“What about the eclipse?” I asked. “Won’t that make Caleb even more of a threat?”
“The ceremony starts at midnight,” Lisa said. “The eclipse isn’t supposed to begin until about twelve twenty-five. We’ll just need to make sure Caleb is taken care of before it begins. They can last several hours, so the sooner we can finish this, the better.”
“I imagine it would be best if we could concentrate most of the fighting here.” Daniel pointed at the open area he’d marked as the “barnyard” on his map. “Try to keep the fighting out in the open.”
“But if the house and the barn are within the challenging ring, then people can take the fight in there, right?” I asked.
Jarem nodded.
“The barn doesn’t worry me so much,” Daniel said. “It’s still pretty open inside. However, I’ve been inside the house. The rooms are small and cramped, and there are far too many places to hide. Chasing someone in there might end up being an ambush.”
Brent suddenly jumped like he’d been shocked with a jolt of electricity “What if we got rid of the house?” he asked, an expression of maniacal glee on his face. “Made it go boom.”
“What?” Daniel and I asked at same time.
“Are you suggesting we blow up the farmhouse?” Daniel asked.
“Why not?” Brent pressed his finger to the bridge of his nose like he was pushing up an imaginary pair of glasses. “Seeing that thing go up would definitely freak out the Shadow Kings. Ahks and Gelals hate fire almost as much as Slade.”
Slade shot Brent a look like he wanted to pound him.
“What? I’m just saying.…” Brent shrugged dramatically.
“I like the way you’re thinking,” I said. “But what if we could somehow lure as many of those Ahks and Gelals into the house before you blew it up? Get rid of the house, and get rid of as many of them at the same time?”
“Now you’re talking!” I swear it was almost possible to watch Brent planning out a design for the explosives. “I’ll need a remote trigger.…”
“Can this kid really build a bomb big enough to burn down the house?” Bellamy crossed his large arms in front of his chest.
“Believe me,” Dad said. “He knows how to blow things up.”
Brent gave my dad a sheepish smile. “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that.”
Dad gave him a nod.
I looked at the other lost boys. “Do you think the rest of you could come up with some sort of plan to get as many demons into the house as possible? Some sort of lure?”
“Sure thing,” Zach said, and Ryan agreed.
“If that house is going up in flames, I’m not going anywhere near it,” Slade said. “I’d rather be fighting hand to hand in the barnyard with you guys.”
“That can be arranged,” I said, grateful for another fighter.
“Me, too,” Lisa said. “I want to fight with you guys. I said I’d follow Daniel into battle, and I meant it.”
Jarem looked at her like he wanted to protest. I wondered if it wasn’t customary for Elders to join the fight, or if he had some sort of personal interest in wanting her out of harm’s way.
Jude cleared his throat, drawing my attention. He’d been so quiet for so long, I’d almost forgotten he was there. He raised his hand as if he were a child in school. “What do you want me to do?”
I looked at Daniel. I have to admit, I didn’t want Jude in the ring with us. I just didn’t know if he was stable enough yet for such a fight.…
Daniel spoke up before I could. “I don’t imagine Caleb will limit his attack to just those inside the challenging ring. I think we need to be prepared for the possibility that the rest of the pack may have to do some fighting on the sidelines. Would you be willing to help organize them?”
“Yes,” Jude said. I could tell he was relieved that we hadn’t asked him to enter the ring as a challenger.