Rocked by Love (Gargoyles, #4)(72)



“Okay, all that makes sense,” Kylie acknowledged, “but us staying away until Sunday and then just strolling in blind does not. We need to get an idea of the layout of the room, the entrances and exits, where the stage will be set up, what pathways will be laid, how traffic will flow. All of that will not only help us figure out where they’re most likely to set the portals, it will also tell us the best ways to get people out quickly if we need to do that.”

“Which means someone will have to take a look around at some point,” Fil said. “I’m thinking Saturday afternoon or evening. For an early Sunday event that large, the convention staff is going to want to set up the room the day before at least, to give themselves plenty of time.”

“And this risks the same problem of detection as attendance at the dinner,” Dag grumbled.

“Not necessarily,” Spar said, his gaze turning to Kylie. “While I do feel a small aura around your Kylie, she has not yet been Warden long enough to read as one. Her magic has such a unique flavor to it that it does not make one think of the Guild at all, especially not from any distance. I think she might pass entirely undetected, or if not, as merely an untrained human with potential. Someone might target her for recruitment, but I doubt they would perceive her as a threat.”

Kylie thought of the possibility of a nocturni attempting to lure her to the dark side as they had with Dennis Ott and his girlfriend. “Yeah, that would go well for everyone.”

“Wynn is the other logical choice,” Knox growled, not sounding happy with his own conclusion. “As much as I dislike the idea of sending you into such a nest of vipers without me by your side, you are the most likely to pass beneath their notice. Your magical energy still reads at first glance as witch, not as Warden. You should be able to pass as nothing more than a witch with a strong interest in the environmental actions the conference will be espousing.”

“I agree.” Wynn smiled and leaned over to kiss him lightly. “But you get special brownie points for figuring it out on your own and not pouting about it too much.”

Fil stifled a smirk. You know, eventually. “Alrighty then, so if Kylie and Wynn are going to be our advance team, when do we send them in to reconnoiter?”

“The conference opens Friday afternoon, with the welcome dinner that evening. Since we’ve put the kibosh on attending the dinner, we definitely have to be there on Saturday, preferably early, or after the fuss I made getting on the list, it’s going to look weird.”

“Well, nothing says we have to spend the whole day there,” Wynn said. “We can show up early to check in, disappear for a while, and go back when we think we have the best chance to get a look at the keynote room setup. At an event that big, it’s easy for people to assume you’re just at one of the other sessions if they don’t see you in theirs.”

“Yeah, that could work in our favor.”

“Gathering our information on Saturday will not allow us a great deal of time to set up our defenses,” Kees observed. “We will need to strategize the best method to deal with the attacks we expect and make plans that require only fine adjustments to the details in order to operate successfully.”

“Agreed. And you in particular have a lot to learn,” Wynn said, fixing her gaze on Kylie. “Have you been practicing the things I showed you?”

“Me?”

“No, the other brand-new Warden in the room.” Her tone could teach dry to a desert. “Ella, Fil, and I have all experienced battle with the nocturnis. We know what to expect, but you don’t. Those exercises I taught you are going to become really important really fast.”

“Yes, I’ve been practicing. Every day even.”

“Good.” The witch pushed to her feet and motioned for the other women to join her. “Because the girls and I are going to have to teach you a few tricks. The nocturnis fight dirty, and they like to fight with magic. We’re going to give you a crash course in self-defense and show you what you need to know to help us either stop those portals from opening, or take them out fast, if they do manage to form. Got it?”

All at once, the reality of everything they had been talking about for the past month came crashing down on Kylie’s head. She felt a whole lot like her cartoon namesake right after the Acme contraption blew up in his face. She wondered vaguely if her ears were smoking.

But Kylie also knew that defeating her adversary meant a lot more than roast Road Runner for dinner. If she and her new friends failed to counter the Order’s planned attack, people would die. Hundreds of people, if not thousands. How could a person live with herself if she didn’t do every single thing in her power to prevent such a tragedy from happening?

She didn’t know, but she knew that she could not. She hadn’t been raised that way, she wasn’t built that way, and she wasn’t going down that way. Not without a fight.

Taking a deep breath, Kylie pushed to her feet and squared her shoulders. “Well, then, let’s get started.”

*

Oy vey iz mir!

“Now I know the real reason why they call Wynn a witch.” Kylie groaned and collapsed back onto her mattress way, way, way after she would have preferred to appear there. “She’s like the Genghis Khan of teachers. I swear by all that’s holy, I wasn’t this tired and sore after the one time I let Bran talk me into that fitness boot camp class. In fact, I think if that instructor met Wynn, he would have run away screaming.”

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