank you, Bette. I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”
She inclined her head at him. “I know you will.”
Since Doc and Chavvah knew the lay of the land, they took the lead on the particulars. “Chav will go in through a second-story window at the back of the house.”
“I climbed a tree in the backyard. That was the one empty room I could find. There’s a bed in there, but no sheets. It’s probably the safest bet and hopefully an easy in.” Chav looked at Bette. “How far does your moonstone go on this peninsula?”
“All the way to the end,” she said. “There should be enough to dampen their senses, but as Billy Bob proved earlier, lycanthropic abilities are still there, just watered down, so don’t chance any extra noise if you can help it.”
I hadn’t been planning on going bull-in-China-shop on the mission, so I just nodded my understanding.
“Jo Jo, you and Etta go in through the kitchen window,” Doc continued. “It’s far enough away from the bedrooms that there should be some cover. Bette will hang outside the house with the shotgun,” he cast me a “sorry, but she’s going to need it more than you look,” then added, “Then the rest of us will wait for the signal.”
“Don’t worry,” Bette told me. “I have a few things that might suit you just as well.”
“I’ll take them.” I smiled. “Thanks.”
“And what will you do?” Etta asked Doc.
The wolf shifter gave his daughter a tight smile. “I’m the bait, baby girl.” He shook his head. “Sorry. That just came out.”
“It’s okay.” I could feel her tense next to me as she gave her father a wary yet eager look. “It’s…nice.”
“Nice, huh?” His smile softened at the edges. “All right then. I’ll draw them out. You guys come in behind them. The only way War is going down is if we hit him hard and fast. He’ll be the toughest. Once he’s down, the others will scatter. Then we get William. Bette will come out and scare the crap out of him. Once he’s off balance, it’s go-time.”
“It can’t be that easy,” I said.
“Oh, it won’t be,” Etta chimed in.
Chavvah put her hand on my shoulder. “It never is.”
* * *
Etta – What’s with all the cannibalism?
My insides wenta bit squishy when Doc called me baby girl. I’d heard him call my little brother baby boy more than once when he would rock him to sleep or change his diapers. But now wasn’t the time to go soft. We were going into battle, and I had to put my big girl armor on if we had any real shot of ruining William’s plans to make me his main course.
Luckily, we weren’t going in empty-handed. The other “goodies” in Bette’s arsenal were two tasers, some pepper spray, a dog whistle, two switchblades, some brass knuckles, and an elven short sword replica from the Lord of the Rings. It turned out Henry was a geek for the books and the movies. His obsession was my good luck because the sword was lightweight and razor-sharp.
“Nice,” I said approvingly as she passed out the weapons. Doc took one of the switchblades, and Jo Jo took the other and the brass knuckles.
“I’ll take a taser,” Chav said. “And the pepper spray.”
“Taser for me too.” I picked up the dog whistle and blew it. Everyone covered their ears but me. “I’ll take this too. It’ll annoy the shit out of them if nothing else.”
