JC, watching Felix covertly, sighed to herself. This was taking much too long. Plan B it is, I guess. Can't risk you making a fuss and alerting anyone else.

While the cook turned his attention to making salad, his motions a trifle less efficient than normal, JC slipped casually into the pantry with a small round-bottomed dessert bowl, and opened the cupboard that held Isabel's special mixtures. The magical lock on it had taken her only a moment to unravel, days ago, and no one had noticed since the lock was supposed to allow Isabel and Felix to open the cabinet door freely. She scooped more of the sleepy mixture into the bowl, closed everything up, and went back out to the kitchen. Felix, as near as she could tell, was paying no attention at all.

She added just enough soup to the bowl to turn the contents into a couple of tablespoons of rather thick liquid. According to Isabel's notes, that would be enough to knock out an agitated midway-phase faeling for several hours. She stirred it with a fingertip, silently, and glanced at Felix again.

Still oblivious.

I can do this.

After everything, be glad this is all I'm doing. You're going to take a nap and when you wake up it'll all be over. Well, probably you'll wake up eventually. And that I actually don't much care whether you do or not is your own fault!

She strode across the kitchen, the bowl in her right hand.

When she laid her left hand on his shoulder, he turned towards her, blinking in confusion. She took care never to draw attention to herself, and it was very clear that his mind wasn't processing the unexpected at optimal speed.

There being scant hair to get a grip on, she grabbed him by the back of the head with her left hand, tilted it back, and tipped the contents of the bowl into his mouth. Heedless of whether it broke—though making a mess gave her a strong inward jolt of discomfort—she dropped the bowl, and cupped her right hand over his chin and mouth to force the latter to stay closed. Her left arm she wrapped across his chest to pin him against her body. She was so much taller than him that his head was resting in the middle of her chest. That was a problem mostly in the difficulty it created in getting a firm grip.

The soup made the herb mixture more slippery and coherent than the dry ground form alone, and the taste was familiar enough that he automatically swallowed, twice.

It must have finally registered that it didn't taste right, because he bellowed something that was muffled by JC's hand—judging by the rhythm in part, she thought she made out fairy bitch, one of his commonly-used phrases.

She was going to have trouble holding him as he thrashed, she discovered—she was much stronger than he was, but she didn't have the skills that might have made it possible to hold him and keep him quiet despite the height difference. He was throwing everything he had into fighting her, and even a split-second slip would let that shout escape. She didn't dare let the hand over his mouth move even a fraction, or she'd leave him the chance to bite, sound the alarm, or both.

*Zach! Need you!*

*Coming,* Zach said.

*Nestor's in the boom-room,* Alison said. *Saw him go in. Only Isabel and Phrixos who might see you. You okay, Jace?*

*Fast, please! Less risk of being seen down the hall than of him managing to yell before he passes out. Would you believe I'm too tall? Especially in these damned heels?*

Violet-scaled hands seized Felix's, interrupting his efforts to pry her arms away.

Zach's tail lashed around Felix's knees and jerked hard enough that JC felt the force of it and had to adjust her own balance to compensate. Felix's entire body convulsed as he fought, screaming smothered curses or threats or both into JC's hand the entire time. Flushed as he was, JC might have worried about his heart failing under other circumstances.

With one more particularly powerful spasm, one JC wasn't sure was under conscious control, the cook went utterly, bonelessly limp.

Was it for real, or a trick?

*That was odd,* Zach said.

*Drugs kicking in?* JC said.

*Not what I mean.* Zach uncoiled his tail and caught hold of it with one hand so he could examine it near the end, leaving JC to hold Felix. *Huh. Well, that's kinda neat. If I'm stuck with having a tail, at least it comes with a bonus.*

*What are you talking about?* Suzi asked.

*Felt something weird while we were holding him, then he just collapsed. Just before the end of my tail, there's a retractable... sting? claw? I have no idea what to call it, but I didn't even know it was there until now. That's not nearly big enough to be very dangerous alone, so I'm guessing, I've got poison.*

*Venom,* JC said. *Or toxin. Not poison.*

*Seriously? Now, you need to nitpick terminology when I'm pretty sure the meaning was clear?*

*Sorry. Reflex.*

*I've got pretty lights and you've got venom,* Suzi said. *This is so totally not fair.*

*He's still breathing,* JC said. *And there's the odd little muscle tremor making me wonder whether he's conscious but paralyzed, although that could have other reasons. Let's see if he's out for real.* Cautiously, she let go, letting Felix fall to the floor with deliberate roughness and watching for any reaction.

Felix, right now, even more closely resembled a puppet than she did, one with the strings cut. He was still breathing, although it was slow and shallow and probably not ideal.

*I think we can assume Felix is no longer an issue,* she decided. *Let's toss him in the pantry out of sight. We've still got a lot to do. Whatever you've got, let's hope you're good for more than one attack without time to recover.*

*I could say something there,* Theo said. *But I'll be good.*

*We're all adults, Theo,* Zach said, seizing Felix's other wrist. Between them, dragging him across the floor to and into the pantry took little time and less effort. *And we know you. I think we can probably figure out what you mean.* He waved JC out in front of him. Finding a way to seal the door of the pantry would be a waste of time: it risked attracting notice, and Felix shouldn't be a threat until well after it no longer mattered. *Need to get back to Kayla, she's alone and probably worried. Ali, how are you doing with Lloyd?*

*Taking him to the stable,* Alison said. *We can leave him there and bar the door again, he'll be out of sight and probably no other fae'll eat him while he's helpless. He had tattooed charms, for god's sake. I think he could've been really dangerous to us if we'd tried any other approach. I've got him slung over my shoulder and Suze has him so well wrapped all he can do is wiggle. Suze can hide in the stable again, I'll watch from my pasture, and Des'll go prowling to double-check that Nestor is still in the boom-room. But Lloyd's definitely and officially no longer an issue.*

*Erica?* JC asked, picking up the dessert dish—which had survived—and kneeling to wipe up the area around it.

*Barry's with the wisp flock, chest-deep in muck and unable to look away from the pretty lights, and I'm partway back,* Erica said.

*That's four,* Theo said. *The easiest four, but still, it's a good start. All pretty much according to plan so far, at least.*

*There's a saying,* JC said, *that no plan ever survives actually engaging your enemy. No way to be sure what they're planning in turn.*

*Uh, actually,* Des said, *we do know what they might be planning. Possibly, Isabel and the wizards are going to cover their tracks by nuking the entire island and disappearing. Presumably if they're going to do that, it'll be before Riley comes back.*

*Oh fuck. She did tell Isabel, oh-so-casually and almost as a joke, that some wizard had opened the Gate and was going to come looking for her in half an hour real-world time so she couldn't spend too long on tea and chitchat. I wonder if Isabel is going to assume that Riley will be back with the cavalry on that half-hour mark?*

*Which she is.*

*Well, yes, but you know that because she told you. It's a good thing this plan isn't going take us very long, because I don't know about you, but I have no trouble believing they would do that. And then move on, lay low for a bit, and start all over again.* No trace of a struggle remained, and that nagging feeling of disorder went away. She got to her feet, which was most comfortable as a kind of single hands-free motion that kept her back straight, and on the way to the sink, paused to turn the stove down to minimal heat. The heat would be enough to keep the pork tenderloin inside safe for a cat and allow it to continue cooking very slowly. *Theo, where are you?*

*Made it to the fountain,* Theo said promptly. *With an escort of two. Pretty sure Dulce would've come too if she could. I think Orfeo and Paz are worried about me. I'm trying to get across what we're doing, because at this point, why not? They're already involved. Understandably, they have serious doubts, and they're discussing a lot back and forth that I'm missing, but they seem interested and I don't see any indication they want to abandon me. No idea whether they'll actively help, or how, but I doubt they'll interfere.*

*Friendly or not,* Zach said, *if they do, you'll have to stop them. No matter what.*

*I know. I really don't want to, but I know.*

*They've never been aggressive,* Des said. *Theo's actions must look bizarre even with whatever they're gathering from the sort-of communication they've got going, and that's probably going to get worse when they see us pounce Nestor. Guess we'll see.*

*We already owe them,* JC said. *Beyond everything for the past ten or twelve days, that is, just for helping Theo. Erica, any idea how long to get here?*

*It's going to take me a few. I mean, the swamp is in the middle of bloody nowhere. But it won't be all that long. I just reached the outer edge of the clover-alfalfa-vetch hollow—I still think that's meant for rabbits, originally.*

*Not so far,* Des said. *Straight across is exposed but fast. Stop talking about rabbits, you're making me hungry.*

*Sorry. And I know. One lake to avoid and the oak-and-beech woods to get through and I'll be practically at the wall.*

*I'm not that far from the house,* Theo said. *I'll be visible since there's no cover to speak of, but the distance isn't all that far. There is that serious question of whether my voice'll work on a wizard. Saw it again with Gord, I think it's heavily sex-based. But I can try.*

*There's more to you than your voice,* Zach said. *And there's more to sex than being able to get it up, even I know that.*

JC paused to think. They had to get the timing right. No second chances. And now that they'd started, the clock was ticking. Indoors, they needed two who met two key criteria: plausibly were acting under Isabel's orders, and could create a clear and believable threat display without actually disabling the target. Zach, beyond question, was one of the two. Des and JC each met one of the criteria very strongly but not the other. Erica was both at a disadvantage indoors and too far away. Would hypnotic abilities, whether sonic or visual, be able to do less than all-or-nothing? If those abilities failed entirely against the wizards, which was quite likely, then what about once Isabel was down and it all came down to their last and most dangerous target?

*I think it would be best to stick with the idea of Ali being with Zach. That should scare anyone, without necessarily overwhelming him. I'll stay with Kayla and protect her. But it's going to get nasty if there are only three of us against Phrixos, so since Nestor's out of the house and we can take him out separately, that's safer. Des, Erica, you get to keep Theo and Suze safe in case the hypno stuff bounces on Nestor. Take no chances with him. If the hypno thing works, great, but gag him fast and don't let him make gestures even if you have to break fingers. Let us know when you're fairly sure you're almost done so we can start in here, we just need to know you'll be able to join in once Isabel's down.*

*Meow,* Des said.

*Meow?* Past a wave of amusement from the others—nerves were, after all, stretched tight.

*What else do you expect a cat to say? Yes, ma'am, right away ma'am?*

*I swear your behaviour is getting stranger by the day, furball,* Zach said, but nothing suggested anything other than affection under it.

*Then she's in good company,* Theo said.

*I'll be here with Kayla until we get to the next bit. She's jumpy but she's not arguing, thank god. Just say when.*

Please let me be judging right, JC thought fervently, acutely aware of the background sense of agreement with her directions, with no perceptible dissent. I don't know how I ended up more or less in charge. But all I'm going on is years of experience working out strategies for gaming and adapting fast to players doing the unexpected! Plausible fantasy isn't the same as real life, no matter how much research, and this is going to have consequences if I mess it up!

*Front door or back?* Alison asked. *Just let me dump this load and I'm there. The closer I am, the less time we can waste once we get the go-ahead.*

*Front. Are you sure you can handle the stairs?*

*I can run up and down hills. Don't worry. I promise, I've got the flexibility to get a hoof onto the next step and the strength and leverage to bring the rest of me up with it. It just might not be quiet.*

*Got it covered. Should give you better traction too.*

*There as soon as I can.*

*Ditto,* Erica said. *We got this, it's going to go... maybe not perfectly, but it's going to work and after this, the nightmare's over.*

*The worst of it,* Zach said, but even relayed, JC thought there was little force behind it. That same creeping feeling of rightness had taken longer for some than others, but it was relentless. In another month, would they have forgotten what it felt like to be any other way?

This wasn't the time for that.

*I really hope,* Suzi said, *nobody minds if I'm praying really hard for all of us right now.*

*We can use all the help we can get, Suze,* Theo said. *By any name.*

JC left Kayla to Zach for the moment and went to the laundry room. From behind empty baskets, under the table to fold laundry on, she retrieved a thick rolled rug, no more than three feet wide. She was sure the weight would have been significant for a human, but it was negligible for her as she brought it out to the hall and started up the stairs with the rug.

*Getting out of the water,* Theo said. *Where to?*

*Think he's still in the boom-room,* Des reported. *Going to have to be careful confirming that, hard place to sneak into even for me.*

*Be there soon. With my escort still, at least for the moment. Not sure who's likely to see me at this point, but I'll try to stay at least sort of out of sight.*

*Gonna donate seven cases of the best canned food to kitties in need in the name of Ceiling Cat if this all works right.*

*Aren't you more like Basement Cat's humanoid avatar?* Erica asked.

*Donate in my own name?*

*Silly me. How often does this work for you when you're doing computers? No, never mind. Suze is already asking for help by one deity, or one aspect, or one name, or something like that. Suze, hope you don't mind. I'll toss in at least a storage bin worth of fresh produce for humans in need, if this works. In the names of Ceiling Cat and misunderstood Basement Cat. Why not? What've we got to lose?*

   *   *   *

Zach abruptly leaving, with no explanation beyond, “Jace needs help, stay here,” had been more than a little alarming, as had the sounds of a struggle from farther back on the ground floor. Gritting her teeth, Kayla resisted the urge to follow.

Breathe, she reminded herself. Just breathe. Bad moments end. Just trust them to know what they're doing. Stay still and don't interfere or you might mess things up. Just breathe until it's time.

Everything went still.

It didn't take Zach long to rejoin her.

“Four down,” he said. “Wizard and medium upstairs. Need to take out wizard outside first. Need you to stay safe out of sight with Jace. When you get a chance at that cuff, take it. Can protect you from everything once it's yours.”

Remarkable how fast one could, amidst distractions, just stop finding anything odd in a friend covered in a living armour of pale violet scales, with a serpentine tail held in a lazy curve that moved fluidly as a counterbalance. On the other hand, it somehow just felt like Zach's real self turned up to eleven, so she filed it to ponder later.

“Please don't get yourselves hurt. Or killed. Any of you.”

“Have to be alive to go home. Will be okay. Over soon. Just stay safe and get that cuff.”

“Got it.”

He kept ahold of one hand as he urged her back out to the hall.

At the top of the stairs, or at least, the second-floor landing since they clearly continued, she could see JC doing something. She jumped slightly as a long rug unrolled, bouncing to an end well past the bottom step. JC straightened, and started down the stairs, flattening the rug on each riser as she went. The rug matched the rest of the decor, such as it was, quite well; she wondered why it had been removed. Then she wondered why JC had chosen now to redecorate.

JC reached the bottom, and vanished down the hall.

The front door opened, quietly; it was a bit of a surprise to see Alison, after the comment about not being stealthy. Alison flashed her a quick smile, and turned her attention to the stairs.

Suddenly, the rug made sense. Despite a healthy layer of fat providing very pleasant curves, Alison was probably mostly muscle, and combined with that height and the sturdy bone structure, Kayla figured she must weigh at least three hundred pounds. All that coming down on those hard ultramarine hooves, a limited point of pressure with no cushioning at all, onto bare wood, would almost certainly have been loud even if Alison went painfully slowly. As it was, the thick rug muffled the sound to a considerable degree.

JC returned with a second rug, which she passed to Zach. A pale, ragged-edged rag had been tucked into the front of her corset, leaving her hands free.

Zach caught Kayla's gaze and tossed his head in JC's direction, before following Alison. Passing her, actually, slithering between her and the wall with the rug, which was maybe for the next flight of stairs?

JC caught Kayla's hand, which was definitely a peculiar feeling, something like holding hands with someone wearing a close-fitting latex glove. Behind Alison, they climbed the stairs.

Dragon was a good name for what Zach was, Kayla reflected, and Alison's forehead ornament suggested that she wasn't so much a strikingly-coloured horse—Kayla chased the term pony-girl away firmly when it offered itself again—as a unicorn. Which meant she was following a dragon and a unicorn up a flight of stairs with a ridiculously sexy fetish maid.

Life got very intensely surreal in the past... how long? A day or so? A few hours? For me, at least?

The second floor seemed to have a lot of doors, but her companions ignored those, so Kayla dismissed them as irrelevant.

Zach, by the time they got there, had already tossed the second rug off the third floor landing, and was working his way down hastily—it wasn't a neat job, but there was less chance of tripping, at least. Then he darted back up, actually dropping to all fours briefly which was interesting and seemed to be faster, though it made Kayla think of geckoes again.

At the third floor, Zach waited patiently for everyone else to catch up before he opened one of the three visible doors, so slowly and carefully there was no sound at all. JC urged Kayla inside after Alison, and Zach followed them in and closed the door.

Possibly she could have called this a sitting or living room, but it was so spartan and bare that she wasn't sure it really qualified as either. While it did have a sofa and a couple of leather-upholstered chairs plus a table with two hard chairs, everything seemed devoid of colour or style or anything suggesting more than strict utilitarianism.

“The others are after Nestor,” Alison said quietly, with a nervous look towards the door they'd come through. “This is his suite. He won't be here. Other two... shouldn't come here. We need to be close to move fast. Need surprise on our side. Others will say when.”

“Anything unexpected,” Zach said, “stay behind us.”

“Believe me, I plan to,” Kayla said. “The others are okay?” Oh Theo, please please don't get hurt...

“Yes,” Alison said. “We have friends. Theo has friends. Helpful ones.”

“Imagine that. Other faelings?”

“Yes. Need to wait. Sorry. Not for long.”

Kayla sighed and shrugged. “Whatever it takes. There are worse things in the world than waiting.” Although not knowing what's going on when your BFF's on the front line bumps it a tad bit higher up the list...