I just wanted to disappear, and this outfit did not give me that opportunity. I tried to pull out my confidence for rescuing Ryland, but it was no use; only nervous energy remained.
“So, did you enjoy the meeting?” I looked up just as Ilyan pulled up a chair directly in front of me. His hair was too off-putting; I couldn’t seem to stop looking at it. It just made him look too much like Ryland would look without his curls.
“I suppose it would have been great if I had understood anything.”
“Sorry about that. But don’t worry, I’m here to give you the Cliff Notes.” He leaned forward and my eyes drifted to his short brown hair again in an effort to avoid eye contact.
“Gee, thanks.”
“We discussed our attack plan.”
I looked up expectantly, but he just sat there staring at me.
“And?”
“That’s it.”
Two hours of sitting in a hard chair and they had discussed the “attack plan”. Great.
“So what are they doing now? Planning the after-party?” I spat bitterly, but instead of laughing, Ilyan’s face fell instantly.
“They are saying goodbye to their loved ones, Siln?.”
I peeked around him to see Wyn and Talon with their arms wrapped around each other, a few other pairs coupled off around them. Most of the others were quietly talking on cell phones. I sat back in my chair, my nerves jumping angrily.
“Are you saying goodbye to your loved ones, too?” My eyes floated to Ovailia who stood against the wall, her head bowed.
“Of course.”
My stomach jumped at his response. I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it as my confidence wavered. Ilyan chuckled at my indecision and leaned back against his chair with his arms folded as if he was getting ready for a show. I determinedly looked away from him, but my eyes were automatically drawn to his hair again.
“Are you going to be looking at my hair all night, Joclyn?”
“No!” I responded, a blush at being caught rushing to my cheeks. “It just looks so weird on you.”
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” Ilyan said, pulling on one of the long, red strands that hung down at the sides of my face.
“Don’t remind me. My hair grows slowly, too; I am going to be stuck with this hairdo forever.”
To my embarrassment, Ilyan laughed, causing several people to turn.
“What?”
“You can grow it back with your magic, Joclyn.” Ilyan chuckled deeply at me, causing a furious blush to deepen against my cheeks.
“What?”
“Didn’t Wyn tell you?”
“No!” My mouth hung open in frustration.
Ilyan only continued to smile. “No wonder you looked so depressed when I saw you last night.”
Truthfully, I hadn’t been depressed because of my hair; I had been more concerned about his wicked father, but I wasn’t going to get into that right before we left to rescue his youngest brother.
I shook my head and slammed my bare back against the cold, metal chair. I tried to shift my clothes again, but there simply wasn’t enough fabric.
“So… are you going to tell me what this attack plan is?”
He sighed before nodding once and then angled his chair so we could both see the group that was still shuffling around the conference room.
“Wyn, Talon, Evert and Glenna will be clearing the roof. Ovailia, Ferne and Nyse will be clearing the upper hallways. Adyl, Benton and Eber will already be stationed at the party. Delia, Iolo, Jevon and Evadne will be clearing the exterior; and Tace and Zilla will be our forward guard. You will be with me.” He pointed each of them out as he spoke; my mind unable to connect faces with their unusual names.
“And what do we do?”
“Rescue Ryland,” he stated quietly. “I need you to get him to leave with you. We will all serve as some form of a distraction and guard while you get him out. Once you leave, we all leave. The longer you wait, the more dangerous this mission is for everyone.”
“Get him out, sounds easy enough,” I sighed sarcastically, thinking my task sounded anything but easy.
Getting him to follow me out would be easy, as long as he was Ryland. If he wasn’t Ryland, I wasn’t sure what he would do. He had attacked me in the T?uha when he had changed. If he did attack me tonight, I was not sure I was powerful enough yet to fight him off. Worse yet, what if I got him out as Ryland, and he changed once we left.
I sighed and sank into my chair a bit, feeling completely useless.
“I hope you’re right.” Ilyan’s hands writhed; he seemed to be thinking along the same lines I was. “We will go in under Zmiz?t and make our way into the main hall; that is where Ryland will be.”
“Zmiz?t?”
“Yes, it’s a shield that can cause you to be invisible. Of course, if it works in the LaRue estate with the same effectiveness it did on you, then we are all in trouble.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, my face squished together in confusion.